Stacy Horn

And I can’t get a shot that shows how intense it is! When I took this it was almost a white-out situation, and you can’t see that at all. It was insane. NYU called to tell me not to come in for my dental appointment, the clinic is shutting down this afternoon.

It seems to be calming down at the moment, but I’m hearing there will be a second wave of snow at the end of the day. I should go out there and explore.

This may not sound like a Stacy Horn book, but I’ve wanted to write a book about slavery for a long time. Whether or not that will ever happen remains to be seen (although if I get to write the book I’m thinking about and plan to propose slavery will be in it).

In the meantime, I found this incredible website which lists which U.S. presidents owned slaves. Bottom line, “twelve of our presidents owned slaves and eight of them owned slaves while serving as president.” The site lists who they were, how many slaved they owned, the circumstances, quotes of theirs about slavery and any action they took regarding slavery. VERY eye-opening. It was put together by Western Washington University librarian Robert Lopresti.

Somewhere in Brooklyn, I know not where because I forgot to ask where I was.

I came pretty late to Loehmans, and other stores where you could spend less for clothes. I think I stayed away due to memories of shopping with my mother, when I’d sit for what felt like hours and hours and hours, in agonies of boredom, waiting for her to be done shopping already. Is there anything more stultifyingly tedious than waiting for someone who is shopping for clothing?? Whenever I see men in waiting areas while their girlfriends or wives shop I feel pity.

Barneys, which used to occupy the spot where Loehmans is now, is returning. I loved browsing that store. There was one floor where all the clothing were like works of art. Of course I couldn’t afford anything on that floor—or anywhere in the store, for that matter—but the dresses displayed on this particular floor cost in the thousands. They were worth it though, they were just glorious. It was where Glinda the Good Witch of the South would shop if she were a real person.

In order to completely empty the place out, everything in Loehmans is on sale now, including the mannequins. The grey ones are the most beautiful. They’re also kinda creepy.

Someone carrying a blaring boom box. I never used to mind, for the most part. I often liked hearing them. This one was blaring Stevie Wonder. I had no objections. I’m not sure how he felt about me, however.

As I’ve been emailing people the link to my TEDx talk about singing, they’ve started sending me links back! An unexpected pleasure, and a great way to get to know the people I’ve been contacting.

First up, a video that was sent to me by Louise M. Pascale, the Founder and Director of the Afghan Children’s Songbook Project. The video is called Voices of Afghanistan. Just try to get through it without welling up. I can’t describe it better than the YouTube introduction in the video. “Afghanistan, for most people, conjures up images of war and terrorism. It is rare to hear a positive story. This video does just that. Afghans cherish their children and they cherish their music …”

Next, the Harding University Choir sings in the reptile house at the Cincinnati Zoo. On their visit to the Zoo the students noticed that the acoustics in this room were particularly great and so they started singing. I want to sing to alligators, too!! It was so cool of them to follow their impulse like that. How can you not love these kids?

This next link isn’t to a video, but choral music professor Rhonda J. Fuelberth’s page is titled Singing Together is Better, something I also believe, and so of course I like the vision outlined in her pages. Which reminds me, there is still time to nominate people for the Grammy’s Music Educator Award. The deadline is March 31st.

Finally, we have a video titled, The Haunted Bay: The Paranormal Side of San Francisco. It’s an interview of medium June Ahearn.

When I researched the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University I found the results of experiments that had been conducted in 1934 with medium Eileen Garrett. In the second round, to eliminate fraud the sitters were put in adjacent rooms, so that they were out of sight and sound while Garrett conducted her readings. When the scientists evaluated the results, the number of things Eileen got right were still far greater than would be expected by chance. However, for J. B. Rhine, the head of the lab, the question about where she got her information remained. Was it from the dead or through the living via telepathy (aka ESP)? That said, Rhine believed there was evidence for some medium’s abilities, he just felt they didn’t know enough about them.

I came across what I thought was an elaborate doghouse in someone’s front yard in Brooklyn (do we call them yards when they are concrete?). Turns out, it’s a cathouse. You can’t see it but there was a cat inside when I took this picture.