Tag: green

Grey & Green

March 29, 2017

Grey isn’t always melancholic, sometimes she’s just indifferent, but lately she’s been going through a tough time. Her friend Green comes by for a visit and rather than go out and pretend to enjoy the insipid offerings of their city, they agree to stay in. Their primary activity is sipping tea while listening to the rain. Though it’s chilly out, Green insists on opening the window so she can smell the rain as well as hear it; she wants to completely immerse herself in nature. It’s early spring and the weather has been all over the place. Sometimes freezing, sometimes mild, usually snowing. Today the rain is diluting the snow into dirt and creating slush, and Grey wonders if she too is a mix of purity and filth. Perhaps we all are, muses Green, knowing everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses.

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Green suggests they play an intellectual board game, such as scrabble, as she’s keen to keep her most important muscle, her brain, in constant motion. Grey shrugs, as she could go either way. They play the game, with Green handily winning, as Grey doesn’t put in nearly as much effort. It isn’t that she doesn’t care about the game, but she knows from experience that Green hates to lose, as she’s got a bit of a jealous streak, and Grey is equally happy winning or losing, since she knows the distinction between the two is irrelevant. Life is meaningless either way.

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Green isn’t one to get exasperated, as she’s very patient and calm, but she rolls her eyes at Grey’s nihilism. She brings up the current political climate, wondering if we are destroying the world. Grey wisely points out that the world is better now, statistically speaking, than it’s ever been. And yet, no matter how good or bad the world is overall, for some it is a dystopia, and for others, a utopia. This dichotomy will always exist, argues Green, as the actual state of affairs is unimportant. What matters is perception. Some people are optimists, and others are pessimists. Yes, nods Grey, and some are a mix of both. Finally Green and Grey can agree, as they are both realists.

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Green & Blue

March 8, 2017

Green and Blue are BFFs. They are so similar, and yet subtly different, that I even had to write an entire post about this ambiguity.

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Both blue and green are calm, collected, cool-headed, intelligent, and witty. Capable of going pastel and enjoying a leisurely day at the park, or brightening things up in jewel tones and spending the night dancing at a club. Yet they are both most comfortable sitting at a tranquil but trendy cafe, while engaged in a philosophical conversation about the nature of the self. They will begin their meal with sensible salads but finish off with a delicious treat, knowing that balance is the key to a healthy and happy life.

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Not only do Green and Blue socialize, they also work together on the same team. They are both willing to take a back seat, and allow the other to be dominant, yet both are equally comfortable taking a leadership position. They are also perfectly at east cooperating and are willing to share this leadership position if need be. Each one is pleased to see the other shine, and they encourage one another, making both of them stronger not just in their relationship, and at work, but in life in general.

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Sometimes Green and Blue need to work late at the office but it’s always fun, because they put on some soothing music, and intermittently tell jokes, and share memes to lift their spirits. They indulge in a vegetarian pizza, and sparkling water, and make plans to have brunch on Sunday, where they will spend some time talking shop, but mostly talk about their respective spouses, Purple and Orange, who are both a handful, but they don’t speak disparagingly. They are loving colours, and want nothing more than to share this love, and allow everyone to experience the joy they both know is possible, if you simply leave yourself open to it.

Purple & Green

March 1, 2017

If Purple represents royalty and elitism, and green represents envy and wealth, then it’s no wonder purple and green have become so well known as a villainous colour combination. Just as the primary colours of red and blue evoke the idea of Superman, the secondary colours of purple and green evoke the Joker. Even the Hulk, who is technically a good guy, is violent and out of control when he turns green. Green is usually a calming colour but I guess those ripped up purple shorts really set him off.

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Purple and Green look good together but they are a contentious couple. They are both on the cool end of the spectrum, but Purple also contains passion and can be volatile. Green, typically serene and self-possessed, finds herself irritated by Purple’s snobby demeanor. Still, they are a striking pair, and as with Blue and Purple, as long as one of them is willing to tone it down and be pastel, they are sure to turn heads.

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Arm in arm, they go to a fundraising gala together. They are both charitably minded, though Purple does it more for prestige and Green is in it for the tax break. It is a black tie ball, and they are in a floor length gown, and a smart tuxedo. They spend the bulk of the night on the dance floor, with breaks for elegantly sipping champagne as they hobnob with other jet-setters who are there to see and be seen. They bid on some silent auction items, and win a bejeweled necklace. Green is uncomfortable with this since she can’t be sure if the jewels are conflict-free, but Purple doesn’t care and she looks forward to wearing it on her next night out. As the evening winds down, they finally head home, give one another an air kiss and retire to separate bedrooms.

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Green & Orange

February 1, 2017

Green and Orange are really good friends, even though in many ways they’re opposites. Green is introspective and mature, while Orange is a ray of sunshine who just wants to have fun.

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Orange never overthinks things, while Green is extremely contemplative. Yet Orange is also rather accommodating and is happy to follow Green’s lead. Orange works great as an accent in an outfit that is dominantly Green, but Orange is also always available to steal the spotlight, and sometimes does so inevitably because she’s loud and impossible to ignore.

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Some might find Orange too loud, too overwhelming, and for that reason they appreciate Green’s presence, as a stabilizing and calming influence on Orange. But Green doesn’t try to overshadow Orange, and couldn’t even if she tried. Even just a pop of Orange is enough to remind people that she’s there. Orange will not be ignored, and Green is happy to  have her there because she’s so supportive as a friend. Together they are like yin and yang, complimenting as much as they contrast.

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Last week we saw Green hanging out with Pink, but when Pink went clubbing after a fun day out, Green went home to hang out with Orange. Orange was happy to welcome Green, and together they watched TV while talking about their respective days. Orange wasn’t jealous about Green’s friendship with Pink, because Orange had her own thing going during the day, with Blue. Oh, the adventures they had! Tune in next week to hear all about it!

Pink & Green

January 25, 2017

Pink is cotton candy. Green is a cool, spring breeze. Pink is a day at the fair. Green is a long hike in the woods. Pink is realizing you can rock a “girly” colour and still be a bad-ass feminist. Green is taking a long bath and listening to a favourite podcast, forgetting all the bullshit misogyny you had to deal with that day because you just need a moment for self-care. Pink and green together are fresh and lovely, bold if jewel tones and crisp if pastels.

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Pink and Green are great friends. They hold hands in public places and hang out at the pond, watching the ducks but not feeding them because that would be environmentally unwoke. Pink is happy to be whitened red, allowing itself to work alongside Green in a way red cannot simply because Christmas has appropriated that particular colour scheme (just like Christians appropriated Yule, amiright?!). Green acknowledge’s Pink’s sacrifice, but appreciates that it’s not really a sacrifice at all because Pink is fierce in its own right.

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Green tries to extend their day’s adventures into the night, and invites Pink over for Netflix and chill, where chill really does mean chill. But with a wink and a sassy hand wave, Pink is like, bitch please, I got places to be. Pink is up for a night of partying, but Green just wants to slip into its cozy slippers and enjoy a glass of wine. They are both happy to compromise and they enjoy a leisurely dinner at a local hot spot where Pink can be seen and Green can people-watch. Then Pink goes clubbing with Black and Electric Blue while Green retires for the evening and binge-watches nature documentaries until it falls asleep in Orange’s loving arms.

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Green

November 2, 2016

Green is the most abundant colour in nature, yet plants that yield green dyes are surprisingly rare. In the 19th century Victorians literally died for fashion due to green dyes made with arsenic. But can you blame them? Who wouldn’t want to rock an emerald green frock?

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Since green is the colour of nature, it is associated with growth, freshness, and fertility but also jealousy, as in being “green with envy”. Apparently this association with envy dates back to Sappho and ancient Greece with speculation that this is due to the Greeks also associating green with sickness and categorising jealousy as a type of sickness. Thanks to Americans and their boringly monochromatic money, green is also associated with wealth, though this association also makes sense if you think of wealth in terms of verdant vegetation.

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For no reason that he was ever able to explain, my younger brother has long been obsessed with the colour green. From the time he was able to dress himself, to the time his wife took over this task, he always, and exclusively wore green. As a result I’ve grown to associate green with science and intellectualism since my brother is a science nerd and physicist. And since my birthstone is the emerald, I’ve spent some time contemplating the colour in as much as it relates to me. Do I think of myself as “green” the way I think of my brother as “green”? No. But I’m green adjacent.

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Whenever I put together colour boards I scour my home for objects of the colour in question. As I was looking for green things I discovered quite a few green action figures. As a child I was very enamoured of this android looking doll, who is apparently named X-Ray Woman. She and Princess Leia were great friends who went on many adventures together throughout my backyard in the 1980s. It seems green is also the colour of monsters, aliens, and other weird things, again perhaps because green is the colour of nature and such creatures would easily be able to blend into forests and therefore more effectively jump out and scare lowly humans into submission.

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