Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. WWF: Bittersweet: chocolate’s impact on the environment. Not sweet but has hopeful notes.

~~~

ISO a spunky sport Saddlebred with a range of interests.

Lower level eventing. [Finding A Horse To Match The Hat]

Local jumpers.

In-state saddle seat shows.

The two ASB shows that offer jumps. [Saddlebred Versatility, Jumpers St. L, Squad Goals LA]

Enough class for a cameo appearance at Lexington. [Additional Requirement]

All these have been mentioned previously.

I have a new one. Saddle seat sidesaddle. You can do all three seats sidesaddle: hunt seat, saddle seat, & western. I used to show with a woman who did. (Waves hi wherever you are!)

This is not unusual from a historical perspective. Sidesaddle is saddle seat. [Saddle Seat Sidesaddle]

However, it would be unusual under current usage. Most sidesaddle these days is hunt seat. [What’s In A Name, Guest Photos]

Imagine me showing up in an ASB country pleasure class in flawless, traditional saddle seat sidesaddle.

Well, traditional except for a helmet. I wonder if I could get a helmet cover in the shape of a derby.

New horse better show up soon. The list keeps getting longer.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. 80 years ago today. “We have opened a special webpage to deliver a powerful message on peace from Hiroshima to the world.” Hiroshima For Global Peace.

~~~

Breathe.

Switch gears.

~~~

Razzy
Superstar school pony
Hunt seat lesson
The Hunter Place
August 2025

Lesson Log

If I write it down, I may remember, or at least be able to refer back.

Don’t tip my helmet brim down. A good reminder for keeping my head up. The visual aid is right there in front of me at all times.

Pull up from the top of the head. Straightens the spine. Partly brings my shoulders back at the same time.

Two-point. I tend to think of two-point as an upper body activity. When I get my hips square & level, it helps my two-point. Imagine that.

Collapsing into a lower gear. Coach Deana got on me about flopping into my canter-walk transition. Once I paid attention, it went fine. I know better. [Homework, The Ups and Downs]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. I have the worst luck with algorithms. Yes, I peeked at Facebook again. Yes, it was a mistake, again. When I tried TikTok, I lasted a handful of minutes. Why was this thing videoed? Why was this video posted? Why does XYZ Corp think showing this to me will make me want to stay? Aggg. Does this happen to anyone else? [Show Report, Other Horses]

~~~

Agenda. Walk with the horses each morning. One mile, back and forth in the pasture, combination of in hand & at liberty.

Last week. Walks continued to be a clown car. Stopping for snacks. Needing more leadrope than usual (Milton). Being over it and marching back to the barn after the first lap (Rodney). [A Case of the Slows]

Until yesterday.

It was 68o when we went out to the barn (20oC). Everyone was back to status quo ante. [On Lead and Off Lead]

They didn’t like the heat? They didn’t sleep well in the heat? Whatever. They are not wrong.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The balloon thing came up again. Releasing balloons to honor the victim of tragedy. Once again I didn’t say anything. Now is not the time. So the question is, when is the time? How to approach this? [Rodney’s New Dinner Bucket]

“Worldwide cleanups sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy during the past 40 years have found more than 1.8 million balloons, plastic fragments, and string.” & “There are many eco-friendly alternatives to harmful balloon releases, including planting a tree or flowers, lighting candles, blowing bubbles, and more!” Wildlife center of Virginia: Balloon Releases: What Goes Up Will Come Down. Bubbles!

~~~

Horse: I have grown tired of the hand-tailored, custom shoe I received a week ago. I have removed it. Please arrange a replacement.

Minion: I’m on it.

Let us admire how neatly Milton removed his shoe.

No narrative point being made here. Just getting blog mileage from the expense.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. CCS: Tillie Walden To Be Appointed Vermont’s Fifth Cartoonist Laureate, 2023. It is a three-year term. (ibid) “Vermont is the only state to consistently name cartoonist laureates. The position was created in 2011, as a way for Vermont to promote and celebrate cartooning in the state. Alaska appointed a cartoonist laureate in 2008, but has not named another since then.” NPR: For A Small State, Vermont Sure Has A Lot Of Speech Bubbles, Mazanec, 2017.

~~~

Legend – Personal

Ring – husband

Pawprint – cats

Pawprint – dogs

Horseshoe – horses

Legend – Public

Design of this segment in honor of In His Likeness by James Hatton, a comic composed of talking dots.

Black dot – God, originating character

Red dot – Satan, second to appear

Blue dot – Poseidon

Multicolor dot – other characters, green – INT3RN3T, yellow – Ra, brownish red – Cerberus, purple – Amatsu-Mikiboshi.

The comic has disappeared almost completely from Internet which I didn’t think was possible. Even the WayBack Machine links to non-existent urls. Sad face.

Described as a minimalist comic, FanCon.com: James Hatton Information.

Premise

I love graphic novels. Unfortunately, it is an admiration that is not returned. This project is to see what I can do for a graphic memoir without being able to draw.

Process Notes

No emotional relevance to color assignment. Husband got the God dot because gold shows up well against black. Non-human animals are in order of appearance in my life; colors in order of appearance in the comic.

[I-Wish-I-Could-Draw Graphic Memoir, School Segment]

Onwards!
Katherine

Meta of the outside world: Reactor: Spaceballs: In Space, No One Can Hear You Smashing the Fourth Wall, Wallace, July 30, 2025.

~~~

I have started to use a watermark with letters that I designed, rather than using other people’s fonts.

Now that husband is a regular photography contributor, he has his own watermark.

Process Notes

VBB came first. When I went to add the G, I fiddled with the letters. I may have overshot. Will ponder. G has a black version as well because I couldn’t remember how I made the switch to white. I finally used brute force, which involved saving invisible letters in Inkscape. Oh well, only have to produce it once. After that, I load it into GIMP and copy the layer as needed.

Next step. Finish the rest of the letters in the blog title, so that I have the option of spelling out the full name.

Previous Post [Watermarks Theory]

Archive [State of the Blog]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The railroad museum is in Calera, Alabama. The name is not hard to discover. It is not a name I care to repeat. It is a part of American history that needs to be acknowledged. It does not need to be valorized, nor appear as part of official public life on any level. Apologists will say that it doesn’t mean that, not any more. Yes, it does. It means exactly that. And it needs to go away. Takes a deep breath. Goes off to find a dandelion patch to sit in.

In case I have been overly oblique, APR: Opinion, Coleman 2022.

~~~

An afternoon at the railroad museum.

Process Notes

Joint project. Photos by G. Cropped to abstraction by me. Some more; some less. Resized as needed, bordered, & watermarked by me. Details recorded because a) I should give credit where due & b) I should take responsibility if the result is dubious.

Onwards!
Katherine