as a bi person, the bisexual flag brings me infinite joy and always puts a smile on my face, however as a person who has a Passion for Graphic Design, that undersaturated shade of purple infuriates me when it’s used digitally
like, on an actual flag - which was its original purpose - it looks great!
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those look fine! lovely, even! with the semi-transparent fabric, the way it catches the sunlight, it looks beautiful!
but now look at how it looks digitally
the pink and blue are so vibrant compared to the sad, lonely lavender!
and let’s look at this statement from Michael Page, the creator of the bi flag:
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(sidenote: he created this flag in 1998, so if his takes on bisexuality is different from yours, it’s okay to notice that! a lot has changed since the 90s when it comes to lived experiences and the way we describe them. but, it’s also important to respect his thoughts about this and the way he presented them, even if today, we’d probably not say that bi people “blend unnoticeably into both the gay/lesbian and straight communities.”)
so in pantone colors, the pink is 226 C, the blue is 286 C, and the purple of the flag is 258 C.
but…here’s the deal
Michael talks here about how the key to understanding the symbolism is to know that the purple blends into both the pink and blue. and on a physical flag, I think you can see that!
but digitally, it absolutely does not blend. it clashes badly, and looks oddly separate from the other two colors.
which got me wondering…what purple do you get if you actually blend 226 C and 286 C?
oh! oh, my god.
look at that! look at how nicely it fits between those colors!
look at it next to the original color scheme! look at how much more vibrant the purple is!
and friends. this is just blending through rgb! you get even more purple variations when you use other color spaces!
look at all of the different purple options you can get just by combining these two colors!
if you want almost too-vibrant saturation, you can go hsl, if you want something more relaxed that’s closer to the original, you can go lab or lrgb. and if you want to split the difference, lch is bright and violet, while rgb is there with its saturated but darker purple.
anyway, I guess I don’t really have a point here? this isn’t so much an informational post as it is Me Getting Weird About Colors, but I think it is a useful lesson about how colors look very different on screens compared to how they look on objects in real life.
and sometimes, I think it’s okay to compensate for that.
out of all of these, this is my favorite bi flag:
it’s the one where the colors were blended in lab color space. for me, the lighter, softer purple is close enough to the original bi flag purple, while also feeling like a smoother blend of the blue and pink
but that’s just me! and it might not even look the same to you, since every screen is different, because technology is a nightmare!
anyway, thank you for coming with me on this colorful journey! I will now retreat back to inkscape and make pained sounds about inkstitch gradients until something tangible pulls me back into reality
Finally, color theory that’s not in a children’s hospital.
Finally, color
theory that’s not in a
children’s hospital.
Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.
Are you sure about that?
*facepalm*
Outstanding bisexual disaster post. Has never sat properly in a chair.
the lab version is objectively the most #goals imo, and as a graphic designer, I agree.
Are you 🫵 pissed off about the Lilo and Stitch monstrosity remake? Do you want to know how you can actually make a difference in supporting the people and ecosystems of Hawaii?
Tourism is a big issue in Hawaii (which the remake got rid of the original’s commentary on because it makes foreigners look bad). I’m not gonna promote it, BUT I know that realistically, thousands of people arrive here every single day by the airplane-ful. And the majority of them aren’t educated on the socio-cultural and economic impacts of tourism. SO, I’m making this post in an effort to educate visitors. If you or someone you know is visiting or moving to Hawaii (whether by circumstances in or out of your control), here are some suggestions on how you can give back!
You can donate to the Hawaii Community Foundation, which has been instrumental in giving aid to the displaced community of Lahaina after the Maui wildfires in 2023. They also provide scholarships to students of under-represented communities.
If you’re interested in visiting Kualoa Ranch, you can do their Mālama Experience where you get your hands dirty giving back to the ‘āina (land)!
There are other organizations you can join to volunteer with, too, like Kupu and Mālama Maunalua. Check them out; maybe you can help with a beach cleanup or plant native trees! These are both non-profit organizations that accept monetary donations.
Visit the Bishop Museum to learn about Hawaiian history and culture! They also have events focused on sustainability and conservation.
If you’re visiting Hilo on the Big Island, go visit the Laulima Nature Center! They’re a non-profit aimed at protecting Hawaii’s native species, and they even have an online store that ships to the US mainland and internationally! (After I post this, I’m gonna head on over and get myself a manu o Kū pin ♡)
A few other tips I have:
DO:Respect the locals’ homes. Several beaches and hiking trails have access points in residential areas. Please be mindful to keep your voices down when passing by, and park ONLY in designated parking areas.
DO: Wear reef-safe sunscreen! Sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate are banned in Hawaii because they are known to damage coral reefs.
DON’T: Approach wildlife, particularly honu (sea turtles) and ‘īlio holo i ka uaua (Hawaiian monk seals). Stay at least 10 feet (3 meters) away from turtles and at least 50 feet (15 meters) away from monk seals. If you see someone harassing animals, report them to the statewide NOAA Marine Wildlife Hotline: (888) 256-9840. You can also contact the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources.
DON’T: Collect sand, rocks, or other natural items to bring home with you. This is to protect the ecosystems and also out of respect for Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians), who have cultural beliefs regarding lava rocks in particular. Taking lava rocks is extremely disrespectful.
DON’T: Litter! Please throw away your waste in proper trash cans. If you see a bin that says “ʻōpala,” that’s a trash can!
Many Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) are moving to the US mainland because the cost of living in Hawaii has been driven up so high (because of people moving here), they can’t afford to live in their ancestral home. So, if you are going to visit or move to Hawaii, please:
- Make the effort to support local businesses, especially those owned by Native Hawaiians!
- Educate yourself and your loved ones about actual Hawaiian culture!
- Try Hawaiian food, like poi!
- Learn some Hawaiian words and don’t be afraid to ask how to pronounce words correctly!
- Donate to a food bank!
- Watch films and read books written by Native Hawaiians!
My hope is that whoever sees this post will use it to educate themselves, their friends, and their families who are considering visiting.
My background is in sustainability and the environment, so that’s what I know to suggest off the top of my head. If any Kānaka Maoli read this post and have suggestions to add, please do!
Reblogging to add even more resources! You can support Hawaii and its people if you aren’t visiting, as well! Some of the places I listed accept monetary donations, so please help them out if you can spare anything. Here are some more I’m adding:
‘Āina Momona is a Native Hawaiian-led non-profit community organization that promotes environmental health and Hawaiian sovereignty. There are petitions you can sign and you can donate money to them.
Donate to a food bank! Here are three to choose from; the Hawaii Food Bank serves Oahu and Kauai, the Maui Food Bank serves Maui County, and The Food Basket serves Hawaii County (the Big Island).
I’m paying to force seven thousand strangers to see a photo of my late husband having fun with his dog. Tumblr Blaze is totally worth it. XD
Thank-you to all of my new Internet stranger friends for being so gracious about having my post shoved onto your dashboards. I loved reading all of your kind tags and comments! Both Martin and Bosco have been gone for several years now but for 24 hours, they felt very present in my life. I greatly appreciate this gift. ❤️
Reblog to have your dashboard be visited by the spirit of joy that death can end but not erase.
Thank you to everyone who commented in their tags or messaged me. Indeed, today is “Martin and Bosco Day”. I originally whimsically blazed this photo on 13 July 2022. I never expected Martin and Bosco to travel so far and make so many new friends. The experience has been such a gift for me.
Hey here’s some unsolicited decor advice: get a bowl. put it on your coffee table. fill it with objects that are Good To Hold. Watch your guests be satisfied.
For example, I have this bowl of polished rock orbs. (and one glass ball.) they serve no purpose but everyone who comes into my home picks up at least one of them and just kinda rolls it around in their hands.
TL;DR - The third thing was Sugar. Not mustard, not paprika, not dried herbs, not something lost in the mists of time.
It was sugar, and there’s historical proof.
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ETA: I’d put about 70% of this post together before @dduane said “Have you seen this?”
“This” was from @jesters-armed, in firstwith my notions about The Fifth Element Third Condiment, and even a mention that the posts were “…a bit long(ish)”.
Ahem.
Yes they were, with no change here. You have been warned. :->
Well, okay, there’s one change. The pix in this post are new and, combined with the illustrations in older posts, go even further towards confirming that what I once called a theory, I now regard as Fact.
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Here are a couple of 19th-century table caddies, proper name “cruet sets”. Take a look at the labels. They answer the “what was it?” question asked by that TikTok in a single word.
Sugar.
Not just in English, Spanish too.
Azucar.
Even without labels to tell them apart and even when the containers were of matched size and shape, sugar-casters always had larger holes than pepper-shakers.
Sometimes not much larger, as here…
…but usually, like those below and above, more than big enough to ensure no confusion between sugar and pepper.
A container of similar shape with no holes, as in the set above, held mustard.
Mustard was never a shaker seasoning; it didn’t work that way. Its spiciness doesn’t activate until the dry “mustard flour” was mixed with water, vinegar, beer or wine and left to stand for several minutes.
This produced a runny-to-stiff paste which was at first transferred from pot to plate on the point of a knife, but soon got its own dedicated spoon.
There’s a slot in this mustard-pot’s side for a spoon, and the set pictured above may also have such a slot, unfortunately facing away from the camera.
A matched spoon became part of any mustard-pot set…
…and was such a uniform size that “mustard-spoon” was a recipe measurement along with dessert-spoon, tea-spoon, salt-spoon and even cayenne-spoon. (I’ve posted about cayenne as a table condiment elsewhere).
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Where’s the salt-shaker in those sets?
When sets like those were in common use, salt-shakers weren’t.
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So how did people use salt if it wasn’t in a shaker?
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance salt was put out in ornate dishes called a Salt which were often spectacular works of art.
This was placed at the top end of the table where important people sat; those seated further down were “below the salt”.
Later, and still nowadays in formal settings, salt went into smaller dishes - salt-cellars - which like mustard had their own spoons. These were set on the table between two or four guests.
They took salt with the spoon, and instead of sprinkling it all over, they made a little heap of salt on the side of their plate and added pinches as required with finger and thumb.
Hence the saying “take it with a pinch of salt” - to improve the flavour and make it easier to swallow, whether “it” is food or some unreliable statement.
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The same side-of-plate thing is done with mustard.
English mustard is extremely pungent *, far more so than the Grey Poupon which TikTok Guy slurps so casually off his finger. A little can go a long way, too much can be overpowering, and slathering it over an entire plateful of food can make that food inedible.
(* I’m aware Chinese and Russian mustards are even hotter; they’re not relevant here.)
I once had the educational (okay, also entertaining) experience of watching a friend from the USA putting Colman’s English on their hot-dog as if it was French’s Yellow, then taking a bite. Even then they were lucky, because mustard is hottest when made fresh and the shop-bought from a jar was much weaker than it might have been.
“Made mustard” of the kind which went onto Regency, Victorian and Edwardian tables packs quite a punch, and dishes of that period was far from bland; it took two world wars and their associated rationing to give British food its rep for being dull.
Here’s an example of how mustard is used.
Even though it’s from a jar and feeble by comparison with fresh-made, it’s likely that most of this will remain untouched when the meal is over.
Jeremiah Colman, founder of Britain’s best-known mustard company, was only half-joking when he claimed that the firm’s excellent sales record, and his own fortune, came from not from mustard eaten but from what was left on plates.
Whether on the plate or on the food, mustard for table use never came out of a shaker.
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The TikTok cites Bill Bryson, an American writer who, though living in the UK and presumably familiar with local grocery shops, failed to connect the proper name of the shaker (“caster” - TikTok Guy uses the name himself) with a grade of sugar sold by Irish / UK shops right now.
Here are the three standard grades - coarse, medium and fine. Note what the middle grade is called.
“"Caster” has become a single-word description for “fine-grain quick-melting fast-mixing general-purpose cooking-and-baking sugar” but is a literal description both of how it was used (“cast” as a verb) and the container (“caster”) it was in.
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TikTok Guy mentions the “expense and effort” of using sugar.
Expense:
From the Middle Ages up to the early 1600s sugar was indeed expensive and only for the rich.
Good Queen Bess’s teeth were in an appalling state because of her sugar consumption, and less-wealthy people sometimes blackened their (healthy) teeth, to suggest they too could afford enough sugar to cause rich-people tooth decay.
However, increased use of slave labour on sugar plantations meant the end product became more and more affordable, and by the mid-1700s sugar was no longer “a luxurious delicacy”. It became a household staple, enough that in 1833 politician William Cobbett ranted about how overindulgence in sugary tea had sapped the vitality of the English working class.
His remedy was home-brewed beer, and lots of it (!)
Effort:
TikTok Guy uses the word as if it’s something out of the ordinary, and seems unaware of how much physical labour - from preparing and cooking food to fetching water to washing dishes to tending the fire or range - went on every single day in a pre-modern-gadgets kitchen.
For instance, before electrical ease or hand-cranked convenience, whipping cream to thickness or beating egg-whites stiff enough for meringues meant thrashing away with a bundle of twigs “until it be enough”, however long that took.
By comparison, breaking down a sugar-loaf was quick and easy, especially since there was a tool for the purpose called “sugar nips”.
There’s a set in one of the TikTok photos, though TikTok Guy didn’t comment on them. He may not have known what they were.
Once nipped off, sugar chunks were reduced to the required texture with a pestle-and-mortar, exactly as was done with every other crushable ingredient in that period kitchen.
This and everything else wasn’t effort in the way TikTok Guy thinks; it was just - especially if a mortar was involved - The Daily Grind.
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Conclusion:
I’ve posted about sugar casters before, and the first time (six years ago) was amusingly cautious:
So that third container was IMO for sugar.
Since then, backed with increasing amounts of hard visual proof as shown here and elsewhere, I’ve gone from caution to Certainty.
The “mystery” third container in table cruets was for SUGAR, with enough historical evidence in the form of specifically labelled and shaped containers to confirm it beyond doubt.
I’ve made this post like six times but it still fucks me up the China’s mountains just look like that. Like I spent decades thinking it was stylistic but no, they just have different mountains over there.
For reference, here’s what my local mountains look like:
Here’s the general art style Chinese mountains are drawn in:
And here’s how some of them actually look:
What the FUCK
I’m specifically reblogging this here because I know there is a geological reason for this and I know at least one of you has to know it.
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