I'm a New York gal who grew up and still lives on Long Island. Jones Beach, Fire Island the Hamptons, the Montauk Lighthouse, Billy Joel and the Baldwin brothers.

I'm not ashamed to say I worked for the IRS for 28 years where I put my BA in Psychology to good use as a manager for half of those years.

I consider myself a Modern Humanist, a philosophy that relies on human compassion, democracy, reason and science. I believe in the intrinsic goodness of the human spirit and our desire to reach out to others.

“We have never made an effort to understand what is greatness in men and how to recognize it. We have come to hold, in a kind of mawkish stupor, that greatness is to be gauged by self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice, we drool, is the ultimate virtue. Let’s stop and think for a moment. Is sacrifice a virtue? Can a man sacrifice his integrity? His honor? His freedom? His ideal? His conviction? The honesty of his feelings? The independence of his thought? But these are a man’s supreme possessions. Anything he gives up for them is not a sacrifice but an easy bargain. They, however, are above sacrifice to any cause or consideration whatsoever. Should we not, then, stop preaching dangerous and vicious nonsense? Self sacrifice? But it is precisely the self that cannot and must not be sacrificed It is the unsacrificed self that we must respect in man above all.”
Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead

“War isn't hell at all. It's man at his best; the highest morality he's capable of. It's not war that's insane, you see. It's the morality of it. It's not greed or ambition that makes war: it's goodness. Wars are always fought for the best of reasons: for liberation or manifest destiny. Always against tyranny and always in the interest of humanity. So far this war, we've managed to butcher some ten million humans in the interest of humanity. Next war it seems we'll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity. It's not war that's unnatural to us, it's virtue. As long as valor remains a virtue, we shall have soldiers. So, I preach cowardice. Through cowardice, we shall all be saved.

“We shall never end wars… by blaming it on ministers and generals or war-mongering imperialists or all the other banal bogies. It’s the rest of us who build statues to those generals and name boulevards after those ministers: the rest of us who make heroes of our dead and shrines of our battlefields We wear our widows weeds like nuns… and perpetuate war by exalting its sacrifices… Maybe ministers and generals blunder us into war… At least the rest of us can do is resist honoring the institution.”
The Americanization of Emily


No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.
John Donne

Friends all around the country.
Music-I play guitar and banjo. I'm having a guitar custom made for me. It was started 21 months ago, so it should be ready soon.

I'm a bit of a baseball nut.
I also enjoy doing volunteer work for the American Cancer Society.

I love to laugh, but I have my serious side. I enjoy a good argument (as in a discussion). I've been called a "pinko liberal". but I'm merely looking ahead. I'm interested in social issues, but I'm also into science and technology.

I have no use for organized religion, but I lead a personally spiritual life. I have my own philosophy regarding life and death. I'm willing to listen and discuss religion. Just don't preach to me or start beating me over the head with the Bible.

I believe in integrity, honesty, and loyalty. I live with them in mind at all times, and I am committed to my friends. I practice what I preach.


Please stop by any of my groups if you are interested. They are Live Well, a group that is involved in exploring/enjoying life to the fullest, Ask Maxine, a humor group, About That Word..., yet another humor group, Blurtit Debate Group, a debate group for those dedicated to principles and topics of debate-- some topics serious--some not so serious--, and also Grief and Loss, a group dedicated to supporting those who have experienced any kind of loss.



I'm Changing My Name to Fannie Mae