Thursday Threads
London, handmade Belgian chocolate, photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP, posted at theguardian.com:
Born in the Bronx in 1922 to Ukrainian Jewish parents, Grace Paley (Goodside), spoke Russian and Yiddish at home. She dropped out of college after a year and married, bearing two children before divorcing. She was not published until 1959. She wrote poetry but is best known for her short stories. Her Wiki profile lists twelve book titles, including collections. She was a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist for The Collected Stories in 1994. She taught creative writing at the college level and was involved in political activism, feminism, anti-war, etc.. Her first book, The Little Disturbances of Man, came my way recently recently. Set in NYC, the eleven pieces are the kind I like best, focused on the human condition, leavened by humor. I enjoyed each, though none blew me away. Again — I don’t know if it’s a sign of age — I frequently had trouble understanding what was being conveyed. Here’s an example: “…a Harris-tweed jacket that ruined the nap of my arm…” I cherry-picked only one excerpt: “…as these are times which, if man were human, could titilate his soul…” The 189 pages of the large Penguin paperback read like a lot less, as the print is friendly and there are many blanks along the way. 26 users at Amazon have rated The Little…, forging to a consensus of 4.6 on a scale of five. I’ll go with three. Paley remarried. She passed away at 84 in 2007. She was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Photo from Google Images:
If there were any doubt that RFK is far left, it should be dispelled by his selection for VP. He is an alternative only in age to Biden, from whom he would likely siphon votes if he remained in the race until the end. My gut tells me he will drop out rather than allow Trump an advantage… In a similar vein, tonight’s huge Radio City fundraiser will be hosted by late night TV host Stephen Colbert, obviously an operative of the Democrats, as if there had ever been any doubt. He’s as impartial as most of the mainstream media.
Can’t wait to hear how this is spun. Headline from nypost.com: “Jon Stewart benefited by 829% ‘overvalue’ of his NYC home even as he labels Trump’s civil case ‘not victimless’.” Paging NY AG Letitia James — there’s more money to steal.
Headline from foxbusiness.com: “EV maker slashes prices as it tries to avoid bankruptcy.” According to the article by Daniella Genovese, Fisker will sell one model for as low as $24,999.
GDP growth is solid. Will voters be swayed by that or inflation? I still believe the next president — all politicians — will look good because of the growth AI will engender.
The floating book shop was rained out today, but I worked harder than usual. If the company I called keeps its appointment tomorrow, my old Hyundai will be hauled away. I spent almost three hours, four trips, hauling stuff home, and then sorting it and placing the most marketable items into two carts. It will be approximately one-third of what I’ve been displaying. I look forward to the reduced workload.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts
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