I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought
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  by jovikeThe Little-Known Meanings of Crazy Color Names vol. 3
Seemingly incomprehensible color names often tell intriguing and funny stories, at least to those who are willing to delve beneath the surface. We continue our strange and wonderful adventure into the uncharted fringes of language, where we'll discover new "shades of meaning." The dark gray color called fsck refers to a Linux system administration command and is also the title of an album of experimental electronic music by the band Farmers Manual. 
The bright pink color called fzzk recalls the sound of “flash panties,” a weapon disguised as underwear, as in the comic book Dirty Pair: Run From The Future #3 by Adam Warren. 
The light purple color called ggg echoes the gulping of a noisy drinker, as described in “More Than Words” by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. 
The light green color called gggg refers to a baby’s giggle, as described in the novel Edwin Mullhouse by Steven Millhauser. 
The gray color called gnch refers to the sound of someone gorging on a giant mushroom, as in the graphic novel Uzumaki 2 by Junji Ito. 
by sahmeepee
The bright red color called grrl refers to a girl who riots, usually associated with punk music. 
The bright orange color called grrrr refers to the squeak of vinyl pants rubbing against vinyl furniture, as in the novel The Final Detail by Harlan Coben. 
The ominous color called grrrrrr echoes the sound of one’s shadow self explosively releasing “a great amount of repressed energy” in a “giant over-reaction” (Jacquelyn Small, Awakening in Time: The Journey from Codependence to Co-Creation). 
The frothy color called hgkh refers to the sound of someone struggling not to drown in a vat of fresh cream, as in the graphic novella Hearts and Minds by Scott McCloud. 
The luminous green color called hhh conjures the silent moment of Buddha-nature, when “the breath is completely out” and one effortlessly experiences the moment of death (Osho, The Book of Secrets). 
All of these color name insights are derived from my Dictionary of Improbable Words, which is available for online reading. [Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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Who's driving the world's smallest car (1/1000th the size of the actual car, the size of a grain of rice)? Our guess: a " copper." --- J writes: I've heard of a "subcompact," but this is ridiculous!
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 by creaturaWhich Came First? The Chicken Color or the Egg Color?Pearly white, cream, yellow, brown, gray, blue, violet, green, olive. Chicken eggs are colorful even before they're dyed and decorated for Easter celebrations. "The color of eggs comes exclusively from the pigment in the outer layer of the shell and may range from an almost pure white to a deep brown, with many shades in between. The only determinant of egg color is the breed of the chicken. . . . A simple test to determine the color of a hen's eggs is to look at her earlobes. If the earlobes are white, the hen will lay white eggs. If the earlobes are red, she will produce brown eggs" (David Feldman, Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? and other Imponderables, 1988. Poultry expert Katie Thear notes that "All eggs are initially white, and shell color is the result of the pigments called porphyrins being deposited while the eggs are in the process of formation. In the case of the Rhode Island Red, the brown pigment protoporphyrin, derived from haemoglobin in the blood, is what gives the shell its light brown color. The Araucana produces a pigment called oocyanin, which is a product of bile formation, and results in blue or bluish-green eggs. Interestingly, the color goes right through the shell, making the eggs difficult to candle [i.e., test for freshness by holding up to the light] during incubation." 
by kit
Interestingly, the light of the sun can fade the color of an egg's shell, even before it has been laid. This is a phenomenon that especially affects free-range chickens in hotter climates. "Although shell color is mainly determined by genetics, the effect of strong sun and high temperatures on the hens can produce a fading effect on the shells. Why too much sun affects the surface pigmentation in this way is unknown, but it can be a problem for those who sell such eggs," Thear says. She notes that stress, premature laying, changes in diet, bullying, viral infections, and the presence of predators can also lead to eggs with pale colors. [Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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by jovikeThe Little-Known Meanings of Crazy Color Names vol. 2
We continue our strange and wonderful adventure into the uncharted fringes of language, in search of new "shades of meaning." Colors with seemingly incomprehensible names actually tell fascinating and humorous stories, at least to those who are willing to delve beneath the surface. The sandy color called chk gray refers to the sound of a shovel pushing through sand: "I listen until my itching subsides, and the nearby scratch of a shovel digging—chk... chk... chk...—is a gentle drumbeat calling me back to life." (Donald W. George, Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road. 
The green color called chk-chk-chk echoes the soft, rhythmic call of the Olive Thrush, as described in Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Dale A. Zimmerman. 
by Jeremy Hughes
The mysterious gray color called clk refers to an expression of anger by a Martian whose flying saucer has just been destroyed by a “little beast with a peppermint stick” (Will Eisner, Comics & Sequential Art). 
The pinkish color called dddd echoes “a loud hammering sound,” as described in Tongue Tie—From Confusion to Clarity: A Guide to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Ankyloglossia by Carmen Fernando. 
The smoky purple color called dlrdn refers to an interjection coined by François Rabelais in the novel Gargantua and Pantagruel, spoken by a native of the imaginary “Lanternland.” 
The light brown color dnnn refers to an incoherent response, as from someone intoxicated. “'You all right? You sick or anything, or just drunk?' 'Dnnn,' said Sandra." (William Kennedy, An Albany Trio. 
The light purple color called drrr echoes the sound of "door," as spoken by someone “slurring his words out of pure exhaustion,” as in the novel Doona by Anne McCaffrey. 
The bright green color called fff refers to the sound of a sky rocket fizzing up, as described in “More Than Words” by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. 
The even brighter green color called ffff means fortissississimo, a musician’s directive to perform a passage very, very, very loudly. 
Another green color, called fmp fmp fmmmmp, echoes the sound of a falling body hitting the ground, as in the graphic novel ShadowFall by Kaichi Satake. 
All of these color name insights are derived from my Dictionary of Improbable Words, which is available for online reading. [Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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If you've stumbled upon a lucky penny and have a friend who may be down on his or her luck, print out our free, personalized Transfer of Luck Certificate (inspired by the Lucky Penny web site). Rendered in fine calligraphy, the certificate is easy to generate and completely free to print in high resolution. From the certificate:According to the truths of the Penny Priestess, (1) luck is neither created nor destroyed, (2) copper is an excellent conductor of luck, (3) a falling penny acquires a luck charge coincident with the gravitational pull of the earth, (4) the luck force occurs in discrete but non-quantifiable units, and (5) luck is uncertain. May this transfer of the pennies here attached serve to distribute fortune more equitably. Create your own Luck Transfer Certificate » |
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First came the mischievous Irish Straw Boys, the original party crashers. Now comes the rascally German "Zerrissen Jungen" (shredded boys), sporting masks of shredded paper.
This photo is actually by Frankfurt's Pixelgarten. We made up the stuff about "Zerrissen Jungen."
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The poet Geof Huth offers this lovely commentary on why we notice and in fact need "11:11": 11:11 At certain points in measured time, the world seems to come into alignment, concepts tend to clarify, ideas gel. But we know in our hearts that this is false, that midnight is as meaningless a concept as the idea that a new year begins at a certain second after a particular midnight. We cannot believe fully in these ideas because we understand that we worship and are guided by arbitrary signs created by humans: sequences of numbers, sounds, or letters. ||:|| But we continue to follow these signs because they direct our lives so well. Their meaningless is the source of their meaning and their power. We imbue them with their significance, so we believe them. Even if they become twisted out of shape, we continue to believe them, we continue to see them, we continue to understand them. |||| We can reduce the information in a sign and still be able to read it, still be able to make sense of it, to add sense to it. We do this to eradicate ambiguity, to make sense. The world is a mass of contradictory signs, so we must choose the ones to read, how to read them, the ones to believe. :::: In the end, we have only ourselves to blame. We look for symmetry. It pleases us. That is what we like about architecture, a metrical poem, crossword puzzles, seemingly deft plotting in a story. And the only thing that makes the asymmetrical interesting is that it runs counter to an existing symmetry. We need symmetry. We need symmetry to give beauty to the surprisingly asymmetrical. .... We need 11:11 to find ourselves an idea to play with. We need 11:11 to feel our lives are temporarily in balance. We need 11:11 to feel human. Without 11:11, the world just runs away from us, untamed, untameable, even unsought. ---------- Sexy Girl responds: 11:11 is my fav time. To me it represents dimensional unity... like playing two octaves at once on the piano. Same but different. Somehow the harmonious moment is magnified when the two are played as one. Kinda like love relationships are meant to be ... yeah.
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by jovikeThe Little-Known Meanings of Crazy Color NamesColors with seemingly incomprehensible names actually tell fascinating and humorous stories, at least to those who are willing to delve beneath the surface. Join me on a strange and wonderful adventure into the uncharted fringes of language, where we'll discover new "shades of meaning." The chilly blue color called brrrrrrr refers to the "Official State Motto of Alaska," according to humorist Dave Barry (Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need). 
by Dalephonics
With an additional "r," the watery color called brrrrrrrr conjures up the sound of someone shaking water out of his or her ears after crawling out from under a waterfall, as in Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. 
The green color called bbbbbb echoes a vocal imitation of "a sailing boat in a tub of water," as discussed in Baby Talk: The Art of Communicating with Infants and Toddlers by Monica Devine. 
The orange color called "bssss bssss" refers to the German word for the buzzing of a bee. 
The electric green color called bzzt recalls the crackle of a security spotlight turning on, as in Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes by Teddy Marguiles. 
The bright yellow color called bzzz refers to a deliberately mumbled word, due to passive-aggression (Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland, Twentieth Anniversary Edition). 
The sanguine color called ccc echoes an ambiguous sound made by someone paralyzed with fear, as in the novel Theo Slugg in Low Spirits by Simon Goswell. 
The tawny color called chchch refers to a sound that Guatemalan village children make to get attention (Jason A. Lubam, “Diary of a Jungle Acupuncturist,” Acupuncture Today). 
With an additional "ch," the smoky purple color called chchchch refers to a French word for musical percussion lacking a definite note (fr.AudioFanzine.com). 
Add yet another "ch," and the golden color called chchchchch echoes the “guttural unvoiced growl” of a tiger (Metamorphosism.com). 
All of these color name insights are derived from my Dictionary of Improbable Words, which is available for online reading. [Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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According to Plato, a particular bicycle with two wheels missing is distinct from the abstract form of Bicycle-ness. A Bicycle is the ideal that allows us to identify the distorted reflections of bicycles all around us. --- Sara Luz wrote: Good old Plato. He knew what he was talking about.
Platonic idealism photographed by Melita Dennett on Church Street, Brighton.
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To the dim-lit shore of the mind Strange things come drifting When the tide is high. —Emmy Veronica Sanders, " Driftwood" |
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 by pootjThe Search for Silent ColorsWe all know garishly loud colors when we see them. Typically in the range of red, orange, and yellow, loud colors are unwelcome in business attire, unless one's business happens to be the circus. And we all know quiet colors by their instant calming effect. The quiet range of blue, green, and violet is beloved by home designers. But what of silent colors? If they exist, would we find them in cloistered monasteries, or hushed libraries, or ruined castles? The American ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson found a "sea of silent colors" when he tearfully witnessed the grandeur of the Grand Canyon for the first time. He reported a vivid array of silent reds, yellows, grays, and lavenders ( Wild America, 1997).  by davidanthonyporterThe poet A. F. Moritz found silent colors within the curves of a white seashell. He described a "diminished spectrum" of "shades of milk" ("You, Whoever You Are," Early Poems, 1983). The naturalist Timothy Duane found "the silent colors of winter" blanketing the Sierra mountain chain ( Shaping the Sierra, 2000). When feminist activist Ginny Foat found herself incarcerated, she discovered silent grays, blacks, and greens in the steel and cinder blocks of her cell ( Never Guilty, Never Free, 1985). [Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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"Once more I wondered, as I had the first time I saw him, why these handsome features didn't add up to a handsome face." — Zeruya Shalev, Love Life (2001) |
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The best place to learn long division is at a multiplication table. |
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 by Raf ArtistaHow to Create Sublime ColorsWhat color is so awe-inspiring, so out-of-this-world that it elevates viewers to new heights of wonderment? The quest for the sublime color is as old as pigment and likely older still. Imagine the first humans to witness a majestic sunrise. They’d have had a transcendental experience, in that sublime colors open a window into a realm of grandeur beyond mere human experience. Imagine the first artists experimenting with dyes like alchemists in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, driven to discover the secret of sublime color and to possess the power to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary. Sublime colors are commonly described as being: - incomparably beautiful
- exquisite
- cheerful
- timeless
- soft
- active
- natural (sunrise, clouds, rainbows, mountains, or sea, for example)
- radiant
- sentimental
- magnificent
- glorious
- lofty, divine (in that they foster a spiritual experience)
- shimmering
Ultraviolet and deep indigo are often called sublime, and black more so. Color expert Benjamin Jan Kouwer notes that Western culture once hailed yellow as a sublime color with a favorable symbolic meaning (Colors and Their Character, 1949). Color mixers usually discover sublime beauty by accident, but art teacher Gabriel Boray suggests that artists can hone their sense of the sublime through careful practice. Boray developed a system for sublime color mixing. Through his system, colorists learn to feel when a color is “singing.” Boray instructs the colorist to begin with two complementary colors of the same temperature (such as a warm yellow and a warm ultramarine). “Mix 5 variations between them, from yellow-green to blue-green, paying careful attention to separating them enough to be recognized as a unique variation.” By adding a tiny amount of blue into the yellow, then a bit more, and more again, each variation will be distinct. “After you have 5 clear color variations between those two, create one in between each (there may be many more than one), until you have 10 variations. Now look at those colors. Are they clean and unique? They should be singing. If they aren’t singing, you are to immediately find the correct light to see the variations properly, or rush outside, close your eyes, and take 10 deep breaths while telling yourself you are a master of color! If the colors exist—and an infinite amount of colors exist—then you can identify them.” Boray assures that “When you open your eyes you will see nature as you may never have before. Return to your exercise, choose two more colors and continue. Combine as many pairs of colors, creating 5, then 10, or more variations. Gradually you will begin to feel the changes in your blood. Go outside again and look at something in nature. Make a ring with your thumb and forefinger and look as if through a magnifying glass. See the infinite variations. The same colors you see are available to you for painting. There is no barrier between your mind and your brush.” [Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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 by superdoveBlonde Pony Tails: The Human-Horse ConnectionHumans have been fascinated by white horses for millennia. Geneticists have now pinpointed the "genetic architecture" that connects blonde manes in people and equines. The study of white horses goes all the way back to ancient Rome, where depigmented horses were identified as "candidus" (white) or "glaucus" (gray). The PLoS Genetics journal notes that two thousand years ago, the white horse was held sacred by the Saxons. It served as an augur for the German tribes, its behavior considered a sign of divine approval or disapproval. The white horse was so revered that it featured on the flags of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Even earlier, white horses were celebrated by the Celts in Great Britain. The White Horse of Uffington (Oxfordshire, England) is Bronze Age hillside artefact, dating back approximately 3,000 years. The figure of a 374-foot long horse (perhaps representing the Celtic horse goddess Epona) was cut into the soil, its white coat naturally pigmented by the chalk beneath the turf. The PLoS Genetics journal points out that most white horses carry a "graying-with-age mutation." They are born with a solid-colored coat which turns white by age of four to six. However, occasionally a pony is born with a solid white coat. Take, for example, the solid white mare named Cigale, born in 1957 out of solid brown parents from the Swiss Franches-Montagnes Horse population. Geneticists have studied all of Cigale's white-born descendants and isolated an inherited mutation in their pigment forming cells. Different horse populations, such as white Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and Camarillo White Horses, reveal independent pigmentation mutation events. In other words, the white horses in each equine family exhibit their own special brand of mutation leading to their white coats. But the common chromosomal factor appears to be what geneticists call the KIT gene, responsible not only for white horses but also for blonde people. White horses appear in the religious literature of many lands. Here's a small sampling: - In the New Testament's Book of Revelation, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse rides a white horse.
- In Japan, the white horse is a Shinto symbol of purity and divine authority.
- In Islam, the Prophet ascended to heaven on the back of a white horse.
- In Hinduism, the god Kalki rides a white horse while brandishing a comet-like sword.
- In Nordic lore, the god Odin rises a white horse named Sleipnir.
- In Greek mythology, the white and winged Pegasus sprang from the blood of Medusa when Perseus decapitated her.
[Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]
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