When I was a little girl, my mother taught me about the color wheel. Somewhere in her explanation, however, I missed out on the fact that it was a chart, just a graphical representation of the hues that we see and their relationship to one another. I thought the color wheel was an actual place. The Color Wheel. You know, like Yellowstone National Park or The Blue Ridge Mountains or The White House. Oh, I mused to myself, I'll bet The Color Wheel is HUGE! I'll bet it is twenty stories high, filling up the entire sky and casting a giant multicolored shadow!I was pretty bummed out when I found out the truth.
Maybe that's why I get such a kick out of wildly colored houses like this one. I may not be able to make a trek to The Color Wheel, but I live in South Pasadena. I get to see these technicolor wonders whenever I want.
31 comments:
It's now past the wee small hours of the morning and I see the sun about to rise. How could such a colorful beginning contribute to such torrid days? Nights have been short for me and contribute to a tiring day, what with the extreme continuing triple digit demperatures. But,hark, I awaken to a So. Pas. house, the color of my kitchen, and immediately feel at home.
Laurie, I am sorry that when you were a little girl I did not do a good job of explaining the color wheel. It hasn't seemed to bother you since you have introduced a kalaidoscope of colored houses in your midst. Each special in its own way. What a joy for you to live among these colorul beauties.
I giggled, at the thought of a giant wheel that had as much importance in the landscape as Yellowstone National Park and the White House!!! What I love most is the composition. The trees perfectly frame the house, and as the woman is about to walk out of the frame, her umbrella and tee shirt color complement that fabulous salmon/melon colored house. Something about 1945 too. :~)
WV: fomosit - what Mrs Nertz said to her dog Fomo. "Fomo, SIT."
This house is right around the corner from me. When this color first appeared, a friend of mine started calling it The Frida House. It has an interesting recent history. There was a young lady living there whose boyfriend just got out of jail and several neighbors thought they saw evidence that the house had become a branch of Rite-Aid. It was during that time that this color appeared. Within the last year, the young lady moved out and the house was refurbished quickly and sold.
My across-the-street neighbor just repainted his house in a green counterpart of this color, with purple trim. It looks kind of neat, in a story book kind of way. Reminds me of Europe. I need to paint my house. I wonder what would go good with this orange and my neighbor's green?
Is this a new trend? Do these strong colors indicate anything about the people who live behind them?
There is only once choice for you, Mr. Earl. If you are going to use the color wheel as a guide, the only option is to paint your house purple. The three primary colors are red, yellow and blue. The three secondary colors are orange, green, and purple. Since Laurie's find is orange, and your neighbor is green, you must complete the wheel and make yours purple.
Isn't this blog great? If you have a question, all you have to do is come to GOSP for the answer. We're all here to help.
The LA Times had a story about Irvine, I think, where houses are never allowed to be colored like this: they don't want those kind of people, only rule-followers, according to one resident they interviewed.
Laurie, you should write a children's book about a place called the color wheel. I love the multi-colored shadow -- it's so Dahl.
In the fishing villages in Norway, the houses have very strong colors. Looks like a fairy tale. The trick is to have a small house.
I'm down with purple, Earl.
Yes, Irvine has all kinds of rules because the way it was developed, The Irvine Company owned all the land and they put all sorts of covenants in the property deeds. In Irvine, they have all sorts of rules about where your trash can can be placed, and I don't think you can put a basketball basket above your garage. Did you notice how I snuck "can can" in there?
The Frida House in the photo is a lot more than orange, I'll tell you that! Interesting that when they refurbished it for sale, they didn't repaint.
Mr. Earl knows EVERYTHING, I swear! The Color Wheel as a place is hysterical! I would have wanted to go there, too. Love this house. Sounds like I'm not welcome in Irvine. I kinda already figured that.
That's it, AH, my neighbor's house reminds me of Norway!
I just happened on a blog that many Laurie and KB fans might like. It was posted to the Susan Werner email list because yesterday she featured one of Susan's songs. It looks like a really cool blog. It's called "37 Days." I was just reading one where she posted a very wonderful self-written obituary.
http://www.37days.com/2009/07/may-i-suggest-this-is-the-best-part-of-your-life.html
I know I like your facebook photo, Farmgirl.
And I'm not kidding, my WV right now is COLOR
Mr. Earl must really like my FB photo if he can tolerate my "Yay, Cynthia McKinney!" posts. :)
Sorry, Laurie, we'll take the Lovefest elsewhere. haha
Mr. Earl is right about the basketball hoop in the driveway not being allowed in Irvine. I used to work with someone who was raised there. He used to say, "what's wrong living somewhere that you can't have a basketball hoop in the driveway." Also, it's true you need the homeowners association approval to change the color of your house. Guaranteed there are no orange houses in Irvine. I guess it's nice if you're a Stepford wife, or husband, or family. It sounds boring to me.
dbdubya: As Yakpate and I once theorized: without Stepford, there can be no punk rock. :)
Hey Locals:
PBDA is taking their swing dance outside tonight. To the Paseo Colorado, to be exact. It will feature Flat Top Tom and His Jumpcat, and it's free! A free basic swing dance lesson is at 6:30, and the dancing is from 7:00-9:30. You might want to bring a chair, because seating can be scarce.
This may continue during July and August every Saturday night, but check the Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association website just to be sure.
Interesting theory, Farmgirl. We should meet halfway in Irvine and check it out.
Now you're going "Alan Watts" on us, Farmgirl!
WV: REDREGU, which I think is the color of that house.
Laurie: I can see that color wheel right now: it looks like a giant ferris wheel at a fantastic county fair, radiating its hues like magic rainbows with every turn.
WAH! I wanna ride the color wheel!!!
Try a Teal shade of color, MrE.
I say purple, Mister E!
Yes Altadenahiker...Laurie's definitely got a children's book in her color wheel story!!!
And Mr. Earl...I want to see your house when it's purple!!!
I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm sure glad I did. What a wonderful blog. I was born in South Pas, and my sister and nephew and their families live there now. I lived most of my life in Palo Alto, Calif. but now live in Connecticut (retired librarian and poet). We love to visit South Pas, and now we will consult your blog to make sure we don't miss anything magical. We know about Buster's and Kaldi, do you know about Jones Coffee Roasters? They are actually in Pasadena, but not far from SP. Really the best coffee place, rivals Peets. Seems like I spent most of today looking at your blog, then at pictures of other cities participating in the Daily City thing. Keep up the fine work!
What a hilarious way to begin the week-end!!!
I laugh every time I read The Color Wheel!!!
It would be fun to relate our mis-conceptions as a child, such as one I had. I had seen pictures of the Earth. I thought that we lived on the INSIDE of it, though.
Mr Earl: I think sneaking a "Can Can" into Irvine is a great idea! It could be sort of like the free Swing Dance in Pasadena. I can see it now - very Toulouse Lautrec.
oK, then it's Deep Purple for MrE's mansion. U don't have any neighborhood rules or restrictive covenants against that, right?
Slowpoet, yes Jones Roasters has some of the very best coffee! They are coffee bean suppliers, including to my local cafe hangout here.
oh Laurie, you'd have loved the way they painted the house next to my father's. Ever since it had been built in the late 60's, it had been 1960's green, a little like the roof on the place you pictured, but darker.
The neighbors sold and moved, a new set of siblings moved in. I can only describe what they did as painted it a "50-50 bar". Neon white and neon orange. OMG! I swear I stood in the kitchen and needed sunglasses for fear of being blinded.
I think it is hilarious you thought the color wheel was a place. Then again, for a lot of years, I thought that life was lived in black and white, until they colorized pictures. Despite my intelligence, I was not always smart.
Irvine is tight...should have sent my former neighbor down there---he'd whine about trash, about our cars not being spotlessly clean (he was retired, can you tell?), about trees not being perfectly trimmed.
and yes Mr Earl..even perfect SoPas can have "that" element in it...Rite Aid...love it!
wv: paystsk...pay stacks...don't we all wish?
It doesn't seem that we have any rules here, Cafe. Even the ones that are on the books!
WV: "RANSHAT" (Should be SHATRAN, but what the heck.)
The Color Wheel is there, but Mount Rushmore is blocking the view.
Just love the way you tell such interestiny stories with your photographs, Laurie. This is delightful and so is the house - like you I love colour. Oh give me colour in life! Thanks for today's.
Hello everybody,
Welcome slopoet!
Thanks for all of the wonderful comments today, folks. I can't properly respond tonight because it's so late. I'll catch up with all of you tomorrow. Til then...
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