Author: Stacy Horn

Last night was the beginning of the summer lap swim contest sponsored by NYC Parks & Rec. I have to swim at least 25 miles by August 29th. There’s also a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize for the man and the woman who swim the most miles in their division. I’m entered into the Night Owl division so only the laps I swim at night count. Last year I came in third.

I honestly don’t know if I’m going to stay in the contest. The woman who came in 1st place last year already said she isn’t going to do it. It’s fun at first, but then after a while it feels like a chore. But the party at the end is a blast! I’m torn. In any case, I’m entered so we shall see.

I can’t swim every night and I calculated that I need to swim 140 laps each time to make the 25 miles. I’d have to swim more than that to place 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I swam 200 laps last night. 224 is 2 miles so I’m off to a good start.

A mini-high school reunion with Jane and Daniel at the White Horse Tavern.

And people who email me. And read my blog. Here’s why I’m thanking you all now. I’ve been very very glad that for most of my life criticism never bothered me too much. I’m not saying I loved it, I just always got over the sting very quickly and used whatever was useful. If it was really hostile and ugly, like the kinds of things you see in comments sections now, it didn’t bother me at all.

It was a great way to be. One, because my feelings rarely got hurt, and two, I was able to get a lot of work done because I could easily ignore what wasn’t helpful.

Weirdly, I’ve become more thin-skinned as I’ve gotten older. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. The older you get the less you care. But if I get even the smallest negative comment in a review on Amazon it will ruin my day and I’ll agonize about it until a positive review appears to “neutralize” it. (I’m putting that in quotes because that’s actually how I think!) It’s an insane way to be, I know. And it leaves me so vulnerable to bad days.

Luckily, with my book about singing, that doesn’t happen much, and people are saying the nicest most wonderful things. I’ll probably never meet most of the people leaving reviews, or who email me, but I just wanted to say thank you. You simply cannot know how much your words are appreciated and how much good they do my heart. And to the people who comment on my blog (or send me email): I also appreciate your always positive feedback and constructive comments. Very rare on the internet these days, it seems! Thank you.

The picture is of musicians preparing for a concert at the Met. I was dying to listen to them, they were going to play (and sing) music by Arvo Part, but it was sold out. It was live-streamed though so I got to hear them anyway!

I’m taking the day off today to read. I’ve started Going Clear, but I also want to read the most recent Tufts Magazine (where I went undergrad). The whole issue is devoted to 1964 and looks quite interesting. But man oh man, Going Clear (about Scientology). Lawrence Wright is one of the best non-fiction writers/researchers alive, and this story! It’s so entertaining … wait. Why isn’t it being made into a movie??

A screen grab from a short movie I made of the fireworks last night. That does it. Mark my words, next year I’m going right to wherever the fireworks are. I want that moment, like when we first got a color tv and saw the opening to Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. I forget how old I was. 9? I just remember a feeling of: OHMYGOD, life is going to be so exciting!!

I wish I could remember where I just read about it, but there was a study. It’s similar to something I already do. At the end of the day I write down three things that made me happy. It’s almost never BIG things, but smaller things, like the clouds, or Finney on my lap, or a good tv show. In this study people were asked to dwell on these things a little bit. I forget for how long. 30 seconds maybe? The study theorized something about brain chemistry, or plasticity, I forget! But this tiny bit of dwelling seemed to create a lasting effect on overall happiness.

So at least three times a day I do that. I’ve only been doing it for about 4 days and I swear I notice a difference. Try it! Here’s one of the moments I dwelled on yesterday.

I got caught in a terrific rain and thunderstorm in the early evening. I’d been swimming and I walked out of the pool and right into the rain. I just went with it. Since I’d just spent the previous 45 minutes relishing being complete immersed in water it seemed wrong to shrink from it now, just because it had been presented to me in a different way.

As I walked home, without an umbrella, not rushing, people huddled under awnings just looked at me. I wanted to explain. “I was mostly wet anyway, I was swimming.”

Anyway, it felt good to surrender to it.

The sun sets on One World Trade Center. I love the subtle beauty of these colors. The universe give us those colors, for free.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m addicted to the rescue efforts and videos of Eldad Hagar, who founded Hope for Paws. I’ve always had cats, but I love all animals, and it just lifts my heart to watch these videos, like this one. If you are ever having a bad day, watch a bunch of Eldad’s videos. It’s pretty much impossible to not feel at least a little better afterwards. For the record, although Hope for Paws focuses on dogs, he rescues other animals and even once rescued a donkey.

But I was thinking about how even if a dog has been abused and abandoned and has been living on the streets for years, they rehabilitate quickly. Very soon they are loving dogs, living happily in someone’s home. It’s the best part of the videos, watching them get bathed, and all their wounds taken care of, and then seeing them in their lives afterwards.

I know cats who are born feral will most likely stay feral unless there’s some sort of human intervention while they’re still very young. But what about lost or abandoned cats who were once someone’s pet? I just don’t hear much about them. Do they die? Get subsumed into a feral colony? Do the ones who are found and rescued live happily with us again?

A missing dog from my block. Very sad. The owners put flyers everywhere in the neighborhood. I wonder what happened. The flyer says he was taken. Very different than lost.