Virtual Brush Box

State of the Blog: Avoiding Social Media

This time last year, I talked about leaving my desktop computer dark on Saturday and Sunday [State of the Blog, Weekends Off]. That meant no work, no blog, no Facebook.

How did I manage?

By and large, I have stayed with it. Plus, given our level of weekend activities lately, I often don’t have a choice. Work isn’t so pressing that I need to burn the weekend oil. I blog a few days ahead anyway, so I simply make sure that I have hit the schedule button through Monday before I go to bed on Friday. And Facebook? Ah, Facebook. The feed we love to hate [Taming the Facebook Monster].

Before and during our trip to Kentucky last month [Show Report], I took a two-week politics and Facebook break – in my feed, often the same thing.

It was marvelous.

No crises. No one hurting at me through my screen. I ignored the world in order to tend my own small corner of it. Not everyone has this liberty. I was glad that I could.

On the other hand, avoidance is not the answer. Head-in-sand is not a viable method of getting through life. Plus, some readers (waves hi!) use the Facebook prompt as notification of a new post. I want happy readers.

I’m back to reading the news, as much as I can stand. For Facebook, I still over-read Monday through Friday. On weekends, I turn my system on long enough to post the Facebook and Twitter prompts, then shut it down. Yes, Facebook can be set up to post automatically. I found the program consistently choose the wrong photo to accompany the post, including photos I had deleted. I could put Facebook on my phone, but that is a rabbit hole from which I would never emerge.

BTW, when I got back from my news break, I was amazed to find folks screaming madly about exactly the same issues.

So, I’m trying moderation. We’ll see how it goes.
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Previous SotB posts [list]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Foto Friday: Where in the World is Spotted? Guest Post

Photos by Michelle Duplichien. Scroll over for answers. Welcome, Michelle.

Michelle has a sister to Spotted, also named Spotted, making this the toy horse version of the clones on Orphan Black, which I have not seen but sounds interesting on the commercials, although Tatiana Maslany is one person playing many roles while the Spotteds are two horses playing one role. Started well, that sentence.

Hyracotherium, Guest Post

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Which Way Did He Go

Driving Thursday

At our most recent marathon practice, Coach Kate suggested that I was over-navigating. I had deliberately kept up a stream of directions and reminders, often saying the same thing three times in the manner of NASCAR spotters who repeat themselves to insure they are heard over the track noise. She thought that perhaps my talking was keeping Greg from focusing far enough ahead.

Fair enough. We tried again. I shifted my weight, but didn’t say a word. We did the exact same pattern we had just done twice.

He went off course.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Getting a Grip, Proof of Concept

Saddle Seat Wednesday

The situation is not as dire as I thought. Big surprise. It’s not that I don’t know how to ride the front end of a horse [Getting a Grip, or Not]. It’s that I forget.

I finally had a saddle seat lesson, after several weeks of schedule mis-match. When I kept my concentration, I found that I could feel – and fix! – when the horse dropped out of gear. I think I have been letting this happen way too often, which is a) bad riding and b) upsets the ASBs because they are not used to it. As a side benefit, thinking about keeping the horse in the correct position kept me in the correct position.

I was riding Sam, so it was a soft test. Still, it was nice to see that I could accomplish what I had been pondering.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Maiden Voyage!

The non-video version
Step 1: Courtney drove while Melissa led.

Step 2: Courtney drove.

Step 3: Greg Drove while Melissa led.

Step 4: Greg drove.

Praise and gratitude to Courtney Huguley and Melissa Croxton for their help.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Rodney’s Feet

Right hind – still has remnants of puffiness above his fetlock from the trailer kerfuffle two weeks ago [Dubious Future]. Rodney’s tell for pain is acting scared of people, for example getting more headshy. In this case, the front end never registered a problem in the back end. So, I never worried unduly. (Worrying about getting him on a trailer again, that’s a whole different anxiety attack. But I digress.)

Left front – Lost shoe Friday. Shod Monday. Barefoot for Three. Whole. Days. Oh noes! Soaking foot, coating sole with turpentine, and crossing fingers against an abscess. In the photo, the schmutz on his leg is sweat from a hard day’s grazing. After this, I rinsed him off & hosed his other leg.