Stacy Horn

I was just reading a little bit from a Times article.  I think it said that people around you, who are not necessarily close to you, like your neighbors or friends of friends, can effect your mood as much as your spouse?  It seems insane, but I kinda bought it.  Yesterday I was going nuts trying to find this second gift for the New York Cares kid and I found it at a Ride Aid drugstore, of all places.  I couldn’t reach it so someone who works there got it for me, but then we couldn’t get it to work, and so she went to get someone.

Seconds later I figure it out and I go to get her.  I was so happy to have found the thing, she didn’t even know they carried it and she was happy too because she was going to get one for her kid (an electronic keyboard for children which comes with a mic, which was also on sale).  I don’t know, we both had our own reasons for being happy in that moment and the good mood was infectious. Now, that’s not news, it’s only news that they’re claiming that happiness is more contagious than we thought.  I loved this quote in the article, “Emotions have a collective existence — they are not just an individual phenomenon.” (From Harvard Medical School physician and social scientist Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis, an author of the study.)  Here’s the article if you’re curious.

This picture is a still from a movie I took at the Municipal Archives the other day.  Maybe I should upload the movie.  It’s really short.

I got my child’s letter from New York Cares and just what I feared might happen is happening—I can’t find what the child wants. [Backstory: New York Cares has a program called Winter Wishes where you get a child’s letter to Santa and agree to buy the gifts.] I went all the way up to Toys R Us in Times Square, the biggest toy store I think, but no go. I got his first choice gift though, so it’s not the end of the world. I have a few places to try this afternoon.

Here’s a picture of the scary Toys R Us monster who skulks around in the doorway.  If I was a kid I’d run screaming from this thing.  It’s like seven feet tall.  And orange.

The real reason I got this advent calendar was to cover some unsightly marks on the wall made by my chair that I can’t remove. I’ve actually worn a hole into the sheetrock!

That said, I love an advent calendar, although even as a child I was always disappointed by what was behind the windows. The drawings were never wondrous or fun enough.  I don’t know what I expected, or continue to expect, but something better. Drawings of fantastic creatures that don’t exist but are somehow Christmas-y?

I still love their sparkly promise, I can’t resist.  And never give up apparently. Check out this different kind of advent calendar.

Back from the dentist.  God I’m glad that’s over with.  Nothing but good stuff to look forward to for the rest of the week.  (The work this dentist did on my tooth though, it’s a work of art.  I didn’t really get a look at it until I got home. Gorgeous.)

I took this picture because I love tiny alleys.  This is so small, maybe it doesn’t even count as an alley.  Maybe it’s just “the space between two buildings.” Except I think a person can fit in there, so I’m pretty sure that means it counts as an alley.

Just a reminder that someone else is always having a worse day.  I saw this sign yesterday on Hudson.  Isn’t that sad?  Very cute little dog.  Losing a pet is the worst.  Loss.  It’s bad.  Not having in the first place is no picnic either, I can tell you.  Ahhh, yeah. Sigh.  Obama is our next president, Obama is our next president.  (I chant this whenever I need to cheer myself up.)

Also, if people would like to do something nice for a nice friend of mine, please go here and vote for The AM Law Daily.