The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 7/2

Monday, July 2, 2018

The Writer's Life 7/2 - Sixes Wild

It'd been 71 years since an Italian-born pro golfer won a PGA event in the USA. Kudos to Turin's Francesco Molinari, 35, who made pasta fazool of the field yesterday at the Quicken Loans National in Potomac, Maryland. He shot a closing round 62, winning by eight strokes. It was his first victory this side of the Atlantic. He has won five times on the European tour. Hai fatto bene, goombah. And who, you ask, was that previous ginzo? Toney Penna, born in Naples, raised in America, won the Atlanta Open in 1947. During his career he had three top ten finishes in the Masters, two in the U.S. Open, and two in the PGA Championship when it used the match play format. He introduced new lines of golf clubs, some of which are still in use, others now collectors' items. Naturally, he was friends with Perry Como and Dean Martin, avid golfers. He passed away in 1995 at 87. Bravo, maestro. Here are pics of the paisani:

Racist America has struck again. LeBron James has signed a four-year contract with the Lakers for $154 million. That's about $43 million a year.

Cablevision has raised my rate again. Six months ago I'd negotiated it down to $66, using the threat of going back to an antenna. It's now $89. I hooked up the antenna last night, adding what I hoped would be an enhancer that I hadn't noticed when I first bought it. That brought in zero channels. The antenna alone brought in only six this time. It was about 20 last time. It's disappointing. I really want to cut the cord, but the position of my apartment, second floor facing the courtyard, is not conducive to standard reception. What makes the situation even more frustrating is that the cable picture is constantly breaking up and the sound dropping out, and I'll be damned if I'm going to wait around for a technician to show, and then be charged for something that is probably not my fault.

Day four of the heat wave was surprising for the floating bookshop, returns better than expected. After making six bucks during each of the past two sessions, today's two buyers spent six bucks each. My thanks to the young man who visited while I was setting up the display, and bought all non-fiction, including a primer on philosophy and A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend: For Every Guy Who Wants to be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One by Felicity Huffman & Patricia Wolff. The latter was available for about two months. Usually, I'm able to predict which books will go fast. I'd expected that one to be snared immediately by a young woman. My thanks also to the woman who bought a pictorial on the work of Giotto, a Danielle Steel translation in Russian, John Grisham's The Firm, Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, and an Edgar Allen Poe collection.