Thank Zeus for Miss Lis and her Thursday Three. I haven’t come up with a fully thought out post for days.
What are your favorite smells?
I love the smell before it rains. Three years ago was the last time I caught a whiff and I remember LJR and I both giddy from the experience.
The smell of released oil when you scratch a tangerine peel.
Winter truffles: all that is earth and sex is in that smell.
Fresh baked bread. I used to live next to a bakery in Hamtramck and at 4am the smell would drift across and we’d go pound on the back door until Timmy the Baker would give us a fresh loaf.
The cutting of grass: they cut the grass at Huntington Park every week and I stop and sit there, taking it in.
2. Do you wear cologne or perfume? Scent of choice?
No. This may be a chef thing, but smell is what makes up taste and perfume corrupts that experience. Nothing in the world worse than a waiter wearing so much perfume they leave a puddle while taking your order. Also, gotta say that essential oils are horrible because they are generally used in lieu of deodorant. It’s like trying to drown out bagpipes by playing an accordion.
3. Scent of choice for a significant other?
Too complicated. Too much chemistry. For years my Mom would include in my x-mas stocking that year’s hot cologne (no, Mom isn’t subtle enough for this to have been a message). One year Photo, one year Flannel, one year Lagerfeld . . . and I never wore them. My roommate, Kim, found these men’s colognes smelled better on her than the White Shoulders and others she got from her Mom. I love a clean smell with a little sweat, the personal fragrance.
On the subject of smell, let’s talk about crack cocaine.
During my youthful indescretionary period I “experimented” with crack in the most minor league way. But, one time I did touch the hand of God for 30 seconds and I doubt if I will ever feel that blissful again. I damn sure didn’t feel that good two minutes later when I tried to smoke a suspicious looking sugar crystal I found on the table. Looking to get high, I made caramel.
Where am I going with this? Glad you asked.
Smell is a more primal sense than hearing or sight; it is hardwired right to your brain stem. Pavlov could have made much faster progress if he would have been more interested in why we go up to each other with bad milk and say, “smell this!” rather than worrying about how to get a dog to drool on command. Back to the story: A full year after trying the stuff, I got into a cab where the driver had just put down his pipe and the smell triggered a craving in me like a pregnant woman wanting to hit her husband.
The lesson here is when it comes to smells, just say no.
Go in Peace
