Referral Saturday: Snark-o-licious

Did you miss the Pan Am Games? Attend and want to remember? Now you can get the best bits in one handy format at Ten Things About the Toronto Pan Am Games on Writing From the Right Side of the Stall.

Blog author Karen Briggs is a brilliant writer & hysterically snarky, “How a stylized porcupine in a baseball cap came to be the mascot of the Toronto Pan Am Games is another one of those inexplicable Dafuq? decisions.”

She is not afraid to give the Canadian point of view, “The American brand of patriotism can be a little oppressive, to be sure, but you have to admire their enthusiasm.” 

Unfortunately, blogging does not put feed in the buckets nor food on the table. She does not post as frequently as her fan club demands. Head over. Binge read her archives. Maybe we can convince her to amuse us more often.

Full disclosure: Karen is both a personal friend and a friend to the blog. We share the requisite stories about late-night escapades and the discretion not to tell them.

PanAm Games posts on WFtRSotS
Ten Things About the Toronto Pan Am Games
2015 Toronto Pan Am Games: Dressage
2015 Toronto Pan Am Games: Eventing

WFtRSotS on RS
Guest Post by Karen Briggs: The Oily Truth
Tiger Whistle
Mail-Order Horse

RS on WFtRSotS
No Witnesses
Foto Friday: A Short Tribute to Amy Tryon

Previous Referral Saturday
Adieu

Why Bother Posting?

If I have nothing to say [Hi There], why say anything? In a word, consistency.

Reader Point of View
The Internet collectively blathers on about best practices for blogging. You MUST collect email addresses. You MUST cross-pollinate. You MUST … meh. OTOH, one dictum I believe is to set a schedule and then to stick to it. Monthly, twice a week, whatever floats your boat. Promise, then deliver. A political blogger, TBogg, used to comment on news of the moment to a decent reception. However, woe betide him if he missed posting pictures of his dogs for Thursday Night Basset Blogging. For example, “I’m busy. Here’s your damn dogs.” TNBB Jan 12, 2012.

I have announced that I will post daily. I figure you will forgive the occasional misfire as I attempt to adhere to that.

My Point of View
I am good with deadlines. I am terrible without them. Daily works. If I broke that iron rule, I would quickly become swamped by utterly believable reasons to delay a post, leading to inconstant posting and constant guilt.

There are days when I am up past my bedtime watermarking photos. I grumble, but derive satisfaction from my eventual success in getting the post out. The only days I hate are the misfires. I always – always – have something to say. (Yes, I can hear the laughter from those of you who know me IRL.) Drawing a blank indicates a fundamental glitch in the operating system.

Move Toward Yes
So why blog at all? Last time I left [Hiatus], it took me three weeks to get bored. Now that I have two horses, it might take six weeks. But bored I would get, “When one has the soul of a Border Collie, inactivity is hell.” [Back].

Moving toward yes means that you don’t stop. You move toward something better, however you choose to define better. In this case, better might be a hectic, remunerative freelance schedule, or an intense training regimen as I get ready for my first Preliminary event. Until then, I shall trundle along.

(I have studiously avoided considering life crises that would leave me boulversé, with no time and no will to blog. Superstitious? Moi?)

Onward!
Enough navel gazing. Next week, return to ponies and pussycats. Promise.

Giving Myself Permission

Went for a lesson earlier this week. It was, in technical terms, hotter than three hells. I also had a mild headache, an intermittent stomachache, and an all-over malaise. The desire to give it all up for Tiddlywinks was strong.

Hmmm. Lessons have been going well. No big shows until the middle of next month. The world would not stop turning if I skipped today. Ahhh. I sat on a tack box with my eyes closed, basking in the thought of the AC at home. As I sat, unmoving in mind and body, I realized that, yes, I would like a lesson. I was here. The covered arena would provide shade. Might even be fun. Got on. Had a excellent lesson.

Why? Partly, the Aspirin and Pepto kicked in. Partly, in giving myself permission, I took the pressure off. What I really wanted to do was ride, thank you very much.

I need to do this with my own horses. I get into a state of mind wherein if I am not pushing myself to give 110%, seven days a week, I am a failure. Such a schedule is not good training, not healthy, and not possible. It is the quick route to crazytown, witness Tuesday’s post [Hi There]. I know this. Can I change this? Ha! I just yell louder at myself.

I would never treat another person the way I treat myself.

Hi There, August 11, 2015

Surely I can arrange my life to say something each day, even if it’s ‘Hi There’. Where Do We Go From Here?

Feeling very First World Problems lately.

Mired in ennui. OTOH, am food secure, healthy, and as physically safe as one can get in a fallen world.

Be motivated, dammit.

Trolling Facebook out of boredom when I come across a link to an article in Good Magazine about Flo from Mariko Products:

A multi-purpose device that allows women living in poverty to more effectively clean, dry, and carry around their reusable menstrual pads, thereby making periods safer, and less disruptive to their lives.
[This is “Flo”]

Be grateful, dammit.

History
I appear to have brain freeze a twice a year:
Hi There, January 7, 2013
Placeholder, October 22, 2013
Hold This Space, June 19, 2014
Placeholder II, July 22, 2014

~~~
Gratuitous sunset over pasture photo:

sunset august 10 15

The Name of the Game

August hath dawned. Both horses arrived in August. That means

1) We’ve had Rodney for five years; Milton for one.

B) Coggin’s tests are due.

3 or C) Time to revisit my ongoing quest for decent show names. This nonsense will continue until either I find names I like or I show and am stuck with what I have.

Parameters as before: Help Me Name My Horse.
Prize as before: $25 at Amazon or online bookseller of your choice.
New this time: two horses, two prizes on offer.

Current Front Runners
Barn Names, i.e. Rodney & Milton
Milton: Monochrome Rainbow

Milton Sun Aug 24 2014 2

Previous Attempts
Milton: Canadian Cold Front [2014]
Rodney: Just Roscoe [2010], Perpetual Motion [2011, unofficial], Start Your Engines [2012, unofficial], Rodney [2013], Start Your Engines [2014]

History of Contest
Help Me Name My Horse, Prize Offered
Contest in Final Days
Contest Winner

New Year, New Contest
Contest Renewal
Final Chance. Again.
And The Naming Contest Winner Is …

Your Turn
Awaiting your amazing suggestions.