my journey to the Alphabet Land (day X)

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(Edited)

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My post for the #AlphabetHunt challenge by @barbara-orenya.
Last week of this beautiful and entertaining creative challenge. Three letters are left to find, and today I will share what I've found so far for the tricky letter "X". Well, it was not the easiest letter of the alphabet, but still not totally rigid and fruitless and unyielding. Mission completed!


X — Xamovniki

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Actually, beer helped me A LOT during searching rare stuff named from X and Z. So, this is the Russian sort of beer bottled in quite unique shape. 'Xamovniki' is an old, suburb district of Moscow city, I cant say why exactly it is named after it, maybe due to the brewery is located at the same area? I really love the shape of the bottle, it is very elegant and refers imo to the old style, to beginning of XX century... but the taste is nothing special! I bought the beer and took this photo back in July, preparing to this week in advance. This was my first trophey, thats why it goes as 1st entry,


X — Xerocomus Subtomentosus

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Mushrooms helped me in this round, too. I prefer not to use Latin names in this challenge (but, hmm, perhaps I should do an exception with letter X, it is so special :) and this mushroom has a strange name that in a funny was was stuck in my head (Russian native speakers probably would understand the reason why!). Xerocomus is the genus name (some scientists also attribute it to Boletus genus). In Russian this certain fungus is named Моховик зелёный, i.e. Green Mokhovik. It is a good, edible mushroom.

This summer I met it twice; both times it was a big family scattered at quite a large area (10-20 metres), so it turned out a pleasurable 'quiet hunting'. Their big bright fancy orange caps were very visible at the green moss, they were not hiding at all, and I was in the know they were more of them around I just made circles and circles, with my knife and a camera... and took two dozen of cool captures.


X — X-ray

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Those who follow me for a while, remember that last September, after we closed the summer village season, our cat had multiple health issues and we were visiting
veterinary clinic and doctors several times; we had to take an X-ray to look inside her body to make sure there was no inflammation left. X-rays helped us in this. These rays cannot be photographed, they are not visible to the human eye! but you can take a photo of a photo :) Fortunately, I remembered that doctor had sent us a photo, and it was still in my mail.

Voila! @nelinoeva, the cat again fit into the post and benefitted to it a lot :)))

ps. I also has in my collection the issue of X-Ray magazine from 2003 (it has a radiohead feature), but it simply doesnt rank to the photo above... I feel no need to take more photos, they would be less convincing and just dilute my post.


X — Xerox

Haha, I predict this week it would be everyone's fave! At least I guess so...

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This is an old photo from my previous job that I left right before C-19 shit went onto ventilator (and its old office that we had to move from, back in late 2019). This photo contains a lot of things that are gone by now. That cozy lovely one-story building I loved very much, has been erased to the ground; the employer have been ceased to exist, and all the people I worked with, have gone... and the Xerox DC-240 copier and printing machine you see in this photo, have gone to waste, too. At some point this X-beast from 2000-es costed me a lot of blood and sweat

Now let me add a little music bonus to my post for you to Feel better. I can fit my fave band Radiohead to my post, as well: back in 1994 they created a song titled 'Planet Xerox' (which later was renamed due to copyright issues... nobody can may use 'Xerox' TM for free, haha).

Here is a great live edition of this song from Spanish TV.


X — Xylophagous

Well, now I gonna milk up the ancient Greek language: in this language, the part "xylo-" means "wood / wooden". Thus, English words that claim to be scientific (or to look science-tastic, if you see it that way) use it as a prefix, indicating any relationship with a tree.

'Xylophagous' means feeding on or obtaining nutrition from wood: for example, a xylophagous beetle, xylophagous fungi, etc. This leads us to all gigantic array of mushrooms that feed off the deadwood or living trees. Believe me, this is hundred thousands of species... or maybe even a million, I wander who can state it for sure? When I found this word, I assorted a few pics from my archive. This summer's captures:

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The same wooden branch with unidentified tree mushrooms. Two captures done in the same conditions, I just choose to present both to display how much the final result relies on retouching / postprocessing. Same result could have been achieved with just using (or applying) a fancy lighting. So, basically, in my photoshop exercises I just imitate unusual cool lighting, I am deprived in most cases 'in the field'.

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I am not fond of 'realistic / natural / original look' editing, I am more into artsy and unusual, 'better-then-in-real-life-outlook' finishing.

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Oyster is a well-spread and well-known mushroom. This is a product that is used to grow at farms artificially on a substrate and sold in stores.

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X — Xylography

My sixth word is maybe the best one, and I really wonder how many folks will find and include it in their post?.. I hold my breath I have a little exclusive with it.

It has same 'xylo-' prefix in it, so you may assume it is connected with wood as well. Being one of a printed engraving varieties, this is one carved on a wood, or to be precise, on a cross-cut of a tree trunk. Wood offers a wealth of detail and nuance, and it is a soft, cheap, affordable material - perfect for chiseling. I have learnt about this art genre in my univercity years, when I studied the art of book course.

Множество художников любили и использовали этот вид гравюры. У меня много образцов, но я думал не дольше секунды что вам показать сегодня. Несколько лет назад я встретил книгу, в которую влюбился. Я потратил несколько месяцев на то, чтобы приобрести на вторичном рынке конкретное издание, которое было иллюстрировано правильными картинками. Это - "Моби Дик" Германа Мелвилла, с иллюстрациями Рокуэлла Кента. Да, 200 иллюстраций и все выполнены в технике "ксилогравюра". Ошеломительные иллюстрации! Графическая интерпретация текста через ксилографию в издании 1929 года заставила тысячи людей перечитать этот роман заново, эта действительно заставила людей влюбиться в роман, оценить его по-новому, и сделала этот роман классикой американской литературы.
Many artists loved and used this type of engraving. I have different samples, but I considered for less a second what to show you today. Several years ago I met a book that I fell in love with in a fraction of a moment. Though it took me several months to purchase from the Russian ebay a specific edition I wanted, which was illustrated with the iconic images. This novel is 'Moby Dick' by Herman Melville, with illustrations by Rockwell Kent. Yes, 200 illustrations, all made using the woodcut technique. Stunning art, I should say! The graphic interpretation of this novel through woodcuts in the 1929 edition made thousands of people re-read this novel, it really made people fall in love with the novel (same as me!), made them appreciate it in a new way, made it a classic of American literature.

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Look into this mad eyes...
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I made a birthday present to myself with this book back in 2017. Paid less then $9 U.S. dollars for it, including the delivery. It is a Russian edition of 1961, this is the best one.

NB. If you want to dig more into this subject, here is the link where I happened to get acquainted with it. A great, outstanding, superior content, highly worth checking it.


All the images taken by me, as always. This round I almost have no leftovers... almost. Still there were a few words I could find images for:

xerophile / xenophobia / xylophone / xiaomi

Those are all good things... but nobody can fit an unfittable, right?
Как говорил мой старый наставник-редактор: "Нельзя впихнуть невпихуемое!


Now I think its a right time to create an index to my posts for this great challenge.

A: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/my-jorney-to-the-alfabet-land-a
B: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-day-b
C: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-day-c
D: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-day-d
E: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-day-e
F: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-f
G: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-g
H: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-h
I: https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-i
K: https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-k
L: https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-day-l
L: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-l-part2
M: https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-m
N: https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-n
O: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-o
P: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-p
Q: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-q
R: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-r
S: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-s
T: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-t
T: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-t2
U: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-u
V: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-v
W: https://peakd.com/hive-190931/@qwerrie/alphabet-land-w


Hope you enjoyed travelling with me. Come back next week, and join the fun!

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X was a walk for you, it would have been too bad to not do it entirely indeed.. 😉 My favourite is the X-rays of the cat ! not that it is the more original word, but I have never seen such picture before, could'nt have ever tell it is a cat and i really suck at anatomy 😄

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glad you enjoyed it. if you're curious, I can share with you in comment a few more pics (less body, more hands i.e. legs and fingers). I have 4 different photo in total.

'X was a walk for me' -- is that cause I found so much mushrooms?

i really suck at anatomy

dont say so! :))) but, cat's body erased to the skeleton, is a funny and sick sight, indeed. Imagine a very wet cat, that came out right from a bathing....

8-)

:)

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Mind you, you did surprise me with all six X words. I struggle to find two at leat.
See, the cat is so versatile and fits everywhere. LOL Now I remember I had x-ray photos also, but of the dog.
The mushroom photos are brilliant, but having a photo of the beer from July, prepared for the X challenge, that is such a dedication
While searching words with X, I came across xylography and wished to use it. Alas, got nothing suitable, but you did it great!
Now what you have with Y and Z I wonder? 😀

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I struggle to find two at leat.

o! well. hm. yes. I could imagine that. and no one from your two didnt came to my mind. X-mas seems obvious, but only after you see it in other's post xD

came across xylography but

wow! nice to hear that. that you really did find it, even if you got no proper book. cool.

Y is no problem at all -- if you'd like some hints, then we have yandex (a russian google) with all its services, yachts (hehe), yarn, yardstick, yardwork, yearling, yeast, yellow submarine, yellowtail, yielding, yoda, yogurt, youngsters, yuppie. that is my starting point. (any dictionary could help you same way, as me!) but i have nothing for Z, to say the truth. maybe I will gave up, since it is the last week.... hmmm... I am touched, to have a developed answer like yours, thank you, Neli, you deserve !ENGAGE 50, not sure what I have left in my pocket, but maybe its already tomorrow :P

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Thank you for your engagement on this post, you have recieved ENGAGE tokens.

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You did a good job, my friend. I think this will be the most original X post. In my dictionary there are only 4 words on X ... I understand why you had to resort to the help of other languages.
But why didn't you use the remaining two letters? After all, this week seems to be a mix of three, or am I confusing something?
//
Ты славно поработал, мой друг. Думаю, это будет самый оригинальный X-пост. В моём словаре всего 4 слова на X... Я понимаю, почему пришлось прибегнуть к помощи других языков.
Но почему ты не использовал оставшиеся две буквы? Ведь на этой неделе вроде как микс из трёх или я что-то путаю?

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да, всё так, челендж внезапно обрывается, точнее сворачивается, Барбара нашла новую работу и просто не в состоянии тратить на него такую прорву времени и дальше. я наверное единственный такой, кто хочет честно дойти до конца не миксуя, и подумываю сделать за оставшуюся неделю все три отдельных поста. так что видимо да, мой Х-пост останется единственным в таком роде.

ps. кстати, поздравь меня - повысили до 71 ранга. и года не прошло!

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таки, проздравляю с повышением))
весёлый был конкурс, но рулетка повернулась ко мне задом от слова совсем )))
Не, я микс буду делать. В моём словарике на Х всего 4 слова))

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да и ко мне тоже. я последний раз даже не помню когда выигрывал что то... может, когда была буква Д... не пожже :) так всегда -- много народу, мало кислороду. но ента единичка токена последнее что я думаю, когда участвую в сем челлендже, так что не беда :)

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здесь да, движуха с веселухой важнее))

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I will be waiting to see your mix. meanwhile, you can tell me ~~the secret of the Golden Key~ what your four X-words are?..

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на Х у меня планируется только одно и не совсем слово, вот только не знаю, какое фото подобрать ))
а слова как такового и нет, причём во всех языках)))
интригую...)

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I am hooked! (я на крючке, выражаясь по рюсски. наживку заглотил, ждемс!)

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вот, скоро буду подсекать :-)

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если ты про словарик, то это: рождество, рентгеновские лучи, гравюра на дереве и ксилофон. Но их уже использовали многие

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ага... ну как многие. ксилофона не видел ни одного, ксмас да, у всех есть, а ксилография и х-лучи, только у меня в посте покамест были!

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ксилофон сфотать не получится по причине отсутствия оного у меня... остальное есть, но уже озвучено в постах (как минимум у тебя). Так что... мы пойдём своим путём)) как Ильич)

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аналогично - мы ентот дивайс давно оставили где-то позади.. потеряли в прошлом. но пойти своим путем - это сугубо правильно! вот почему и стараюсь чтоб не смущаться и не терзаться, смотреть чужое только когда свое уже повесил :)

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тоже верно, но ведь что-то попадается до своей публикации))
я шибко не терзаюсь, придерживаюсь правила: делай как считаешь нужным и будь, что будет)

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но все равно, я понял насчет словарного запаса, пасиба. кстати мне самому в голову Xmas не пришел! равно как и X-man, X-factor...

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ну дык к иксу можно через тире много чего дописать ))

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я там тебе опят подбросил)

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Only my delight - others have already said the rest! 😯😀

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Pasiba! Grazie Mille! Гран мерси!

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Да, X — Xerox несомненный лидер:) Отличный портрет!

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ну.... да ну... ты серьёзно? фотка спонтанная, спору нет, и все такое. но качество так себе. янелюблюмобилофоткиииии... ты на грибы хорошо посмотрела? они же такие классные!!!! вот где лидер!

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Грибы у тебя всегда отличные, этим не удивишь:) А вот портрет четверорукого @qwerrie - это и мило, и забавно, и про момент времени, который никогда больше не повторится.

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да уж. детка уже не та, увы... так то да, момент драгоценный ухвачен. у меня таких фото как ты понимаешь вообще немного. с фотографом и его любимыми жертвами в кадре :=) можно сказать напересчет...

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Так да, тем они драгоценнее:)

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Hm, if I was picky, I would say that the Xamovniki !BEER is not centered and the image not straight, but that doesn't matter, because it seems that the bottle is empty 🤣 it has a real interesting shape though.

Sorry for that, and now seriously ... that's a great post, my friend, but that your posts are great is nothing new, and your mushrooms are excellent photographed - I love the oysters on moss 😃

Xylography? Never heard of, but I know that style, of course. That will really stay a unique word this week I believe.

So, apart from kidding in the first sentence I can only say you have done a great job in hunting the X, my friend @qwerrie 😁


!invest_vote

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охо, ты еще и чемпион по Х букве)

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угу... на самом деле, квестодатель вынужденно закругляет конкурс, по своим причинам (резоны есть). все оставшиеся 3 буквы за одну неделю, и участникам было предложено совместить все остатное в 1 пост, а я отказался, вот и выгляжу чемпионом. (да там еще и народ бухтел что мол где ж мы такие буквы возьмем и слов то таких нет и вокруг нас их нет... им пошли навстречу). все есть, на самом деле.

жаль, что вы так и не присоединились к этой игре, но я чувствую вам было совсем не до блога.... да?

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вообще не до него и не до чего.
я как-то все время выпадала из всех этих движух, точнее не западала в них. особо времени нет следить за ними. наскоком заскочить запостить что-то, посмотреть друзей полайкать и все. но много штук интересных, вот от тебя многое узнаю из постов)
кстати, можно на ты давно)

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да мы на ты, конечно же, я только часто об этом забываю, нерегулярность общения, всё такое. нме все это время было до него потому что без работы сижу. фотки редактирую, и чего ж время на посто-писание не потратить?

вот та же Барбара - как я вчера узнал, оказывается, два года жила на свои сбережения, уволившись с прошлой работы. и вот я за нее порадовался, узнаю что она наконец снова в седле, снова работает. и первым делом, она быстренько закругляет конкурс до окончания - хорошенького понемножку, а времени на реальную жизнь действительно остается все меньше, если плотно общаться и вести какой нибудь конкурс, боже упаси популярный, так и вообще времени вылезать из Хайва не будет. жить то когда спрашивается?... в таком вот аксепте..

цена на Hive кстати упала до 14 центов. (а стим сейчас - целых 16!). на стиме чуть-чуть движуха, тухло конечно но все равно хоть что-то. я все свои стимы отдал в делегирование @gotogether, получается выгодно, от них апвоуты каждый день и выплаты по 1 стиму за мои 4000 токенов делегации, и как раз высвобождается время чтобы самому не пасти их.

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@qwerrie, this is too easy for you, hahaha!!!

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I have an editor's background (in Russian, ofc) and I have read a lot of books in my life, and simply love letters too much, all in one :)))
thank you, I take this as a nice compliment to my post :)))

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Oh... no wonder!!! I love reading your blog so much!!! 🥰🌺🤙
!ENGAGE 25

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but I do not own so many beautiful things around me, like you do. cheers!

8-)

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You did extremely well finding six Xwords for the end of the alphabet but you didn’t finish it.To make it easier the Alphabet Hunters were to incorporate XYZ in this last post.

I love the X-ray of the cat. I wasn’t sure what it was at first.

Using the 'xylo-' prefix was unique. The mushrooms photos are great.

A successful X hunt @querrie.

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thank you. and actually I plan to do or 2 more posts, to complete the game.
@bambuka considered the xylography too (well, he is a successfull woor-carving pro, so that is no surprise!) but after he saw it in my post he decided to find something different :P

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Hi @qwerrie, excellent findings with so many Xs, but all are difficult to find here especially all those mushrooms. You are so expert in identifying mushrooms. I can say Xerox and X-ray are already in my mind for my hunt. Will complete my hunt's post soon. Have a nice day and take care, cheers, ainie

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Committed to the challenge. Informative details and motivation are all over the post. I liked the words of the scientific terms of nature because they usually use the X; The X-ray made me very curious when I read what it was about. The pictures of the beautiful mushrooms, I liked what you achieved. Finally, how passionate I was to read the Woodcut carefully, the old is meritorious and even for me works of this style are admirable.

Congrats friend.

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hey, Amanda, thanks for a feedback. I am happy my post entertained you.
PS. mushrooms and cats seems use to go well together -- according to my observations.

have a nice day!

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