Virtual Brush Box

Photos of the outside world. Photo.com: Shadows, 2025 contest winners.

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Porch railings in the sun.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Equisearch: Equine by Design: Top Equestrian Designers, The stories behind some of equestrian fashion’s top ‘designing women.’ May 21, 2008. Note date. History rather than current events.

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My new banquet shirt by Arista Equestrian.

I had two in the same style. I gave them away because they were riding shirts & I wasn’t using them. [OOTD, Selfie Photography] 2024 & [Annual Outfit of the Day] 2025

This year, I wore my old/previous banquet shirt. [Winter Tournament Banquet] 2014

The neckline did not work with the undergarment. There was a time – the Madonna era? – when bra straps were trendy. I have no idea if this is still the case or not. Either way, I don’t like it. In the past, I have worn a turtleneck. Or pinned the straps perhaps? Either way, I forgot. I am likely to forget again next year. So I got a shirt. It is the same riding shirt as 2025, in a different color. Since this is specifically designated a banquet shirt, I will keep it even if I don’t wear it until then.

Sounds like a lot of shirts, but this may be the only clothing I have bought in the last three years. I exaggerate, but not by much. I have profligacies. What I wear is not one of them.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Earth Day today. Earthday.org: 5 Things You Didn’t Know, You Didn’t Know, by Attiyah Abdul-Amin, August 12, 2024. Scroll down to Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away. Article links to UN: PRZEWALSKI’S HORSES RETURN TO CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN AFTER NEARLY 200-YEAR ABSENCE. Read on after press release ends. Article refers to the horses as Kertagy. I have also heard Takhi. “In Mongolia they’re called takhi, and in Kazakhstan they’re called the kertagy or the kerkulan.” Horse Nation: Summer School: The Last Wild Horses, Ronan, July 18, 2024.

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Goldy
Rosewood Farm
11 April 2026

Work In Progress

Approaching the jump. I waver between too going slow or getting it right but overriding. I don’t actually have to override, but my brain/body thinks I do. Same with my hands. I give too much because I don’t want to pull. I need to find the midpoint, sweet spot, balance, happy medium, etc. Per Coach Deana, hold is not pull.

When said that way, it seems obvious. I’m learning. In the moment, it can feel like flailing.

OTOH, using the turning I learned in my driving lesson helped my turns under saddle. Imagine that.

Milestone

Jumped bigger oxer! Didn’t ride at it with authority but sat up & supported while Goldy did his thing. Points as co-pilot.

Legion of Lessons

Four in a row.
Wednesday 8 April – H/J
Thursday 9 April – ASB
Friday 10 April – ASB Driving
Saturday 11 April – H/J

It worked out that way due to the schedules involved. Not the plan. Not sustainable. I’m not sure what the plan is. No idea what this year will look like. Rodney is pretty much permanently retired. I need to get on top of the new horse project. I would very much like to be able to ride without having to have a lesson about it.

Some of plan needs to include riding regularly. My position felt noticeably weaker on day 4. Some of the plan needs to include increased cardio. Ran out of puff partly through a short course. Not hugely, but I could feel my physical concentration ebbing.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. CotH: Turkmenistan: Land Of The Akhal Teke, Stephanie Sears, March 28, 2011. Note date.

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On the theory that tiny steps are still steps. Here’s the latest horse shopping activity.

Tiny Step One

We made a small inquiry about a horse. Didn’t go any farther than that. Too far away to pop over to check out.

Bottom line, too young and probably too much horse for what we want right now. There has been enough hopes and dreams and drama with the two in the backyard. We just wanna have fun with a low-key, probably older, horse who enjoys his job.

Each time you learn something

Tiny Step Two

Coach Deana mentioned a horse that goes by a human name. Same human name as husband. That wouldn’t get confusing at all.

Horse is a Warmblood and costs more than all of my horses put together, not even adjusted for inflation. I don’t see myself with a Warmblood. As for the sticker shock, that’s something we will probably have to adjust to. Previous Horse was off the track & Mathilda was out of a pasture. Finding treasures in the bargain bin skews the average.

Each pass refines the search parameters.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. There is an association for everything, National Hay Association, the national trade association for the U.S. hay industry. There is a museum for everything, The National Agricultural Center ​and Hall of Fame, Chartered by Congress in 1960 to serve as the national agriculture museum and memorial to farming leaders.

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Horses humming along. Please and thank you. Meanwhile, one from the vaults.

Country style means finding hay scraps in your pocket.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. Currently reading (codex), True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color–from Azure to Zinc Pink by Kory Stamper (Knopf 2026). Publisher’s page. Author’s website.

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Colors: Ultramarine, Vermilion, Watermelon, Xanadu, Yellow, Zebra.

Color Commentary: Ultramarine & zebra are self-explanatory. Vermilion sampled from article, Merriam Webster: 10 Words for Uncommon Colors. Watermelon repeated from previous alphabet. The color can be red, pink, black, white, or various greens. X hex code from Art in Context: Xanadu Color – Exploring the Uniquely Named Xanadu Green, Lewis 2023. Yellow is also a repeat, because not much else to do with Y. [Fractal Alphabet W & Fractal Alphabet Y]

Project Description [Colorwork Alphabet Introduction]

Project Archive [Colorwork Alphabet]

Onwards!
Katherine

Words of the outside world. Currently reading (ebook), Across the Universe, The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle, by Natan Last (Pantheon 2025). Publisher’s page. Author’s website

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American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
April 10-12, 2026
Virtual

A play-by-play

Before

Haven’t done a NYT crossword since I boycotted the NYT in April 2025. [It’s All Outside World Today]

Did a few online puzzles but our wifi is slow enough that the reaction time gets annoying.

So, basically, going in cold.

Friday Evening

Warm-up puzzles on my desktop. Artemis splashdown on my phone.

Saturday

I was doing the puzzles virtually, which meant I had the choice to do them at the same time as the IRL folks or go back and do them later. In either case, I had to abide by the given time limit for each puzzle.

Morning. Lesson.

Afternoon. Started with puzzle #4 live. Clean, 78 words, 187 boxes.

While I waited, I went back for puzzle #1. Clean, 76 words, 189 boxes.

Puzzle #5 live. Got the theme. Five words left blank. Two boxes wrong. That’s pretty good for the traditional tournament stumper that is puzzle 5. I might have gotten it with more time, which is better than the no hopers of other years. OTOH, Shortz did say this was was easier, for a puzzle 5 definition of easier.

Puzzle #6 Live. Clean, 118 words, 301 boxes.

Pause for horses.

Back to do 2 & 3.

Puzzle #2. Clean, 96 words, 211 boxes.

Puzzle #3 Clean, 116 words, 300 boxes.

Evening. Entertainment

Sunday

Puzzle #7 live. Clean. 145 words, 384 boxes.

More entertainment. Prizes awarded. Finals live. Continues to be oddly riveting to watch people solve crossword puzzles very fast.

My Results

Puzzles 1-4 and 6-7. 100%.
Puzzle 5 was 5.

Remarkably consistent results given that I haven’t crossed more than a handful of words since last year’s tournament.

What is this fixation with puzzle #5? Its a thing.

From 2023, Constructor’s notes for puzzle 5. Reposted from [Almost Flawless, American Crossword Puzzle Tournament 2023]

And then there’s Puzzle 5. The evil, evil Puzzle 5. The impasse to any and all positive solving momentum up to that point. It’s designed to be truly impenetrable on purpose, to separate the elite solvers from the rest of the pack. Think a Thursday-plus-plus theme gimmick combined with Saturday-plus-plus cluing. Oh, and you have only 30 minutes to finish the whole thing. The vast majority of solvers come nowhere close.

This Puzzle Is a Battle, Sam Ezersky, The New York Times [April 19, 2023]

This year #5 was about same as 2024 “I probably could have finished with more time.” [Weekend of Words]

In 2023, “My notes for puzzle 5 – Why is this even fun?” [Almost Flawless]

Bits & Pieces

Thought. Puzzle #1. Clue: This day and age. Answer: MODERN ERA. For the folks living at the time, it is always the modern era.

Same clue, words vary. Puzzle #1. Clue: Prohibit. Answer. BAR. Had Ban. Caught by cross. Interesting that ban & bar have the same number of letters and would both fit. OTOH, that is probably not a mistake.

SC,WV. Puzzle #2. Clue: Blue expanse. Answer: SEA. Also, sky.

Entertainments and livestream interviews available on YouTube: ACPT.

Archives [ACPT and Crossword Puzzles]

Onwards!
Katherine