Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the interior world. Apologies if this post is scattered and/or under-explained. I had plans. I also had work this week. Stresses me out far more than is reasonable. It’s Friday evening and I’m basically tossing my notes at you. Enjoy.

Things I Would Do In Istanbul IRL

As with Cairo, hit the big sites. [Cairo Travel, Lots of Links, Non-Fiction]

Then, I’d want to at least walk thorough the places where folks actually lived and worked. The Statue of Liberty is not NYC.

An Orhan Pamuk Walking Tour. Make my own if I can’t find one. Starting at Masumiyet Müzesi (Museum of Innocence). Inside Out In Istanbul: Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence, Morrow 2016.

Mosques are open to tourists, but closed during prayer hours, “During the 5 prayer hours in the day, the mosque is closed for about 90 minutes to non-worshippers and visitors.” Blue Mosque Tickets & Tours: What are Blue Mosque opening hours? That’s 7&1/2 hours of the day, with multiple openings & closings. I imagine that complicates crowd management.

Bus over the bridge & ferry ride back.

Horses as previous.

US Department of State: Turkey Travel Advisory, Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. On 30 May 2025.

Istanbul Virtual & Vicarious

Found a lot more on Istanbul than on Cairo, aside from pyramids.

Video. Rick Steves > Watch, Read, Listen > Watch, TV Shows > Turkey > Istanbul (2008). Website has other videos and blog posts. My thoughts on Steves in Cairo post.

Website. TravelMarx: Postcards from Istanbul.

Book. Home Sweet Anywhere, Martin (Sourcebooks 2014), read as ebook, Relevant sections are the end of Transatlantic Crossing (C5) & the Istanbul section of Turkey (C6). Rest of book on my digital TBR pile. Author’s website, Home Free Adventures, last date is 2022.

Book. AUC: Press: An Istanbul Anthology, edited by Kaya Genç ( AUC 2015). Did not buy. Would be on my list for learning more about the city, or at least what has been said about Istanbul.

Video. Mediapolis: TV Cities, Istanbul: The Labor of Reconstructing History in Turkish TV Series, How is historic Istanbul recreated for the screen? Drawing on interviews with local media professionals, Ipek Celik Rappas considers the challenges of filming heritage television series in a rapidly changing city. Rappas 2022.

Language. “In Turkey, where I grew up and went to college, there was an alphabet revolution in 1928. Before then, everything was written in the Arabic script. After that year, everything was written in the Latin script. Schools stopped teaching the Arabic script, and print shops stopped printing it. So, when I enrolled in the history department for my master’s degree, I had to learn the Arabic script from scratch just to read anything in Turkish published before 1928.” WashU: Alphabet revolutions, Valeri 2023. Rest of article is about China. Not particularly relevant to travel, but an interesting point.

Book. Istanbul, Memories and the City, by Orhan Paul, translated by Maureen Freely (Vintage 2004 translation). Did not finish. Less about Istanbul & more about how the author feels about Istanbul. A legit genre, just not one that holds my attention.

Virtual. Road Scholar: Adventures Online: Discover Istanbul Through the Ages. Virtual tour. Expensive. I’d be interested in trying one of these some day. Page has link to a recommended reading list. A while back, I took a virtual walking tour with KeithYorkCity through Cooper Hewitt, which I enjoyed very much. I could see how a live virtual tour could work, if done well. Downside, that’s a lot of sitting. Also, I would want compute power that was faster than waving semaphore flags at the mothership.

Book. The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman ( Fawcett 1970). Note date. Part of the action takes place in Istanbul. I found it entertaining to reread. Would it engage someone for whom the cold war is an event in a history book? Dunno.

Again, advisory level 0, another advantage of virtual over IRL.

Current online class, UC Graham: From Istanbul to Cairo: The City in the Historical Novels of the Middle East. My Name is Red by Orman Pamuk is one of the required books for my class.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Trust for Public Land: 2025 City Park Facts.

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Railroad Park
Birmingham AL USA
April 2025

Everything you could want in a city park. Foreground: grass, trees, walkway. Midground: railroad cars passing by, hence Railroad Park. Background: big buildings.

A park resident with loot and onlooker.

Birding expert Christoper Joe identified the birds a Common Grackle, top, and a House Sparrow, bottom. He also recommended the Merlin Bird ID app, which seconded with his identification of the two birds.

Urban scenic.

Technical Details

Phone camera. The one you have with you.

Links

Connecting with Birds and Nature Tours, LLC, family farm & bird tour host

Friend of Wheeler Refuge: Chistopher Joe, bio & photos. Christopher Joe is brother to Timothy Joe, the instructor for the En Plein Air Workshop. Wallace Center had a birding tour the same day as the painting workshop. [Painting Outdoors]

Check out the amazing bird mural, Wall of Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Wall. Artist. Article. [Corporate Bronze]

Previous birding post. The Urban Birder by David Lindo. The advice to Keep Looking Up continues to resonate. [Looking Up At The Landfill]

What’s with all the birding? Dunno. Picked up the Lindo book due to “Urban” in the title. We did the painting workshop to support the Wallace Center. Now, out of all the birders in the world, I know the names of two (not counting James Audubon): Christoper Joe, above, & David Lindo, link above. Both black men (not counting James Audubon). Seems statistically unlikely, given what Lindo says about the birding world.

Update: Professional birders, see comment.

Current online class, UC Graham: From Istanbul to Cairo: The City in the Historical Novels of the Middle East. Photos take during class break, hence generalized city.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Calgary: Mounted Patrol Unit, about our mounted patrols and the horses. Hat Tip T.

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Post-show lesson. As I said, I want to stay with it. [Show Report, Other Horses]

However.

I will never get used to Saddlebred ears.

“Perhaps body language is one reason for the Saddlebred’s hyper reputation among hunter/jumpers and others. Picture a horse with a high head, bulging eyes and ears so alert they almost touch. In a Thoroughbred this means lift-off is immanent. In a Saddlebred, it means hello.” Post from my first lesson thirteen years ago. [Sam I Am] 2012

Repeated and elaborated upon nine years later/four years ago. [Missing The Saddlebreds, Or Not, I Do Not Miss The Horses] 2021

Bubba went on to be a total doll. Took me a while to stop redlining.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. It has been pointed out to me that fantasy art defaults to figures that are white, thin, young, conventionally attractive, and visibly able-bodied. A) True, & B) I did not notice this until it was pointed out. Hat tip to D.

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I’ve said that saddle seat will remain a side quest. [Show Report, Other Horses]

So, what about the main adventure? Where are we with New Horse?

Show went great, but it took more out of me that I would have liked. Still not back to the pre-show lap count for morning walks. I had to deliberately limit further adventures. I even said no to a second horse show two weeks later. Gasp.

Again, foot never – or rarely – hurt. (That was for my mother.) But it ached more and my energy level was seriously unimpressive. [Foot Update]

Gonna have to wait.

Gonna have to stick to to the plan. [Horse Hunt On Hold]

Get better. Get back in the saddle.

I wasn’t having all that much luck before foot. But now, I can’t even if I wanted to.

Phooey. Phooey. Phooey.

At least someone has good news. The person I cited last time has found a horse! Hello, Sage. Braymere Custom Saddlery: What could possibly go wrong?

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. It has been pointed out to me that folks in marginalized groups get really tired of having to do Race 101, or Trans 101, or so on. It’s not their job to educate everyone with whom they come in contact, no matter how well-intentioned the questioner. I have a friend who is happy to answer any trans question. But that’s the point, they are a friend and have already demonstrated a willingness to instruct. Leave strangers alone. I could so see myself making this mistake. Hat tip to M.

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Between foot & tack, last walk post was three weeks ago. We continue, although still not back to status quo foot. [Current Lap Count]

Mornings have been group walks lately. Too much rain & subsequent muddy footing for lunging.

We try to get out even if it’s just for one lap. Halters on. Pick feet. Walk to corner. Let go. Horses don’t really understand but cookies are involved, so they’re good with it.

Even a brief walk is a benefit. Airs the people. Deferalizes the horses.

I’m hobbling along. Milton thinks I walk too slow.

Update. Are the walks delaying healing? From comments below.

No. My understanding is that I can’t hurt the foot, not with normal activities. Doc cleared me for biking and swimming. If these are okay, a short walk is fine. Have biked once. No swimming. Short, short bike ride wiped me out, but that could be lack of fitness as much as foot objecting. I just get tired, hard to tell from which.

Alternatively.

Yes. It’s a compromise. I can’t sit on the couch for three months. Might be good for foot. Not good for mind and rest of body. My back is already stiff from so much sitting. Plus horses need to get out. Recovery plans have to be viable for the totality of the patient.

Thanks again for the concern.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. This Friday. Virtual, but the organizing institution is local to me. The Wallace Center for Arts & Reconciliation, The Legacy of Emancipation Today: A Virtual Discussion on the Legacy of Emancipation on American Society, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM CDT. Friday, May 30, 2025. If you are not QR code enabled, you can register here. [En Plein Air, Going Retro]

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Rabbit Season!

Duck Season!

Mud Season!

As anyone with a pasture knows, high traffic areas are a constant battle against becoming mud pits. One that we are losing at the moment. We decided to gather the horses on the far side of the abyss. Better to pick feet *after* they walk thru the mud.

Picture us standing out in the dry(ish) section, waving cookies.

Picture horses standing inside the run-in area, staring at us, thinking, ‘What you doing over there. Starting cookies are served here.’

Previously, we fed cookies, sent them to walk thru the mud on their own, then fed second cookies. They knew cookies occurred in this spot, just not initial cookies.

Surprisingly, Rodney was the first to come forward. I would have bet on Milton, since cookies were involved.

It only took them a few days to get with the new program. Good boys.

In other news. Yes, it’s a cookiefest around here. I believe in cookies as a communication tool. Someone else believes in an ongoing shower of cookies. I am gradually being worn down. [Wishing You A Cookie Christmas Eve, Or A Tasty Tuesday]

Onwards!
Katherine

Material Art of the outside world. The Brothers Brick: Istanbul’s Blue Mosque looks magnificent in LEGO microscale.

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Turkish Classic Peshtemal Bath Towels & an Ayla Pashmina
little Istanbul Gifts
Burlington, VT USA

Sticker from my package.

Current online class, UC Graham: From Istanbul to Cairo: The City in the Historical Novels of the Middle East.

Onwards!
Katherine