The first thing I must do today is thank the gentleman who rolled back his car so that I could have the lead spot on East 13th, without which I would have been unable to run the floating book shop. I was able to sit in my car and wait for customers. I wouldn't have lasted an hour in such cold. I sold five books and a videotape. One of the books was on Feng Shui, which is, according to About.com, "an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China..., a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies
of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people
inhabiting it." Ah, the mysteries of the orient.
My second oldest niece, Tanya, sent me a book through Amazon. Marianne Williamson's Return to Love was published in 1992 and sold more than a million copies. In fact, it's still selling, its ranking below 5000th, which is remarkable for something 20 years old. I dreaded reading it, as I am not a spiritual person. I felt compelled. I love my niece and she went to the trouble and expense of having it sent to me. It was tough going, but I managed to get through all 300 pages, although the modern typeset had it read more like 200. It presents a sound way of living, viewing the body as a mere vessel and inconsequential, the soul as the real self, part of God's light, battling the ego's damage to it. It promotes forgiveness and letting go of negatives. The author predicts catastrophe within decades if love does not overcome hatred. The issue I found most fault with is her certainty about the end and the meaning of life. As I get older, I find less and less meaning. I wish this was not the case, but nothing I've witnessed has changed that opinion. I guess I'm dominated by ego. Outwardly, I live a good life, treating people courteously, rarely raising my voice to anyone, avoiding the silly conflicts to which humans are prone. Inwardly, I struggle constantly with angry frustration, my thoughts occasionally despicable. I recognized a lot of Tanya's thinking in the book. I'm glad it works for her. It didn't for me.
The incomparable Hondo, the NY Post's droll author of an NFL Bettor's Guide column, signed off with these gems today: "Al Gore has sold his Current TV cable network to Al Jazeera for a reported $500 million. K-Dog of Md. sees a smooth transition, as the new management undoubtedly will want to keep much of the channel’s anti-American programming. Ne'ertheless there will be a need for some additional Al-Jazeera America daytime shows. Under consideration are: 'Morning Jihad,' 'Mayberry IED,' 'The Good Wives,' 'Celebrity Rehab with Poppy Fields,' 'Really Mad Men,' and, finally, according to K-Dog, 'Let’s Mecca Deal.'" Gore is near the top, perhaps at the pinnacle, of a mental list I keep on winners who are really losers. When government finally gets around to wealth confiscation to fund its out of control spending, the former VP should be one of the first to have his pockets picked. Then again, given his connections, he would probably be exempt.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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