The Writer's Life 11/27 - Indulgence

The Black Friday madness is underway. I won’t participate but don’t have a problem with those who do, although it seems utter foolishness. Despite the politicians who try to run people’s lives, Americans still enjoy more freedom than most of the people on this planet, and part of that is the freedom to be silly. In terms of spending, I sin on the side of sitting on my money, but I certainly have perpetrated foolishness in many other areas of my life, so who am I to tell people not to pursue deals? I wait until a week or two before Christmas to shop. The rest of my family doesn’t come up with a wish list until virtually the last minute. Where did my get-things-done-immediately  genes come from? Lite-FM in NYC has already begun playing music of the season 24/7, which puts it out of the rotation on my car stereo until the 24th. Why not every fourth song this week, then third next and so on? Come on.

I’m happy to report that all the construction on the Staten Island Expressway has finally been completed. It didn’t help on the way to my niece’s in South Jersey, when we were amidst the height of traffic at 11:30 AM (again, the rest of my family is almost always running late, while I'm anally prompt), but it did on the way home, surprisingly. Even with only two lanes open on the Verrazano Bridge traffic moved swiftly. I’m now recovering from overindulgence. There are leftovers in my fridge (no pastries, thank goodness), courtesy of my youngest niece, Sandra, which will make lunch and dinner special today. My great nephew Ronnie chose to stay at the University of Kentucky rather than make the 700 mile trip. He was missed. He called to ask advice for the meal he was cooking for friends at his apartment. My great niece Danielle has put the University of Tennessee at the top of her list. She’s now working two jobs, at McDonalds and a mall shoe store, where she was scheduled for the midnight to six AM shift on Black Friday. Come to think of it, I was the recipient of a great deal yesterday. Gasoline is down to one-eighty-something in Jersey. Three-quarters of a tank only cost me $14. We should all be grateful for the forces that have stymied, at least temporarily, the environmental zealots who would make fossil fuels so expensive people would drive less. There were at least two other reasons for which to be thankful: the glorious weather the Northeast has been enjoying and, most importantly, the fact that there was no terror attack.

It was a quiet session at the floating book shop, but one that produced a nice chuckle. Moments after Natalya, a regular buyer and donor, pointed a finger at the last four of the books in Russian on display, made a face, shook her head and said "No good," a woman bought all four. Spasibo, madam. And thanks also to the gentleman who purchased Richard Viguerie's America's Right Turn.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic'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/