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2001-03-13 | 04:33:32

you know, corduroy licorice never bit the hand that fed him...but he gnawed the hell out of the left one.

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work has been really busy. stress is running rampant through the office with even more virulence than the flu bug. long hours, short fuses. fortunately, we have an amazingly high ratio of cool, talented, good-natured people, which makes the load a lot lighter.

driving home around 9:30, i was feeling sorry for myself for having to work late. i was tired and near tears. without thinking, i pulled a strand of my hair across my face and got a whiff of its scent. it wasn't shampooy or perfumey or stinky. it was natural and nice and human-smelling and it made me feel soothed for some reason.

i used to like the smell of my knees. sounds silly, but i remember sitting by the public pool in grade school, hugging my knees to my chin and drawing in a breath of sun-kissed skin. it really was an odor distinctive to my knees. then there'd be a wafting nasal interruption. a tang would spring into my nostrils from the chlorinated water evaporating on the baking cement decking.

i have this cool book called a natural history of the senses by diane ackerman. she explores each of the senses in terms of biology, chemistry, psychology, history and literature. in the section on scent, she explains how the sense of smell is the most swiftly "realized":

"when the olfactory bulb detects something--during eating, sex, an emotional encounter, a stroll through the park--it signals the cerebral cortex and sends a message straight into the limbic system, a mysterious, ancient, and intensely emotional section of our brain in which we feel, lust and invent. unlike the other senses, smell needs no interpreter. the effect is immediate and undiluted by language, thought, or translation."

scent has a huge effect on me. i have offbeat shampoo "flavors" and candles about to keep my nose content. plus, several perfumes...no signature scent for me. my olfactory bulb likes options.

what else does me bulb like?

the sharp, synthentic scent of a salon just as you step in the door. bread or cookies or anything baking. the smoldering smoke from a chimney. the completely unique sweetness springing forth from the top of little children's noggins. the redolent headiness of night-blooming jasmine and orange blossoms...*sniff* ahhh...

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take a peek at these - (c) 2000-2003 nictate:

health tip
2005-03-16

health tip
2005-03-16

moving house
2004-11-19

quibbling with quitherfeather
2004-11-17

catcher in the wry
2004-11-16