I did not ride at the second Winter Tournament show last Saturday. Car accident. No transportation. I’m fine.
The accident happened Thursday night, with no traffic, on a major four-lane road. I was driving harmlessly along, heading home, thinking about stopping at the grocery store to pick up canned cat food. The other car drove straight into my back-end. I was going maybe 50 mph. The other driver was going 60? 70? This sounds dramatic, but the lack of vector differential significantly reduced the effective force.
The other car, a Honda Fit, spun wildly, ended up far off the road, and had a completely crumpled front end. Driver was up and fine. My valiant little Fiat 500 stopped in a straight line on the side of the road with a broken fender and dented trunk. After the deputy sheriff Hulked-out the piece of plastic rubbing one of the rear tires, I was able to drive home!
You oughta see the other guy.
I don’t know if going home was the right answer. Once I did that, I had no way to get anywhere. I had no idea how deep the damage was. Car wasn’t moving again until headed for the shop. My husband’s car was at the airport. However, solving possible tow/taxi/rental issues at 11:30 at night did not appeal. All I wanted to do was creep home and pull up the drawbridge.
This meant I was stuck carless at home for 2 1/2 days. In more serious circumstances, there are people I could call who would be glad to help. I was fine. The house had enough food. Sitting quietly was a sensible response. Boring, but sensible.
Probably just as well I did not go to the show. It would not have been my A-game. I was very fortunate, but being subject to that much kinetic energy left me stiff and sore. Plus the adrenalin backwash took at least a day to work out of my system. So I sat.
Clearly, the ones who suffered most were the cats. Nothing but dry food all weekend. We were low on dog food, but I made up the difference with enough people food that they didn’t mind.
Over at the show, my schedule would have been the same as last month [Report]: three riding classes, one driving. The non-equitation classes had 12 entries. I had been looking forward to seeing if my showmanship had improved enough to get us noticed in the crowd. I had high hopes for the equitation class. The main movement of the new pattern is a canter circle that I ride as a jumper roll-back. In lessons, I was knocking it out of the park.
I mention the accident here because when the Winter Tournament banquet rolls around, my inner competitor will have a fit. She wants all! the! ribbons! I will need to remind her that I missed a show. I will need to reminding her why I missed a show. Won’t matter. Bitch has tunnel vision.
Greg (husband): You aren’t doing anything with Milton. I’m going to make him my driving horse.
Katherine (me): Have you lost your mind?
G: He’s athletic. He’s competitive. He’ll love it.
K: Thoroughbreds don’t drive. Have you ever seen a Thoroughbred at a Combined Driving competition?
G: Our friend J drove a sleigh through the snow with his Thoroughbred stallion. So-and-so mentioned that her a Thoroughbred gelding loved to drive.
K: Okay, a handful. You hear about it because it’s unusual. The Internet has videos of jumping Clydesdales. Should I get one as my next jumper?
G: Milton lunges. He long lines. He’s happy wearing Mathilda’s old blinkers [Driving Miss M].
K: What happens if he has a Thoroughbred moment while pulling a cart?
G: We’ll let him tell us if he wants to do it. We’ll keep going until he says no. Or yes.
K: What the green thing?
G: I made a breastcollar out of webbing (Strapworks.com) for proof-of-concept. We’ll see how he feels about the idea of pulling before we invest in harness. Think of it as a trial run.
K: Funny you should use the word ‘run’. Is it a good idea to take a horse with a history of galloping into the sunset [Universe] and tie him up with indestructible straps?
G: It has breakways, like Rodney’s reins [Headgear]. We’ll get leather before anyone’s ass is on the line.
Rodney’s nose is out of joint. Now that Milton is less of an equus non grata, he is getting more attention. Rodney thinks this is coming out of his total. Rodney thinks life is a zero sum game.
I’ve sat them down together – figuratively – and explained that this is a team event. What is good for one is good for both. Let’s say Milton galloped around the AEC in North Carolina this year, to pick an example at random. My resulting good humor would benefit every living thing within shouting distance. Milton would get seriously spoiled, and so would Rodney.
This is the first time I’ve had two horses. There were times that I was lucky enough to have a second ride, for example, with Party Manners [Yin, photo], and with George [Sidesaddle, photo]. In both cases, the horse was cared for and ridden by the owner. With Previous Horse and Mathilda, Previous Horse came first. Period. If I rode him first, he would wander off to graze in another part of the pasture while I rode Mathilda. If I dared to ride Mathilda first, PH would strafe us. Seriously. He would canter up next to us and start kicking. Plus Mathilda belonged to Greg. Soothing her ego was his job.
It will be interesting to balance Rodney and Milton. Both horses have high opinions of themselves. Both horses expect the world to agree.
I have been incorrect in my usage for Sunday posts.
Typography Versus Lettering
Typography has to do with type. Little bits of metal (usually) used in repeat printings. Lettering is the custom drawing of a small group of letters for a specific purpose.
“Type: prefabricated letters that are made to be reused many times and in any order.
“Lettering: one-of-a-kind letters that are made (drawn, painted, carved) in situ for a single piece.” Lettering is Not Type: Clear Definitions for Commonly Abused Terms by Stephen Coles
My use of “typography” as a category was flat out wrong. The “Text Art” title was technically correct. It’s all text. OTOH, text can also refer to the block of words or to the content independent of the text style. The current running title is more accurate.
“Mark Simonson made a nice analogy that helps distinguish the two: Lettering differs from type in the same way that modeling clay differs from Lego bricks.” ibid
(Speaking of correct usage, it should be LEGO bricks. At least that is what the company would prefer. As an AFOL, that’s what I use. In the newspaper world, AP style trumps corporate style. But I digress.)
Lettering Versus Calligraphy
Calligraphers write letters. Letters draw letters.
“Calligraphy is based on penmanship; it’s essentially “writing letters.” Lettering, on the other hand, is based on draftsmanship, i.e. “drawing letters.” Understanding The Difference Between Type And Lettering
By Joseph Alessio
Typeface Versus Font
While we are at it, typeface & font are not the same
Typeface: the design of a set of characters.
Font: the vessel for a set of characters. Clear Definitions
Not sure I grok this.
“I often see “typographer” used to describe someone who makes typefaces, but we have separate terms for these two very different disciplines, just like blacksmiths make hammers and carpenters use them.” ibid
So What?
Does the difference matter? In the sense of ‘Ooooh, look at the pretty letters”, not at all. In my effort to learn about the field, yes. I would be interested in a book on lettering. I would be less interested in a book on typography.
How is this My Little Pony? The image echoes the show’s color scheme, which hovers at the pink/purple end of the spectrum, albeit less pastel. MLP:FIM Wiki
Photo project from my Instagram feed, @rodneyssaga.
Began and ended with Starbucks.
Food-related photos (food item or taken at a restaurant): 9, four of them from Starbucks. Used the “free” downloading for new tablet. Given the price of their hot chocolate, this may be false economy.
Horse-related photos: 4. The pearlesque thing is a hairband for this weekend’s show. [*]
Travel (NYC) photos: 3. The Auntie Anne’s pretzel bite was both food & travel
Total 15 photos.
Routine explanation: started Instagram as a blog tie-in. Did this instead. A single object each day. Nothing to do with the blog. Occasionally to do with horses. Published here for archival purposes.
Virtual Brush Box 