Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. News flash. I’m old. The cashier at Dunkin’ Donuts gave me the senior discount unasked. I did see “Senior” pop up on the register. I figured she was a senior employee? Anyway, surfing says that the discount varies by locations and may kick in at 55, 60, or 65. Two out of three chances that it was legit. In other news, I am ignoring the name change. If you have an iconic brand, such as D-squared, why do you mess with it?!

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In town for the day. Needed a lunch box. Et voilà, an insulated bag care of the Saddlebred folks.

Blog search and foggy memory says I did not ride at this show. I think the bags were given out as barn favors from show leftovers.

I’ve said it before, saddle seat knows how to give out awards.

“When ever we win cool stuff, I think of you.”
I love me some useful loot.
[What Makes You, You?]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The Guardian: Lego drops diversity terms from its annual sustainability report, Wood, 11 Apr 2025. That’s disappointing. Although, later, ” ‘The 2024 sustainability statement does not represent a change in our ongoing approach to diversity and inclusion.’ ” ibid. One disgruntlement with the article. The LEGO Group is privately held. LEGO: About Us, The LEGO Group. The change could not have “sent a ‘concerning signal to investors’.” There are no investors to signal. The Guardian usually does better than that. Hat tip to The Brothers Brick, TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 12, 2025.

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Everything’s perfectly all right now. We’re fine. We’re all fine here now, thank you. How are you?

Wookiepedia: Han Solo

The last time I said things were low drama around here … [Psychological Placeholder]

… Rodney stomped on my foot. [Foot Fashion]

Literally.

Just hours after the post went up.

So.

Things are still low drama. Horses still living their best life. Still low on storytelling material. But now I’m also hobbling around the house.

If I were less stubborn, I would put the blog on pause until I could report adventures pertinent to a horse blog.

Allow me to rephrase that.

I would put the blog on pause until I could report fun! wonderful! amusing! adventures pertinent to a horse blog.

However.

I am that stubborn. I shall continue.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The Guardian: ‘Spreadsheets of empire’: red tape goes back 4,000 years, say scientists after Iraq finds, Alberge, 15 Mar 2025.

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Thoughts while filing out tax forms.

Tax Form: Any dependents?
Us: Not that you will let us count.

Tax Form: Gain or loss from farm?
Us: It’s all outgo around here.

BSF, as far as the tax forms are concerned, we could live in a condo inside the loop in Chicago.

I remember a time when I could deduct horse shows expenses, such as travel, meals, hotels. It was to cover them, not to show in them.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Confession. I backslid. After deleting Kindle from my phone, I reloaded it, read a book, and redeleted it. Details below. [Playing Footsie]

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Horses were shod last Thursday at 9 weeks and 3 days. Given their response to 10 weeks, I was aiming for 9 weeks. Schedules intervened. I’m still impressed that they can go so long between shoeings. But that is not my point, or not quite my point. [Yet Another Shoeing Record]

They got new shoes this time. Last time was a reset. Very normal to get new shoes every other, and to have the shoes reset once.

What is not normal is the time between new shoes. My records say they got their previous shoes on 25 November. The new sets were put on 10 April. That’s 4 & 1/2 months for a set of shoes. That’s good value.

That also means they are doing jack squat and putting absolutely no wear on their shoes. But, to paraphrase the Pirate King, I waive that point. I do not press it. I look over it.

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Kindle Confession Continued.

When I took Kindle off my phone, I canceled all pre-orders. Or so I thought. Got an email that my order of When the Moon Hits Your Eye by Scalzi had shipped. Hmm. I guess I pre-ordered a dead tree version that I forgot about, although it is unlike me to buy a fiction book in hardback. That is where I draw the line in my book buying. Yes, even I have lines. But I digress. Waited for book to arrive. Waited for book to arrive. When I looked for tracking data, turns out the ebook had arrived, although I definitely remember canceling it. The other one I canceled at the same time seems to have stayed canceled. Or not. Perhaps I got confused between deadtree, electronic, and audio.

Anyway, the point is by then I’d had the book for several days. Returning seemed both difficult and suspect. Maybe they could have told that I never downloaded it? Also, knowing that it was coming, I had starting looking forward to reading it. Did I want to wait a year for the paperback, or six months for a library copy? Anyway. I chose to, as I said above, read it as an ebook. I have rechecked cancellations in all book formats: solid, liquid, & gas. To compensate for my backsliding, my latest haul from Bookshop.org includes a hardback copy that I will donate to my local library.

Onwards!
Katherine

Pavement of the outside world. The Guardian: The unexpected beauty of manhole covers around the world – in pictures, 2015.

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Cairo tiling is a mathematical tesseract based on paving stones in Cairo. (I think, see below.)

The Internet abounds with graphic examples of Cairo tiling. Photos of the source pavement were harder to find.

Research Gate: My Undercover Mission to Find Cairo Tilings, Frank Morgan 2019. Restricted. I could see photo previews on my desktop, and in the search hits on my phone. Was able to open the PDF.

Facebook: Williams College 2019. Photos of Morgan with pavings. I was able to see the entry without logging in to FB. YMMV

Frank Morgan: Pentagons Everywhere 2011. Open. Photos interesting but not as directly relevant.

Note from the rabbit hole. Wiki: Cairo pentagonal tiling, cited by all of the Cairo tiling sites I read.

Process Notes

My goal was to understand Cairo tiling and draw a pattern. Got one; didn’t get the other. Tiling discussions get esoteric quickly. I still cannot grok how to generate a correct shape. The above was produced by closely following a set of steps. Medium: Cairo Tiling with no math, Ebbs 2020.

My one victory was to figure out how to draw this on the computer without having to use layers. I should figure out layers on Inkscape. I use them all the time in GIMP for photos. Meanwhile, my computer work for this was a festival of color variation. selecting, copying, grouping, ungrouping, and so on.

Onwards!
Katherine

Had an idea for a fiction scenario. Decided it was too full of stereotypes to be let out in public. Not the fault of the inspiration, which was a video by Ludo Liu, YouTube: Downtown Cairo Egypt – 4K immersive morning walk.

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ArtPlay
Birmingham AL, USA
September 2024

Onwards!
Katherine

Images of the outside world. World Food Photography Awards.

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I asked the nice man at the Mediterranean market for Egyptian food. He said fava beans and led me to this. Label says Egyptian. Small print says Product of United Arab Emirates.

Tasty. Interesting flavor & better texture than the mushy mess that I usually associate with beans.

California Garden : Fava Beans

Technical Notes

Phone Camera, Portrait Mode

Part of the point of the photo project is to drag out my big camera. Lately, I’ve been having good luck with portrait mode on the phone camera. Which is surprising. In the past, I loathed it & wished I could rip it out. It would switch without my knowledge and result in fuzzy pix. Starting to appreciate what the mode can do. Still wish my phone wouldn’t randomly decide I needed to use it.

Food photography is a whole thing all by itself. The Internet lists professional food photographers, tips for amateurs, and a host of tricks to make food look better in photos than it does in reality.

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

Onwards!
Katherine