Not unhappy

These have not been the best of days. Our President has plunged us into a war of choice with Iran, so people will die to keep us from mentioning The Epstein Files and that word he maintains was just made up: "affordability." No matter that between cuts by DOGE and cuts by the FBI we have lost a shit ton of the institutional bureaucratic infrastructure that keeps us safe from foreign terrorism. The important thing is that the electorate is distracted, just the way Dear Leader likes it. We must never forget that it's all about Donald Trump.

Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash  

And my back is killing me. It started out as a nagging pain in my heel that made walking difficult. Now it's a radiating pain across the small of my back. If I am still, I am fine. But moving is hard. I've seen the chiropractor twice and have another appointment scheduled. I am hoping to feel real improvement soon.

So it would be understandable, I suppose, if my mood were dark. But really, it's not.  

Things are better at the card shop, and I predict they will get better still.  Emily is our temp – and rumor has it, soon to be permanent – store manager, replacing Helena. Emily is, as Belle Watling said of Melanie Hamilton, "a human being." She has commonsense, compassion and leadership qualities. She is in charge of hiring Caroline's replacement, and I trust her judgement.

Also, Emily is a Hispanic lesbian of about 35 who is helping to raise her niece. Kamiliah, the shift manager I've been working with most lately, is a thirtysomething black woman with whom I have bonded over our love of our cats. One of Kamiliah's felines is diabetic and has food allergies. Early in our working relationship I could tell she was embarrassed to be taking phone calls from the vet during her shift. I told her there was no need, that I admire her for making her cat a priority. We've been comfortable and rather fond ever since. There's Mayuko, the lovely sales associate who is working to pay for her IVF treatments and has shared her journey with me. Most of all there's Zoey. A journalism major at Columbia (and a massive Beatle fan), she loves bouncing ideas off me and I enjoy encouraging her as she heads toward a writing career.

Their demographics are important to me. One of the things I missed most about my life in advertising was the diversity. Knowing people with different life experiences, of different races and ages and different sexual orientations than mine, enriches me and lifts my spirit.

 

 

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up

1. What are you currently reading? Nobody Heard a Thing by Angela Henry  Ava and Brooke were playing together after school. They had a dumb argument over ice cream and angrily went their separate ways. After they parted, while still in view of one another, Brooke was snatched in a "stranger danger" abduction, and never seen again. The case was never solved. Fast forward 25 years. The true crime culture is thriving and a documentarian wants to take a fresh look at this cold case. Ava, now a complicated 35-year-old, is upset and on edge as she relives her childhood trauma. But is she depressed, paranoid, or actually in danger? After all, whoever took Brooke got away with it, and she's the only witness. 

 

I was unfamiliar with Angela Henry until I picked up this book, but she's good at creating a sense of creepiness and dread. 

 

BTW, Ms. Henry is a black author. She specifies the race of each character in the book. This got me thinking – unless I'm told otherwise, I just always assume everyone I'm reading about is white. I never realized that before. 

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage. I spent more than a month on this deep dive into the life and career of the first FBI director. He saw much, having served under eight Presidents, and was at the center of American law and culture for decades. This book was balanced, detailed and well researched. But I did not enjoy it.

 

I learned a great deal about what happened in America during the the quarters of the 20th century, so I'm not sorry I read it. From John Dillinger to The Lindbergh Kidnapping to The Warren Commission to The Black Panthers, Hoover was a consequential player. So why wasn't I more engaged? Because Hoover lived an opaque life. After more than 800 pages, I have no greater sense of what brought him joy or pain or what motivated him – beyond grievance and the need for order. 

 

Is this Gage's fault, or Hoover's? I don't know. But this book did not deliver what I'm hungry for when I pick up a biography.  

3. What will you read next?  Something light.