Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Vox: The mind-boggling scale of Disney World, The happiest place on earth, explained by the numbers. By Kim, additional reporting by DuRose, data visualization by Walters. Sep 18, 2023. Have been several times. Easier when I had family living in Florida. Most recently in 2003 (really?!?), I went to the Disney zoo when I was in Florida to interview Michael Poulin.

Guest Photo [NACHS Recovery Day 1]

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Part I. Yesterday. [The Things I Still Buy]

Part II.

I recently realized that I have not been to a tack shop in almost a year.

I was gonna to say years, plural. However, blog search tells me we bought our new hats last September and I bought my new jod boots July before that. [Tennessee Travels, Shopping], [Check Out My New Kicks]

Other than that, it’s been a while. I certainly don’t stop by on a whim these days. Part of it is not getting to town often, but I’m but not ordering online either.

Anyway.

The point is, there are many things I am not buying.

Not buying show clothes. I could use a new pair of saddle seat show jods. For one fancy show a year, I’ll get by with what I have. For the local shows, schooling jods. If I ever do start showing hunter/jumper/dressage/eventing, I will need new clothes. So many clothes.

Not buying tack. Neither tack I need, nor tack I think I need. Not replacing broken tack, nor chasing the latest fad.

Not buying yet another bit to try. Not buying color-coordinated saddle pads. Not buying the latest technical horse jumping boots.

Show costs are as low as one can get and still go in the show ring. [Buy]

Flat rate. No entry fees to the show. No bags of shavings. No buckets and hooks and plastic tape to mark same.

One-day shows. No hotels. No dinners. Not even lunch. We bring out our own.

Local shows. No need for trip treats. No major gas outlay. No wear & tear on the truck.

Mind you, I would be thrilled to have a happy reason to buy a blingy new bridle. I would love to be showing. I make no secret of that. Meanwhile, I’m trying to appreciate the respite to my bank account.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The issue is not new. Literary Hub: How the Humble Pocket Came to Signify Feminist Liberation, Carlson, September 12, 2023. Have read article, not book. Carly Brown: Madeira Mondays: Why 18th century pockets were pretty great. Illustrations. Hat tips to I & L.

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I recently realized that I have not been to a tack shop in ages.

Oh, we’ve been spending money on the horses, certainly, but at places such as feed stores and Tractor Supply.

I still buy horse stuff. Feed, hay, supplements, electrolytes, horse treats, yadda, yadda.

I still buy barn stuff. Recently bought floor mats for the run-in area. Now everyone has rubber under hoof rather than dirt. Those things are expensive! and heavy!

Also buckets. So many buckets. Milton now eats his hay out of a bright red (new, unused) muck bucket. Much less wasted hay and he gets to eat the alfalfa down to the dust. We bought a green one for Rodney. He kept dumping it over and we finally gave up. Now it is Milton’s back up hay bucket.

Plus water buckets. Feed buckets. More yadda.

I still pay for shows & lessons. Advantages to showing a school horse are that the cost is shared with other riders and the rate is a flat fee.

Tomorrow. The other side of the coin,

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. Abstract art with LEGO bricks. Katherine Duclos: Lego.

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Process Notes

Inspiration: A presentation by Aisha Changezi for the Washington Calligraphers Guild, specifically AC: Geometric Pattern.

At this point, what I have is more geometry than art, but an interesting start.

Onwards!
Katherine

Part I [Preliminary Material For A ‘Magic Is Among Us’ Plot]

Part II

So, magic is real. We all do it. We just call it luck, or a gift, or diligence.

As for my job? People suck.

Yes, yes. Good people exist. I know that, theoretically. It’s just that law enforcement tends to see people at their lowest point. Either perpetrators, or victims, or victims of a shitty situation that turned them into perpetrators.

It can mess with your head.

Okay, let me try again.

As for my job? People are people. Crime is crime. The intent is the same, only the methods change. Whether the illegal activity is magic or mundane, you ask the same question, Qui bono? Who benefits?

So far, so standard. Then, is the person using magic to achieve these nefarious ends? If they are, is it a conscious effort? You don’t need magic police in the first two instances. We only come in when criminals are knowingly grabbing hold of the levers of the universe and given them a tug.

It is said that crimes are committed for love or money. Well, 90% of magic crimes are committed for gain. Magic takes time and planning and steady application to task. Think bank robbery or art heist. Not compatible with spontaneous crimes of passion.

Magic is not fireballs and levitation and making things appear. That’s stage magic, and damn hard to do well. But I digress.

Magic is persuasion. Magic crime is the dice coming up sixes just a little too often. Magic crime is the guard being just that little bit inattentive on a particular night. Magic crime is the thumb on the scale of life.

What the difference between actually magic and people being persuasive dirtbags? It’s not always easy to tell.

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Awareness of the outside world. ASCE: Report Card for America’s Infrastructure & 2021 Report Card: Overview of Bridges.

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Walking Bridge
Cahaba River
Hoover AL, USA
September 2023

Technical Details

Bridge. f/16.0, 1/100 sec., 50.0 mm, ISO 400. Manual.

Railing. f/14.0, 1/100 sec., 18.0 mm, ISO 400. Manual.

River. f/11.0, 1/125 sec., 52.0 mm, ISO 400. Manual.

Post production. Resize, border, and watermark.

I managed to keep my bright red shirt out of the camera reflection but not the camera strap. I had the strap around my neck to keep the camera safe on the railing. A good meta picture is hard! [Creek]

Previous photography post [Hot Summer]

River posts [archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Science Matters, Academy of Animal Behavior: Research Bites. Hat tip to Amy, Dog Consultant Extraordinaire

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A while back, I talked about the dogs using the area outside the front door as their al fresco potty. Outside is good. The smell, not so much. [Finding The Stinky Silver Lining in Dog Ownership]

As Amy said on the subject, ‘dilution is the solution’. We use it a lot. Water dish contents get emptied to roll down the ramp. Since Jasmine likes her water changed often, it adds up. We also dump the water from the dehumidifier. You can imagine how much water gets pulled out of the air in a southern summer. Ergo, much rinsing. [Finding, comment], [Water Management, Dog Version]

One of the other things we do is dump gravel on the most used area. What? Everyone doesn’t have a large pile of gravel sitting in their backyard?

But seriously folks, several years ago we got a truckload of gravel for some barn repairs. There were leftovers. Having gravel on hand has been so useful over the years that when this runs out, we’ll get more.

So I go get a bucket’s worth & dump it at the base of the ramp. Voilà, drainage.

The downside is that over time, the layers of gravel had built up into hump. That wasn’t so bad. The problem was that the nasally-offending liquid was running off the side of the hump to pool near the ramp, rather than running away down the hill.

Dig up hump. Level the area. Spread new gravel, as flatly as possible. Pile fresh gravel off to the side as a mini-levee.

Success. Liquid now goes where it is supposed to.

Urinary engineer. That’s a new one.

Dog posts [archive]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Alabama New Center: Alabama State Black Chamber of Commerce holds conference in Birmingham, Kelly, 6.22.23. Meg’s photos inject action into what could be a visually dry subject.

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Caption: Behind the ears of a stellar dude.

When Rodney walks, he has thoughts. Many, many thoughts. Constantly. I have a bug on me. I have an itch. I want to follow Milton. I don’t want to follow Milton anymore. [The Morning Constitutional]

Rodney is that way about everything. Many, many thoughts. Plus reactive. Plus prone to sudden outbursts that make sense to him but seem random to the rest of us.

This is why I go over to Stepping Stone Farm and ride the kindest, quietest, most amenable school horse available.

Optimus is an awesome dude. Yet, at my most recent lesson, I could still feel part of myself, say 5%, braced for him to suddenly cavort across the ring. I know he won’t. I don’t believe.

Once again, I slipped in a lesson before a show. I had planned to take more than one lesson between the shows. August got away from me.

We rode & drove. Optimus was a star. I was beyond tired once I got home.

In other news, I realize Emotional Support Animal is a specific term that gets misused. I am employing it here to underline the emotional impact a lesson can have. I really, really feel better after a good ride.

Onwards!
Katherine