What’s in a Name

During middle and high school, and thanks to my father, I watched and/or listened to a lot of public television and radio. This included watching “I, Claudius” on PBS. I first read “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God” during my freshmand or sophmore year in high school. I recall discussing this with my speech teacher. Claudius was the fourth roman emperor after Julius Ceasar. The books are historical fiction.

Claudius was physically flawed. He stammered in his childhood. One leg and one arm were deformed. His family and many others dispised him. But he was extremely smart. He became emperor “by accident”.

Calpurnia is a very minor character in both books – she appeared eight times – but she clearly resonated with me. Why? Despite all the flaws and all the hate, Calpurnia was the only person who loved Claudius.

Every now and again, I’ll enter an artful, creative streak. In one of these fits, I dreamed up a framed mosaic of all the I, Claudius text that included Calpurnia. I cut out the text from my paperbacks and pasted them on posterboard. Then I cut and pasted tiles around the text.

I started with the heart (see below, middle-right). I rotated it 90 degrees, filled it with blue sky and blue sea, added the four points of the compass, and a marble representing the earth in the middle. It’s hanging in my office.

Later, in another creative fit, I digitized a photo of the heart, also creating a palate of the Calpurnia’s Love brand colors. They are: Oracal 651 Red (#af1f24), Dark Red (#901a1d), Ice Blue (#3da1d1), Azure (#065eab), Blue (#203e76), and Steel Blue (#14133e).

“Peace” has been a fixture of my family’s Christmas cards for many years. Also, the golden hour has long been my favorite time to be outside. One day I woke up and put Peace, Calpurnia’s Love, and Happiness together, represented by the peace symbol, the heart (love), and the sun (happiness).

Here are those graphics; I hope to soon put them on flags.

Then I started thinking of social media using a handle other than my name. Once again – boom! – how about Calpurnia Republic, ripping off California Republic?

And here we are…