Genejoke wrote:
Awe kitty!

I'm in hospital with a spinal injury, waiting to find out if surgery is needed. Apparently I'm at threshold between it'll heal fine with rest or one wrong step and you're paralyzed.
I can't take more than a couple of stops and best case scenario is a few months of physio therapy.
It's proving to be one hell of a few weeks here.

What the hell happened? Fall? Car accident? Sat on by an elephant? Inappropriately intimate with a rhinoceros? Attacked by the wee faery people? viciously probed by grey aliens? Fell off the Loch Ness monster while playing polo?

Genejoke wrote:
Awe kitty!

I'm in hospital with a spinal injury, waiting to find out if surgery is needed. Apparently I'm at threshold between it'll heal fine with rest or one wrong step and you're paralyzed.
I can't take more than a couple of stops and best case scenario is a few months of physio therapy.
It's proving to be one hell of a few weeks here.

Yeesh! Upper spine, lower spine, cervical spine?

That's the kind of news I got when I had my fractured vertebra.

I just got the final verdict on my left eye. The distortion is from the seriousness of the detachment. The surgery was the best that could be done under the circumstances. So I effectively can't read or discern details with my left eye. The headaches and occasional pain are a side effect of the surgery and my brain trying to make the best of it. But I have one good eye, so I can drive and work. An eye patch is too much because I like depth perception and the right eye with my glasses sees so well that it's not too bad.

But centering text in speech balloons is really hard these days.:D

The left eye is like a funhouse mirror. Not quite double vision, like one and a half vision with one side slipping over the other if I try to focus or wear my glasses. And I was just getting used to the wonderful sight my cataracts surgeries had left me.

Maybe and monocle?

ozoneocean wrote:
Maybe and monocle?

A monocle, in addition to being an anachronism, is an affectation of a pretentious person. The kind of person I would feel it my duty to ridicule.

Bifocals and squinting will suffice. 😉

bravo1102 wrote:

ozoneocean wrote:
Maybe and monocle?

A monocle, in addition to being an anachronism, is an affectation of a pretentious person. The kind of person I would feel it my duty to ridicule.

Bifocals and squinting will suffice. 😉

They were actually really useful for vision!
If my eyesight goes bad a monocle will be the first thing I get.
-One that's calibrated to my vision I mean… rather than the useless affectation one that I currently own. XD

Think it's come from a herniated disc. Currently on bed rest while the doctor establish whether it's cauda equina syndrome.

Genejoke wrote:
Think it's come from a herniated disc. Currently on bed rest while the doctor establish whether it's cauda equina syndrome.

Viciously probed by grey aliens? Got it XD

I hope it all works out ok!

Wow, speaking of backs, I accidentally fell on my bum about two months ago when My heel tripped in the gutter while I was holding a box of bagels. I figured it was the best option, but lately I have been having seering lower back pains in times of stress, especially while driving.

So last Friday I decided to get a deep tissue massage with a focus on the most painful spots. In the first ten minutes, I heard the vertebrae on my lower and mid-back spine crack into place followed by the best massage of my life.

@genejoke- sorry to hear you are teeter-tottering on the edge of a spinal injury. Avoiding heavy lifting and rest on it.

@usedbooks- that is a cute kitten! Only three months old? That gives you nearly two decades of friendship ahead of you both.


I am in the middle of Spring Break right now. I am so happy the district spreads out breaks like this, we need pauses in life. I was able to file my five W-2s and state and federal taxes in one hour and now that is one more stress factor in my life that has been lifted.

I would love a massage to fix my back but right now I'm not sure it would do the trick. Fortunately most of my back pain has eased up a hell of a lot now, but the nerve related stuff is still being problematic. I can't walk again yet, well not unaided and with aid it's hard. There are aspects of the injury I'm worried might be permanent but time will tell.

Humans just aren't designed for walking upright. So many problems with the back originate from that simple fact of evolution.

My wife might have another herniated disc like she did 20 years ago. She is having stabbing pains in her leg.

Are you sure it's not just the cat?

HOW many years since I got Alexey to fix the forums?
I have only JUST now discovered what that green tick in the top bar does!
It gives you a preview of your forum post! WOW!
*Mind blown*

I wasted quite some time looking for that green tick before realizing you were talking about the text compose box.

Hahaha, sorry for that. XD

Ironscarf wrote:
I wasted quite some time looking for that green tick before realizing you were talking about the text compose box.

Ah! It wasn't just me then B-) …and “Ooh, yeah” it does .

But….it's about as useful as a chocolate fireplace Haha !

No worries, I'm grateful for the exercise.

—

It feels strange not to be posting comic updates anymore, but I can finally start to contemplate other colours again, rather than seeing the world only in shades of orange and grey. Yesterday's sunset was purple and green.

Ironscarf wrote:

It feels strange not to be posting comic updates anymore, but I can finally start to contemplate other colours again, rather than seeing the world only in shades of orange and grey. Yesterday's sunset was purple and green.

That may be due to the medication though… B-)

There may be something in that. It's quite orangey looking again tonight though.

Ironscarf wrote:
There may be something in that. It's quite orangey looking again tonight though.

You see the rest of the spectrum looking at sunrises rather than sunsets. Before I worked nights never thought much of it. But being up early you see some magnificent skies of color and none of that warm tint of scarlet.

For people who didn't know about oranges, it was not even it's own color but a kind of red.

bravo1102 wrote:

For people who didn't know about oranges, it was not even it's own color but a kind of red.

Am I right in thinking the colour was named after the fruit, rather than vice versa?

Ironscarf wrote:

bravo1102 wrote:

For people who didn't know about oranges, it was not even it's own color but a kind of red.

Am I right in thinking the colour was named after the fruit, rather than vice versa?

Yup. Some wags say humans couldn't discern the color once upon a time instead it's more likely they chose not to differentiate the color. Just the same it turns out the “purple ” so prized once upon a time was more of a blue and precious because woad and indigo were unknown.

Colour naming is… tricky.
Remember there are also names for colours and fruits and things in different languages too XD

You could think of orange is just a kind of red… I mean it IS basically. Especially in graphic design- when people want a real bright red they actually want an orange.

Reminds me of “gold”
Do they actually want real reflective gold, a hard bright yellow, ochre, or a complex gradient of yellow, brown, orange and white made up to simulate the colour of actual gold?
Usually the answer is “bright yellow”.
People are idiots.

Am I right in thinking the colour was named after the fruit, rather than vice versa?

Well the thing is Oranges are green when they are naturally ripe, turning orange if you don't eat them fresh * ….and in some parts of the world they are left that way. In western societies, they were artificially fast-ripened, so that they a: looked prettier to look at in the shop, and b: went off quicker, so you couldn't store them.
* so presumably the colour name association was only with the inside ? The name is supposed to originate from arabic .

I'm curious about ginger now. I know red hair was the norm before these distinctions arose, but how did ginger come into general usage when it's more of a beige colour? Surely it's reddish cousin turmeric would've been a better root vegetable to choose. Turmeric hair?

BearinOz wrote:

Am I right in thinking the colour was named after the fruit, rather than vice versa?

Well the thing is Oranges are green when they are naturally ripe, turning orange if you don't eat them fresh * ….and in some parts of the world they are left that way. In western societies, they were artificially fast-ripened, so that they a: looked prettier to look at in the shop, and b: went off quicker, so you couldn't store them.
* so presumably the colour name association was only with the inside ? The name is supposed to originate from arabic .

Most people didn't eat them fresh. They were shipped throughout the Mediterranean and Europe and had lots of time to get orange. The name came up in the Middle Ages when such things as fresh fruit was picked to ripened during shipping.

And Ozoneocean is right about the names of colors being very relative anymore. It was so much easier collecting the plants yourself and mixing true hues. :D :D

Ironscarf wrote:
I'm curious about ginger now. I know red hair was the norm before these distinctions arose, but how did ginger come into general usage when it's more of a beige colour? Surely it's reddish cousin turmeric would've been a better root vegetable to choose. Turmeric hair?

There is great variation in the tones of red hair. Some does look ginger colored. Also once upon a time ginger was used to give hair a reddish cast. (Henna was used to give a blondish cast to brown hair as well as increasing shine and luster going back to the Egyptians)

Or it all could come from Ginger on Gilligan's Island having red hair.

Ginger… I wonder when that description started. I believe that it was used for cats before it was used for humans… though I can't be sure!
Red hair has always stood out because few people have it.

Thor is a famous red-head (unlike the marvel version), as was Eric the Red, and a good part of Ireland and Scotland. There were a lot of Ottoman Turkish red heads as well. In fiction we have Red Sonya, Red Sonja, Jirel of Jiroy, Jessica Rabbit… I think the historical/mythical examples were described in terms of fire and blood, not a food spice. :D

ozoneocean wrote:
Ginger… I wonder when that description started. I believe that it was used for cats before it was used for humans… though I can't be sure!
Red hair has always stood out because few people have it.

Thor is a famous red-head (unlike the marvel version), as was Eric the Red, and a good part of Ireland and Scotland. There were a lot of Ottoman Turkish red heads as well. In fiction we have Red Sonya, Red Sonja, Jirel of Jiroy, Jessica Rabbit… I think the historical/mythical examples were described in terms of fire and blood, not a food spice. :D

You're forgetting the more orangey and light brown tones that fit under “redhair ” not all redheads are the Auburn to fire red like Maureen O'hara or Rhonda Fleming. Katherine Hepburn was a true ginger with the orange tint to her light brown hair. The British royal line has a streak of gingery carrot tops going back supposedly to William I.

And then there's that actor who plays the crazed wildlings on GoT. That's also red. Don't know if it's natural, but he wears it so well.

With the best will in the world, root ginger is more like the colour of blonde hair, but thinking about it, ginger ale is often more in line with the hair tones you're describing, even traditionally made without added colour. Could that be the origin of ‘ginger’ hair I wonder?

Or maybe ground ginger, coming from the East as part of the spice trade and looking a bit more orange than it's fresh form? That was probably how most Europeans first encountered ginger.

This is the earliest reference to ginger hair I could find, from 1785.

bravo1102 wrote:
You're forgetting

Haha, I forget nothing.

Ironscarf wrote:
This is the earliest reference to ginger hair I could find, from 1785.

That's pretty cool!
Yeah, pickled and powdered ginger was what I always thought of as ginger when I was little. I didn't even know it came from a root till I was in my teens.
So the association had always made perfect sense to me because it was an orange brown colour.

My dad's fave mention of ginger hair is from the Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsy:


“It's worse than beetles in the soup,
It's worse than crows to eat.
It's worse than wearin' small-sized boots
Upon your large-sized feet.

”It's worse than kerosene to boose,
It's worse than ginger hair!.
It's worse than anythin' to lose
A Puddin' rich and rare.“

Some have accused me of having ginger hair, which has always perplexed me a bit- though my hair has looked red in some shitty digital photos. I think the camera autocorrects for my white skin tone and ends up dumping more red into the image.
My beard sometimes goes pretty gingery! But that's changeable… It also goes black, yellow blonde, and white. I'm a tabby cat.

Genetically blonde and red-heads are distinct apparently. If a person's hair goes a light brown colour, it's not ”strawberry blonde" (i.e. red). There's no crossover. Red-heads and blondes have different genes for the hair.
True red-heads are the the rarest hair colour.