Who I am…
I am a lawyer, former mother of teenagers, and a quixotic seeker after and champion of factual truth.
I make the best damn brownies you have ever had that are not regulated by the federal government.
I love movies, Broadway, and intelligent conversation.
I think in song lyrics and movie and television quotes.
I believe in the use of proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar even in text messages. I am willing to debate the use of the Oxford comma, if you know what the Oxford comma is. It also makes me very happy if people use the subjunctive mood when appropriate.
I have been told I intimidate people. I am really just a fluffy-centered teddy bear. Really.
- It's all my fault. No, really. The views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone and in no way whatsoever represent the views of anyone else, including any past, present, or future employer.
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Words to live by ….
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.
“Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.” Mary Harris (“Mother Jones”).
“Don’t boo. Vote.” Barack Obama.
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Reinhold Niebuhr.
“No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.” Sir Terry Pratchett.
“Damning facts are still facts.” Steven C. Holtzman.
“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re tested, they’re not values — they’re hobbies.” Jon Stewart.
“Darkness never sustains, even though it sometimes seems it will.” Doctor Who.
“Writing is a form of mischief.” Stephen Sondheim.
“An idea is not responsible for the people who believe it.” Don Marquis.
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.” Joseph Campbell.
“Truth is our strongest ally, our biggest weapon, and our best defense.” Me.
“Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” Stephen Colbert.
“The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.” Jonathan Larson.
“We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;
Cannot be killed or swept aside.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda.“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Emma Goldman.
“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett.
“I believe that the God who made (among other things) light, and space, and number, and time, and the spiral curve of Fibonacci numbers, must be acknowledged to understand more than I do about why there’s pain in the world.” Teresa Neilsen Hayden.
“No, it’s not fair. You’re in the wrong universe for fair.” John Scalzi.
“Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor.” Lawrence O’Donnell
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.” Molly Ivins.
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Tag Archives: really cool things
Gaudi.
Every so often there comes an artist who changes how you think about art, about the world, about life. Artists whose works were beloved when they were alive and artists who were only appreciated after they were dead. Leonardo, Cervantes, … Continue reading
Barcelona
Traveling in Europe has challenges for someone like me who has an impossibly hard time with languages other than English. And in Barcelona, I not only don’t know one language, I don’t know two. When I was growing up, I … Continue reading
Sometimes, I just need to cry. For those times when reading the front page of the Washington Post won’t cut it (news inspires more fear than grief), I have The Playlist. As of Monday, I have a new addition to the … Continue reading
“Subaru.”
On Facebook, someone pasted a video of a bison stampede in Yellowstone, with the caption asking people to describe the video in one word. My word? “Subaru.” Last summer, the entire family (including the Not-So-Little Drummer Boy, visiting from New … Continue reading
The smell of hope.
I have been buying spices from Penzey’s for years. Originally, the Rocket Scientist would have layovers in Minneapolis when he had trips to D.C., and he always brought back spices Penzey’s and clothes from Lands’ End. Then a Penzey’s store … Continue reading
Signs.
Today I went to the March for Science Silicon Valley in San Jose. I had a great time. I had also gone to the Women’s March in January. The vibe there was fierce, and angry. Today it was determined and … Continue reading
(mini) Road Trip!!
I woke up late Monday, as a result of starting a Lord of The Rings marathon on Sunday night. I glanced groggily out my window and saw blue! And sunshine! For the first time in what seemed like weeks, the … Continue reading
Every so often, someone restores my faith in humanity.
It’s Christmas Eve, and I was still out buying a gift for my nephew. The day had not started well — I have misplaced my glasses and am forced to use my backup pair with the scratch in the left … Continue reading
I am in love with Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Last week I went to see the wonderful Mary Chapin Carpenter in concert. (Tift Merrit was the opening act — she was pretty great, too.) I have seen her before, and plan to catch her the next time she tours. … Continue reading
The stories in the wine.
In Lisbon, there is a Institute of Port Wine ( Instituto do Vinho do Porto). You can sit in comfortable chairs and taste different types or ports — drinking glasses of ports that are far more expensive than what you could … Continue reading
España, aquí vengo.
Barring disaster (which this year is not a given), I am going back to Spain at the end of the month. Sadly, it will only be for a little over a week. Spain is my favorite European country — scratch … Continue reading
I am not adventurous. But tonight I am in the audience for an NPR show I have never heard of, Ask Me Another. It sounds like fun, but what sold me? Jonathon Coulton heads the house band, and Adam Savage … Continue reading
New shoes.
I have never thought much about shoes. I am of the “sensible flats” school of women’s footwear, and not solely because it reflects my personality. (Okay, you can stop with the eye-rolling, now. You know who you are.) When I … Continue reading
If February 15 is National Half-Off Chocolate in Red Heart-Shaped Boxes Day, November 1st is the $1 White Pumpkins from Safeway Day. (Usually, I haul myself to Half Moon Bay (sort of a tradition) for white pumpkins, but the van … Continue reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3S1zcbWkoM&feature=player_embedded Best. Political. Ad. EVER. I don’t give money to candidates in states I do not live in, as I have enough difficulty supporting candidates on my home turf, but I would sure throw this guy a few dollars — … Continue reading
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