Virtual Brush Box

Blogging About Blogging

Words

 
Awareness of the outside world. From the bookshelf, The Urban Birder by David Lindo (New Holland 2012, ebook). “I believe wildlife in urban areas is so easy to engage with. All we have to do is open our eyes, ears, hearts and minds and soon we will be linked into the nature around us.” UB: Roost.
~~~
A summary of where the blog’s social media is, or more accurately, where it isn’t, as of this moment. While I would love to have a robust Twitter feed and a Facebook fan page and Instagram influence, I have bailed on all of it. Nada.

For now, I draw the line at seven blog posts each week. If I indulge in my fantasy that each post takes an hour, that’s a decent hobby. In reality, the time investment for the blog is closer to being a part-time job. I don’t need more time sinks.

Twitter
I’ve never gotten the hang of Twitter as a consumer. There are so many angry people on there. After five minutes exposure, I want to hide under the bed.

Nor have I been able to generate Tweets. Reticence is not a design feature for me. You’d think I could come up with a extra words. Never happens. My brain is saving wordage for posts? Perhaps. On again. Off again. Finally stopped.

As a Tweeter, I am a repeating series of last Tweets. [Another Aborted Twitter Adventure 2017, New Title, New Twitter 2018]

It was useful for live updates from shows. Then I stopped going away for shows. Maybe if/when that happens again. [There & Back Again, Show Tweets, National Academy Championship Horse Show, 2018]

Of note, found this response, posted over two years after, when I went get my last Tweet for this post. “i spent all this money on brand new cat toys and my cat just wants to play with a crumpled up piece of paper” @ThiccFilA_Jan 28, 2021″ Maybe I am missing something … no, think of the time commitment … focus …

I create a new Twitter account for writing. Then I stopped entering contests. Maybe if I every get going on my moribund “platform.” [My New Twitter Handle, Warts And All]

Facebook
Facebook giveth. That’s how I found out about the Matisse class. A friend had clicked on it as Interested. I took the class. They didn’t. [In Which I Try Painting With Scissors]

Facebook taketh away. Even in my happy little echo chamber, I encounter upsetting moments. Either people on the side of the angels post items that outrage them – and by extension, me – or I make the mistake of reading the comments.

So I left, “Ending daily link posts. I am taking a personal break from Facebook. Too much angst. There is gracious plenty of that from the news. Don’t need to look for more. Since I have no self-control, that means a blog break from FB as well. I can’t seem to sign on, post the link, & leave. For daily posts, you can Follow by Email over on the blog, or bookmark the page, same bat time, same bat channel. Thank you. Hope to see you there.” RSFB message, May 19, 2020, [Facebook & Contact, currently]

I know some readers get notifications from the Facebook. I’m sorry if that means I miss them. It’s not like I’m hard to find. As I said in my envoi, new day, same bat time, same bat channel.

Instagram
Consumer, yes. Producer, not anymore. See above, re time. Some bloggers post on Instagram and then use those photos as blog media. What I was Instagramming never seemed to be related to what I was blogging.

The last time I posted on Instagram or wrote about it on the blog was closing in on a year ago. The final grid is so nicely framed with cat photos that I’m not tempted to post again. Don’t want to disturb the symmetry. I have changed the bio info from ‘Personal Blog’ to ‘Not posting here anymore./Saving it for the blog./Come visit.’ [Cosy Cats & The Ground Underfoot, Instagram March 2020]

I have a personal account, but only used for intake. When scrolling, I have to be careful with the suggested posts. The algorithm has incorrectly assigned me to a particular political persuasion. I find the resulting memes appalling rather than humorous. Yes, one should take in all sides of an argument, but not when one is trying to relax by looking at pretty pictures.

Outro
So that’s my social media, or lack thereof. Personal social media usage closely tracks that of the blog, except for scrolling Instagram.

Do you have fixed philosophy with social media habits, either for or against, or do you come and go?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse

 
Awareness of the outside world. Alabama Audubon – Virtual Tour: Audubon Mural Project with Leigh Hallingby.
~~~
To our horses:

Do not sleep flat out.

Don’t do it.

Just don’t.

If you are lying on your side in the pasture, you will be woken up. You will be woken up in rising tones of hysteria, the volume and stridency of which will depend on how quickly you move.

At least, don’t sleep in that position where and when management can see you. What you do in field at midnight is up to you.

Meatloaf position? Fine. Lie on your chest with your paws curled up. I’ll be back when naptime is over.

Is this fair? That I won’t let you sleep? Don’t care. That’s the position in which I discovered Previous Horse on the day he did not show up for breakfast. Seeing a large mound of bay hide on the ground is too much flashback for me to handle.

Think of it as one of those house rules you just have to live with.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse

 
Awareness of the outside world. “Putting my cute little running goals out there really seems a bit twee at the moment … But I think that anyone who still reads this is most likely going through the same thing.” Middle Aged Runner: More running in Pandemic times.
~~~
Rodney is …

… still off.

… still wearing booties, at least part of the day.

… still walking and running and jumping in place.

If I put a saddle on, I have no doubt that he would forget how to walk. Rodney has shown no inclination to be motivated by challenging situations. We have started bootied hand walks. Booties plus rider would blow a fuse.

So, I wait. For this, and for so much else. [The Next Thing Jan 12, Fancy Feet Jan 18]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Riding Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. Strides for Equality Equestrians put up an Instagram post on microaggressions. Sometimes the motivation is active malice. Sometimes the motivation is cluelessness. Raises hand.
~~~

[Driving Around in Circles]

Find Your Header. Of all the lessons involved in driving, Milton has absorbed this one the best. A header is the person who stands in front of the horse, particularly while the driver gets in or out of the cart. Therefore, going to one’s header is frequently a sign that the drive is over.

Now, Milton is not my heart horse; I am not his heart human. This we know.

Milton does not like me in show mode. This we also know. [Saddlebros, Someday]

Milton does not like me fiddling with him. Let’s say we are tacking up. I cannot abide seeing the forelock in a mess under the bridle. Others are less meticulous. If I go over to smooth out this flaw in the order of the universe, Milton will turn to his rider, ‘Booooossss, she’s touching me!”

Milton and me, not mates.

Except.

When Milton is long-lining, when Milton is under saddle, when Milton is pulling a tire, I become the magnetic north of his existence. He knows where I am. He keeps track of my postion relative to his. As he passes by, he will pull toward me. He will stop near me. I have taken to sitting outside the ring amidst the underbrush in order to lessen the temptation. [Check-in]

‘That’s my header. I must go to my header. That is my job as a driving horse, to find my header.’

Nice try, Milton. Not fooling anyone. Get back to work.

Header Stories
[Horses, Humans, Not So Different]
[Dynamic Duo Does Dressage]
Been There, Done That: Hello?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

[Riding at Rolex]

The Shiny
The inauguration is the jog.

The First Horse Inspection, aka the jog, takes place the day before dressage at a big Event. Horses are presented to the veterinary panel and trotted for soundness. Everyone is cleaned up and dressed up and brushed and braided. There will be bad dressage tests, and cross-country refusals, and knockdowns in stadium. Those are for tomorrow. Today the sun is shining – no matter the weather – and everything is full of hope and promise.

You can see where this is going.

The inauguration is the first day for a new administration. The new president and the new vice president are presented and sworn in. Everyone is cleaned up and dressed up and brushed and braided. There will be Senate hearings, and scandals, and political infighting. Those are for tomorrow. Today the sun is shining – no matter the weather – and everything is full of hope and promise.

The inauguration is the jog. The pomp before the process.

The Unshiny
I understand, just a little, how disinformation might spread.

The night before the inauguration, I had the misfortune to be exposed to one of the radical doom scenarios. While it was posted in order to make a counterargument, my eyeballs were still subjected to it. If you were lucky enough to miss these, the prediction was a concoction of mass arrests and televised show trials.

It wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t happen.

And yet.

A small voice in my head spent the night saying, ‘It could happen.’

Small, Annoying Voice: I’m not saying it is going to happen. I’m just saying that, it *could* happen. Logistically, these people would be capable of performing those actions.

Me: Pffffffft.

Small, Annoying Voice: None of of it is physically impossible. Except for that bit were every TV in the country automatically switches to the same channel. I’ll grant you that one.

Me: Pffft.

Small, Annoying Voice: History is full of sudden, violent, reversals of fortune.

Me: Pft.

Small, Annoying Voice: If it did happen, here’s what it would look like. First, …

Me: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

This was something I had no interest in. I didn’t want it to happen. I didn’t think it would happen.

What if it was a scenario that I craved?

In Android’s Dream, the narrator explains that deception depends on the believably AND on the desire to believe.

Deception, as practically manifested, succeeds because of two things. First, the object of deception is convincingly deceptive in its design; i.e., it looks/feels/acts like the real thing. Second, and equally important, the subject of deception must be predisposed to believing that the object of deception is indeed the real thing. These two criteria work in an inverse relationship with each other; a sufficiently deceptive object can convince a skeptical subject, while a subject who sincerely wants to believe will be able to overlook even gross flaws in the object onto which he or she confers belief. (Android’s Dream, John Scalzi, Tor 2007, ebook)

While the book is a novel, I see no reason to doubt the psychology.

What if the message – not this one, some other, hypothetical message – detailed an outcome that I really, really wanted to come true?

How easy would it be to believe that small, annoying voice? How easy would it be to follow it?

That being said, trying to understand someone’s behavior does not in any way excuse them from the consequences of their actions.

The Secret Bits
Speaking of actions. I kept my eye on the clock, not the words. I’m a child of the Cold War. Memories from watching The Day After haunt my psyche to this day. The transfer of power does not happen until the biscuit and the football change hands.

The Parting Shot
Props to the camera operators who filmed face shots by walking the parade route backwards while guided by a colleague walking forwards.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Thoughts?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott