Virtual Brush Box

Foto Friday: Guest Dots

(The ~~other people doing my work for me~~ guest posts continue.)

Inspired by my Prisma post [Foto Friday: Prisma], my IT Dude rendered Rodney as a series of dots, 4k, 10k, 50k, & 50k in color.

Reference code
“Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating shading by using small dots.”
http://www.saliences.com/projects/npr/stippling/index.html

“Today we’re releasing a new program, StippleGen, which can generate stipple diagrams from images, using Secord’s algorithm.”

StippleGen: Weighted Voronoi stippling and TSP paths in Processing

“All the code is open source, ” says ITD.

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Day 1: The Longest Day, Qualifying
2015 National Academy Championship Horse Show 2015, Day 1
2014 Happy Halloween
2013 National Academy Day 1: Managing Expectations
List of links 2013, 2014, 2015

National Academy Championship Horse Show website

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Guest Cats: Sagira & Kori

(Instead of listening to me obsess about Nationals, a series of guest photo posts.)

Sagira (all black) & Kori (white bib & socks) live in Birmingham, AL. Photos by Michelle Duplichien.

More Sagira & Kori
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, Sept 2016
Not My Horses, Not My Barn
Spotted with a Friend
Boot Camp 2015, Progress Report 1

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Day -1: Warm-up & Washing
2015 Looking Forward
2014 To Go or Not To Go
List of links 2013, 2014, 2015

National Academy Championship Horse Show

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Heading out to tilt at the windmill that is Nationals, once again. While I am otherwise engaged, I leave you with a series of guest photo posts. Show Report scheduled for next Wednesday. Not planning to talk about the show until then. Not much to add to what I have already said.

Words for this year:

If you are on a horse, you’ve already won.

Facebook post by Tonya Johnston, Mental Skills Coach

I may tweet, @RodneysSaga. Twitter widget installed on sidebar. If I do not, the Stepping Stone Farm Facebook page will have updates, particularly if there is good news to share.
~~~

Day -2: Travel
2013 Newest Toy
2015 Looking Back
List of links 2013, 2014, 2015

National Academy Championship Horse Show website

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

My Ridiculous Anxiety

Last week, I had a mammogram. (Ladies, have you gone?) I have the dubious distinction of getting my films read on the day. I donned the robe of office, assumed positions natural to a Chinese acrobat, got scanned, and then waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the nice lady came out to tell me I was free to go. The doctor did not need to speak with me. Yay! The paperwork said no change since 2014. More yay! I speed walked out of the office.

While I waited the subjective eternity for the films to be read, I was nervous. This is understandable. What is NOT understandable is that my anxiety was no different than what I face before a horse show or an interview.

This is ludicrous.

Per Robert Fulghum:

One of life’s best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire – then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference.

Quote taken from Goodreads
Beautifully – an appropriately in this case – illustrated by Zen Pencils

(I have a small quibble in that this only concerns the material plane: health, food, shelter. One can have one’s physical needs met and still be emotionally impoverished. Or vice versa. As the song says,

Love will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no love.

Girls Next Door

But I digress. In the main, Mr. Fulghum’s point is well taken.)

A horse show or an interview do not rank as inconveniences, much less problems. I know this. Knowing does nothing to stop the screaming, poop-flinging monkeys in my head.

No over-arching point here. Simply a moment in the kaleidescope that is my mind.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Nose Kisses

When Rodney arrived, he was intermittently head shy. Hands and towels were okay. Brushes were not. To address this, we went out of our way to fuss with his head: patting, touching, fiddling with his upper his lip, and so on. [Head Games, Progress]

Initially, I would hold his chin and give raspberries on the end of his nose. This seemed rude. Plus, he would spook at the noise and vibration. So, I switched to giving him kisses on the end of his nose. It was a way to have him tolerate attention to his face. It has become a thing.

Before Milton eats he must stand still to have his nosed kissed. Affection as a form of obedience. No doubt psychologically traumatizing to human beings. For horses, simply something they have learned to stand still for. When I feed in the morning, Milton is usually waiting for me at the stall door. He suffers the ritual nose kiss. I drop food in his bucket. [Milton’s Moods]

One day recently, I opened the door and Milton was in a corner of the stall. He stood there, curling his front foot, pinning his ears, and doing his impression of Wild Stallion is Hungry. I stood in the doorway. He fussed. I waited. Eventually, he shuffled up next to me. He grudgingly presented his nose.

He thinks he’s so tough.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Letter Art: X is for Xerophagy

2016-letter-x

The root xeric in xeriscape come from the Greek prefix xer-, which means “dry.” There aren’t many English words that use the xer- prefix. Xeroderma is dry skin, xerography is a type of dry printing, xerophagy is eating dry food.

Grammar Girl: Zeroscape Versus Xeriscape

Note on methodology: Instead of using a pre-existing X, as I usually do, I drew the negative spaces using the GIMP path tool. New skill.
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2016 Alphabet

W is for Whip
V is for Vest, Again
U is for Ulcer Meds
T is for Training Level
S is for Swim
R is for Reins
Q is for Quote
P is for Polo Wraps
O is for Opinion
N is for Nature
M is for My Missing Motivation
L is for Leadline
K is for Knabstrupper
J is for Jenny’s Jodhpurs
I is for I Love You
H is for Halter
G is for Ghost Gallery
F is for Fence
E is for Eventing
D is for Do
C is for Carrot
B is for Brush
A is for Apple

2015 Alphabet

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Latest Batch of Postcrossing, October 2016

If you send a postcard, you will receive one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world. Postcrossing

Postcrossing July 2016 Russia stamps

The rest of the Russian caption is covered with text, which Postcrossing requests not be displayed. Photographer/photo source are illegible/in Cyrillic.