A Portrait in Smells

Smells fade in the wind eventually, but if you want to remember someone or something...some event some place there is nothing more powerful that the sense of smell... it is directly linked to being more than anything else in my opinion....it is a sensory linkage that taps right into the visceral aspects of who we are...

Meryn Cadell said it best in her Sweater song...bringing back the thrill of teenage angst when she wrote:

The sweater has that faintly goat-like smell which all teenage boys possess, and that smell will lovingly transferto all your other clothes
If you get to keep it for a few days you can sleep with itbut don't let your mom see, 'cause she'll say,"what is that filthy thing, and who does it belong tobesides the trash man?"
So you have to keep it under the covers with you
You can kind of lie it beside you,or wrap it around your waist,or touch it on your legs, or whatever
That's your business....

How else could you get close to that boy and feel like you could take a pieceof him with you...ahhh it's that smell...

So this gets me to thinking, not only why we like the smells that we do, but what smells do people remember me by, what is the smell in my home, on my clothes. I hope it is not a goat-like smell.

Anyway, then I got to thinking about some smells that I am attached to:
Estee Lauder's Beautiful - My grandmother wore this -I remember her by this smell.
Guelain Samsara - I remember Leslie and I wore this throughout University.
Oregano, Basil, Thyme - South France
Olives - Italy
Plumeria - Hawaii
Lilacs - Manor Park
Cedar - Rogers Pass/Montana
Pine and Sulphur - Banff
Eucalyptus - THe Spa in Hotel Kamp - Helsinki

Smells I love:
Orange
Sandlewood
Grapefruit
Amber
Cedar
Eucalyptus
Pepper
Cardamom
Jasmine
Patchouli (a little bit)
Ylang Ylang

I think that my attachemnt to nature and exotic food has shaped some of my preferences...warm, spicy, yummy, and exotic.

Strike Strike Strike

We have spent the lastw eek on the picket line. Today was the first day back,a dn it looks like we will be back out again if they cannot come to an agreement this weekend. While picket lines are not so bad... it doesn't pay really well.

But you can bring your dog to work!

Still Life: Nude and Food as Narrative

This is an excellent link to some beautiful images from a local photographer and writer...

When you combine nude with food you get much more than sexy still life. You get a sensual and fundamentally human narrative.

Small Wonder

I cannot remember how it is that I first picked up a collection of essays by Barbara Kingsolver, but I remember that it was a welcomed discovery. It was called high-tide in Tucson, and the story of the hermit crab "Buster" set me up for a lifetime of reading Kingsolver till she would write no more.

There is a special sensitivity that she brings to her writing...it is just beneath the skin and transcends the nervous system. She understands the heart both as an organ and as a spiritiual conduit. There are too many things that she writes that I wish I could take from the page and wear them as a pearl on my neck...to never forget the beauty and the small wonders of life she reveals.

Excerpt
If you ask me, when something extraordinary shows up in your life in the middle of the night, you give it a name and make it the best home you can.

Lake Como Basilica

Lake COmo,
originally uploaded by Viva.

In fron of this church was a square full of resturants and a chalk artist creating a beautiful rendering of the last supper.

Me in the Milan Train Station

Me in Milan,
originally uploaded by Viva.

I thought there was something so magnificient about the Milan Trainstation...like being in the belly of whale!

Geneva

Geneva,
originally uploaded by Viva.

While in Geneva...before we wen tback to the Hostel to sleep we spent some time a beautiful park by the water.

Bellagio at Night

Bellagio at Night,
originally uploaded by Viva.

This is a romantic little town on Lake Como.

Lake Como

Lake Como,
originally uploaded by Viva.

On our boat tour of Lake Como

One of the Oldest Churches in Milano - St. Augustine?

One of the Oldest Churches in Milano St. Augustine?,
originally uploaded by Viva.

Church in Milano

Church in Milano,
originally uploaded by Viva.

St. Augustine in Milano

Church in Milano

Church in Milano,
originally uploaded by Viva.

While in the church we came upon some young military recruits doing their mandatory service...

Geneva - Walking in the old town

Geneva - Walking in the old town,
originally uploaded by Viva.

After a long sleep in the Hostel, we walked into the old town through the cobble stone streets and the exquisite shopping.

To Populate and Complicate? That is the Question

So everyone is having babies. Arne and Shari are now pregnant as well. While I guess I am happy for them, I also ask "why now?". Arne is still in med school and has huge debts still to pay off. Under those conditions doesn't bringing a new person into the mix make things more complicated? Life seems complicated enough already. I can't figure out why I can only associate having a child with loss; loss of money, time, oppourtunity, relationships, adventure and my already struggling figure. Your body is never the same : Hemorrhoids, bladder control issues, hormonal changes…etc. I need to know whether I don’t want children or that I have just convinced myself that it is a horrible experience without knowing enough. I'lll figure it out…tick tock tick tock...