Virtual Brush Box

Photos from the outside world. NYT: The World Through a Lens. I don’t think it is pay-walled, but I don’t always understand where the NYT draws their lines.

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Beeswax Creek flowing toward the Coosa River
Beeswax Creek Park
Shelby County Alabama USA
September 2023

Technical Details

Creek. f/18.0, 1/250 sec., 80.0 mm, ISO 400. Manual & auto-focus.

Post production. Resize, border, and watermark. Also cropped this time.

Meh. The image is nice but blah. I can’t even count it as a river pic. The green wall is a promontory of the park, rather than the opposite shore of the river. An overly optimistic reading of Google maps lead me to believe that I would have a line of sight to the river from here.

Oh, well.

As with the first Beeswax Creek photo, “Maybe getting out and about is enough of a result for now.” [Photo Safari The First, Beeswax Creek Park]

Previous photography post [Pedestrian Bridge]

River posts [archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Coach Kate went undercover in mini-world and brought back this report. Welcome Coach Kate!

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The 2023 Shetland Pony Congress had something for everyone, almost. There was daily free food (donuts, pizza, tacos, BBQ), there was daily kid-friendly entertainment (arts and crafts projects, ice cream sundaes, movies) there was shopping (jewelry, dog supplies, two mobile tack shops, Shetland Pony show merch, silent auction treasures), there was music, oh, and there were hundreds of ponies, in all shapes, sizes, and colors. As a show-competitor of only “regular” sized equines, I did feel a tiny bit like I was trespassing on their party. But I should have known, if you are willing to hold a horse for someone (whatever size) or straighten a rein or retrieve a dropped ribbon, you’ll be adopted pretty quickly!

This year’s Shetland Pony (ASPR) Congress ran Monday to Saturday, July 24-29 in Lake St Louis, Missouri, with 482 classes spread from 8 am to midnight many of the six nights. Many halter classes, lots of driving, some jumping, some obstacles, some riding, and several costume classes.

I went out to help groom for my good friend Patti Wolf, from Ivanhoe, TX and her mare “Derby”. They were competing in the Classic Carriage Driving division. Now carriage driving is something I actually feel competent to help with. Interest in carriage driving within the ASPR has been growing. Uniquely different from many of the other ASPR driving classes, in that the turnout should be more appropriate for safely and smartly getting around town/down the road, rather than knocking your socks off with big action, or possibly running into the next county if driven outside of a ring. This year the carriage division started with 14 turnouts.

As of Wednesday night, Patti had two firsts, a second, and sixth (she says the sixth was due to driver error).

Here are a sampling of pictures from the show.

Patti and Derby.

The jumping was impressive – a course of 6 fences, with several set over the ponies heads…

The costumes were elaborate, with whole families dressed to a theme – there’s a pony carrying this full-sized shed (meant to be Dorothy’s Kansas house).

Assorted weanling classes were a semi-controlled chaos.

Kids had their own classes for showmanship skills

There was even “Western” driving – giving competitors an option for showing their Shetlands that naturally move with a flat topline and knees.

I had a blast, and I think I’ll be allowed back next year.

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Awareness of the outside world. TYWKIWDBI: Theater surveillance of the audience, 16 September 2023.

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Short Version

Consider adding an identifier to an anonymous comment.

Long Version.

Several readers who I know IRL (waves hi!) have told me that WordPress is being inconsistent about comments, making more of them anonymous recently.

Sometimes I can tell the author from the content of the message. Other times, not so much. It gets harder when there are more anon comments.

Help desk tells me that one of my options is to turn off anonymous comments, requiring people to leave their name, etc. I find this cumbersome when commenting on other blogs. Also, I am not – so far – deluged with spam, which is the main reason they recommend doing this.

So, I’m going to leave the settings as they are. However, I still would like to know who you are.

If WordPress is posting the comment as anon, may I recommend identifying yourself in the body of the text, at the end? Name. Initials. Online avatar. A personal signifyer that you and I will understand.

Examples.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Katherine

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. KTW

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Virtual Brush Box

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. LSA Arles

Background

Since I use the free version, WordPress.com instead of the more flexible WordPress.org, I don’t have much control over what WP chooses to do.

Since all I put up is text and a few photos, there’s not much I want or need to customize.

Since I had bad luck the last time I tried to change, I am dubious. [Branding Without Having A Brand]

My workarounds may be awkward, but the blog is at equilibrium for the moment. [Rodney’s Storage]

Unless it gets bad for folks, I’m going to leave the house of cards the way it is.

Onwards!
Katherine

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.

~~~ curtain ~~~