My girlfriend and I went to a lecture by Doris Kearns Goodwin on Friday night. I really like her -- her knowledge of presidential history is awesome and springs from wonderful experience, and her book Wait Till Next Year was one of the best memoirs I've read. She talked a great deal about her new book Team of Rivals, and she used many examples from other administrations to make points about modern and past events. She even talked passionately about the Brooklyn Dodgers and Red Sox, and the Yankees crowd was very warm despite our recent Series loss. :) She painted Lincoln as empathic and sad and very human, and she crafted a wonderful "argument" for / proof of his genius.
She also talked of the kind of presidency we could have used in the United States after 9/11 -- a presidency as we had at WWII, asking Americans to participate in public service, military service, health care service, energy conservation. I think she's right -- what an open door we had for Americans to become something better than we are today. Who would have turned away from volunteering time and services at the end of that year? It's too bad. She said she wishes that like Lincoln and others we could have politicians who will change direction, study history, admit problems and failures. I do too.
My mom just started to read Team of Rivals, and I'd like to read it too one day. My girlfriend pointed out (she is an editor too, as you will see) that the notes at the back of that book are listed by page number only, with no way to see on the actual text pages to what specific words the notes refer. It seems that the notes are not meant to be read when one is when reading the text pages but are to be read either afterward or only at moments of confusion. No one could take flipping back and forth page after page to see if any notes need to be read.
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If it weren't so depressing I would start another blog about the terrible things happening to the state of New Jersey. I'm actually trying to avoid all things depressing these days, so I don't think that blog will happen anytime soon, but the news that Waterloo Village will probably close is very upsetting to me. It was a place I could go to feel like I was somewhere else entirely, in another time, and those places are few these days. I can't believe that someone somewhere can't come up with money to keep the place going, with all the damn money in this state.
She also talked of the kind of presidency we could have used in the United States after 9/11 -- a presidency as we had at WWII, asking Americans to participate in public service, military service, health care service, energy conservation. I think she's right -- what an open door we had for Americans to become something better than we are today. Who would have turned away from volunteering time and services at the end of that year? It's too bad. She said she wishes that like Lincoln and others we could have politicians who will change direction, study history, admit problems and failures. I do too.
My mom just started to read Team of Rivals, and I'd like to read it too one day. My girlfriend pointed out (she is an editor too, as you will see) that the notes at the back of that book are listed by page number only, with no way to see on the actual text pages to what specific words the notes refer. It seems that the notes are not meant to be read when one is when reading the text pages but are to be read either afterward or only at moments of confusion. No one could take flipping back and forth page after page to see if any notes need to be read.
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If it weren't so depressing I would start another blog about the terrible things happening to the state of New Jersey. I'm actually trying to avoid all things depressing these days, so I don't think that blog will happen anytime soon, but the news that Waterloo Village will probably close is very upsetting to me. It was a place I could go to feel like I was somewhere else entirely, in another time, and those places are few these days. I can't believe that someone somewhere can't come up with money to keep the place going, with all the damn money in this state.
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