Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Slower by the day

OMG...it took me TWO hours to deal with my email today.  I thought one hour was a long time.
Of course, there have been some side trips, like verifying that Ella Reeve Bloor lived in MY HOUSE in 1895-1898.  I learned two other interesting facts about this somewhat obscure socialist/communist.  She wasn't actually married to Mr. Bloor; they just pretended to be married while researching for Upton Sinclair about the meat yards of Chicago.  Sinclair later published a best-selling book on this topic called The jungle.  I also learned that she is buried at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey.  She grew up in Bridgeton, New Jersey, another one of our moderately famous residents-who-don't-live-here-anymore.  Others in that category are Sylvia Beach, Jonathan Adler, and James Galanos.  I am one of the obscure people who still live in Bridgeton.

After seeing Paula Poundstone at the Landis Theater in Vineland, New Jersey, I had to listen to the audiobook version of her book, There's nothing in this book that I meant to say, read by the author.  It was funny, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but a lot of jumping around between historical stories and her own life.  Celebrities discussed are Charles Dickens, Sitting Bull, Lincoln, Helen Keller and Joan of Arc.  Perhaps if she paused at the right times, the jumping around would not seem so glaring, but then again, maybe not.  I learned a lot about her, such as that she is not into sex (with anyone), is a recovering alcoholic, adopted three special needs kids, is a compulsive talker and cleaner, bites her nails, and lives in Santa Monica.  You can find this audiobook at the Bridgeton Public Library (AUDB BIO POUNDSTO).

No comments:

Post a Comment