how many yellows does a person need?

in honor of pimplomat's upcoming back to school party (or really back to school season in general), i started thinking about the school supplies i heart so very much. realistically that translates to "all school supplies", expecially notebooks (steno pads are my preferred writing tablet).

unfortunately, i've always had a very love/hate relationship with crayons. in particular crayola. you see, mom was working two jobs to support her two rotten kids (me and my brother), so we never splurged when it came to supplies. if the list said "2 pocket folders (brads optional)", my folders would arrive sans brads. "glue and/or glue stick"? you betcha i just got glue. thank god in hindsight, because kids always seemed to have problems with that glorified paste-lipstick-looking-thing... i managed just fine given the circumstances, but what killed me every year was the fact that whatever crayon count the list said i needed (be it 8, 16, or 24), that's what i got. i never got the 48-count cube-o-color or *gasp* the 64-count brick, complete with crayon sharpener, no matter how much i begged, pleaded, and cried. i took extra special care of the few crayons i had though, taking great care to never push too hard (i hated the stubby nosed crayons that surfaced after tense coloring sessions) and i never, ever let crayon-breakers borrow mine. after a few months, i would have the only undamaged black crayon in school, thank you very much.

so where am i going with this whole thing, you ask. well, i'm having issues with crayola still, and their need to retire colors or change their names. i can understand to a certain extent the need to change flesh to peach, but come on people. did you really need to take away my teal blue and turn it into wild blue yonder or swap out mulberry (a classic since 1958) and give me effing "mango tango"? and don't even get me started on inchworm. for you color nerds like myself, check it: the wiki list of crayola colors, charted by year. my, how they've grown.

p.s. my mom would probably appreciate it if i told you i got the super jumbo classic crayon collection in college, complete with crayons, colored pencils, markers, and oldtime-y packaging. it only took 15 years, but hey.