Stacy Horn

I participated in a Q&A for a new book about how to write a memoir titled, Your Life Is a Book: How To Craft & Publish Your Memoir.

Ah, I see that OPRAH.com picked it was one of their inspirational books for October. It will help to become “more successful, happier, calmer, and more focused and connected to others–and yourself.” Nice!

From another review: “Affable, confident, and candid, the authors teach that the process, when done right, can be a journey of personal growth, illustrating their points with poignant examples and metaphors. Part 1, Crafting Your Memoir, introduces the genre and covers an array of topics: death, abuse, family secrets, food, travel, spirituality, animals, and more. The advice on what does and doesn’t work with each topic is razor sharp and is the overall strength of the book … The second half, Getting Serious About Publishing, offers insightful perspectives on blogging, agents, editors, handling rejection, indie publishing, and more … —VERDICT: This is a reassuring introduction to how writers should approach their first memoir and an honest discussion of what it will take to publish one.” Paul Stenis, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA

I watched John Oliver’s most recent show, the one where he talked about how much sugar we eat. The average American consumes 75 pounds a year, he said, which is INSANE. I thought since I’m a vegetarian, who eats mostly vegetables, and only one desert a day, a very small cup of yogurt ice cream, which I know has added sugar but how much could it have? And I understand that everything has added sugar, but when all is said and done, I can’t be eating all that much sugar, can I??

I can. I eat the same things all the time so calculating my consumption for a year was easy: 30 pounds. Certainly less than the average American, but still INSANE. When I picture 30 bags of sugar my mind just explodes. 30 pounds! The thing is, if I cut out that daily yogurt, and the Amy’s Pizza I just love, my sugar consumption would go down drastically, but I’m not prepared to do that. Except, it looks like I’m killing myself (just read that Times piece about sugar).

I could also switch the Fage yogurt I eat in the morning to plain, with fruit mixed in, but I hate the taste of yogurt otherwise. I’m not sure fruit will do the trick. But I have to start somewhere, I guess.

Another pretty place to live, in the West Village, New York City.

The Tardis has not appeared, and I walked by the buildings that usually have the best decorations and they are not up yet! This weekend would have been the weekend to put them out, so I’m a little worried. But if I’m remembering correctly, the Tardis usually crashes only a few days before Halloween.

This building is one of my favorites though, and it was decorated, so yay! (They are always my favorite building at Christmas as well.) This is the long shot, but what makes this one the best is …

This little guy. I love the stick.

I love how they made this ghost look like it’s singing. Don’t you just love people?? (I’m using the word “love” a little too much, I see.)

The birds. Which I watched on tv the other day. Rod Taylor is quite handsome. Okay, I’m saying it: I love him. Oh wow, he’s still alive! And he lives in New York City!! I could be passing him by every day. Hello Rod Taylor!

I sit all day so I never look for a seat on the subway. I prefer to stand. But I agree with Jake Dobkin who wrote the following guideline for giving up your seat:

“The NYC order of precedence is: Disabled old person, Disabled person, Very pregnant woman, Child, Regular old person, Not very pregnant woman, Regular adults.”

But the other day he wrote that you should also give up your seat, “If someone asks you for your seat … Why? Because academic psychologists have determined that asking is “extremely difficult, even traumatic,” and no one would do it if they didn’t actually need the seat …”

When I was in my twenties I was on the subway one day and I suddenly felt like I was going to faint. It was very crowded, there were no seats, and I asked the woman nearest me if I could have her seat. I felt so embarrassed asking but I was getting dizzier by the second. She said NO!! I was shocked because I thought it was fairly obvious I was in distress. It was so hard asking one person I just didn’t have it in me to ask another and so I knelt down on one knee on the subway floor and leaned into the doorway. In my nice office clothes (this was when people dressed up for work).

No one asked me if I was okay, no one offered me their seat. I wondered if they thought I was kneeling on the filthy subway floor for fun? Dramatic effect? It was pretty heartless. I couldn’t believe it. For the record, people in NYC will usually offer help in situations like this. I almost fainted again not long after this, on the street, and people swarmed around me trying to help. (It turned out to be a reaction to medication I’d started taking.) Those people in the subway car, I don’t know what was wrong with them.

The moral of my story: don’t say no when someone asks you for their seat. They probably have a very very very good reason.

More Halloween decorations. I thought this one was pretty funny. Rats!! Oh, I just remembered. Today is the children’s Halloween party in the Bleecker Street Playground. I should try to get some pictures.

Halloween decorations are starting to appear! Yay! I love my neighborhood (the West Village). People are so creative. I should do something. I have a fire escape in front of my window. Few people would look up and see it, but still. Hmmm.

This one is pretty creepy.

This skeleton was actually at the same place as the hand above. Oh my god! Do you see the spider on the pumpkin?? That is the scariest part!