Stacy Horn

I went to the library today and ran into the Veteran’s Day Parade. I didn’t even know it was Veteran’s Day. This small clip does not give a sense of the never ending sea of soliders there were. They went on for miles up 5th Avenue, but my view was blocked, so turned I back and focused on the guys in front of me. Made me want to cry. The world is a mess and still I do nothing. Some pictures follow the video.

This shot was from the library (which was closed, duh, how do I get through my life).

This is looking up 5th. That must be St. Patrick’s a few blocks up on the right.

– My friend Jonathan is in Florida, beginning his book tour. His first novel, Precious Blood, just came out.

– Ruby is also in Florida, on my dream vacation. I’m very jealous. She’s kayaking on some swampy river somewhere.

– Rachel just had a baby boy named Ezra.

– Marisa and I want to a sample sale yesterday.

– Howard is finishing up a million books, and not one of them will have a monkey on the cover, thank God.

– Marianne’s birthday is tomorrow. She is 1,202 years old. And teeny.

– Charles was in West Virginia, but I’m not sure where he is now. Connecticut, maybe?

– Chris has a teenage son living with her.

– Oh. I got an invite to an ITP event that looks fun. ITP is the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU where I went to grad school.

– That’s my mother and a friend, taken on East 28th Street in Brooklyn, sometime in the early 40’s, I’m guessing.

I wasn’t at all familiar with the Renaissance composer Palestrina before our conductor introduced us to him, but he is now my new favorite composer. We’re just doing one Palestrina piece, but as always, I love it. The Mozart mass is gorgeous, of course. Plus we’re doing two pieces from Handel’s Messiah and a couple of traditional carols. It should be a lovely holiday musical experience, if you enjoy that kind of thing, holiday music experiences. We’re also very good-looking.

Here’s Buddy. Showing me his belly. As in, “Look how pathetically empty this belly is, woman. Feed it. No, I will not move off your work first. Are you kidding me? Food first. Then move-age.”

Dagnabit! (Is that how you spell dagnabit, you think?) I didn’t see that Justin was looking down!

Oh well. Dagnabit. I’m watching my language in case Justin is reading this. HI JUSTIN!! He beat me at Operation. That’s a hard game. Was it always so hard??

My friends Gary and Diana (pictured) had me over for brunch today. Thank you!! They live in Hoboken. My new favorite city. LOVED Hoboken. It felt a little bit like the Village where I live, a little bit like Brooklyn, and New Orleans and also a little European at moments. It just had a good feel the minute I stepped out of the train station. Brooklyn is like that. The minute I get there I feel good.

Bizarrely, even though I spent a couple of years researching a murder there, I want to live on State Street in Brooklyn. Once again, I just loved the feel. Whenever I was there I felt good. Here’s what I wrote about State Street in my book:

“Every year, for the past ten years, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has held a contest for the Greenest Block in Brooklyn. The block where Jean Sanseverino was murdered won first place in both 1998 and 1999, prompting the contest organizers to make the rule that no block can win two years in a row. ‘From a horticultural and aesthetic perspective, that block is one of the most beautiful blocks in New York, not just Brooklyn,’ says Ellen Kirby, from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. One block west, purple and blue hydrangeas grow in front of suspect Bill Miller’s place. One block east, the building where suspect Joe Moore had a room is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. To rent a studio apartment anywhere on this stretch of State Street would run you $1,000 a month now. But State Street was likely always lovely, even in the worst times. The neighborhood looks elegant in the crime scene photographs taken outside Jean’s building. A Native American reminiscing about State Street, which used to have a large Mohawk population, called it the most beautiful place in the world. There is something almost magical about the block where Jean once lived.”