Stacy Horn

This morning I gave the keynote address for a conference titled: Cold Case Homicide Investigations: Methodology and Protocol, Juvenile Homicide Applications. I was invited by Dave Chortle of the Anne Arundel County States Attorney Office and the Mid-Atlantic Cold Case Homicide Investigators Association. The conference was also hosted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Cold Case Homicide Unit (NCIS), and the Magloclen Organization.

I had such a great time. Now I’m thinking it was a mistake not to have stayed for a couple of days of the conference. Everyone was so nice and interesting and how can you not love people who do everything they can to solve the murders of children?

I believe these people marching are called Plebes. My father is a graduate of Annapolis. I’ve never been there and it was kinda cool to go and to give a speech there. Thank you so much for inviting me, Dave! It was an honor, and you were a great host. And thank you Mike and Len for your help getting me there and helping me set up.

My friend Rebecca and I went to visit Mary, who loves cats as much as I do. This is Mary with Darcy. I fell in love with Darcy and almost kidnapped him. But Mary was onto me and kept an eye on Darcy, so no go with the kidnapping.

I am at a crossroads in my life. This feeling has been building. Last month when I put together the list of what I would do with the next ten years of my life, it felt empty. Nothing on it was what I really needed to do. I have to change my life, I’ve decided.

This might be the real midlife crisis (I thought I went through one at 40). I’ve been talking to all my friends. I think most of them get it. I’ve done most of the things I wanted to do with my life. And I’ve maneuvered my life so that most of what I do is exactly what I want to do. That should feel great, and it doesn’t feel bad, but it does feel kinda pointless.

Rebecca, a successful architect, just quit her job and went back to school to become a neo-natal nurse.

So, I think I have to change my life, too. Except for the writing part. That part feels JUST fine, thank you, and I will do that as long as I possibly can.

And it’s not too hot! The window in front of me is open, there’s a real breeze. That’s Buddy and Finney laying about under my chair at my desk. God, they’re cute. What’s up for this weekend:

– Brunch with some friends.
– Practice Annapolis speech.
– Work on Duke book.
– Gym at some point.
– Movie at some point. That reminds me, see Little Miss Sunshine. GO. Trust me.
– Figure out new career. I seem to be going through a second mid-life crisis and feel the need to re-vamp my life. I’ll talk about this in another post, but I’m open to suggestions.

Missing Photo! A photograph was here! Don’t know where it went!

It’s so hot I can’t sit at my desk, even though the air conditioner hasn’t been turned off in three days. That’s my desk, with the curtains drawn, also for three days straight. The only place that’s bearable is on the couch, in front of the air conditioner. It’s insane.

I’m so glad I got past my reluctance to change and upgrade things. I’m sitting comfortably on my couch with my Powerbook, on a wireless network, with my digital camera, which took the picture of my desk, which I uploaded in seconds to my blog (can’t upgrade the blog software, alas, but that’s a $$$ issue) and I’ve got my HDTV running the non-stop, hell-in-a-handbasket news, oh! It’s one of the PC guy and MAC guy commercials! I love these. AND! I just got email from my British editor congratulating me on my publication day (for the UK paperback)!

Life is good. For a moment here and there. Fuck. IT’S A TRICK. Isn’t it? The universe is messing with me.

Update, 3:25PM. Finney joins me on the couch. Rumsfield is on CNN, so I have to turn the channel. Ugh. Jennifer Lopez on another channel, can’t stand her. Oh good, Rumsfield’s gone. Back on CNN. Hello little Finney. Thank you for joining me on the couch.

This is Gaither Pratt and Hubert Pearce. Gaither was a scientist, and pretty much the second-in-command at the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory. Hubert Pearce was the best ESP subject they ever found. Look at them. They are 22 and 27 in this photo. So serious. They’re just starting out in their lives. Both wanted to become ministers at one point. Gaither changed his mind, but Hubert did go on to become a Methodist minister in Arkansas.

And both are now dead. I can never meet them. But I’ve been writing about what they were like for the past month or so. It’s insane when you think about it. I’ve been searching through various archives to find film footage of them, but so far I haven’t turned anything up. But I am in touch with their children, who have been helping. I was just emailing with Gaither’s daughter Ellen last night. And I have talked to a bunch of people who knew them. But still. It’s weird. Luckily, there are a lot of records, tons of letters. I can immerse myself in the correspondence and get a feel for what they were like, and their relationships with other people.

I rescheduled my library visit yesterday. It was just too hot. It would have made an enjoyable thing not fun. I want to go when I can enjoy myself. But this weather is getting to me. I’m doing another fun thing tonight, I’m being interviewed on a BBC show about the cold case book, but right now I’m dreading getting on the subway and going uptown. I’m going to get there early to give myself a chance to cool down before the interview.