Citizen Watcher: Eye strain.

Lately I've been doing a lot of reading in the name of freelance book indexing.  It's a job I love, although it does not come attached to benefits, specifically health insurance, which is (I would guess) what really keeps most Americans attending their horrible day jobs. 

But, lack of access to affordable health care notwithstanding, indexing is a great job.  I did a lot of it yesterday while wearing my bathrobe.  I'm not saying that just to perpetuate a freelance stereotype; my bathrobe's in better shape than a lot of my regular clothes, so I wear it a lot around the house.  Of course, indexing also primarily involves reading, and we all know how I feel about that.  But the last few days I've had a lot of it to do, meaning I've been reading about major league baseball in the 1950s (specifically how the economics of broadcast revenue affected the finances of the American and National Leagues), the snowboarder Shaun White, and union advocate Cesar Chavez.*

That was a rather weird mix, I'll admit, and it rather tuckered me out for recreational reading.  So I don't have much to report today; in the midst of eye strain I did watch a bit of television the night before last, when PBS played an American Experience episode about Eleanor Roosevelt.  I watched the first half but once Franklin cheated on her with Lucy Mercer, I couldn't watch any more.  Does anybody else wish they could slap the shit out of FDR on Eleanor's behalf?  I do.  Either way, I'm thinking I might get a biography of Eleanor to read.  Suggestions?

*In three different books, mercifully. 

THIS JUST IN: When I have eye strain, I also browse the Internet quite a bit.  Many thanks to Tripp over at Books Are My Only Friends for his excellent post about Fareed Zakaria's book The Post-American World, which I also haven't had time to read, and the link to a picture of Barack Obama carrying a book (picture provided at right).  I dislike all politicians as a matter of habit but I'll give the man this: he carries a book like a reader, holding his page.  Beautiful. 

Comments

[Sarah]

Joseph Lash's 1971 ELEANOR AND FRANKLIN was a seminal biography.

Hey, is there any way that frequent posters can get special screening so that we don't have to type in those letters every time?

[The Laundress]

A job that comes with diverse required reading sounds a-okay by me! Hopefully, the upcoming election will lead to improvements on the health insurance front -- soon as that changes, I too will be ditching my horrible day job!

Eleanor Roosevelt was my childhood idol. Read a lot about her, children's books from the '60s and '70s. Can't recommend those, can't remember their titles! Tried but failed to finish Doris Kearns "No Ordinary Time". Eleanor certainly found her own companions and led a life often quite independent from Franklin, I don't think she'd have wanted you to slap him.

But thank you for the tip on "The Post-American World", gonna line up for a copy myself (great image too). Most especially, thanks for that observation, that Barack Obama is carrying his book like a reader, that is going to stay in my mind!

You are missed!
tl

[Citizen Reader]

Sarah,
Thanks for the Joseph Lash tip. You are totally my source for all things biography and history.

Yeah, the letter verification. That's supposedly to keep spam comments from popping up (which is good, since a lot of those emails contain words and concepts I never knew existed). I'll look into it and see if there's a way around it--I haven't sufficiently explored this new software yet. I'll get on it!

[Citizen Reader]

Oh, Laundress,
I know Eleanor was able to find fulfillment and was a great woman, and would probably not have approved of my wanting to bitch-slap her husband. I still want to, though--because I am emphatically not a good person.

Yes, the diverse reading is lovely. I am so lucky to have that job, even as a part-time non-insuranced gig. I'm thankful for it! I was very touched by Obama's holding his place in his book--as I am firmly convinced our current Pres is functionally illiterate (think how much that would explain), a president who can read and comprehend would certainly be a refreshing change.

and, p.s., I miss YOU.

[Tripp]

You're the best CR.

Regarding your comment on books and the sitting President, I am reminded of this classic Onion piece:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31077

[Sarah]

Those concepts are probably new to me as well. But I'm sorta kidding about the password - don't mess up your software on my account.

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN (tee hee) the two-vol. bio by Blanche Wiesen Cook, which goes up to 1938? Also, there is A WORLD MADE NEW: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT AND THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS by Mary Ann Glendon.

[Citizen Reader]

Okay, Sarah, we're going to try it without the letter-typing. This is fun! No worries about the software--I don't really understand it but it seems pretty forgiving if you try different things.

Yeah, the Wiesen Cook. I thought about it but that is a LOT of biography. Thanks for the other suggestions, though--

[Venta]

I read the first volume of the Wiesen Cook biography of E.D., and while I read the whole book, I didn't like the style. It seemed fairly speculative. I remember asking myself, how would the author know about that? and there weren't footnotes to back it up. The second volume is still sitting in the "to read" pile.

[The Laundress]

Aw man. Blanche Wiesen Cook, I just totally repressed. Took volume one home five or six times over the past few years but just couldn't get past chapter one.

And this is about Eleanor, my childhood idol. Not taken lightly, not summarily dismissed. Just found that plus DKG unreadable, in my (recent past and present) state-of-mind.

Hoping your pal that Lesbrarian will weigh in on another Eleanor title that piqued my curiosity but is also unread, "Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok".

Missing you more today than yesterday...
tl