Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. YouTube: J t’accuse by Suzanne. Not an easy song. Which is the point. Translations available online. A video with English subtitles is on Instagram.

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Rodney got too much food. Again.

He’s an older horse, a hard keeper, and a selective eater. It’s a thin line between keeping weight on him and having the calories leak out his ears. This time, the rocket fuel was the hay.

Normally, he gets 80/20 alfalfa/timothy. Slightly cheaper and way easier to handle than 100% alfalfa. He refuses to eat anything lesser. He just pushes it around his plate.

The most recent batch had a lot of 80 (alfalfa) and very little 20 (timothy). It was bright, shiny green. Rodney could not contain himself. Cavorting during the morning walks. Not settling during grooming. Being way too big to be that goofy.

The fix was a few bales of 100% alfalfa that are less hi-test than the 80/20 due to the vagaries of when it was planted, where it was planted, how it grew, and so on, and so on.

Fortunately, Rodney recovers quickly once the inputs are adjusted.

Milton does not have these issues. He eats whatever is put in front of him.

Onwards!
Katherine

Comics of the outside world. The UK has one, LICAF: The UK Comics Laureate, as does the state of Vermont, CCS: Tillie Walden To Be Appointed Vermont’s Fifth Cartoonist Laureate. [People & Pets]

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Transcript

(Each square is an hour, time indicated by clock faces.)

Marginalia: Hourly Comics Day, 8 Feb 2026

Hour: before 6 am
Timestamp: 9:15
Symbol: wavy lines
Words: –
Activity: asleep

Hour: 6 am – 7 am
Timestamp: 9:15 am
Symbol: hoofprints
Words: –
Activity: morning horse walk

Hour: 7am – 8 am
Timestamp: 9:15 am
Symbol: sad face
Words: omitting pic of toilet, yr welcome
Activity: not feeling well

Hour: 8 am – 9 am
Timestamp: 9:15 am
Symbol: bed with arrow
Words: –
Activity: back to bed

Hour: 9 am – 10 am
Timestamp: 9:15 am
Symbol: bed with arrow
Words: again
Activity: getting up

Marginalia: Forgot! Oh its Sunday! That means now.
(Despite preparing in advance, I forgot that today was in fact Sunday. Didn’t recall until I went to pack up for the day. Oops. Caught up on first five squares.)

Hour: 10 am – 11 am
Timestamp: 10:02 am
Symbol: steering wheel
Words: Driving to lesson
Activity: what it says

Hour: 11 am to noon
Timestamp: 12:44 pm, did with below
Symbol: ears
Words: Goldy!
Activity: lesson at Rosewood

Hour: noon – 1 pm
Timestamp: 12:44 pm
Symbol: steering wheel
Words: Back in Truck
Activity: again, as advertised

Hour: 1 pm – 2 pm
Timestamp: 1:44 pm
Symbol: camera, glass
Words: Cahaba Brewery, Film Walk, Ginger Beer
Activity: Bham Film Walk assembled at Cahaba Brewery. I tried a ginger beer (NA). Pretty good.

Hour: 2 pm – 3 pm
Timestamp: 2:40 pm
Symbol: food, small container, 4 happy faces, one sad face
Words: quattro cheese flatbread, provolone, garlic ricotta, mozzarella, Gouda. Could’ve happily lived my life not knowing about spicy honey.
Activity: Lunch, cheese bread came with hot honey, as in spicy not as in heated. 😦

Hour: 3 pm – 4 pm
Timestamp: 3:08 pm
Symbol: steering wheels
Words: Back in truck again, This is why we don’t get out much lots of (small steering wheel)
Activity: heading home

Hour: 4 pm – 5 pm
Timestamp: 4:15 pm
Symbol: showerhead, couch
Words: Shower, Sofa, That was a long day for us
Activity: home & rest

Hour: 5 pm – 6 pm
Timestamp: – (within hour but forgot timestamp)
Symbol: dog face & football, small bed
Words: Puppy Bowl, & maybe a small nap
Activity: (clearly I cannot let something go undescribed)

Hour: 6 pm – 7 pm
Timestamp: – (ditto)
Symbol: cat face, notebook
Words: Time to feed & Make plans for next week
Activity: yup

Hour: 7 pm – 8 pm
Timestamp: 7:11
Symbol: grid & place setting
Words: Nightly Waffle & Dinner
Activity: Waffle is a game

Hour: 8 pm – 9 pm
Timestamp: 7:50 (done early bc bedtime)
Symbol: Bed with book & audio book
Words: … and so to bed
Activity: What can I say, I live a narrated life.

Process Notes

This year was way more fun than the last time I did this, back in 2021. [#hourlycomicday]

It also happened to be a day that we had things to do.

Things That Worked

+ Pre-made grid. Anything in a thick black lines was drawn before. Last time I did this, I started to feel that my main activity was drawing. So, I set this page up to be able to make make short hourly cartoons and then get on with my day.

+ A square for each hour.

+ Clock visuals, even though I also put a timestamp, when I remembered.

+ An activity from the hour, not all activities. Not aiming for comprehensive also helped a lot. More day; less thinking about day.

Things to Change for Next Year

– Clock hours on both sides of all boxes, even though that means duplication on the margins.

– Bigger boxes, slimmer margins, especially horizontal, smaller headers.

– Accept that there will be words.

Sausage Note

Photographed bc no scanner.

Belated post because last week was Mardi Gras and I had already bought the colored papers for the Sunday post on the Mardi Gras weekend. [Masu Boxes]

Chose not to do live bc I didn’t want to spend the whole day in front of a screen. Notebook was more mobile.

It feels pretentious to call this post Art. I thought about using Visual Story Telling, but that way leads to a proliferation of subheaders. It is art as in, Not a Horse Post.

Coda & Link

Many, many artists participate in Hourly Comics Day. I invite you to have a searchfest.

Onwards!
Katherine

Writing of the outside world. Origin story for A Year in Provence. Mayle moved to France to work on a novel. “Months later, he wrote his agent a long letter explaining his lack of progress on his fiction by detailing the tribulations of dealing with the French. ‘Do another 250 pages of that,’ his agent replied, ‘and I’ll find a publisher.’ “. The Guardian: Peter Mayle obituary, 2018.

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Achievement Unlocked! Anxiety dream about work.

This was a first. I’ve had anxiety dreams. I’ve had dreams where I’ve had to scream myself awake. I don’t think I have ever dreamt about work in any capacity.

I share this with you for two reasons.

One. For your amusement, because dreams are weird.

Two. In the hope that by exposing this hideous creation to daylight, it will turn to ash and blow away.

Setting. I had a phone interview earlier this month. The night before was restless. When I did sleep, my brain dropped this on me.

Enter dreamland …

I needed to take someone (person unspecified) to the airport before the interview. No problem. Everything all set. Standing at the ticket counter, we calculated that the flight for the (now present) third person, who turned out to be my college roommate(?), was several hours later. Because of the timing, I would not be back home for the interview. (Why couldn’t I leave her at the airport? I have no idea.)

… still in the dream …

I would have to conduct the interview from what was now the train station(?) without my notes. Do-able. I found something to write on. I found a quiet, distant corner of the waiting room, that was immediately occupied by a series of large, loud groups. (Because of course it was.)

… still in the dream …

Due to the futzing around, I was 8 minutes late to make the phone call. (I am not late. My writing may be pedestrian – professional evaluation – but I am reliable.) The person answered, along with their adult child(?) on a conference call(?). The call immediately fritzed. My phone began all manner of digital gymnastics. The answer was to reset with control-alt-delete. Since it was a phone, this was not possible.

… still in the dream …

I was then treated to, subjectively, 20 minutes of madly pressing buttons on my phone, chanting … no … no … no … and watching the clock on the wall sweep inexorably forward.

… wake up.

So restful.

Onwards!
Katherine

Videography of the outside world. AP News: The cameraman who skates backward to capture Olympic triumph and defeat, Barry, February 16, 2026.

~~~

Fortune’s Filigree
Schleich: Limited-Edition Lunar New Year Horse

A new blog photo personality. Bought from the same breeding program as Spotted. [Spotted in Boston]

I don’t know how much action Filigree will see. Spotted is mostly retired these days. I have less need for a stand-in. “In the past, Spotted had been my excuse for including whatever I wanted in the blog … Now, I just randomly stuff whatever I want in the blog.” [Spotted At The Quilt Store]

Wishing you a spirited but rideable Year of the Horse.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Boston.com: New England Aquarium builds retirement home for aging penguins, Rousseau 2025. Hat tip G.

~~~

Which discipline?

The Story I Tell, First Iteration

Saddle seat was always meant to be a temporary fix.

Coach Courtney has known this from the beginning. [Suiting Up] 2013

“If I could jump, I’d drop y’all like a bowl of warm potato salad.” [Conflicts] 2017

debandtoby asked: “With all this saddle seat riding, do you think you’re going to get back to hunter shows or eventing?” My response: “I would drop saddle seat in a heartbeat if I had a horse to jump.” [Getting Ready For Showing, comments] 2024

Whenever I say this, Coach Courtney simply smiles and tells me when the next show is.

She is not wrong.

The Story I Tell, Second Iteration

Awhile back, I was at the barn. Someone asked that since I did different disciplines, which was my favorite?

I gave my standard answer. Potato salad.

Then I ended with – as always I do – that Coach Courtney knows this and just tells me when the next show is.

As I was saying “… when the next show is”, Coach Courtney walked by. She added, ” … and I’ll see you there.”

She is not wrong.

Which Discipline?

Pourqoui pas los dos?

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Lent I know about. Ramadan, not so much. (Old Farmer’s) Almanac: Ramadan 2026: When is Ramadan? What is Ramadan? Boeckmann, February 5, 2026.

~~~

Weekly lessons with schoolhorse/schoolmaster Goldy. [The Lessons Continue]

In the last week, we ticked minor milestones.

+ Cantered a course of poles.

+ Jumped a fence at .65 meters, which is the lowest height offered in jumper classes.

+ Did some elementary gridwork.

It’s progress.

It’s frustrating.

While I may not have been a brilliant jump rider, I had my moments. Those are the times I remember. [Bucket List – Accomplished]

I have to remind self that its been a minute or two since I was jumping regularly, and it’s going to take longer than I want to get back to where I was.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Paris 2024, “For the first time, a family zone was introduced in the Olympic Village to support athletes with caregiving responsibilities.” Olympics.com: Gender equality through time.

~~~

Morning walks in the pasture are back up to five laps! That’s the good news. Bad news, or less good news, is that it takes me most of the morning to recover from same. It has been a winter y’all! [Back At It]

One morning of lunging. Hissy fits were had by all. Horses who didn’t want to walk All! By! Themselves! Horses who didn’t want to work while the rest of the herd was All! The! Way! Over! There! Actually, lunging is overstating it. Being asked to move in a few circles while the other horse does a lap or two.

The cookie monsters of the barn have gradually introduced a stop for treats at each end of the lap. I now require a pocket full of cookies for a 20+ minute walk in hand. I do not believe in this flagrant flinging of cookies. Yet, here we are.

Onwards!
Katherine