Stacy Horn

I came in third. Out of THREE. Only three people were competing in my division! Ha. That said, I gave it my all, and even though I would have come in third no matter what I swam, I managed to swim 35 miles which is better than I did last year. So, it’s still an accomplishment! Yay me! Third place!! Woohoo!

A young man playing piano at the corner of Bleecker and Christopher. That southeast corner is depressing. Nothing has been in that storefront for many years, and that scaffolding has been up for years as well. I think I have a picture of that corner on this blog somewhere, taken years ago. I would like to try to find it to compare.

I signed up to sing with the choir at the Mostly Mozart festival premiere of David Lang’s The Public Domain. Our performance is Saturday, August 13, at 5pm. GO. If you are in New York.

At the first rehearsals, I didn’t quite get it, or fall in love with the piece. The way it’s composed, it’s going to be five groups of around two hundred singers. Within each of those groups are five subgroups. Each group of two hundred singers rehearses alone, so until it’s all put together, it’s hard to get a sense of it. It’s like being one instrument section in a symphony rehearsing without the other sections. Kinda.

There’s also choreography (Annie-B Parson is the choreographer). Last night we put the piece together as it’s going to happen with our one group and our five subgroups. I could see for the first time what this was going to look and sound like when everyone is together.

It’s going to be insane, and, I’m pretty sure, great. If nothing else you will see something you’ve never seen before and it should be quite a spectacle. It’s both art and theatre, and you can walk right into it. I highly recommend doing just that. I’m guessing it will be very freaky to be in the middle of something like this when you have no idea what is happening or will happen, but go for it. I’m doing it because it’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and the audience can make it that for themselves too.

Here’s my suggestion. Get there before five and sit around the fountain. You’ll be right in the thick of it.

We’re being conducted by Simon Halsey, Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra, and I stupidly didn’t think to take pictures until the end of the night (that’s him in the picture below). I will be sure to take pictures next week, when we join with another group of 200 singers to put together the piece again. This time it should be even closer to what will happen on Saturday.

I went to the library at John Jay College yesterday to copy 295 pages of a trial transcript. Mother of God, that was tedious. The frustrating thing is, I may not use any of it! The criminal is William McGlory, and he’s already been written about, probably because there is a wealth of material out there about him, like these trial transcripts. And with so many criminals to choose from, I think I should select people who are more unknown.

John Jay doesn’t have the newest microfilm readers, but their set-up was nonetheless pretty sweet. The microfilm reader is on the top right, which was hooked up to the computer on the left, which was making the pdf of the pages for me. It was agonizingly slow, but it’s so much better to have a pdf. (I stupidly left for John Jay without eating breakfast or lunch and it took me hours.) The computer on the bottom right is my laptop, and you can see I was checking the recent polls for the election.

“The more television you watch, the greater your risk for a fatal blood clot, according to a new study.” The full article/post here.

I just binge watched Stranger Things. I was up until 3 in the morning. Thank you, Duffer brothers and everyone involved. The whole thing just made me happy. Also, thank you everyone involved in making Preacher and Brain Dead. The number of incredibly talented people out there working, and I get to benefit, except for the fatal blood clot thing, just blows my mind. It made me want to try developing a tv show again myself, except I have to finish this book first and I would like to see if I can write a great book which becomes a best seller, at least once in my life, God damnit.

I love walking through this underpass on my way to the library at the New York Academy of Medicine. I almost wrote the Academy of Music, where I went to concerts in my youth, long gone (it became the Palladium, and was later demolished by NYU).

The kids have won me over, except one, who is insufferable in that way that some kids, who think they are so adorable and charming, can be. (Not naming names, can’t publicly diss a child, but God I hope he gets eliminated soon. Sorry.)

I guess not having kids I forget just how much depth children can actually possess. Also, I had no idea how genuinely accomplished they can become. All the other child-dancers I’ve seen fall into the category of “good for their age.” The kids they’ve selected are great for any age.

Also, this week one of the judges made the point that one of the routines was made special precisely because the choreographer (Travis Wall), and the adult dancer (Robert), had to incorporate a child (J.T.), and they did so with incredible creativity and feeling. You have to watch it. (THe video I linked to has been removed.). Robert pulls J.T. through a “mirror” and up into the air and down, something that two adults dancers could not have done to this degree. But it also highlights a relationship between an adult and a child (in this routine, the child is supposed to be the adult dancer in his earlier years) in a moving way. I’m rooting for you J. T. (And Tate and Emma.)

The show perfectly addressed my disappointment about not having the pleasure of watching adults dance by pairing up the children with former SYTYCD favorites, and including adult-only routines. The only downside at this point are the eliminations. They are still children after all, and it’s heart-breaking to see them voted off. Much, much, much more so than with the adults. (I’m also going to miss their adult partners.)

So, I was wrong. This version of the show is great.

A shot from inside the library at the New York Academy of Medicine, where I happily conducted some research this week. Except I didn’t find what I was looking for. But still. Look at this place. A very lovely room to spend time, surrounded by books, some of which were hundreds of years old.