Stacy Horn

Are you all watching Project Accessory? It’s exactly what you think it is, Project Runway except with accessories: jewelry, bags, shoes, belts, etc. It’s almost more exciting because you get to see how the simplest, most nothing outfit can be transformed, and transformed for little cost. Even a poor person can look fabulous.

I know that fact is not news, but it’s demonstrated so dramatically. The runways at the end are over-flowing with tips and ideas which you can apply to your own wardrobe. It’s fun to watch a show involving a more accessible product, something you can actually indulge in yourself. The world of Project Runway is more out-of-reach, although still fascinating to watch.

That reminds me, the true treasure of Project Runway is Tim Gunn. The mentor on Project Accessory … oh god, I can’t even picture who the person is! But whoever they are they don’t project the charisma, the genuine caring charm, and equally important, the knowledge of the industry and fashion that Tim Gunn has in spades. The same is true of the guy on Work of Art by the way (charisma/caring-wise, not knowledge-of-industry-wise), but I can see him trying which makes him kind of endearing.

Project Accessory makes me want to take a shot at designing my own accessories. What the hell? I have no particular talent in this area, but when you see what they whip up in such a short amount of time and with found materials, it makes you want to give it a try.

My favorite designer, James Sommerfeldt, went home, alas. That’s his shoe pictured above. He was such a sweetheart. I hate people who participate in shows like this and say, “I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win.” There’s no reason you can’t do both! Shoes are James’s specialty and he generously helped everyone during the shoe challenge and still won. Yes, he ultimately went home, but he didn’t go home because he was so nice. (For those of you watching, didn’t you think his going home that week was bullshit??)

Update: Speaking of talented people, imagine being this person. A problem so beautifully solved!

At one point I was researching the former owners of the pews at Grace Church. Bonnie Recca, a volunteer at the Grace Church archives, told me that pew 28 once belonged to three granddaughters of Alexander Hamilton: Charlotte, Adelaide, and Alice. The sisters were active members of Grace Church and they lived nearby at 17 West 20th Street, in what was referred to then as “the old Hamilton home.”

The sisters lived out their entire lives in that house, which had been left to Charlotte by their father John Church Hamilton, “with a full confidence that she will render it during her life a kind abode for her sisters while unmarried …” They remained unmarried. 

Charlotte, the oldest, was the first to die, in 1896 when she was 78. The New York Times said, “As a child she was remarkable for her beauty and was a great favorite of Gen. Lafayette.”

Three years later Adelaide had Alice, the youngest, declared insane. “Miss Adelaide testified that her sister imagined that she could not walk, and was subject to religious delusions. She thought all her relatives were dead.” Alice also imagined she herself to have been dead for five years, and when a doctor for the court came to examine her she said, “I am very sorry, but you are dead too.” Alice died in 1906, when she was 68.

Adelaide was the last to die, in 1915, and she left an estate of $750,000. Among the beneficiaries were her coachman, laundress, two butlers and three maids. She was 85.

Each time one of the sisters died, two of their nephews, John C. L. Hamilton and Edgar A. Hamilton, came out of the woodwork to contest their wills on the grounds that each sister was not of sound mind (in Alice’s case they were right). The nephews had also contested the wills of their grandparents, John and Maria. Their father was John C. A. Hamilton (John Church’s brother), a civil engineer who’d gone out West years before and who had died there. His sons came back to New York, but they were never close to their father’s family. They also never won any of their cases.

I took a picture of the building, which still stands. It was built in 1852 and got an ugly brick facade in 1920. From the Landmarks Preservation report:

“Constructed in 1852 for J.C. Hamilton, this building was originally a wide, stone-faced rowhouse of four stories with a basement. Although wider than the standard rowhouse, it may have been built as part of a row between 9 and 19 West 20th Street. John C. Hamilton, who may have been the original owner or a descendant, was listed as a resident in 1882-83. In 1920, the original facade and stoop were removed, the front was reconstructed at the building line, and the sixth story was added.”

It doesn’t seem from the report that they were aware that John C. Hamilton was John Church Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton. I’ve been trying to find a pre-1920 picture, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful. It must have been beautiful once. This was an extremely wealthy neighborhood at one time.

I love this feeling. I have things to do, but I also feel like I have enough space to take my time, or even do nothing at all if I feel like it. So what have I done?

– Fed the cats and gave them all their meds.
– Added a new post to my Unbelievable blog.
– Updated my Wish List at Amazon. This involved some very wishful thinking! (Desk speakers!) Oh wow, just learned about and entered the Amazon Wish List contest. Okay, just lost some time fantasizing about all the things I’d get if I won. I should add “a new puppy.”

I took this at choir rehearsal yesterday.

Ye Shall Have a Song is the chorus at the end of Randall Thompson’s Peaceable Kingdom. I’m going to be writing a lot about this over the next couple of weeks. And Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir.

But for now, I’m going to retire to the couch and watch tv for hours and hours and hours. Because I transcribed all day yesterday, and I just blew out my voice singing high A’s at choir rehearsal just now. Still it was glorious and fun and satisfying and I’m so happy right now. This is what group singing will do for you.

Ye shall have a song and gladness of heart.

Buddy, who was once so camera shy, and who has CANCER, is camera-friendly and doing fine and looks as beautiful as can be (in my humble opinion).

The ads on Craigslist asking for writers but offering no pay drive me absolutely crazy. “We don’t pay, but this is a great opportunity to get published,” blah, blah, blah. Where to begin? I know they are targeting beginning writers, but even for writers just starting out this is bullshit.

The authors of these ads never say anything to substantiate their claim that this is a good opportunity. Anyone can slap up a website or blog. What are they bringing to the table that makes it a good opportunity for the writers? It’s almost always a start-up so there is no audience. They never say “we have well-heeled investors getting behind our effort, so we think it’s not unreasonable to believe we have a decent shot,” etc. (Of course if they had investors they would be paying the writers something.) They never detail their experience and background which might also give some credence to their claims. Who are YOU? Why should anyone jump through whatever hoops you’ve held up to impress you?

Worse are the “established, famous” writers asking for assistants without pay, offering valuable experience and contacts in return. If they were truly established they would pay their assistants. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of talented writers out there who are struggling, these are hard times, but the number of them who could genuinely make working for free worthwhile is small. And the people who put up these ads don’t sound like they are in that pool, they invariably sound like jerks. So much so I can’t believe anyone responds. But I also can’t believe anyone answers the “write for my blog for free, it’s a great opportunity” ads. Do they?

I went back and took another picture of those Jimmy Choo shoes I think are so beautiful. My first shot was so bad.