The Writer's Life 12/26 - Post Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone. I overate during the seafood dinner on the Eve, so much that I skipped dessert, which was set out after midnight. I made sure to leave some space the next day., and had sense enough not to overdo it. My great nephew Ronnie has completed his first semester at the University of Kentucky. His GPA was 3.5. I thank my family for the nice gifts. Traffic to and from Bayville, just past Tom's River, was a dream. I guess most people stayed home for the holiday. The price of gas has fallen so precipitously that the $2.80 per gallon I paid Tuesday seemed like a bargain. I didn’t even bother to top off yesterday with the much cheaper Jersey fuel.

Here’s a story from the NY Post, edited by yours truly, about a modern, ridiculous Scrooge. “A passenger was tossed off a plane at La Guardia Airport after flipping out because airline workers wished him a merry Christmas. The man was waiting to board when a cheerful gate agent began welcoming everyone while checking boarding passes. The grumpy passenger, who appeared to be traveling alone, barked, ‘You shouldn’t say that because not everyone celebrates Christmas.’ The agent replied, ‘Well, what should I say then?’ ‘Don’t say Merry Christmas!’ the man shouted. Once on the plane, he was greeted warmly by a flight attendant who also said the magic words. ‘Don’t say, Merry Christmas!’ the man raged before lecturing the attendants and the pilot about the faux pas. The crew tried to calm him, but he continued his hectoring. As he was escorted from the plane, other passengers burst into cheers and applause.” I wonder if he was visited by a ghost at the stroke of midnight.

While NYC’s tax coffers are showing a surplus this year and also will the following two, the state continues to bleed population, suffering a net loss of 153,931 residents in 2014, two million since 2000. NY has dropped to fourth in population, slipping behind Florida. Where would we be without immigrants -- legal and illegal?

The weather was about as good as it gets for late December. While the floating book shop didn’t bring in much money today, I had fun. I was wearing the sneakers my sister gave me, the hoodie my niece Isabel gave me, and the sweater Ronnie and his sister Danielle gave me. I thank the kind folks who bought three books in Russian, the lady who donated one, and the woman who gave me a box of wrapped chocolates, which I shared with customers and passersby. Janet made my day when she said how much she is enjoying A Hitch in Twilight. And I had a visit from Bob Rubenstein, author of Ghost Runners, who has had his dream fulfilled, as the novel has become available as an audio book. Crazy Joe, the scourge of local talk radio hosts, also stopped by. He recently got himself thrown out of a meeting of the Brooklyn Tea Party, the leader of whom dubbed him KKK.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/