Stacy Horn

I’m going to this event tonight. I really can’t wait. For four hours, 14 museums downtown will be free to visit. I don’t see how I can make it to them all. I could skip the ones I’ve already been to, but that would take away only 6. How is it possible that there are so many museums I haven’t gone to?? And besides, I don’t want to skip those. Some I haven’t been to in a long time. And even though I go to the Municipal Archives a lot I can’t skip them! I love them!

I just did the math. It’s simply not possible to go to them all, alas. I subtracted time for walking, and that would leave me a mere 13 minutes at each museum. My new plan: I’m going to try to make 10. Wish me luck!

A restaurant sign. Where was I? 23rd Street, I think.

I’ve been worried about Alzheimers recently and there was a piece in the Times with a link to these standardized tests. I took the first one, but they said it doesn’t matter which one you take. Each is different but they all test the same things. I did so badly on two of the questions I’m taking it to my doctor to discuss my results. There isn’t an answer sheet, because they aren’t so much about right and wrong, but if you try one of the tests you’ll see how each question would indicate if there’s a problem.

Art on a fence on 11th Street. I was wondering yesterday why I don’t paint, just for fun. Because it is fun. I’m more drawn to pottery though. I’ve never gotten over the dazzling affect of what happens when you paint a pot, put it into a kiln, and out comes this magical, shiny, brilliant and colorful treasure.

Nothing like singing in the streets. About death. Today I took part in what was called the first “synchronized headphone choir.” Each voice part started out at in a different part of the city, and we headed towards Battery Park, singing our part. It was a beautiful piece written by composer Pete M. Wyer, who also conceived of this whole thing.

Everyone downloaded an app and we counted down and hit play at the same time. Except I don’t have a smartphone, so I was using an old ipod which I actually had to abandon, because I wasn’t synced up with everyone else.

It was a little tricky singing and walking at the same time, because you couldn’t walk in rhythm to what you were singing. It felt great anyway.

We’re at Canal and Spring, waiting to cross the street. People took pictures of us as we passed by.

That’s the finished One World Trade Center in the distance.

When we met up with the other parts and sang together, it was glorious. I immediately moved from my spot within the sopranos and stood next to the altos. My choir sings with the voice parts all mixed up and that’s what I prefer now. It’s more fun to sing that way, with different voice parts all around you. You feel the harmony more, and you can also hear the piece as a whole.

I didn’t get a shot of the entire choir singing because it felt so good I didn’t want to sacrifice a single second of it to take a picture. That is Pete Wyer with the guitar though, afterwards.

Thank you Pete Wyer and company, and Make Music New York! I had a fabulous time.

Bleecker joins a long line of wonderful cats who have sat in this window, staring at birds, longing to kill them. Don’t worry bird. Sorry Bleeck.

I’m going to the second one, only because it begins near me, and they’re doing something unusual. I really wish I could go to both. The first one is part of the Make Music New York festival and the second is part of that festival and the River to River festival.

I’m really sorry to miss this first one because it’s an open sing of contemporary choral composers, something I want to explore. “The reading session will be led by Fahad Siadat, director of See-A-Dot Music Publishing and C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, a professional new music chorus, and reinforced by a string quartet that will accompany the reading session. Gathered singers will rehearse and perform six pieces over the course of an hour.”

The second one is titled And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a participatory singing event for a synchronized headphone choir, conceived and composed by Pete M. Wyer, with accompaniment by the Asphalt Orchestra.

The four different voice parts are going to meet at different parts of the city and start singing and walking. “Little by little, as routes converge, the song is revealed in its fullness until eventually, everyone assembles together for a grand choral finale at the gazebo in Rockefeller Park.”

I just looked at the score, it’s definitely written so that anyone who can sing can do it. The sopranos are starting one block away from where I live! Except you have to have a smartphone, which I don’t have because I am poor. But I’m going to walk along and film them and listen. Oh, I see that people without iphones can download the audio files. Except my iPod is broken (and I can’t fix it because, blah, blah, blah). I might have an old one that still works though. I’m listening to the bass part now, it’s beautiful!! Actually, this piece is simple enough, I don’t need to hear it to be able to sing it. Well, I’m going in any case. What a great idea, I love that all the different parts will be walking along singing, and then come together.

Sad sign. I hope Lila was found. Also sad is the fact that she is declawed according to the sign. Declawing is actually amputation, they remove the last bone of each toe! It’s an incredibly barbaric and cruel practice. Keep their nails trimmed instead! Also, I’ve always had good luck with the Felix Scratching Post. I’ve never had a cat who didn’t love it and use it. Seriously, how is this cat going to defend itself now? What if you lose your cat during a the zombie apocalypse?? Never declaw!