Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 6/24 - Beauty

Bryce Harper left high school after his sophomore year, immediately earned a GED, and set out on a path to major league baseball. The phenom spent 2010 at a junior college, putting up incredible stats. He was drafted number one overall by the Washington Nationals that same year and signed a seven year deal for 18.9 million. He was called up to the majors after the start of the 2012 season. When a reporter asked recently what his favorite beer was, Harper replied: "That's clown question, bro." The phrase went viral, used even by sleazeball senator Harry Reid. Showing that he is already a seasoned pro, Harper has applied to trademark the phrase. What a country!
While operating the floating bookshop yesterday on Bay Parkway, I was approached by the former owner of Angelo's Bakery, a neighborhood fixture until it closed a few years ago. Angelo owned a local pizzeria too. He is cleaning out his home, which has many books his children left behind. He later brought me a batch. Most of it was non-fiction and marketable. Grazie asai, signore. Today I sold two of those books, along with three VHS tapes, to Bad News Billy, who overpaid as usual. One of them was a pristine hardcover biography of one of the world's great beauties, Gina Lollobrigida. In fact, there were three copies of it still wrapped in their shipping plastic. She captivated me as a teen. She became adept at comedy, starring in naughty films with the likes of Rock Hudson and Peter Lawford. I still chuckle whenever I recall how she tore into circus owner Thomas Gomez in Trapeze (1956), as she tried to worm her way into a high-flyer act with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. "Mascalsone, brutto...!" John Keats wrote: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever..." It certainly applies to my memories of Lollo.   Here's a pic that doesn't do her justice:

My thanks to Bad News Billy. He is quite the character. He found no parking spaces as he rolled up to use the Chase ATM. He parked blocking the driveway, putting a handicap placard and two pictures on the dashboard. As he was inside, curiosity got the better of me. One of the pictures was of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the other of Coretta Scott King. I guess he hoped those iconic images would dissuade any black meter maid from giving him a ticket. I laughed out loud. Life is so rich.
I also had a visit from actor-singer extraordinaire Johnny Feets, who for the first time will be trying his hand at dance at a two-day run in Woodstock in about a month. He had kind words to say about A Hitch in Twilight, which he read recently. Thank you, Johnny Boy, and best of luck.
Visit Vic’s sites:
Vic’s Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic’s Website: http://membershttp://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/cyckn3f