The Writer's Life 10/7 - Surprises

My new hero is Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel, who shutout the Yankees last night, eliminating them from the playoffs. I do not like dwelling on negatives, but the Skanks bring it out in me. On to positives: Keuchel, 27, had a great season. He won 20 games, lost only eight, had a stellar ERA -- in a DH league -- of 2.40, and allowed only 185 hits in 232 innings. That last number was surprising, given how pitching talent is babied these days. Kudos, kid.

What do these celebrities have in common? Shakira, Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford, Alicia Keys, Conan O’Brien, Steve Martin, Claire Danes, James Woods, Ashton Kutcher, Ke$ha, Quentin Tarantino, David Duchovny, Natalie Portman, Madonna, Lisa Kudrow, Meryl Streep, Aisha Tyler (Ghost Whiperer), Rowan Atkinson, Robin Williams, Sharon Stone, Mayim Bialik, Asia Carrera, Geena Davis, Dolph Lundgren and Reggie Jackson. Give up? According to Dailydish.com, each has an IQ of at least 140. Crawford, Keys, Tyler, Bialik and Carrera come in at least 150. O’Brien, Tarantino, Kudrow, Lundgren and Jackson are all at exactly 160. Atkinson’s is 178. The champ? James Woods -- 184. I’m surprised by only two of the names, Damon and Jackson. I suppose I have a natural bias against Damon because of his leftist views. Reggie just never impressed me as more than average intellectually. To give this passage some perspective, Einstein’s IQ was estimated at 160. No wonder these folks have been so successful.

A bearded man in a suit, smoking a cigar, approached the floating book shop yesterday. I’d spoken to him once before. He said he’s a rabbi. He used a word I’ve heard only a few times: “Mishegaas,” defined by several online sources as crazy or senseless behavior. Some days it perfectly fits the feeling I have running the floating book. But not today. My thanks to the kind folks who purchased and donated books. The oddest thing occurred. The Jewish Meals on Wheels guy gave me a stack of large paperbacks. I kneeled and sorted them, putting each in a fitting place in the display. When I stood, the pain on the left side of my back was gone. I don't know if I'd somehow dislodged a particle pressing against a nerve or what. I was sure I was fooling myself. At the moment it is considerably less sore than it was in the past 24 hours. It doesn't seem like it's going to last months, as did my first episode, and even seems, knock wood, it's going to be a shorter trial than the second, which lasted two weeks. If only....
Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5

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://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

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/