The Legend of opticwalrus

Over the years many people have asked me what 'opticwalrus' means. It has served as my email address for years and now it is the name of my blog. So for all you etymologists out there, here's how opticwalrus came about:

When I was in junior high, my friend John Hatch and I created a fictitious band called 'Optic Yellow.' They were very ambitious and experimental and a little bit ahead of their time - at least, in theory. I got the name from reading the side of a can of tennis balls - apparently "optic yellow" is the color of tennis balls. We were going through a big Beatles phase at the time, 'I Am the Walrus' being one of our key influences.

So when the time came to pick an email address and blog name, I used the following formula:

And that, gentle readers, is the origin of the puzzling and absurdist 'opticwalrus' name.

My blog layout needed some personalization, so I've decided to tweak the color scheme to reflect the rich heritage of the opticwalrus. Hope the new colors aren't too gross for you.