Stacy Horn

My first weekend off since I started the Census!! So far my plan is catch up on True Blood and People Magazine, buy a pair of jeans, and go to the library.

I wish I didn’t have to go jeans shopping in New York City on a Saturday, (a HELL like you wouldn’t believe) but I need them now. Holes have formed in unacceptable spots in my current pair and they are no longer work-ready.

I took these shots yesterday in front of the Burlington Coat Mosque (what Kathy at the Census calls it). When I was walking by someone came out to speak to the people outside. He was quickly swarmed.

I felt for the guy. Imagine having to stand alone like that, to justify your religion to a largely uninformed public. By the way, I am ambivalent about organized religion in general, I have problems with all of them, but plenty of good people belong to churches and mosques and synagogues (like the people reading this) so I’m not going to condemn someone for being a part of them.

I will look at you funny though. (Kidding.)

Anyway, this guy stayed to talk to everyone who wanted to talk to him. Stupidly, I hung back to take pictures and didn’t hear a word. I am an idiot.

There was a cat, two dogs, and a guinea pig. How come the guinea pig so obediently just sat there?

Normally this would be my day off but I have to go back to work. Needless to say, I am not happy. (Except about my new haircut.) I still don’t know when my last day is, end of next week maybe. Since it looks like I’m not going to be eligible for unemployment, another week’s paycheck is not a bad thing. (Seriously, thank you Dept. of Commerce.) The few of us left are still processing paperwork, and packing up all the employee records.

Goal for the day: make a bullet point list of all the positive health effects from singing.

Here’s a street near where I work and near the Seaport. It has a bit of a High Line thing going on (High Line=abandoned railroad tracks that were beautifully overgrow, then taken back by the city and made into a public park).

I was prepared to do something more drastic, but they gave me a bob. It’s great and it was FREE!! FREE. FREAKING FREE.

I think I will go back in three months though (you can keep going back every three or four months) and go for SHORT. I was ready.

Something like what Ellen Degeneres has.

But I’m not complaining.

Here I am with my happy face, because I was scared and now I’m so relieved.

I couldn’t decide which shot I liked better so I’m posting them both. I’m also in a contest with a friend who got her hair cut today. We’re going to see which haircut was better — the free one or the $$$ one. This is the face of FREE.

The Census is winding down and we’re no longer working on the weekend, which means the days off I thought I had today and tomorrow have been changed and I have to go back in tomorrow (if I want to get paid for a full week that is). And, next week is probably my last week.

So today is going to be a seriously packed day. I’m a little freaked out. BUT!! I’m going to get a free haircut in a couple of hours!! I’m so excited and scared. I’m going to let them do something drastic. My hair will be cut by students learning how to cut hair for Bumble and Bumble. Sounds scary, but I’ve heard nothing but great things about this program. The teachers hover over the students making sure they don’t screw up your hair and if necessary they step in and save the day. And, you get a haircut that would normally cost $150.

They asked me if I was willing to lose a lot of length and I said yes. So we shall see! I’m either going to be back here in a little while in tears, or showing off pictures of my new do.

It was raining yesterday morning, and here are the pigeons all lined up and waiting for me to feed them.