Author: Stacy Horn

The Barnes & Noble where I had a reading for The Restless Sleep is now a Trader Joe’s. I stopped in to look around and when I pulled out my camera someone immediately stopped me.

“You can’t take pictures.”
“Why not?”
“It’s policy.”
“Why?”

I forget what she said exactly, but she didn’t know. I said okay and put my camera away.

I tried to look around and give the store a fair shake, but being welcomed in that way kinda killed it for me. It just made me feel bad.

Then I saw the horribly huge line to check out, it was insane, it went all the way down the aisle. I figured I wouldn’t want to shop in a place with lines like that and left.

I don’t know who she is supposed to be, but I will call her the Christmas Queen. She was inside one of the Marc Jacobs stores posing with the customers, and she very kindly posed for me when she saw I was trying to get a shot! Thank you, Christmas Queen!

Without my camera. I went out yesterday, planning to document all the Christmas trappings that came out during the night on Thanksgiving, (Christmas elves, apparently) but I forgot my camera. (I hear Christmas elves bite.)

As a result, this morning we get Buddy, eating. (Stay away from the cat, Christmas elves. I mean it. I’ll stomp you.) The floor was filled with crumbs and I didn’t want everyone to think I’m a messy housekeeper, because I’m not, so I experimented with edge blurring. Crumb-hiding abilities aside, I love the effect.

Buddy is my cat with cancer. My goal is to keep him fat. So far so good.

Believe me, I understand the need for a bargain, not just the desire, but the need, but still. Who would want to face shopping today? I just saw the picture of the crowd outside Macy’s on the front page of the Times. That place is hard to bear on a normal day! (But fun to walk through if you’re not there to shop, but just to sight-see.)

Lines at Penn Station. I went from this …

To this. The view in my brother’s front yard.

And back home to this. Tree sellers set up on various corners throughout the city. I was wondering where they were, and by the time I got home last night, they had arrived.

I was going to list what I’m thankful for, but decided against it because I was afraid people would notice the things I don’t have in my life and think what a loser I am.

In a few hours I’ll be heading out to Penn Station, which the New York Times (or was it Gothamist?) has already informed me is going to be so bad I might want to consider getting hit by a truck instead. But it’s all in order to go out to LI to see my wonderful family and to be fed by said family.

I’ll be back with pictures of Penn Station and maybe my family. (I’m an inconsistent photographer when it comes to people and I have a rule about not posting pictures of people unless they look attractive, it’s a golden rule thing.)

And now, bags of leaves.

Yeah, I know. “What are you kidding me, this is what you’re showing us, bags of leaves??” I’ll try to be back with better. Either the hell of traveling in NYC or my pretty family. One or the other.