What's in a Name?

"The thing with an artistic license is, you have to be artistic if you want to use the license."

Anonymous

Check out these literal, artistic licenses!

See more of Greg Constantine's amazing art here.

I decided to take some artistic license on my COLOR project this week, to make it more interesting for y'all.

Originally, I wanted to write poetry using for inspiration, the actual 64 Crayola colors that would have been in the box I received at 9 years old (around 1968). I checked out the lists from the whole history of Crayola crayons (yes, there are Crayola fanatics and even a site with lists of colors). But yesterday, when I was shuffling color names around and planning, I noticed something funny.

Check out these 1968 color names paired with each other:

• Yellow Orange / Orange Yellow

• Blue Green / Green Blue

• Yellow Green / Green Yellow

• Orange Red / Red Orange

Not only did this poet find these names uninspiring, but I also discovered that, over the years, Crayola seemed to get more creative with its names.

I mean... who wouldn't be more inspired by names like these:

• Cerulean

• Blizzard Blue

• Granny Smith Apple

• Macaroni And Cheese

• Purple Mountain Majesty

• Razzmatazz

• Wild Strawberry

• Timber Wolf

• Unmellow Yellow

• Robin’s Egg Blue

So, without further ado....

Drum roll, please....

The Crayola color I chose for this week is...

Isn't this an awesome word? Say it again and again. Razmatazz... RAZZMATAZZ! Doesn't it make you happy?

The original creators of the word, Razzmatazz, may have been inspired by the jazz music of the day. Check out this old-time song, Ragtime Razzmatazz. It is sure to get your feet stomping and a smile on your face!

Interestingly, Razzmatazz was introduced in 1993, as one of the colors chosen in the 90th Crayola Crayon anniversary "Name the New Colors Contest." Winner, Laura Bartolomei-Hill of College Park, Maryland, chose a great name for this vibrant pinkish-red color.

So without further ado...

Here is my poetic take on Razzamatazz!

Thank you to Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm for hosting this week. Be sure to stop by to read her lovely triolet poem about being good here. I really need to try this poetic form soon!

Hope you can turn up some music this week, and enjoy your own Razzmatazz! Happy dancing!

FYI- I welcome any comments. Click on the title when you arrive here at the blog. Then scroll to the end of this post, past the links to my older posts, and the comments will appear. Look forward to hearing from you.