Virtual Brush Box

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. UCSB The American Presidency Project: Joseph R. Biden, 46th President of the United States: 2021 ‐ present, Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, March 01, 2022. “Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution requires that the President ‘. . . shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.’ ” National Archives: Historical State of the Union Messages.
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Claim: There is no such thing as Independent Aids in riding.

Oh, I understand the theory. When we first get on a horse, our hands bounce up and down with each post. Not good. To get us to stop waving our hands about, instructors tell us to move our body & hands independently.

True.

But.

The more I ride, the more I think independent action is an illusion.

Every part of the body is connected to every other part. A given.

We are balancing on a moving object. A given for riding.

Therefore, a movement here will have an effect over there.

Coach Courtney shifted my feet two inches forward and it changed my entire alignment.

I find that the way I hold my shoulders effects how I use my hands.

We don’t use body part X to do Y.

We use our weight and our eyes and our hands and our legs and so on and so on to do Y.

Thoughts?

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding, Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. We appear to be declaring Covid over. Has anyone asked Covid?
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To quote Raj, “I’ve got squat … when I say squat, I mean diddly-squat. I wish I had squat.” BBT: The Pirate Solution.

This is not a bad thing. It’s just not a blog thing.

Milton has ended his month of working solo with some nice progress.

Rodney has started back to work with signs that he might remember how to horse.

We’re in a muddy, pre-Spring, pre-DST taxi pattern.

Onwards!
Katherine

Holidays

Awareness of the outside world. In better times. What’s On: Malanka – The Ukrainian Mardi Gras, Reaney, 2018. Seems to be more New Year’s Eve than Lent, but if whatson-kyiv.com wants to call it MG, who am I to quibble. Peace be unto them. BTW, Eastern Orthodox Lent starts next Monday, because Julian calendar.

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You come to check out the photo shoot. You become the photo shoot.

Whoa there, wild horse.

Previous Beads

[Mardi Gras Beads II] & [Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler]

Previous Mardi Gras Posts

[Mardi Gras Parades, A Guest Post]

[Throw Me Something, Ma’am, Guest Photos]

Links

KATC: Mardi Gras horses to be adopted after carnival season ends, Feb 09/10, 2022.

“The Carousel is only one of 100 hand-carved carousels remaining in the United States and the only one in Louisiana.” New Orleans City Park: The Carousel. NOLA & horse. Not Mardi Gras. Two out of three.

“Yet behind all this glorious fun lies a simple truth: Winter was hard and people were kind. The parties of Mardi Gras celebrated charity and generosity.” Almanac: How Mardi Gras Started: Hard Winters and Charity, Garriss, February 8, 2018.

Onwards!
Katherine

My Non-Horse Life, It Does Exist

Awareness of the outside world. “Politics stops at the water’s edge.” Vandenberg misquoting T. Roosevelt. Lovely sentiment, yes? However, brief surfing shows that the quote gets weaponzied. Plus, the people who are objecting to the sentiment now are the ones who quoted it the last time around. Politics is exhausting.
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I have sent in an application to volunteer for the World Games taking place in Birmingham, Alabama, later this year. The World Games 2022 | Birmingham, USA

“The World Games is a showcase for athletes who compete in eclectic array of sports that have one thing in common: They are not part of the regular Olympic program.” ESPN: World Games, featuring non-Olympic events, pushed back to 2022, AP, Apr 2, 2020.

So many sports which I never knew existed. Good for them. Anything done well is difficult to do. Twelve sports are listed on the World Skate website. Who knew? Well, lots of people, clearly. I had no idea. World Skate: Artistic (rollerskates).

I mention this here because most (all?) of my big volunteering has been horse-related: WEG, Olympics, Rolex.

That’s not going to help me for this. Of course I want to be on the field of play. That’s where the excitement is. Unfortunately I know squat about the rules of canoe polo or korfball.

I’ll probably be selling shirts, or taking tickets, or doing crowd control at some place miles away from the activity.

Yes, I did say I was tired of living other people’s lives. [The End of the Road, In Which I Consider the Price Of Living Vicariously]

Still am. I stand by that sentiment. OTOH, this is local. The commitment is hours rather than days or weeks. I can come home and get on with my life.

Have not heard back. Will keep you posted. Later. interview request has appeared in my inbox.

Links

“Check out all sports that will be at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama!” IWGA. Artistic and Dance (3), Ball (12), Martial Arts (8), Precision (5), Strength (3), Trend (10).

Each sport has further subdivsions. For example, the first in the list, Artistic and Dance Sports:

Dancesport -> Breaking, Latin, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Standard. IWGA: Dancesport

Gymnastics -> Acrobatics, Aerobics, Parkour, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Trampoline, Tumbling. IWGA: Gynmastics

Roller Sports -> Artistic, Inline Hockey, Speed Skating Road, Speed Skating Track IWGA: Roller Sports

And so on down the list.

The best way I’ve found to see a list of all the individual sports is the ticket purchase schedule, WGBHam: Tickets. Also Wiki: 2022 World Games, Calendar.

So who is playing? WGBHam: Qualifications by Sport.

AL.com: World Games medals revealed, featuring Vulcan, Sloss Furnace, Garrison, Feb. 23, 2022.

“Birmingham is following the basic principle of the IWGA that no new sports facilities need to be built to host the Games.” IWGA: Back In The USA.

AL.com: Answer clear for Birmingham’s World Games, Russia must be banned, Goodman, Feb. 26, 2022.

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

Images of the outside world. Monterey Aquarium: Monterey Bay Cam. Recording on Twitter here. Hat tip to @Ada_Palmer, #SomethingBeautiful tweet.
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New shawl. Second verse. As good as the first. [Introducting Shawlene, Handmade, Wearable Art]

I’ve had it a while. I’m foggy on the specifications.

For more information, Imperfect Patience, or contact, andpride@gmail.com

Family photo. Forgive the wrinkles and pilling. Take it as a sign that they are well-loved.

I try to wear the shawls in the same orientation each time so that wear patterns are consistent. The first one has a longer tassel in one corner. For the second, I made an indicator by tying two tassels together.

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With apologies to the maker for taking so long to post photos. I had planned to include the shawl as part of a larger post with other handwork, under the title Artist Are Awesome. However, the other items got sucked into a time vortex. So, the shawl stands alone. Should other items reappear, they will get their own post(s).

Onwards!
Katherine

Words

Words from the outside world. A list of semi-recommendations at end. Only “semi” because I liked them well enough to buy, but no idea if I will like what is between the covers.
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As an Lenten discipline this year, I will give up buying books.

You’d think this wouldn’t be hard. After all, the books will still be there in 40 days.

HA!

Books are one of the few areas where I actually spend money. The other two are food & pets, which includes horses. Every so often, I’ll get a wild hair and record expenses with an eye toward writing up a budget. The answer is always the same: basic costs, books, food, pets. Every other category is statistically negligible.

Book shopping is the only recreational shopping I do. If I go nowhere else in a town, I will go to a bookstore. [Shipping, end]

What I Will Want Buy & What To Do About It

A new book from an author I like or a book from a new author will go on a book binge list.

Having nothing to read or seeking a comfort read. Read/reread what I have. Rereading a known book is the ultimate comfort read.

A rare find at a used bookstore or on AbeBooks. Voting with my feet/fingers and avoiding temptation entirely is going to be the key there.

So Why?

Why do this, particularly if I plan to buy the books anyway in April?

Years ago, I absorbed the idea that Lent should not be about giving up bad habits. One should be giving those up anyway.

Lent is a time for restraint and reflection thereon.

This will cause much consternation contemplation.

Book Mardi Gras

Looking for a book for an upcoming continuing ed class. First shop – an independent – didn’t have it in the edition I wanted. So I had to go to a second store. You know a chain will carry the Penguin Classic editions. Of course, I bought books at both stores. A last binge before Lent.

Little Professor

Sapiens, A Graphic History, Volume 1 – The Birth of Humankind & Volume 2 – The Pillars of Civilization, by Yuval Noah Harari (Harper 2020).

Run, Rose, Run, by Dolly Parton and James Patterson. (Little Brown 2022) preorder. In hardcover. Will donate to a library. In honor of Ms. Parton. Billboard: A Timeline of Dolly Parton’s Good Deeds, Aniftos, 11/20/2020. Did you know DP was involved with Buffy? Book info, DP: Dolly Parton’s First Novel Set For Release on March 7, 2022, With Accompanying Album of 12 Original Songs.

The Chain

Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville (Harper 1851, Penguin 1988/intro etc. 1992).

Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallax, 2005). Plum Village.

Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology, Lafferty & Divya eds. (Titan 2020). From the podcast Escape Pod.

Wish me luck.

Onwards!
Katherine