Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Travel Advisory, “Level 4 – Do not travel.” Travel.State.Gov: Russia. For perspective, “Terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in the US.” Gov.UK: USA>Safety and Security.

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“Seventy-five percent of an experience was better than never having the experience.” [Going Virtually]

I was having a text exchange about The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (waves hi!). Given the state of the world, IRL tourism is not an option. So, I got to wondering what was online. Here’s what I found. Thought you might be amused.

The main site for The Hermitage includes a page of Virtual Visits, listing collections of panoramas, including The Manege and Stables of the Imperial Residence. 1846–2025, six panoramas with information tags.

There is at least one long YouTube tour. However, art museums are not my thing, so I did not watch it and cannot attest to the quality. Easy enough to find if you are interested.

A short post that I enjoyed, Rick Steves Blog: The Hermitage Museum. You may also be interested in the sidebar link to Comrades No More. I continue to be an unexpected fan of Mr. Steves. [Cairo Travel, Confession]

Since the TV shows are available online, RS: Watch, I looked to see if there was one on St. Petersburg. No. A post on reddit discussed possible reasons, which boiled down to permits &/or business model. r/ricksteves: Why has Rick never made an episode for Russia, Belarus, Serbia, or Ukraine.

In general, I am fascinated by the extent to which you can bring the world into your living room. I have joined live walking tours, taken hybrid classes, and livestreamed multiple horse shows. And this is me out in the boonies with video that is only slightly faster than carrier pigeon. I can only imagine what is possible at high speed.

In some ways, it has been an evolution from telegraph to radio to television to digital chose your own adventure. Imagine what could be next. Interactive livestream where we can choose which horse to follow? I have heard the theory that science fiction lost market share to fantasy when it became clear that we were not getting hovercars and robot butlers. We foresaw the wrong things coming.

Speaking of things we didn’t see coming.

A forum message came up in my search, RS Travel Forum: Private guide for Hermitage. In the message, a person is looking forward to visiting St. Petersburg at the end of April. The message is dated 2/07/20. We really had no idea the size of the rock that was rolling down on us. [Exploring The Rabbit Hole]

Name not redacted since it is a publicly-posted forum.

This all started as a conversation that I had no intention of blogging. However, possible blog posts are never far from my mind. To know me is to be blog material. I will never reveal personal data without asking. Everything else is fair game.

“5. Use everything. My friends find text from my emails reappearing on posts.” [10 Tips for Daily Blogging 2012]

“If you felt strongly enough to type a message on the subject, then you feel strongly enough to get a blog post out of it.” [10 Tips To Help You #bloglikecrazy 2017]

Where have you been virtually?

Onwards!
Katherine

Photography of the outside world. MPA: Minimalist Photography Awards 2025, Night Category Winners.

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All photos by Greg Walcott, Birmingham AL USA, October 2025.

Parking Deck

Rainbow Tunnel

Street Corner

Street Art

Onwards!
Katherine

Dogs of the outside world. Museum of Hounds & Hunting North America: Bassets, Toews. Another dog museum to add to yesterday’s list.

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Almost two months to the day since my last ride. 12 November to 11 January. [A Lovely Lesson That Will Have To Last A While]

Goldy
Rosewood Stables
11 January 2015

The Ride

Mounting block. I knew, absolutely knew, 100%, that Goldy was going to be fine with this. That’s why I asked to ride him. Still, my lizard brain was convinced that I would touch down in the saddle and the horse would come uncorked. Wonder why. Gives hard stare to home team.

Walk. I was perfectly content to walk the entire time. Coach Deana asked about trotting. Nope, I’m good.

Trot. After a few more minutes of strolling about, Goldy pulled into the middle of the ring & announced, ‘You need to trot.’ So we trotted. Eventually did a bit of canter each way. Canter went well, as soon as I stopped fiddling with the outside rein during the depart, a saddle seat holdover. [Side By Side Seat Comparison, Things II]

At the walk & trot, we did what Couch Deana calls the circle of death, which is four poles splayed out in a circle that you have to cross over the center of each pole. A steering exercise. Of course Goldy knew all about it. However, if I mentally drfited, he physically drifted. When I put my eyes where they needed to be and rode, Goldy trucked around perfectly. Yes, I was showing off. That’s a challenge I will take. I am the pattern queen.

At the end of the lesson, I went to stroll around a bit more. Nope. Goldy circled back to stand in the middle of the ring. ‘You have run out of quarter. This pony ride is done.’ There is more that a bit of Alvin in Goldy. [You Can’t Handle The Trot & Team Awesome]

The Miscellaneous

As I started off, I found myself sliding to the back of the saddle, à la saddle seat. Had to remind self that this was hunter/jumper and I needed to sit in the middle of the saddle. That’s a first. [Dissecting My Position]

For an initial ride after an inadvertent vacation, I would have ridden Sam, who was chill, or Previous Horse, who was not chill, but we reached. [Sam I Am, In Defense of Caesar]

Wrist? No problem, as expected. Yes, I was tired & sore, but everything makes me tired & sore these days. The delights of rehab. There were no structural issues. Curl fingers. Keep wrist straight. Neutral position for that body part. [Wrist Update]

Onwards!
Katherine

Dogs of the outside world. AKC: 7 Dog Museums Every Dog Person Should Visit, Reisen 2019.

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Boogie at the Academy Regional Championships. [Trip to Tennessee, Show Report, Southeast Academy Championship 2025]

Reagan Upton, Coach Courtney’s daughter, day one.

Coach Courtney, day two.

Photos by Terry Young Photography

Having the winning ribbon put on your horse is a wonderful moment to live through, but does not often appear in photographs. I thought it would be fun to post a less seen aspect of the show. For a similar moment in an earlier post, I had to specifically request that the photographer leave Coach Courtney in the photo. [Presentation]

What can I say, I’ve always been a sucker for editorial content over the classic customer shot. [The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Show Report & Photos, Mid-South Spring Premiere 2018, Riding, The Good]

Technical details

Photo retitled for storage on my desktop. Photo resized to use up less of my digital storage space. Otherwise, no changes. I try to minimally mess with photos by professionals. [State of the Blog, Watermarks Theory]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “The First Amendment restrains only the government.” National Constitution Center: Freedom of Speech and the Press. There may still be valid social or moral issues, but if the government is not involved, it is not a Freedom of Speech issue.

Related to yesterday’s Internet protocol. Kerfulffle online. Someone said something. Things happened as a result. I had thoughts. Is there any privacy online? (No.) What is free speech? What to do when an organization is harmed by comments of an employee acting as a private individual in their personal life?

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Now that I am off the injured reserve list. I have gone back to shepherding Rodney during our morning walks. [Doctor’s Appointment]

On the first day, he was deeply displeased with this turn of events. He was polite, if annoyed, while attached to the human. When he was free to express his feelings, he ran and hopped and cavorted, getting four off the floor at least twice.

On the second day, he was resigned to his fate, enduring this tragedy like the stoic individual he thinks he is.

Milton is good with it, but then, he has his person back.

As for me doing barn chores in general, neither one of them is pleased. I am less mild mannered. I insist on correct behavior. I do not fling cookies as if on a Mardi Gras parade float. If we’d had kids, I would have been the mean parent.

They would like to politely request that the Other Barn Minion please retire and come back to taking care of them full-time.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Personal online protocol. Never put anything online that you don’t want to see on a billboard the next morning on your way to work. I read this early in my Internet life and have tried to abide by it.

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Other Barn Minion did an excellent job of looking after the horses and the barn while I was standing around being decorative and waving my arm about. [Doctor’s Appointment]

His priorities are not my priorities.

Having been cleared by the doc, I finally had a chance to address the run-in shed. New pellets put down. Banks of drift dirt cleared from the walls. Stall mats raked.

It is beautiful.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. Edoardo Albert: The Oldest Stained-Glass Window in the World. Church website, The Parish of Jarrow and Simonside: St Paul’s.

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Which is it? Sunrise or Sunset?

Reminds me of a poem, Riding Like A Lady Truck Driver: Today I Had the Most Horrible Ride… It’s a Matter of PERSPECTIVE. I’ve mentioned it before. Still think it’s cool. [Polo Wraps]

TIL, reverso is a known form, Wiki: Reversible poem.

The cartoon is for day one of The Center for Cartoon Studies: One-Week Cartooning Workout! Memory says I started this once before. I didn’t get very far and I don’t think my efforts made it to the blog. For this, my schedule will be monthly rather than daily. We’ll see how far I get.

#CCS1WeekWorkout

Onwards!
Katherine