Virtual Brush Box

Lettering & Graphic Design

 
Awareness of the outside world. Be still. Psalm 46:10
~~~
 

2020 Tevis Cup, Virtual Western States Trail

[Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Words

 
Awareness of the outside world. “The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens (‘wise man’). In any case it’s an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee.” The Science of Discworld II: The Globe. Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen [Elbury 2002]. Just because Pratchett writes humorous fantasy, doesn’t mean he’s wrong. Goodreads: quote, LSpace: Narrativium.
~~~
Signed back up for 750 Words.

Is it annoying to have yet another item on my To Do list, so that when I don’t do it, I feel guilty, but when I do it, I feel that I am not fully embracing the moment, but rather living a life that is one long series of checking things off my To Do list? Yes.

Do I produce more fiction? Also yes.

Ack! Thppffft!

Why I “got rid of something that was working,” [Fiction Prompt Prompting].

Explanation of Saturday, [This is a Horse Blog, What’s With All The Off-Topic Fiction?].

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Photography

Awareness of the outside world. Why do some disasters make world headlines and others slide off our radar? [Today]
~~~

[New Equipment]

Been talking with Photo Guru Meg McKinney about online photo-processing lessons. Manipulating photos is not a new idea. Whether you are in a darkroom using chemicals or at a computer shifting electrons, the goal is to produce images with light. Meg McKinney, Photographer, [Archives]

Or so I’m told. I’ve never done much post-processing. At the newspaper, a full-time photographer did all of the developing. Later, in my days of taking photos to go with articles, I used commercial labs. I briefly intersected with the digital era – yeah I’m that old – but the computer system of the magazine in question and my system did not mesh. They could not read anything I had worked on. I had to send files straight out of the camera or off the scanner.

So, I need to learn this. I do nothing to my photos. Well, nothing substantive. Crop, resize, watermark, border, done. OTOH, I’d rather not take a class. First off, I don’t want to be tied to a weekly schedule. This is not a pressing skill for me to acquire. Casual would be good.

Second, my desktop runs Linux. Most classes are program specific. Come learn PhotoLightRoomShopElementWhatnot. Half of the class content would would not apply to me. I’d be figuring out which buttons to push on my own.

I’m hoping a professional photo genius can help me learn general photo theory such as highlights and color and light values. Then, I’ll sit down and figure out how to execute those ideas on my computer, with, I hope, only minimal desire to heave said machine across the room.

Any photo techniques would be an improvement. I am so plot-driven, I rarely pay attention to anything other than the content and is the content in focus. Art I have not. I am the visual equivalent of tone deaf. This is neither good nor bad, simply the skill set I have, or rather, don’t have.

Historical Note
Hi*Fi Color For Comics gave an online talk, Learn How to Color Comics, for Comic-Con@Home 2020. This talk is what brought the idea of post-production back to the forefront for me. While I have no intention of coloring comics, I was struck by how much can be done with a computer. And how little of that I do. According to the video, I get as far as ‘flat color” which is step one. I figure what I learn about photos can also be applied to graphic design.

Photos edited by Meg
[Foto Friday: Morning Mist]
[Foto Friday: Tractor Writ Weird]

Photos edited by Me
Posts where I played with photos. This represents the sum total of post-production I have done. Most of them were deliberately over the top.

Serious

“Fiddled with lightness & saturation sliders to make the photo look more like what I saw. A first, or close to.” [Dressage Called on Account of Rain, Show Unreport #1] 2019

Semi-serious

“Disclosure: I upped the color saturation with GIMP, mostly to hid the blur.” [Art Foto Friday: Stained Glass Sunset] 2015

Goofing Around

 

[Foto Friday: Saturated Spring] 2017
[Farm Scenery: Foto Friday Branches] 2015
[Art Foto Friday: Color Cat] 2015
[Art Foto Friday: Threshold Cat] 2015
[Foto Friday: Spotted in GIMP] 2013

The new darkroom. [Portrait of A Photographer]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 

Awareness of the outside world. Beirut. Speechless. Lebanese Red Cross.
~~~
Overall

Rodney may be coming alongside the idea that a ride can be fun. Milton is still loving it. Both being really good about seeing our smiling faces four days in a row, before breakfast no less.

So far our average pace is faster on the longer days. On the first lap, we have to wait for them to wake up, get coffee, read their email, etc.

Milestones
None so far.

Misc Tidbits
100 miles? No one asked my knees.

Happy to see so many helmets in the posted pics.

Process Notes
Brace yourself, I intend to post about this weekly. You will be along for every step of the ride.

Daily Log
To understand our numbers, we are doing our rides in 1/3 mile laps around our pasture at a walk. Leisurely. That’s the word. Leisurely.

Saturday, August 1st. Today 6 laps, 1.94 miles. Total 1.94 miles. Time 47:03 min. Pace 24 minpermile/2.5 mph. Tired ponies. ‘That was a lot of work!’
~~~

Sunday, August 2nd. Today, 3+ laps, 1.11 miles. Total, 3.05 miles. Time 29:40 min. Pace 26 minpermile/2.3 mph. Front-loaded the week because they would be taking several days off later in the week. They did not appreciate the extra .11 to make up the distance from yesterday. Turns out a lap can vary from .32m to .35m depending on GPS. After 3 laps today, we turned around and walked back to the corner. ‘What! This is an outrage! We were promised three laps! We could turn around and go back to the barn right here. How about now? How about now?’ Such drama.
~~~

Monday, August 3rd. Today, 6 laps, 2 miles. Total, 5.05 miles. Time 49:31 min. Pace 24 minpermile/2.5 mph. Notably less tired than they were after the first two-mile day. Had to overshoot the finish point by a few feet. This did not go unnoticed.
~~~

Tuesday, August 4th. Day, 3 laps, 1.02 miles. Total, 6.07 miles. Time 46:46 min. Pace 26 minpermile/2.3 mph. At the start Rodney was resigned, but in a happy way. ‘I know what we’re doing. I can do this.’ Kept a sharp eye on the GPS to make sure it ticked over to one mile.
~~~
Wednesday, August 5th. Day off. Vaccines yesterday. Pitiful ponies today.
~~~
Recent Posts
Mine
[And They’re Off, The Virtual Tevis Starts]

Others
Jorvik Equine Massage: Robie Park – The Start

County Island: The Tevis Trail: Leavin’ Base Camp
County Island: The Tevis Trail: Needs to Cool Down

[VTevis Archives]

Still time to sign up!

Run Signup: 2020 Tevis Cup – Virtual Western States Trail

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. AVMA: Covid 19.
~~~

Annual routine vet appointment yesterday. Turned out to be a non-event, covid-wise. Semi-outside in the wide open, run-in shed area. We all wore masks. Stayed a few feet farther apart than normal. Coggins, shots, check teeth, everything looks good, bye.

The plan had been to have the horses tied to the rail, a note explaining what was to be done pinned to the rail, and then stand back. However, the ‘we are on our way’ phone call turned into a ‘we are here’ call. One of us was on a Zoom call. The other was in the house doing dishes. Rodney was still up from breakfast. Quick scramble. Rodney pulled out. Milton came back in to investigate the possibility of cookies and elected to self-stall. Ready Freddy.

Rodney did not cover himself with glory. He’s usually fine. This time, even with a chain over his nose, he back and fussed. Afterwards, he came out of the stall as if shot from a cannon. I tell you, they do not like having their post-breakfast routine messed with.

Milton behaved like a gentleman. However, he required much reassuring afterward, even from me. There must be a vet smell much like the one in a doctor’s office.

BTW, we test drove the masks beforehand. I had a mental image of vet walking in with mask & both horses voting with their feet. Turned out no one cared.

We should have Cogginses today. We can now go places. If there were any places to go.

Well, we will be ready to go, once the pity party is over. They are such drama princes about their shots that the in-house medic would rather pay the professional. Photo is what happens when you are too pitiful to reach all the way to the ground. Don’t worry Rodney got a hay net. He could reach the floor but was jealous of Milton’s bucket. Woe is us.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Trying to become a better consumer of information. News outlets on both sides of the aisle exist to sell stories. Drama makes a story more interesting. Therefore, even the most fact-based analysis will still have the gain turned up. I need to remember this. I tend to buy into the emotion. I need to separate current data from speculation. A wild-eyed call for metaphorical heads on pikes might be a legitimate response to breaking news, but any prophesied downfall is only a prediction. No one knows the future, either in hope or dread.
~~~
Tried Milton in a bit with fixed sides instead of a loose ring. He appears to approve.

Since we were dealing with the bits we had on hand, we could not do a strict, single-variable comparision. Took out a plastic/rubber straight bar with loose rings and bit guards. Put into service a metal, D-ring snaffle. Therefore, we changed not just the sidepieces but also the also mouthpiece, material, and diameter. So much for science.

Later, I dug up an egg butt snaffle. History, i.e. the blog, says this is what I rode him in. We know how well that went. Good thing we found the D-ring first. [Pix Are Always Amusing To Look Back On]

Rodney went through an enormous number of bits at the beginning, so we have lots of spares hanging about. I was in that charming mental state of watching my new horse is fall apart in front of me. So I was throwing money at the problem. But I digress.

On a positive note, we fiddled so much that when I saw the driving bit at Coach Kate’s, I knew Rodney would like it. He still has the same style mouthpiece, with more mounted-appropriate sidepieces. [Recent Changes]

Speaking of changes, we have a new house rule. No new feed for Milton, unless we really, really have to. Maybe we could find better, maybe not. We have proven that we can make it worse. [Back To Where We Started]

While I am journaling changes, Rodney has been getting Venice turpentine on his soles to build up his feet. Good report from the farrier after the last set of shoes, “More to nail to.” OTOH, they didn’t say anything until I reported my diligence since the last visit. Was it not noticeable until I pointed it out or was that natural farrier reticence?

I’m suspicious of add-ons and miracle goos. I think we can talk ourselves into believing something works if we want it to. OTOH, my farrier of – I don’t want to think how many – years has been systematically excellent. I don’t know why I’m casting doubt in this case. I shall paint on.

Venice turpentine, your experience with?

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Thoughts

 
Awareness of the outside world. Ex Urbe: Black Death, COVID, and Why We Keep Telling the Myth of a Renaissance Golden Age and Bad Middle Ages & Ex Urbe: Self-Care & Healthy Work Habits for the Pandemic. Truth in advertising. I have not finished reading these. I very much look forward to settling in to do so. On a personal note, Ada Palmer is my new favorite person. She gave a book history lecture as part of CoNZealand. I have read entire books on the subject from which I learned less than I did in those 50 minutes. I am confident that her blog posts will be equally rewarding. Share & Enjoy.
~~~
 

This is totally off topic, but it’s weird, so I thought I’d share.

My local fiber guild had an online tablet weaving class. I signed up. Participants were treated to two fully stocked kits, complete with precut yarns, equipment for a simple loom, and the first pattern started for us. Props to the teacher/organizer!

Tablet weaving uses threaded, numbered cards on the warp. (This is the part that stretches in front of the weaver. The weft is the part that goes side to side, or as I think of it WEFT is right to LEFT. (And then left to right, but I have wandered into the weeds.)) Rotate cards forwards or backwards. Lift threads up & down. Create pattern.

Understanding the mechanism is not important for this story. Just know that the directions are given by number: turn this card, turn that card, turn these cards together, and so on.

First Pattern
Turned card 1 just fine. Wherever I turned card 2, I wanted to turn card 3 also. Some synapse in my brain decided that 2&3 went together.

What, I thought card 2 was lonely?

I have no idea.

Second Pattern
My illnumeracy took a different route.

The mystic union between 2 & 3 was no longer an issue. They were able to go their separate ways.

Turn cards 4-6. Okay, cards 4 through 6. Three cards.

No problem.

Turn cards 3-7. Okay, cards 3 through 7 is four cards.

Wait? What?

Every time I saw the text “3-7,” my brain had sudden attack of subtraction and my hands reached for four cards. Five cards felt excessive.

Again, I have no idea why.

I told you it was weird.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott