Stacy Horn

I’ve got a really packed day.  But next week is my official publication week!  Actually, March 10th is the official pub date.  I’m going to do my best to try to enjoy this.  This being the fruits of my labors. Please let there be some fruit.  

This weekend I emailed every single last person I know asking for help.  Probably some of you reading this got that email.  I felt so uncomfortable sending it, but you only get something like four weeks for a book to hit.  If it doesn’t they remove it from the shelves, return it to the publisher, and make room for the next new books.  That’s it.  Years of work over.  Next! People who make movies have it worse. They get what?  A weekend?  Wait, did I already explain this? Am I losing it?  (Probably.) 

Big snow here.  The schools are closed.  I’m happy for all the children of New York City.

I took pictures of the snowfall outside my window.  Normally I pick the best one and post that, but I thought I would post the three I was considering.  At the end I will say which one I would have gone with.

Maybe I need to get closer.  I love the park sign.  And the guy shoveling.

Maybe I should try to get even closer!

I would have gone with the first one.  I have to go out in that in a little while, so I hope to get better shots.  Meanwhile, here’s a guy who really knows how to photograph snow.  It was taken by Joey Ivansco/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press (and I got it from the New York Times).

Want to feel hopeful?  Listen to Warren Buffet. Someone one Echo posted this section from his letter to his stock holders. 

“Amid this bad news, however, never forget that our country has faced far worse travails in the past. In the 20th century alone, we dealt with two great wars (one of which we initially appeared to be losing); a dozen or so panics and recessions; virulent inflation that led to a 21.5 prime rate in 1980; and the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment ranged between 15 percent and 25 percent for many years. America has had no shortage of challenges.

“Without fail, however, we’ve overcome them. In the face of those obstacles – and many others – the real standard of living for Americans improved nearly seven-fold during the 1900s, while the Dow Jones Industrials rose from 66 to 11,497. Compare the record of this period with the dozens of centuries during which humans secured only tiny gains, if any, in how they lived. Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead.”

The picture is of my ring of rewards cards.  I went through a short period of getting them all, wherever I was offered them, unless it was a credit card in disguise.  Every once in a while I save a little.  It makes me feel better.

And finally, from the post title, I give you Shirley Temple.

[Video removed because the link no longer works.]

A friend of mine has a book coming out pretty much at the exact same time as mine does. I can’t attend her New York book reading because I’m going to be in Boston do a reading in the same night!  

But if you’re going to be in New York, you should go. She’s very smart, charming, funny and a great writer.  The book is Gimmie Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams.

Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Location: Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
Street: 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY

“In this engaging and personal look at the home-buying process, Williams takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster of fear and envy as she illuminates some of the market pressures that lie behind the nation’s current financial crisis.” — Booklist (starred review).

 
Starred reviews are hard to get!  Woohoo!!  Congratulations Mary Beth!

That’s my score for the day so far anyway.  Because of this sign someone put up on Perry Street. It made me laugh.  And I’m in a good mood and I don’t know why!

Balloons!  I’ve broken down and made appointments at:  the hair salon, the place where I get facials, and a pedicure.  I have to get up in front of people next month.  I really need to feel pretty.  Hey.  I forgot to buy myself flowers.  Stupid.  Well, tomorrow.