On My Mind, Miscellaneous Thoughts
Happy with the blog. Not planning to change. Am looking for advice on interesting adventures for occasional variety. The following is a combination of topics and techniques, as they occurred to me.
Require Action By Others
Guest Post – hosting. Yes, please. I have pressed friends, family, and total strangers into writing posts. To know me is to get drag into the gravitational vortex of the blog. I have an open invitation in the header of the blog, above. I joke that I like not having to do the typing for a day, which is true. Really it’s all about hearing other people’s stories.
Guest Posting – writing. Meh. Sounds too much like work. Seriously, that’s what I get paid to do. I guest posted for New York Cliché, New York Cliché, Guest Post: Born and Raised a New York Native….But Now?, and was tickled [In Which I Reblog Myself]. Statistical probability would allow for the existence of other places wherein I would write for free. None come to mind at the moment.
Illustration. Would love to work with an illustrator. Not sure how that would work with daily posting. Expenses could rack up quickly.
Blogger meet-ups. Another ‘Yes, please.’ Given the frequency that I fail to haul my ass off the farm, horse shows would be the best bet. Unfortunately, there are vanishingly few ASB bloggers out there. If you are a saddle seat blogger and show in the Southeast, come say Hi at the next show. I’m with Stepping Stone Farm. Otherwise, this one will have to wait for hunter/jumper, dressage, or eventing. Lots of bloggers in those disciplines. Not sure how many are in the Southeast.
Contests & Give-Aways. Historically, I have proven horrible about picking a winner. I end up giving the prize to everyone. Not a sustainable model.
Collaborations. With other bloggers. With other creatives. With a puppeteer? An electrical engineer? ?????
Could Do On My Own
Post my novel. Get a publish contract and a movie deal. It worked for John Scalzi with Agent To The Stars (novel), 10 Years On (print release) & 20 Years On (online novel), and for Andy Weir with The Martian (novel & movie), How a Series of Blog Posts Turned into a Multi-million Dollar Bestseller. Need to write it first.
Model Horse Show. Rumors of one coming to my area, Central Alabama Live model horse show. We have established that I have not done the background work to show my own string [What Happens at a Model Horse Show?]. Volunteer? It’s likely to be a Saturday and those get spoken for quickly.
Participate in Photo Shows. I could. I haven’t [M is for MEPSA]. Clearly the mood has not struck me.
More Low-Key Photo Challenges. It’s on the list, as I find likely subjects. [Low Key Photo Challenge, Holiday]
Back-Burner Ideas. Along with model horses & photography, there is still stamps & LEGO bricks. Not sure what to do with either of these, but the interest is still there. Also, graphic design & books. Ditto.
Book Reviews. Meh. Been there. Done that. Keeping up with what upcoming books takes far longer that one might expect. Not ruling out commentary on a random book that catches my fancy. As I’ve said elsewhere, I do not need more books to read nor any prompting to buy books.
Blog Hops. I do them when the topic strikes my a chord [What Makes You, You? A Blog Hop.] Generally, I don’t have trouble thinking of things to say. (Yeah, yeah. Anyone who knows me IRL can stop chortling now.)
Research and Write About X. Meh. Again, work. Plus, I need excuses to get out of the house. I spend enough time on my posterior staring at a keyboard as is. No, I’ve never learned to touch type. OTOH, I’m generally composing as I type. Brain speed and finger speed are approximately equivalent.
Go Places. Do Things. Write About Them. More this style of thing. A western lesson? Find out about the Alabama State Horse? ?????
Problems
Access. Without a magazine or widely-read blog behind me, I am reluctant to bother people. They deserve a return on their investment.
Time Considerations. I don’t calculate how much time I spend on the blog. I don’t want to know. I tell myself an hour a day. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. This is one reason I am eliminating any repeat projects. So, an adventure needs to be interesting in its own right for me to devote extra time to posting about it. An adventure would have to be hella interesting for me to make it a regular feature. Such activities exist. I don’t know what they are [What I Want From My Blog].
So I’m asking you. Hit me with your ideas.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 
The Alabama State Horse is the Racking Horse. Tidbit from my never-to-be published book. If anyone is interested in state horses/equine stuff, let me know and I’ll put it on my blog.
I call dibs on stamps, even tho I haven’t gotten round to it yet. One of Chief’s (my last horse) ancestors is on a Polish postage stamp.
You can’t touch type? That’s amazing considering all the writing you do. My dad (professional writer/editor his whole working life) said being able to compose as you type, which I can do, is a gift, as most people have to write stuff down before they sit at the typewriter. Before arthritis and a broken wrist, I typed over 100 words a minute, composting as I went. But not with this keyboard. I doesn’t fit my hands. I wish I could afford to get a new one. I wish Staples had keyboards on display at a level I could at least see!
Lego trivia would be cool, especially if you put in lots of pictures, LOL. Review the new Lego movie.
I’m going to go back and look at all the links in this post.
Speaking of Staples, when I was looking for a dual-temp hot glue gun I couldn’t find it at any of the big-box craft stores near me. Found it at Staples (which for some reason is now carrying fine art supplies, in competition with the Michael’s arts&crafts in the same center). When I was looking for a simple, inexpensive trash bin for my kitchen, Bed Bath & Beyond only had fancy ones at unGodly prices. Found what I needed at Staples. And as it was supposed to come with a lid, and they didn’t have any lids, they gave it to me for half price.
I’m trying to start a Horse Stamp Study Group with the ATA, but can’t get any traction.
What can I do to help? I don’t belong to the ATA anymore, but will join if that will help. A very exclusive group – just you and me, LOL.
I have no idea what is involved with a Study Unit (Group, whatever), nor do I have the desire to drive the project. I was hoping to get a bunch of folks enthused & then flit around the edges collecting blog posts. If you want to take over, go for it.
I’ll work on it.