Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Delish: 15 New Year’s Foods For Good Luck, Lowder, Dec 20, 2022. Waiter, I would like to order a meal that has all 15 foods, please.

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[When?]

Each year, I used to go on a group vacation to New York City. [NYC Archives]

That hasn’t happened in a while.

So, I imagined a virtual trip to NYC. Friends and family at home while sharing online.

Unfortunately, this is just as hypothetical as an IRL trip. My connection to the Internet lacks the bandwidth to pull this off. Here’s what I’d do if I could. A fantasy of a fantasy.

Welcome Package

Pick a fiction book for us all to read before the trip. Order and send dead tree postcards to arrive when the trip is scheduled to start.

Hotel

I would create a Discord/Zoom/virtual room that would be open 24/7 for the duration. Trip members could drop in anytime to see who wants to chat.

Meals

Zoom (or whatever) banquets. Eat at home; share online.

Have each person order The Smoked Salmon Medley from Russ & Daughters. Ridiculously expensive, but think of the money saved on hotel beds and plane/train tickets.

Get takeout sushi from each person’s local restaurant. Order at least one roll of the same thing, probably a California Roll. I “offer” you a bite of mine. You pick up a piece. We bond. Similar for “refilling” your tea or sake. Hey, this whole thing runs on imagination or it doesn’t run at all.

Activities

Walking Tour One. Leigh Hallingby, Harlem Walks. “Now also available as a one hour Virtual Walking Tour on Zoom!” HW: Harlem Walking Tour. Also Spanish Harlem or Audubon Bird Mural Project. Preference for bi-directional participation, rather than a lecture with chat section. Back in 2021, I took an excellent virtual tour of the bird murals. Online – YouTube video “A Virtual Feminist Walk Through Harlem: Celebrating Remarkable Women with Leigh Hallingby.” Morris-Jumel Mansion.

Walking Tour Two. Keith York City. Does live tours. Runs an informative Instagram account, @KeithYork City. Has done at least one virtual tour. Cooper Hewitt: A tour of Carnegie Hill. If we have enough people, could be persuaded to do others? Or include virtual with IRL tour? Online – KYC: My Walking Project.

Walking Tour Three. Ditto The High Line. They offer private tours. See if they have or can arrange a virtual tour. Online – many POV walks along this.

Museum. Almost every museum has at least part of their collection online. A tour if possible, otherwise we browse together. One person is in charge of surfing & shares their screen.

Tourist Day. Empire State Building. Statue of Liberty. And so on. Joint website surfing. No lines, no waiting. Instantaneous transport from one place to the next.

Broadway. Sign up for a streaming service that has shows. Watch on TV to enjoy the big production numbers. Zoom on phones. Can talk all we want during the show & the rest of the audience won’t tell us to shush.

Sunday. Attend church services at Saint John the Divine. “10:30 am – Holy Eucharist
The Cathedral’s Sunday morning worship service is held in-person and streamed live to the Cathedral’s website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel.” SJTD, Spiritual Life: Services

Shopping

The Strand, of course. Group shopping.

Note

This is an entirely subjective list of what I have happened across. So much more out there. New York is both a big city and one that invites being written about.

Other than vacation, I try not to spend too much time living where I am not. It just increases my dissatisfaction with where I am. For example, this post, I took two pages of notes, stopped myself, put it away, and told myself to stop thinking about it.

That’s one reason I haven’t finished the books below. Well, that and shiny objects.

Books & Blogs
Either finished or read enough to recommend.

Metropolis, Ben Wilson, Doubleday 2020. Online – Literary Hub: Ben Wilson on the Invention of the City. Found while looking up pub detes. Have not watched.

The 99% Invisible City Website & book.

Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York, Randy Kennedy. St. Martins’ 2004.

Built. Roma Agrawal. Bloomsbury 2018. [City Letters]

Hidden Waters of New York City, Sergey Kadinsky. Countryman 2016. Hidden Waters blog, Companion blog for the book “Hidden Waters of NYC”.

Time and Again, Jack Finney.

Burglar series, Lawrence Block.

KYC Instagram Stories: Cars Rant. As someone who grew up in one of the few (only?) pedestrian cities in the US, I feel this. My family didn’t have a car until I moved to DC.

New York Cl1che. New posts have stopped. Enjoy the archives.

Literary Dates – from Page to Place

Books TBR

Intimate City, Walking New York. Michael Kimmelman, Penquin 2022. On order.

Onwards!
Katherine

Photography of the outside world. PetaPixel: Glass Plate Pinhole Camera Records Sun’s Path Over a Year, Growcoot, Sep 22, 2022.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by k (@virtual_brush_box)

Photo Back-Up

Caption: Rose #bassethound #bassethoundsofinstagram

Posted one more photo to round out the year. Went with dog for variety. Rose looking noble.

Also evened up my home page.

Instagram 2022

“On Friday posts, I usually talk about my fitness efforts, such as they are. It’s difficult to generate content – particularly fitness content – with one’s foot in the air. [Bored] … So I restarted my Instagram account, virtual_brush_box.” 17 June

[A Foto For Friday, Reopening The Blog Instagram Account] 17 June 2022. One photo. ER mural.
[Cat Photos For Friday, Instagram Recap] 24 June 2022. Three photos. Two of cats, one of geese.
[Cat Photo Friday, Instagram] 1 July 2022. One photo.
[Walk, World Games, and Wee Mouser, This Week on Instagram] 8 July 2022, Three photos, what it says on the tin.
[Instagram Wrap-up 2022, Photo] 30 December 2022. One photo, dog.

While part of me would love to have an active Instagram account, I put the idea aside for the same reason as last time. A daily blog is sufficient occupation. “I don’t need more time sinks.” [State of the Blog, Missing Social Media Jan 2021]

At least, any more time sinks in a similar endeavor. I would quite like to investigate the time sink of trot sets to put fitness on my competition horse. But I digress.

In other news, I originally said the idea of an active Instagram account was appealing. Has anyone realized how close the words “appealing” and “appalling” are when one is a sloppy typist?

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. AL.com: The story behind Cadillac Williams’ dapper gameday suit, Green, Nov. 17, 2022.

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Silver Lining Equestrian Center [Lesson Ahoy]

Lesson Posts

[Chestnut Mare Fanfare] Tuesday
[Freddie Reintroduces Me To The Concept Of A Course]
[Fixing The Rider, Silver Lining Lesson] Dakota

Show Posts

[Shadows at Silver Lining]
[My New Elevator Speech]
[That Noise Is Me Stomping My Feet]
[The Return of the Son of Cookie Monster]
[Other People’s Horses]

Five posts from one show, a possible record, certainly a record for a show I didn’t ride in.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Congratulations! PelhamAlabama.gov: Alicia Walters Recognized for Service to Recreation, November 28, 2022. The Walters family owned the horse I showed last summer.

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Stepping Stone Farm

Six Lesson Horses

[Back In The Saddle, Saddle Seat Style] Dottie
[An Array Of Ears] Bingo & Frankie
[Chestnut Mare Honey Bear] Peaches
[Ears, Bubba at SSF]
[Leisurely Lesson] Optimus

Two Show Horses

Four Shows
[Switching Gears, Show Report, Mid-South Spring Premiere 2022] Optimus, photo
[ASB Weekend Day 2, Red Queen Reprise, Show Report, SSF Summer Show 2022], Bubba, photo
[Second Show, Same As The First, Show Report, Heathermoor Farm Summer Show 2022] Bubba
[Finishing Out The Year With A Blue, Show Report, SSF Fun Show 2022] Optimus

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The Guardian: The 10 biggest science stories of 2022 – chosen by scientists, Sun 18 Dec 2022. The participating scientists are all UK, but they take a global perspective.

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Clinic!
[Milton Rises To The Occasion, Clinic Report]
[Milton’s Clinic, Guest Photos]

Costume!
[C is for Cookie, C is for Costume Class, Halloween 2022]
[The Return of Cookie Monster, Guest Photos]
[The Return of the Son of Cookie Monster]

Crossrails!
[Crossrail Contender, Show Report, Falcon Hill Farm Jumper Night Under The Lights]
[Doctor Whooves Plays In The Pony Ring, Show Report, Lachlan Farm Hunter Show 2022]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Year-End Lists. Movies. TV Shows. Music. Books. Poetry. Podcasts. “This is not an exhaustive list of lists. That’s too daunting. It’s a curated collection built, at least initially, from the whims of the maintainer, and those whims aren’t very clear at all, even to said maintainer.” FAQ

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In February, lack of riding at home led me back to saddle seat lessons. [Back In The Saddle, Saddle Seat Style]

“Looking at second week without riding. I hadn’t realized Rodney was planning to be such a gentlehorse of leisure this winter.” [Mindset Monday, The Crux]

This year, the Virtual Tevis ran before the IRL Tevis. So, April to July was 100 miles of walking. Milton was still being ridden. [VT archives]

I kerfuffled my ankle, but managed to get Rodney ready for his crossrail courses. [I’m Bored Already].

Second half of the year was Rodney alternating between doing weird shit to his legs and desultory riding. Milton decided to try life as a driving horse.

“Normal response: Alarm! Concern! Vet! My response: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whadja do to yourself now?” [It’s Always Something, Rodney’s Latest Drama]

In the Autumn, Rodney had a massive hissy fit and now everyone is ground-driving for the winter.

A peek behind the scenes. This is my gestalt memory of the year. Original plan was to go through all the Rodney & Milton posts to draw up a recap of the year. That sounded annoyingly depressing as they are once again not were I wanted us to be. It also felt like a lot of work. So, sow’s ear to silk purse, I decide to go with what I remember right now. I figured what stands out says as much about the year as a thorough accounting does.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “Jewish people often volunteer to work on Christmas, especially if they work in 24/7 community service jobs like hospitals, newspapers, or police departments. This allows their Christian co-workers to get the day off, and gives the Jewish worker an extra day off at some other time of the year, when everything isn’t closed.” Judaism 1010: What Do Jews Do on Christmas?

Article points to the song, Chinese Food On Christmas, by Brandon Walker. To round out the topic, Vox: The history of Jews, Chinese food, and Christmas, explained by a rabbi, Keiles, Dec 25, 2020.

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Process Note. Color Designer: Gradient Generator

Most of the winter holidays are about light, and the symbolism thereof. The Christmas Star. The Hanukkah Candles. The Yule Log. The Solstice. While Kwanzaa appears to be more about heritage, the celebration includes a candelabra, the kinara.

May the light of the ineffable shine on you and within you.

Onwards!
Katherine