“Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent.” – Sophia Loren
I’m a happy man today. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I was so happy. Why? Well, I’ll tell you. Yesterday I wrote a blog, and in my mind it was no different than any other blog I write. If you’re a regular reader, you know that I keep them between 500-1,000 words so I don’t bore anyone. I’m not a great writer. I’ve never been trained to write. But let’s face it, I must be alright. I’ve done what many people never do: I’ve had a book published. To me, it’s not about books or fame. I write because I want to get a reaction out of people. Yesterday’s post has gotten no shortage of reaction. I mentioned that I hated nuns. Apparently I pissed off a lot of people. My guess is Christine O’Donnell wasn’t stumping so some folk s had some free time on their hands and found my blog. What most people don’t know is that I have the partial galleys for a book that I promised my mother I wouldn’t have published until after she took her last breath. The book deals with my suffering at the hands of the Catholic Church. I’m actually thinking about putting one of the chapters on this blog. I think it would only take one chapter or a portion of one for people to see what life was like for me in a small, sleepy southern community called Donaldsonville. I didn’t tell you that to tell you this. I’m telling you the rest of this to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Sophia Loren once said, “I’ve never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don’t understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now.” This is a woman who knows about hardship. When I first starting doing this blog, someone told me in order to get my search engine optimization up, I needed to mention celebrities. The more newsworthy the celebrity, the better. You don’t have to look any further than Perez Hilton to know that this works. After doing this for a couple of weeks, I felt cheap. I felt like I was lowering myself to the level of a Kardashian or a Hilton or a Lohan. I started adding names like Bieber. I don’t even know what he’s famous for. And you know what? I still don’t. Then one day my nephew, Mike Tortorich, a real writer who helps me find and place pictures for my blog asked me which celebrity to put in for a post. Here’s what I said to him: I want a celebrity who’s never taken it up the ass from an athlete. I want a celebrity who’s not famous for her grandfather’s hotels. I certainly didn’t want one more famous for drug use than acting. My nephew said in a laughing manner, “Well, who’s left?” Without taking a breath, I said, “Sophia Loren, that’s who’s left.”
Who is Sophia Loren? She’s an Italian actress who had every reason to go nowhere in life. Her father wasn’t in her life. Her mother moved her near Naples to be close to family. I’ve been to Naples, and trust me when I tell you it’s the armpit of the world. I can only imagine how bad it was during World War II. It’s been said that a young Sophia Loren took shrapnel to the face during a raid. She started her career as an actress doing Italian films, then crossing over into American cinema. She became a star. Let me tell you some things Sophia Loren has never done. She’s never exposed her crotch getting out of a limo. She’s never been in rehab. She’s never gone to jail. She’s never appeared before a judge. And she’s never had fake tits. The woman has been a star for the better part of 60 years of her life. She was married to the great Carlo Ponti until his death. She’s raised two sons who are both successful. And has been a Goodwill Ambassador. That’s why I love Sophia Loren. I have a feeling that other people love her too. Sometimes when we forget to put her picture on the blog we get comments from both men and women asking one simple question: Where’s Sophia? If anyone has any interest in me putting up a piece of my galley, leave comments or contact me on Facebook. If the interest is great enough, I will run it.
