Message from Liz Oyer

Elizabeth G. "Liz" Oyer is a prominent American attorney, justice advocate, and the former United States Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice (April 2022 to March 2025). She is also the author of the Lawyer Oyer Substack and creator of the Lawyer Oyer YouTube Channel.

The following is a transcript of a short video that she posted on the day after Election Day:

Hey everybody.  What a day.  I'm still a little bit delirious from last night, but I wanted to share a few thoughts.  Yesterday's elections were a huge triumph for America.  I think the biggest takeaway is that Donald Trump is not what America stands for. The cruelty, the hate, the lawlessness, the corruption.  That is not who we are as Americans.

Honestly, there have been moments over the past two years when I had started to doubt that. I'd started to wonder where we were headed as a nation.  But last night was a decisive rejection of everything Trump has wrought.  We told our fellow Americans and we told the world that we do not tolerate cruelty, hate, lawlessness or corruption here in America.

Another important takeaway is that our voices matter.  We did this.  All of us.  We had felt powerless at times, but we kept going and it made a difference.  Every time you posted a video documenting ICE abuses, every time you shared a story about government corruption, every time you voted, it made a difference.

The last two years have felt endless, but sometimes change takes time, and it is time well spent.  As far as governing the country, here's what I think we can expect. 

1)  Everyone and everything will be investigated by Congress.  The self dealing, the quid pro quos, the brutality of ICE, all of it.

2)  Trump will not be able to get another Supreme Court justice confirmed if Thomas Alito retires.  He might not be able to get any new judges confirmed at all.

3)  Officials like Pete Hegseth and Todd Blanche have lost the popular mandate to govern.  They have been exposed as frauds, and now they will face congressional oversight.  They could even face impeachment.

4)  Congress can now pass laws that will prevent this from ever happening again.  They can close the loopholes that allow the president and his family to profit at our expense.  They can reform the Supreme Court, and lots more.

The main reason that Trump got so out of control was because Congress was MIA.  Now Congress is back in action.

One final takeaway is this.  Yesterday's elections knocked all the wind out of the sails of the election deniers.  There is no denying these results.  There is no lawsuit the Justice Department  could bring that will have any effect in salvaging the political future of MAGA.  MAGA is over and America is back.

We did this together as a community, and I am so grateful to each and every one of you.

Ceramics Class

We took our pieces home to paint.  Good thing we're allowed to because our class is only 2 hours long and that's not enough time.

Here's Cleta's.

 

Mine

   

Geri's

   

I was wiping off underglaze from my ojizo-san's face and he totally made me laugh. 

   

Here are three more that were made in the last class.  So cute, yah!

  

❣️ Fujifilm XT-2 ❣️

Some pikchas.

Reggie's HP5 Black and White

 

Advanced Filter: Partial Color - Red

  

Caleb Smith's Kodachrome 64

 

Lisa Portinari's Lisa Glow

  

Reggie's HP5 Black and White

Dd's Cream of Mushroom Soup

I love soup, and this recipe looks pretty simple!

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

 

1 TB olive oil

1 TB butter

1 medium shallot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 oz. crimini mushrooms; chopped

2 ½ c chicken broth

2 TB flour

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

Garnish: chopped Italian parsley

In a large pot over medium heat, saute shallot, garlic and mushrooms in oil and butter until softened.  Stir in flour; cook 1 minute until well incorporated.  Stir in broth, cayenne, salt and pepper.  Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Puree to desired consistency with emersion blender.  Check for seasoning; adjust if necessary.  Stir in cream.  For service garnish with parsley. 

Serves 2.

 

Cy's Breakfast

Cy says:  From Ray's.  I remember when it was $20.  Now it's $30.

Lan says:  Their prime rib is usually killa!

Fujinon XF23mm f2.8 Lens

Two things happened that resparked my interest (fka obsession) in photography.  (1) Mahina's parents are getting married in a couple of years and (2) I discovered Fujifilm recipes.

Weddings were one of my fave picture-taking events, but lugging heavy gear all day and night long got too grueling for me.  Also, post-processing to get the photos to just how I liked them took hours.  

And so, I bought the Fujinon XF23mm f2.8 pancake lens to go with my 9-year old Fujifilm X-T2.  The total weight of both lens and camera is 597 grams (1.32 pounds).   My younger self would've preferred the faster f1.4 version, but I opted for the lighter/smaller lens and crossed my fingers that it would suffice. 

And then, Fujifilm recipes allow you to tweak your Fuji camera using its Film Simulation function to give you your desired look straight out of the camera.  I used Reggie Ballesteros' Reggie's Portra for my sample photos below.  I found his recipe on YouTube.  Minimal post-processing of these photos was required other than cropping. 

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Lamb Chopssss

Message to Joggers

Just FYI.  I am a terrible driver.  And if you are an early morning jogger and you choose to jog on the road instead of on the sidewalk when it's still dark, I might bang you.  

Wendell's Clam Chowder

Wendell makes a really good clam chowder.  The recipe calls for Ranch Dressing mix.  

Back in 2008 I asked Wendell to make it for me for my birthday.  You can find the recipe here. 

My Mom

This is my mom today.  All comfy on her 93rd birthday.  No celebration.  No fanfare.  Just how she likes it.  

Sore knees.  Cannot hear good.  But otherwise healthy.  I'm so grateful.