Living Color

I got into making "Thread Scarves" last fall, after watching an episode of "Fons 'n Porter's Love of Quilting." A guest had shown how to use water-soluble stabilizer as a base upon which you sewed a grid. Then you added embellishments, in the form of beautifully-colored threads and wools, put another layer of water-soluble stabilizer on top, and sewed randomly all over the piece to get everything locked together with stitching. Wash it, and Presto! You have a work of art that's soft, original, costs pennies, and looks terrific!

A number of my friends got these as Christmas presents. Including my little niece and nephew.

But when I telephoned my Brother on Christmas day, he said that he wasn't going to let little Nephew wear his scarf.

Seems it had a bit of mauve on it.

"It's too girly," said Brother, flatly.

"Aw, c'mon!" I said. "He's just a little boy! He's not even four years old!"

No dice. No son of my brother was going to wear mauve.

I have never understood my society's attitude towards color. I've seen men - REAL men, mind you! - who look absolutely to-DIE-for in pink. They're not gay. And besides, even if they were, they'd still look fabulous!

And a boy is not going to become gay if you put bright and soft colors on a scarf he wears.

People look at me when I ride the bus or walk down the street. It's hard to hide me - I'm taller than 98% of the population here. That's right - only two people in 100 are as tall as I am.

But I dress in color. Everywhere around me, it looks like the population is in mourning. Blacks are omnipresent. Beige has infected the world. Tans, browns, off-whites, greys - maybe this is one reason we're all glued to our color tv's in the evenings! It's just too drab out there!

I wear oranges and yellows and blues and greens and reds and purples... That's why people look at me. I'm a bright spot of color in an otherwise dull landscape.

A line from "The Lion in Winter" goes: "... dull as Plainsong. La-la-la, always on one note."

(For those of you who've never been to a Catholic church, "plainsong" is what the priest sings during bits of the service of mass. It is, indeed, always on one note. That way, guys who are tone deaf still have a crack at being priests, but I digress...)

This modern trend towards "neutrals" is bad for the soul. It started because people don't know how to decorate their homes. They don't know that their wood furniture would look fabulous against a dark green. No, they painted their homes white. Off-white. Eggshell. "White's a very complicated color," asserts one advertisement.

Everywhere we go over here in North America, people are terrified of color. What, they don't want to stand out? Be looked at when walking down the street? How the heck do any of these people get dates, for crying out loud?

Yo - Bro! Chicks DIG color! You want your boy swarmed by lovely ladies? Dress him in pink. I guarantee they'll come running!

Well, this attitude was recently relived by my Boyfriend. He's a Team Lead in his job, and part of his responsibilites involves making sure his guys have the tools they need. Since they're often away in foreign lands, he got them all cameras, to help them when they have difficulty describing wiring or equipment setup to support techs back home.

The cameras are mauve.

They were on sale. They had the right features. And, unlike most guys, Boyfriend isn't afraid of colors.

His team all stood around the box when he brought them into work. Apparently, there was a moment of silence. Then one of the guys said,

"Well... nobody'll steal them, that's for sure."

Boyfriend laughed. I find these guys completely and utterly and TOTALLY RIDICULOUS!!!!!

For crying out loud - if your performance in bed is threatened by the color of your camera, man, you have got a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM than the color of your camera!

Not for me, the drab colors of winter, burying myself back in the crowd. I talk to people, I make friends, I laugh, and I wear color. Men look fantastic in bright colors. And pastels. It brings out their eye color! It makes their skin look good!

I don't want any dull-as-dishwater guys in my life! I want friends around me who love life, in all it's variety and spectacular color. People who aren't afraid to be noticed. To be original. To be unique.