Day 18 - 2023: Saddle

[K-2]

Thank you, friends, for all your kind thoughts about my favorite Demon and my favorite Angel.

@Matthew H. - everything was going great on my Demon/Imp until I got to the p on Imp, and the nib caught on the textured watercolor paper, and I had to make the bowl of the p wider than it should be. I'm sure you noticed that though 

@tiffany.c.a - I love seeing your sketchbook pages, and I'm very flattered that I've inspired you to try out decorated capitals and different styles of hand lettering.

@AnasaziWrites - I'm familiar with the "Da Vinci Code" bit from Dan Brown's series, but I haven't read "Angels and Demons". Back when there was a bit of a fad for them, I ended up on something of a lecture circuit with an historian colleague of mine, explaining to regional audiences that no, pretty much none of it is "real". I admit I got tired of the schtick and never got around to reading anything else of his. Perils of the profession, I think.

@Lucie Y - I'm so glad to hear your workshop went well! I often find the best "teaching" situations are the times I'm an active learner alongside my students, rather than the "expert" in front of the room.

@Erica McPhee - so very happy to hear your son's surgery went well, and that he's making a good recovery in your care. Glad he could find some comfort in our finger-trauma story too, and also some amusement in the "Dagger-Knife" bit too (your son would have told you that it's a parrying dagger).

@Zivio - I've got a spot of etymological pedantry here for you:

My entry for "Saddle" is semi free-associating.... I used "Yoke" as a sort of synonym for "Saddle" because I need a Y for my alphabet. Instead of going with the livestock tack in which both saddle and yoke are metaphors for oppressive burdens, I went with the basic sense of "joining" from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”); doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh. This leads me not only to the shape of the letter Y but also an important part of my favorite mode of transportation, and the terrific German company that produces so much great gear, BikeYoke.

[Erica McPhee]

Brilliant! Your creativity knows no bounds!

[AnasaziWrites]

Mountains have saddles too.
While on a cross country trip in 1980, driving by the Grand Tetons in late July, I wondered if someone with no mountaineering experience could climb "The Grand." At the base of the range was the Exum Mountain Guides school  (Glenn Exum was the first to have climbed the now named Exum Ridge to the summit in 1931). So, I gave it a shot. After the 3? day course of instruction, off we went with a guide to climb the Exum Ridge, a two day ascent and return. The first day ended at the "saddle," a bowl like formation between two peaks of the range at 10,000ft.+ elevation. At three am the next morning, we set out for the summit (13,775 ft.). We started at the base in sunny, 70's degrees weather, and at the summit, it was freezing and began to snow, so had to hustle down. Never been so tired in my life, but it was fun.
ps. Don't volunteer to carry one of the 150 foot climbing ropes up--they're pretty heavy.

[Lucie Y]

I was hoping I'd start my Fraktur course tonight but I can't access it. I was hoping to show you my first attempts at Fraktur. After spamming the platform I decided to practice my italics instead, and do it much bigger than I usually do, with a 6mm parallel pen.
It sure teaches you a lot to write big, you can rethink your style, but darn is it painful to see the flaws so big!

[Erica McPhee]

Look at 1980 Mike!  Impressive!

Looking forward to seeing your Fraktur @Lucie Y . Certainly enjoying your Italic!

[Zivio]

…

@Zivio - I've got a spot of etymological pedantry here for you …


….  but also an important part of my favorite mode of transportation, and the terrific German company that produces so much great gear, BikeYoke.

Ah, thanking you kindly, dear soul!  Logophile that I am, I enjoyed your explications on “yoke” which led me to research why the control column in certain aircraft is referred to as the yoke … (“pairing” of said control between pilot and copilot).

As for favorite modes of transportation, I agree, having commuted by bicycle for the last ten years of my employment, day and night, rain or shine.  You may have seen quoted somewhere:

“Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stays this bicyclist from the swift completion of his daily commute.” 

PS:  Well, and then there’s Yoke Pen Company … just saying.

[Matthew H.]

Wow, @K-2! I was blown away by the inventiveness of your design. I absolutely love it. And honestly, I didn't notice anything with the p of imp! Although I have to admit, textured watercolour paper scares me for just that reason. There's a piece I'll be completing soon on Fabriano 5 – I don't know if you've used it? It has only the lightest texture, but it's definitely enough to give me reason to worry!

It was great to see your photos, @AnasaziWrites. I really liked how your piece complements them.

@Lucie Y I wish my italic looked like this at a large size! Just earlier today, I was looking at something I'd written with the 6mm Parallel Pen the other week and, oh dear, the angle of my descenders was off, I'd misjudged where my clockwise letters joined the stem… It was a mess.

It is fun writing large, though, isn't it?!

[Cyril Jayant]

My catch up In Inktomber 23 

Day -18 -SADDLE IN THE WORLD OF SNOOPY