Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Coosa Riverkeeper.

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Coosa River

Gate to Nowhere

Mise en scène

Highway 280 over the Coosa River in Childersburg AL, USA. Bridges do not have names that I could find.

Technical Details

Water. f/14.0, 1/125 sec., 80.0 mm, 1SO 400

Truck. f/13.0, 1/125 sec., 38 mm, ISO 200

Gate. f/9.0, 1/125 sec., 30.0 mm, ISO 400

The old fart in me would like to pause to point out the ability to change ISO.

This adventure was all about finding access. Since I was picking up shavings at Tractor Supply in Cburg, I figured I’d look for a photo outing in the area. The bridge! Not so fast. Apparently, riverside parks are not a thing in rural Alabama. Internet maps showed an unlabeled right turn just before the bridge. I found a gravel road that I assume served a small electrical substation. There were no signs indicating a private or closed road. I looked. I was surprised to find no indications of squatters hanging out nor high school students partying. [Teenage Wasteland]

Note to self. Watch your step. I could see how one could be looking through the viewfinder, sidling this way and that, thinking about what you see, taking one step the wrong way, and splat. End up in the river.

Links

“Oldest Occupied Settlement in America… 1540.” Official Site for Childersurg, Alabama

Only in Your State: Most People Have No Idea The Oldest City In America Is Hiding Right Here In Alabama, Young, 2016

I’m sure there is discussion with St. Augustine, Florida, over this claim. “Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the United States.” St.A: Our History

Bridge details. (Why Detroit?) Detroit Free Press: Bridge Inspections, US 280 over Coosa River. According to this, the road is also AL 38.

I knew neither of these things. TIL.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Hand In Paw.

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As you may know, we adopted/inherited two senior dogs.

We had some scheduling issues at the beginning. Our long center hall is now lined with waterproof indoor/outdoor rugs that can be hosed off.

We built them a ramp, because senior.

We have a spacious, well-fenced dog pen out the side door. Unfortunately, that side of the house has a large drop-off. Too many stairs. A ramp would be too steep or too long. So, we built the ramp out the front door, over three steps with a rise of two feet.

They often do not clear the ramp before squatting. If they do clear the ramp, they go to the base, squat, turn around, and come back.

As a result, the area at the end of the ramp smells strongly of dog urine. We have spread gravel. We have used neutralizer. Not much you can do when 100 pounds of Basset Hound uses the same spot multiple times a day. The entire area immediately outside the front door reeks.

The silver lining? The key word in that sentence is OUTSIDE.

Good dogs.

Post Archives [Jasmine & Rose Fan Club]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Brooke USA. For the horses who support families. For the horses who work for living, including driving.

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Milton trotted!

Milton trotted with the cart!

Milton trotted with the cart at home!

This is the first time he has pulled (technically pushed) the cart at a trot this year. It is the first time he was trotted with the cart at home EVER.

Working at home is so much easier. So! Much! First off, it is easier on the face of it. No packing up of gear. No loading of horse. No driving of truck.

More importantly, it is easier to do good work. Short, daily repetition is better training than occasional wodges of longer effort. It is easier to go out for a short session when that session is in the backyard.

When one has to haul, it is tempting to a) not go as often, and B) do more work once one is there.

Little and often works for so many things.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Guardian: US states agree breakthrough deal to prevent Colorado River from drying up, Milman, 22 May 2023. Vox: The 100-year-old mistake that’s reshaping the American West, What happens if the Colorado River keeps drying up? Oltman, Resnick, Estes, & Walsh, Apr 21, 2023.

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Virtual Tevis Cup 2023
100 Miles in 100 Days
19 April to 30 July

Rodney – 15 miles this week, 67 miles total
Milton – 9 miles this week, 57 miles total
Tues 16 May to Mon 22 May

Hand walk in the morning. In the evening, a combination of hand walks (both), riding (Rodney), and longline & driving (Milton).

Rodney’s extra laps came from our monthly 5K, a extra walk when I thought it was going to storm in the evening – resulting in 3 miles that day – and a few days when Milton’s walker was not available.

We Got Us A Convoy

Part of our lap is a single track through the trees. Rodney likes to walk closer to Milton’s hind end than I am comfortable with. Instead of fussing at him to slow down, I toss the leadrope over his neck and let him go on ahead of me. He parks his nose in Milton’s tail and does his mule train impression. I bring up the rear. Rodney trundles along, makes the turn, and gets a cookie when he successfully negotiates the section.

Technically, I believe pack and mule trains are tied together. These two are not, but they have that air.

Virtual Tevis Posts [Rise and Shine, Firmly in The 50s & 40s, Virtual Tevis 2023] & [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Collider: Why ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Is So Hard to Watch Now, Stoddard, Mar 14, 2023. Extremely stated but not incorrect. Interesting timeline on the popularization of nerd culture. Clearly, we are still entertained by the occasion rerun, or two. And yet there are shows I will. not. watch. People are weird.

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Milton has a tendency to pin his ears and bite Rodney.

Rodney has a tendency to put himself where this is possible.

We routinely say to Milton, “Sheldon, be a better friend.”

We routinely say to Rodney, “Leonard, don’t be an ignorant weenie!”

or simply …

Sheldon!

Leonard!

In case this doesn’t ring any bells, TBBT Quotes: The Anything Can Happen Recurrence. Turns out we are misquoting a bit. Probably too entrenched to correct.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. James Cook, Typewriter Artist

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Project Description, 36 Days of Type

@virtual_brush_box:Z

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Process Notes. 9 through A are three screenshots from my Instagram account. Thought about creating a new account for this. Couldn’t think of a clever name that wasn’t taken. Decided to go ahead and use the blog account since I wasn’t doing anything with it anyway.

The Z image came to me first. The rest of the alphabet was drawn in compliment. Initially, when I start a file in Inkscape, my color choice is arbitrary. Have I said this before? I just pick something from the color wheel. By the time I’m done working with the letters, I can’t imagine them any other way. Shape, planned; color, not so much.

Alphabets By Others

Since my project began with Z, I have linked to the Z post, mostly. All Instagram.

LEGO Bricks
@liam_kelley:Z 2-D
@spillingtype:Z, 2-D photographed in different locations
@rightbrainedhuman:G, 2_D, a thru g
@joaqboch:Z, 3-D with added Escher

Cats
@oddly arm:Z, colorful vignettes
@ani.journals:Z, black & white
@misterwoodywoods:6, #6, numbers are animals, letters are people

Geometrics
@shiviletters:Z, lines
@studio_de.zign:Z, twisted lines
@maikoshimizuart:Z, black, white & gold, with … is for
@kuduchkar:Z, multicolor
@algo_riddim:Z, black, white, & gray
@luanaoliva.design:Z, 3-D acrylic
@ui.adriana:Z, white & black with colored backgrounds

General
@joomrtns:Z, metro lines
@_theartsymind:Z, origami
@abcl.art:Z, stained class
@chuecanuria:Z, stained glass-style patchwork
@moscasland:Z, variety
@jadeirvingdesign:Z, homemade stamps

Print: Highlights from 36 Days of Type 2023, Halfway Through the Challenge, Beach, May 1, 2023.

My 36 Days Alphabet for 2022, [Project Intro], [A to G], [H to N], [O to U], & [V to 1].

Onwards!
Katherine

What if you could have one spell? What would you chose?

Between the ages of 16-20, each person is given the chance to chose one spell.

No warning when it will be. Much is made of Being Prepared.

You may learn more spells in your life. This will be the one spell you can always do. The one spell that will never fail. The one that will be with you for the rest of your life.

No overreach. There are stories of All the Riches in the World leading to joining a global online group composed of people named Rich.

No danger to others. Another account says that asking for Kill People led to “slaying” the audience as a comedian.

No danger to yourself. No Midas Touch here. Rumour has it that An Everything Turns to Gold request led to things being hit with a gleam of sunlight.

Truth? Urban legend? Why take that chance? Why blow your one opportunity?

The spell does not run constantly. You have to invoke it. Everything getting a sunlit glow, only when you ask. Constant would be way too annoying.

You will be given words to say, a hand gesture to make, or a somatically appropriate equivalent.

Small & specific is best.

People will hire each other to perform their task.

The Chose WiselyTM company has grown giving people advice on their choice. They compile databases of requests and how they turn out. They will offer – for a fee – projections of how your request will turn out.

Silver Level – standard report

Gold Level – detailed report with percentage risk analysis

Platinum Level – a personal consultation to clarifying your goals, identify what is important to you, and help selecting the optimal wording.

Don’t leave the rest of your life to chance.

Chose Wisely!

~~~ curtain ~~~

Afterword

There is a science fiction fantasy novel wherein everyone in the world suddenly each gains their own obscure superpower. Neither memory nor search could dredge it up. Probably an ingredient in the above.

Free Fiction 4U – Clarkesworld: Better Living Through Algorithms, by Naomi Kritzler, May 2023. I have mentioned this author before for Cat Pictures Please (Clarkesworld 2015). [Instagram Recap] & [I Didn’t Write This Post]

Onwards!
Katherine