"Why do I use my paper, pen and ink?"
How attending a lecture about church music in 16th century England led me to better appreciate the academic research of the first Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Why Corduroy Matters
Remember the artisans forgotten because of the Industrial Revolution.
Everything is Synthetic.
After more than two years of researching color, I'm reminded of how little I know.
The Noble, Beautiful, Most Perfect Blue
An overview of what we think we know about the origins of Ultramarine Blue in Europe.
Who were Sir John Herschel's blue test subjects?
The inventor of the cyanotype used the annual literature yearbook "Friendship's Offering" as the source of many of the images he experimented on.
What is "fun"?
A very Colorphilia way to attempt to understand the idea of "fun".
Blue Jeans and Gin.
A serious proposal to change the name of turkey fowl to "genny".
How Appelblauwzeegroen became Teal in Belgian Dutch.
Finding the hidden message in the "apple-blue, sea-green" hue.
Creating Robin Hood
Announcing a book about the Jewish origins of Robin Hood and creating hope in a time of despair.
The Color of Darkness
Why is Kṛṣṇa blue, what was the color of Biblical creation, and some other (un)related questions
Color Researcher Develops Theory to Solve Millennia Old Mystery about Lithuanian Blue
How did they make blue glass beads in Lithuania in the 1st century?
Pastel / Macaroni
The relationship between pastels and macarons.
Misreading the Absurd
I found a small error on a placard in the Jewish Museum in Rome.
Cheesy Flowers
Thoughts about cheese in Italy.
A Guide for the Perplexed (about Laundry)
Contains no practical advice or useful information.
Rethinking Pink.
A dispatch from Madrid, about Vilnius, Paris and Toulouse.
Ghosting, Apparitions & Spectra
A flash sale and a reexamination of different types of spectra.
Personal Updates & Curiosities
Today is my birthday and I'm leaving Chicago in June.
Some Bizarre Questions
No answers guaranteed.
Semiotics and Semaphores: A History of the Polka-Dot
The Polka-Dot was inspired by the musical notation used by composers of polkas to create a staccato effect which mimicked the newly invented telegraph.
Half-Baked Reinterpretations
Several half-baked ideas.
Science, Commerce, and Why Indigo is not a Color.
Indigo is a pigment, not a color.
Stardust and Hope
An exploration into the phrase "salt of the earth" in Matthew 5:13.
50 Shades of Blue
Venus, the Renaissance, salty language, and the color blue.
An Ephemeral Color
Why is "amarilla", the Spanish word for yellow so different from all other words for yellow?
An Etymology of Pie
Featuring shapes, colors, pastries, mathematicians, birds, and priests.
Oh, Sušana!
A (hopefully) final newsletter about tulips.
Tulips: the first 3000ish years
Tulips have a much longer and more illustrious history than we previously thought.
Tulipmania was not irrational.
In February 1637, the Dutch futures market had a reset on all outstanding contracts for tulips. The prices had reportedly been growing an unprecedented rate, and there was risk of systemic collapse of defaulted contracts.
King Midas - The Tulip's Forgotten Namesake
King Midas voted for Pan, and Apollo became so enraged, he turned Midas' ears into donkeys' ears. Midas was embarrassed and tried to hide up the ears by wearing some sort of head covering, which likely resembled the tulip in a closed state.
Panic! in the Garden
This month on Colorphilia, each week, we will be focusing on a different aspect of tulips. This week, I share the likely original meaning of the flower, and how the etymology became so tortured, convoluted, and misunderstood.
Endless Waves of Love
Some thoughts about my new niece's name.
Was Robin Hood Jewish?
I began researching this week's newsletter with a simple question: did Robin Hood wear a red hat? It led me down an existential rabbit-hole, and led to a conclusion which posed a completely different, albeit outlandish and preposterous, question.
A Doctor's Advice*
* Dr. Seuss published more than 60 books in his life, won an Academy Award, a Pulitzer, and several Primetime Emmys. He also has a medical school named after him.
Waiting for some green.
People have always waited for some green during this holiday season.
Green, Blue. Old, New.
Announcing The Green Issue
The Dark Irony of Black Friday
"Black Friday" (the shopping day) may have inadvertedly borrowed its name from another Black Friday (November 22, 1963).
The True Meaning of Turkey
The Turkey (fowl) was named after the color of Turquoise (stone) whose name predated any connection to Türkiye (country).
Playing with Color: Clue, Croquet, and Billiards
This also discusses scientists and color.
Melancholic Witches & Blue Devils
How the color blue became associated with depression.
Why is teal considered a shade of blue?
The color "teal" comes from the "teal" species of ducks.
A new way to use color to understand music.
Using the musical chromatic scales to create beautiful chromatic scales of color.
On Pomegranates, Color, and Symbolic Creativity
A Colorphilia Rosh Hashanah sermon
So, I was wrong about oranges.
Who knew that a simple word could be so complex.
Musical Scales and Color Spectra
A reexamination of Newton's connection between the music and color.
Misunderstanding Portuguese Shepherds
The art of being completely lost in translation of citrus fruits.
Much a-blue about nothing
An incomplete newsletter about William Shakespeare and the color blue.
A Flower by Any Other Name Wouldn't Be As Golden
A follow-up to last week's newsletter about Vincent van Gogh and sunflowers.
Vincent van Gogh, the Sunflower.
I've spent months reading van Gogh's letters, and I just created a few collections of sunflowers inspired by him.
Six Decades of Glow
Glow sticks are ephemeral fluorescent color lights, inspired by eons of evolution.
The Biblical (and Post-Biblical) Blues
An iconoclastic exploration into the biblical colors of tekhelet and argaman.
Amber and the Color of Ambrosia
Amber comes from the word ambrosia; ambrosia was associated with honey; amber is the color of honey.
How we think about bees.
The shift from beeing producers of honey to beeing pollinators.
The Philosophy of Wonder and the Rainbow
Including quotes from noted philosophers like Plato, Descartes, Kierkegaard, and Kermit the Frog.
17th century English Puritans were the original Black Sheep
An update and correction to last week's newsletter.
Bah, Black Sheep.
Spoiler alert: The little boy in the song was Cupid.
Why I Learned Lliwiau (colors) in Cymraeg (Welsh)
Or: A very basic introduction to Welsh color words by someone who doesn't speak the language, yet.
The Chinese (India) Ink Story
or "How reliance on advances in technology impedes innovation."
Drawing with Light
A few Greek and Latin phrases about drawing with light.
Does a photograph steal your soul?
The answer is yes.
Every bride is beautiful.
Some wild theories about the color white.
A Simplified History of Red-Tape
Red-tape is a euphemism for unsolvable complexities. I almost agreed.
Would you like a blue sky?
Some thoughts about the sky being blue.
Correction about Magenta
Magenta has a much more interesting etymology than I had previously written.
Spilled Red Ink
An exploration of the modern metaphor.
Rebranding Milk
Modern milk is a 20th century invention and most ethnicities are lactose intolerant.
The Myth and Reality of Trending Colors
Distinguishing between hype and functionality.
All Gold Doesn't Glitter
An etymology of many things golden.
Storytelling and Dreaming in Color
Scheherazade, Alice, Dorothy, and Wendy.
On the Color of Ancient Wine
This newsletter includes an intro to computer science, a quick explainer in vinification (winemaking), swine-ish sailors, biblical leprosy, the Passover Seder, bright-eyed goddesses, tithing, and raisin wine.
The Relative Irrelevance of Historical Colors
Please don't buy paint colors for your home simply because they were popular during the 18th and 19th centuries.
A Brief History of Shade
The Oxford English Dictionary has dozens and dozens of definitions of shade. I try to understand a few of them.
Why you should care about the color of ballet shoes.
Spoiler: This isn't just about the color of ballet shoes
Color Snack: Inspiration for new collection of "Paper Candy"
Warning: Art is not edible.
What exactly is a favorite color?
While the simple question “what is your favorite color?” seems rather straightforward, three out of the five words are anything but. And here are roughly 5600 words to prove it.
Down another rabbit hole... (Or "why are carrots orange?")
As I mentioned in my initial newsletter, I tend to go down a lot of random “rabbit holes” during my research. It seemed fitting, then, that I began this time with a theory I had about orange carrots.
This story is bananas. (Or "how banana became a color.")
In under a half century, the humble banana went from being an exotic fruit to an eponymous color. At its peak, the fervor for this fruit could only be compared to that of the Dutch Tulip Mania of the 1630s, albeit in a very different way.
Translating Biblical Colors
As a general rule of thumb, color is always mistranslated in the Bible. It’s not as much that they didn’t have the same colors that we do, it’s more that our concept of color is muddled.
My Eye Color
The etymology of the word blue includes everything from brothels to mermen to monsters with twelve feet and six heads to the effects of magic herbs, but not necessarily in that order.
And now for something new...
If I’ve had a conversation with you over the past two months in person, I’ve probably randomly started talking about the history of using the word “bleu” in French as a profanity...