Hazel Cox | Frivolous Universe

Both a Borrower and a Lender Be…….

By: Anna D.

26-06-2012

Neither a borrower nor a lender be
For loan oft loses both itself and friend
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Poor Polonius. Such a miserly and overbearing old man….must have had his fair share of unfortunate outcomes after lending a helping hand to his fellow man. Or perhaps Shakespeare just needed a wary character to serve as a vessel for his own general mistrust of people. Either way, I hope to never get to a point in my life where this principle makes sense to my way of being.
(sidenote: I find it morbidly appropriate that I happen to be crouching beside a Moneytree brick in this picture, given the topic of my blog…..)

I have been through a few toilsome trials recently that could easily have broken my belief in the giveth-receiveth spirit of living, but thankfully I have people in my life who give happily, readily, on a moment’s notice…and understand me well enough to know I’ll do the same. We are both borrowers and lenders, because our lives are better for it.

At 5:15pm on Monday, just 30 minutes before I had to be at Story Story Night’s latest show – FAiL: Stories of Mistakes and Misfires – I called Kelly in a complete quandary over what to wear. She told me to come by her house, and as I rushed in the door a few minutes later, she gave me a big hug and handed me this spicy persimmon-hued frock. Later, she took these fantastic photos of me in her dress. In exchange, I bought her a ticket to the show and a little Piehole. A perfect trade.

It’s a small thing, loaning a person your clothing (after all, it is just form-fitting material), but it’s a big gesture. It says you trust the person well enough to know you’ll see them again soon, and shows that you care enough about a person’s wellbeing that you want them to feel their best in a crowded room full of strangers.

Doing my best Ophelia impersonation…..

Dress: Adolfo Studio
Shoes: vintage thrift store find, no tag
Black leather purse: gift, no tag
Earrings & long necklace: Hazel Cox
Red glass bead necklace: Antique World Mall
Turquoise Navajo ring: gift from great-grandmother
Beaded bracelet: handmade by Kelly Lynae

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Tetrachromatic Perception

By: Anna D.

19-06-2012

Anna

“…I long- I pine, all my days- to travel home and see the dawn for my return. And if god will wreck me yet again on the wine-dark sea, I can bear that too, with a spirit tempered to endure…”
– Homer, The Odyssey

In a recent episode of Radiolab, the producers explored the world of color. One particular segment of the show really struck me. They interviewed linguist Guy Deutscher, who recounts the story of William Gladstone, a British Prime Minister from the 1800s. Gladstone, who happened to be a huge Homer fan, read and reread The Odyssey and eventually, he began to notice a pattern in Homer’s color descriptions….no blue.

In Homer’s world, Hector’s hair is cyan, the sky is bronze, honey is green, and the sea is “wine dark.”

Gladstone finds this to be true in both The Odyssey and The Illiad and concludes that Homer was color blind. More than a century later, Duetscher expands on Gladstone’s research and discovers that blue isn’t just absent from Homer’s work, it’s absent from all early literature. Even the Bible.

The theory is that it has taken centuries for blue cone receptors to fully develop in the human eye. After generations of exposure to blue-violet light, our genetic makeup has actually evolved to allow us to absorb and interpret this light. To give it a name, and identify hues.

In 1993, researchers at Cambridge University discovered that a significant percentage of females are what they’ve termed tetrachromats – these women can actually perceive a broader color spectrum (the reason only female tetrachromats have been identified is because the genetic makeup for red and green receptors occurs specifically in the X chromosome, while the blue receptor is an asexual gene. This is also why color blindness primarily affects men)…….if it took humans centuries to develop a blue cone receptor, imagine the colors we may be able to realize centuries from now…..

Blouse: Collective Clothing
Skirt: vintage Worthington, thrifted
Shoes: Frye
Necklace & Earrings: Hazel Cox
Dream watch: vintage Marcel Boucher, special gift from Jessica

Lovely tungsten-hued imagery by Bethany Walter.

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priorities, priorities, priorities……..

By: Anna D.

12-06-2012

Anna

When I was growing up, my mother was the great defender of prioritization – done your homework? cleaned your room? washed your hair? No task to small or too great – all must be accomplished in a timely fashion.

As a result, I am now a master list maker – daily, weekly, monthly…business, personal, potential. When I stray from those lists (or worse, neglect to make them), work life goes asunder and I skip happily off to lala land.

Every few months, I meet up with a group of women in the same line of work as me, and we share tips on how to keep oneself above water and swimming forward. I found our last meeting particularly useful, as it was all about finding ways to work more efficiently. Some suggestions that stuck with me:

1) Start your day by looking at your list of things to do, and no matter how long the list may be, just select 3 items to complete. If you finish those items in good time, select 3 more. Then call it a day.

2) Limit your email checks to 3 – 5 times per day. Don’t let that constant stream of emails distract you from your tasks.

3) Build “cave days” into your regular work routine, and don’t allow anyone or anything to keep you from completing your goals for that day.

On the day I took these pictures, I had a mini cave day. I set aside 4 hours alone in the Story Story Night office to complete 3 very important items on my list. With those tasks finished, I had about 30 minutes to take these photos with my computer cam before heading off to yoga. Priorities!

Speaking of, this is truly a priorities-based outfit. While not the most flattering frock (I feel a bit like a spokesmodel for the Stylish Stork in this getup), it is hopelessly comfortable and makes my bicycle commute an easy one. And as a bonus, all I had to do to prep for yoga was kick off my shoes and whip off my dress. How’s that for efficient use of time!