kat330

[kat330]

Zimi is not far behind!  😺

Iggi shakes! I never thought he’d be the first one to learn, but @kat330 has been persistent. Next up, rattle and then roll. Though maybe this was more of a high five. He is a cool cat, after all. 

#kat330 #Kathleen Martin

[kat330]

In My Year of the Cat-Rabbit (Cabbit)

The left-hand K.A.M. collage of my old and worn artwork efforts (c.1974) may have been among the posted casualties on my missing /page/10 here at Tumblr. I'm posting it again in any event for contrast to my above right return to a charcoal pencil decades later -- drawings from the '70s versus drawing in my 70s.

"Then" includes (top row L-R) a drawing done of a Cambodian Buddha head while in the Rietberg Museum, and the Japanese waterfall bather is my watercolor rendition of a museum postcard. (Middle row) is my left hand creating a primitive cat head and a sleeping Jasper cat in my Vermont attic apartment. (Bottom row) at left is my attempt at creating a super-quick sketch, this one of my ex, Roger; and lastly is a drawing of my mother, Margaret, from a WWII-era photo portrait of her.

At right is my very recent drawing of our 7-month-old kitten, Zimi, from a photo taken when he was 4 months old.

I've never possessed the stillness needed for serious artwork, and patience is another quality required for practicing and improving the craft that I'm short on. Nevertheless I am hoping to stick with the hobby a bit longer in this -- my -- Year of the Cat-Rabbit (Cabbit). ☼

#year of the rabbit #year of the cat #art drawing #watercolor art #charcoal drawing #cats #kittens #kathleen martin #kat330

[kat330]

SWEET ‘n’ SOUR (Dec. 9, 2022)

SWEET (Good Twin)

Zimi Marlin, 5½ months old, namesake "Robert Zimmerman." Around the Martin-Lindroos home, a.k.a. Zimi Longstockings, Zimi Half-Stache, Zimi Zimmerman, Zimi White Nose, Pretty Boy Zimmerman, Zimi Big Eyes, Meister Zimmerman, and The Zimster.

SOUR (Evil Twin) *

Iggi Marlin, 5½ months old, namesake "Iggy Pop." Around the Martin-Lindroos home, a.k.a. Swagger Cat, Pugnacious Ignatius, Ignominious, Iggi Plop or the Plopmeister (always lies down with a plop), The Corsair (coarser hair than Zimi's), St. Ignatius of Pop, and The Igster.

* L'il Gangsta insisted on this disclaimer: "no snarl was that ... mid-yawn caught ... bad blurry besides ... i'm a good kitty ... at least as good as Zim is"  😺

#kitten #cat #feline #gray tiger tabby #Bob Dylan #Robert Zimmerman #Iggy Pop #kittens #cats #cats of tumblr #humor #edward g. robinson #james cagney #gangsta cat #cat photos

[kat330]

My Back Pages

Sep 19, 2022

A few weeks ago while combing through my back pages here at Under a Bushel, I suddenly got the following result on my Page 10:

You'd think there would be a link associated with the wording of this error message, but there was nothing. I immediately wrote to support explaining the issue and, of course, waited days for any reply. What arrived was some nonsense boilerplate directing me to a FAQ.

I then noted which posts were at the bottom of Page 9 and atop Page 11 trying to figure out the problem source in-between. When I am logged into my account, however, I am not allowed to see any of my posts further back than March 9, 2014, which were all posted well after my Page 10 problem. :/

So without even archived access to the problem area, there clearly is nothing possible to even try on my end to fix the page, and this was noted to "Daniel N." of Tumblr support on August 26th. Finally a reply to my Catch-22 arrived Sep 15, but now from "Alfredo," who wrote: "Given our large number of users, we just don't have the resources. Sorry about that."

Bottom line: This blog's Page 10 was perfectly viewable without issue and without any changes in the interim for nearly nine years prior to this summer. Now it is not, and no help is offered. Ah, yes, Tumblr support: customer service with a capital T for "Trouble us not with troubles we suddenly and mysteriously created for you!" If any dear reader has some old screenshot of /page/10 to share with me, please do contact me via the blog, thank you!

#Tumblr help #tumblr customer service #Daniel N. #Alfredo #bad service #tumblr error #under a bushel #Kat330 #kathleen martin blog

[kat330]

When the News Is Too Much . . .

My first experience with digital taglines was when I joined conferences on such computer relay systems as Fidonet and Wildnet in the mid-1980s. Users would add them to the bottom of a conference post, and they were mostly well-known aphorisms and sentiments circulating in the culture as a whole. An example of one I saw repeated often, to paraphrase: "Sure I'm in shape! Round is a shape isn't it?"

With my penchant for wordplay and limerick writing, I took it as a personal challenge to compose several unique tags to cap off my own posts at various user groups. Some of you dear readers may even have come across a few of my personal tags as they bounced around the globe. Below is a partial list of my original aphorisms written between 1986-1998. Hope something below brings you a smile today!

Beware of geeks bearing .GIFs! Never surf faster than your guardian geek can type. Freudian slips are the underwear of ideas. I seized the day, but it struggled free and slapped me in the face. When finally their minds' eyes met, 'twas love at second sight. Packing MIND.QWK with PKDICK Sheesh, Bokonon, not another pain in the karass?! Stop scrapin' the scab off my healin' heart, honey --Twavis Twit So he says to the Shapeshifter waitress, "Keep the change." We bought the whole nine yards from bolts of whole cloth. If you persevere in fanning lame flame, you only make ash of yourself. A balanced perspective is the one most often attacked. Earthworm movement against grass-roots organizations is underfoot! Her bad timing was bottled and sold in Zürich as a novelty item. Like lemmings happy to Rush out on a Limbaugh...humbug! He merchandised his issue-waffling, and it sold like hotcakes. Weird how a lot of its usage becomes "wierd how alot of it's" usage. Grammar Moses adds her to sense. I want to live with a synonym ghoul. Has subjunctive, as it were, become a passé case? Had one bad rap too many, so they seized my poetic license. Alternative Music: More Offbeat But Still on the Money Wouldn't feel like a pincushion if the world weren't so full of pricks. I heard it through divine grape / Not much longer would you be ape I'd rather be a recluse than a loose wreck. Ask not for whom the drummer drums; he beats off for thee. The angels wanna wear my blue suede shoes. I'll be baksheesh! --Sheik Yerbouti I’m Friday's Child in a Wednesday World Flamenco dancer, castanet round my heart! Content in proper context is magic in the making. In a universe of games, she who refuses to play is the true winner. Computer not responding to boot? Try flattery instead. Now paying for a lifetime of integrity. Filled with angst and wondering why my ex is tense. Who me? I'm just the observer observing the observer. She was a painting in search of a frame. a) prophet b) priest c) saint d) monk e) nun of the above I could see the "loco" motives in their trains of thought. I'm hardheaded against hard hearts. "This is the best of all possible worlds -- NOT." Wayne Candide That an Uzi in your pocket or some horribly grotesque mutation? _The Story of Disk-O_: A Hot Keys Tutorial However far I lower my sights, it's never enough to keep up. Ever feel like an experiment gone awry? A joke of cosmic proportion / A punchline from the gutter Individuation on ethereal waves over the astral plane You need a checkbook for a chick, a personality for a woman. Concoction: A very big shell sale Fantasy can take you everywhere and leave you nowhere. Best Blues Chip Stock: Kimberly-Clark Corp. Even at wit's end, I still can muster appreciation of true wit.

All taglines © Kathleen A. Martin

#taglines #kathleen martin #kat330 #aphorisms #witty quotes #bon mots #wordplay #puns #humor #jokes #Fidonet #Wildnet #funny

[kat330]

Finns for Ukraine Freedom

Putin may reside at Finland's doorstep, but there certainly is no "tervetuloa" welcome mat here! Far from it, as demonstrated in demonstrations around Suomi this weekend, and Vlad dares not set foot here.

A people who include citizens willing to freeze their penis to Finnish a competition clearly will not be bullied or daunted by delusional, narcissistic thugs of any stripe.So  #fckputin

#supportukraine #fckputin #putinhitler #stopwarinukraine #kyiv #standwithukraine #putinisawarcriminal #putinmurderschildren #finland #remi lindholm

[kat330]

A Finnish Beginning

The above images are the result of a Finnish tradition at New Year's: A small tin horseshoe is melted in a ladle over a heat source and then tossed into a bucket of cold water. The shape formed suggests a theme or something in store for you personally in the coming year.

JT saw a cornucopia basket in mine (nice!), and I did, too, but I saw a calla lily shaped flower as well.

I saw a frilled lizard/dinosaur in his tin image, but he is convinced it is a kitten (also nice!), which may indeed be a household addition (x 2) in 2022. 😁

Hope 2022 brings a cornucopia of kitten kindnesses to you, dear reader!  ☼

#new year #2022 #Finnish tradition #JT Lindroos #Kathleen Martin #kat330 #fortune telling #new year omen

[kat330]

Peace to you this holiday season, dear readers.  ☼

#holiday songs #christmas music #french carol #o holy night #Cantique de Noel #kathleen martin #kat330 #adolphe adam #placide cappeau

[kat330]

Beloved Lasse, father and friend  ♥

Lars Lindroos (28.11.1945 - 30.10.2021)

I’ll write more in the upcoming days, but, as dad would have said, he moved to the ‘blissful hunting grounds’ yesterday 4 pm after a long illness. Play some Creedence Clearwater Revival today, watch a western, or drink a glass of beer to Lasse’s memory.

#Lars Lindroos #lasse lindroos #juha lindroos #jtlindroos

[kat330]

Still in the busy midst of setting up home and garden in our new forever place. Almost everything I'd hoped for here in our first home ownership, including a beautiful backyard filled with fruit trees,flowers and berry bushes that slopes up to a forest area. JT will be posting a set of photos soon at his Flickr site here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/84307396@N00/albums

#Hämeenlinna #Finland #Aulanko #First home #kathleen martin #JT Lindroos #juha lindroos #kat330 #summer 2021

[kat330]

#kathleen martin #kat330 #new albany #indiana #hämeenlinna #bicycling #birthday #e-bikes #jopo

[kat330]

An update and addition warranted after January 20, 2021. Now a trio of HOPE!

#greta thunberg #Malala Yousafzai #amanda gorman #malala #greta #Children are the Future #millenials #Female Empowerment #world peace #Environment #climate change #female education #hope #a better world #planet stewardship #national youth poet laureate #biden inauguration #the hill we climb #U.s. poet #poetry #female poets #maya angelou

[kat330]

#JT Lindroos #kathleen martin #kat330 #marriage #anniversary #wedding #juha lindroos #Suomi #finland #january 4

[kat330]

AfterMath

#trump loses #biden wins #impeached forever #Donald J Trump #45 #notmypresident #nevermypresident #bidenharis #kamala harris #joe biden #democracy wins #sore loser #lame duck #one-term president #morning in america #twice impeached #historical impeachment #traitor #seditionist #insurrectionist

[kat330]

#Donald Trump #Donald J Trump #the donald #bigly #unpresidented #presidential debate #U.S. Presidential Election #cornered #feral #fury #fat and ugly #unpresidential #worst ever #elect joe biden #vote2020 #please vote #vote biden #end the nightmare #shitshow2020 #25th amendment

[kat330]

A Night of Joy on a Planet of Pain

August 28, 2020 

Envision a lovely Friday evening in a cobble-stoned market square beneath a glorious sky hearing a talented live orchestra and chorus performing Beethoven's 9th. Further envision the assembled listeners are fully enjoying the fresh Finnish air as they need not don masks -- only one death in Hämeenlinna and its environs since the pandemic's onset in March -- yet most are remaining respectfully distanced.   Last night marked a grand return to normalcy for me and JT only heightened by the pure aural pleasure of Ludwig's magnificent "An die Freude." It brought a return of hope that "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" -- "All people become brothers" -- and sisters in deed. Kiitos, Finland, for an evening of sanity, freedom and great joy indeed!  ♥♥♥

#Finland #hameenlinna #Beethoven's 9th #ode to joy #outdoor concert #orchestra #choir #JT Lindroos #kat330 #kathleen martin

[kat330]

Return of the Native [rest assured, any similarity to Jr. Trump-on-a-Stump was unintended and purely coincidental]

We arrived in Finland on July 17, 2020. Above is my lakeside snap of JT on the 22nd, "stumping" in his hometown of Hyvinkaa.

We are relieved to be out of the USA, and not looking back until some semblance of democracy returns to my most beautiful homeland. Please, join us this November in voting out the racists and the fascists. ♥♥♥

#JT Lindroos #Kathleen Martin #kat330 #Finland #expat #u.s. fascism #U.S. racism #Donald Trump