The Writer's Life 5/18

This morning I put in an order to buy 100 shares of Facebook at a limit of 45, never expecting to get it, certain the stock would be trading 90 by the time the orders of the privileged were filled. Last I looked it was 35 and change, so I've saved about a thousand bucks, pending confirmation. I'm sure I got it, as it is listed among the stocks in my IRA, although the price is not in place. Financial companies must have a ton of paperwork to sort through today. The stock seems to be a dud so far. FB execs will have to do with fewer billions than anticipated. My track record in investing is mediocre. I hope I haven't jinxed this wonderful product that has a billion active users and eight billion overall. I just can't imagine myself as rich, a feeling that is almost supernatural. For example,I just received a safe driver decal from my insurance company. As soon as I saw it I felt jinxed. I can't imagine my books becoming best sellers, either, although I don't let that stop me from going out every day and promoting them. I don't feel unlucky. In fact, I've been very lucky. I just have a problem being self-assured. That seems to be the privilege of politicians, chiefly, especially the creepiest like Schumer, Wiener or Spitzer. The psyche is endlessly fascinating.

I wasn't too crazy about the season finales of Person of Interest and The Mentalist. I suppose the latter will not resolve the Red John arc until its series finale, whenever that may be. The villain remains one step ahead of the hero. Instinct tells me the final twist will be that the serial killer will be a woman. Person of Interest seemed to end one of its arcs. Its other wasn't even a part of last night's episode, which ended on what promises to be a lame cliffhanger that would threaten the show's premise if worse came to worst. Alcatraz ended with one of its leads at death's door. Are the writers really going to terminate a character that's been a linchpin since the beginning - in the show's first season? Maybe there's a salary dispute that hasn't been publicized. Fringe has seen Leonard Nimoy move to the dark side, setting up its fifth and final season. And it seems the BBC's MI5 has concluded after ten seasons and 86 episodes. There were several twists in the last 15 minutes of the finale, and all of them worked. Unfortunately, the death scene of one its leads seemed forced and unconvincing, rare for what I believe is as good a series as there ever was.

My thanks to the kind folks who purchased books today, and to Marie who recently finished A Hitch in Twilight and said she "loved it so much."

Visit Vic's web pages:

Vic's Third Novel (Print): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Third Novel (Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/bt6a9uy
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Word Press blog:  http://vicfortezza.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f