042510

I recently got a wheelchair again. It's an ultralight rigid frame, 14 (fourteen) pounds! It's easier to push than a stroller. It is liberating to sense that I am totally FREE again, free to go to coffee shops, free to explore, free to go to Central Park if I see fit. Free to wander, free to get lost, free to watch the sunset. Granted I'm not totally free--I would be hard pressed to make it to the upper east side, or the whole of the west side, for example. That's what Access-A-Ride is for. First thing I'm going to do is go to the park! For that matter Madison Square Park is right around the corner. Lollygagging has never appeared more apt.

*Lord's-Jester*

I got the title I wanted (Professional Perfumer); now I'm ready to rest on my laurels and let the income trickle in from my web site. I really don't feel motivated to SELL, SELL, SELL. I want further experimentation, want to play around with combinations I have yet to try, want to use my imagination to envision the likely results of further exploration. Some folks would be motivated to sell themselves hard; I am humble in my desire for perfume income. The reason for this: I can't stop thinking about the fact I could be a great writer, whether with journalism, poetry, plays, novels, social criticism, etc. (journalism, poetry, and plays I have some success at). I guess for me perfume will always be something I _can_ do, but I will always feel that in my heart of hearts I want to write.

The items I'm looking forward most to playing around with include flouve, honeysuckle, araucaria, and mastic. Honeysuckle is heady and deep; how well it will combine with other notes is the question. I assume it will take just the right notes to marry it with. Araucaria I'm told is a heart note; judging from its crystallized consistency, I'm guessing it's a note which falls part way between base and heart. When things have a crystallized consistency, I have trouble thinking of them as "pure heart" notes. Honeysuckle is definitely a heart note; the jury's still out on what category to put araucaria in.

Flouve and mastic are earthy type scents; some of my favorite absolutes are hay and tobacco, so I have high hopes for these two notes. Flouve smells like a complex cross between hay and tobacco; whether or not it can be used successfully in the same circumstances is the pertinent question. Mastic, a top note, is even tougher to put a finger on; it's grassy and I have the impression it will tie together rather deftly the top. Just as tagetes can be used to balance citrus notes, in miniscule amounts, so too I have the feeling mastic will work to balance floral notes. A note which can accomplish this feat is to be treasured. Really, I stop and think that there is far too much I don't yet know; I'll be calling myself a would-be natural perfumer for some time.

*Perfume*

From The Art of Perfumery... by GW Septimus Piesse (1857):

"Peau d'Espagne, or Spanish Skin, is nothing more than highly perfumed leather. Good sound pieces of wash leather are to be steeped in a mixture of ottos in which are dissolved some odoriferous gum-resins, thus: 1/2 an ounce of otto of neroli, otto of rose, and [sandalwood]; 1/4 ounce of otto of lavender, [lemon] verbena, and bergamot; two drams of otto of cloves and otto of cinnamon, with any others thought fit. In this mixture dissolve about two ounces of gum benzoin. Now place the skin in it to steep for a day or so, then hang it over a line to dry.

"A paste is now to be made by rubbing in a mortar one dram of civet and one dram of grain musk, and enough solution of gum acacia or gum tragacanth to give it a spreading consistency.... The skin being cut up into pieces about four inches square are then to be spread over, plaster fashion, with the [gum mixture]. Two pieces being put together, having the civet plaster inside them, are then to be placed between sheets of paper, weighed or pressed, and left to dry thus for a week. Finally each double skin, now called Peau d'Espagne, is to be enveloped in some pretty silk or satin.

"Skin or leather thus prepared evolves a pleasant odor for YEARS [emphasis added], and hence are frequently called, 'the inexhaustible sachet.'"

I have every intention of making Spanish skin at some point. Down the line I'd like to offer journal covers thus prepared. The fact that the above formula is _by weight_ makes much more sense to me now that I have experience making perfume weight-wise.

*Quotations*

Smells are surer than sounds or sights to make your heart strings crack.

--Rudyard Kipling

An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.

--HL Mencken

Does wisdom perhaps appear on the earth as a raven which is inspired by the smell of carrion?

--Friedrich Nietzsche

Every time I get a script it's a matter of trying to know what I could do with it. I see colors, imagery. It has to have a smell. It's like falling in love. You can't give a reason why.

--Paul Newman

Feelings are like chemicals: the more you analyze them the worse they smell.

--Charles Kingsley

Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.

--Henry Rollins

There are no good girls gone wrong, just bad girls found out.

--Mae West

What we call nature is a poem hidden behind a wonderful secret writing; if we could decipher the puzzle, we should recognize in it the odyssey of the human spirit, which in astonishing delusion flees from itself while seeking itself.

--Ernst Cassirer

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them--that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

--Lao Tzu

If there is to be any peace it will come through being not having.

--Henry Miller

Peace love and ATOM jazz

041810

I've been soaking up the Indian vibes here in Little Bombay; have yet to make it around the corner to Blue Smoke or The Jazz Standard.

*Lord's-Jester*

Sniffapalooza was terrific. Loads of perfume people, all there to experience new perfumes. It's an international conference. I got seven perfumes as samples in front of 85 people. I had my friend Meredith present for me. With her, Thorson, and Chikako, I had plenty of backup. It was a trip to meet so many people I've only interacted with online. People were full of praise for my perfumes; I received honest feedback about various brews. One person smelled Demeter and searched for the right word to describe it; "Raunchy?" I said, to her delight. I've found folks appreciate down-to-earth talk about smells, whether in person, in journalism, or in the blogosphere. Great day to revel in all the prizes Perfume brought.

I had a revelation lately about the denigration of scent: I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds and Dr Reed, explaining why the folks present didn't have to worry about the persistence of an odor, says, "Smell is the weakest sense." Lightbulb! Up to now I've thought it was the existence of foul odors that caused its denigration; now I see that it's the underwhelming nature of the olfactory sense that causes it to be maligned. What I can say for sure is that, for many of us, smells conjure up the deepest of experiences; while some feel there's no way for smell to be experienced deeply, many of us sense a profound impact from the odors which greet us out in the world. Living through the nose, I like to call it.

Running a business is a mind-bending experience. I have three or four perfumes for which the complete formula is written out; these include Phoebe and Daphne, which are refined and complete. Chronos has yet to be sent into the Guild as well. Then I have my version of Mille Fleur which I call 10,000 Flowers (in China they say 10,000 to mean a lot). Also, I have a jasmine perfume in the form of Anthea; I'd like very much to make a tribute to rose. What will my financial manager say about my wanting to bring five more perfumes online? He will likely say we have to get the rest of my perfumes out the door first; he's very right about that, but I can't stop thinking about what I'm capable of. People have to smell Phoebe. Here's looking forward to a long life as a perfumer.

*Adam's-Index*

Best thing about calling myself a perfumer: never ceases to bring an incredulous look

Best thing about being a natural perfumer: spending all my time immersed in that most amorphous of areas, the olfactory

Best thing about imagining myself as a perfumer: knowing that I affect people in deeper ways than with any other art

Worst thing about the business: tremendous cost just to get my product ready for purchase

'Compensating advantage' of that fact: knowing that I affect people in deeper ways than with any other art

Top aspect of being a member of the Natural Perfumers Guild: sensing a connection to the past

Top aspect of being an all-natural perfumer: sensing a connection to the past

Worst aspect of being an all-natural perfumer: comparatively low profit margin

Best thing about it: the profit margin is still substantial

What keeps me awake at night: the thought that we have such a limited vocabulary to discuss what is our most complex sense

*Top-Five*

5. French brunch, with pastries and top-notch scrambled eggs

4. Vegan food less than a block away

3. Blue Smoke

2. The Jazz Standard

1. The rise of sensibility in government

*Quotations*

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.

--Gandhi

A poem releases itself, secretes itself slowly, sometimes almost poisonously, into the mind of the reader.

--Mark Strand

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

--Jefferson

I am not interested in such subjects as the adulteries of dentists. I am interested in those things that repeat and repeat and repeat in the lives of the millions.

--Thornton Wilder

Truth is for tailors and shoemakers. I, on the contrary, have always held that the Lord has a penchant for masquerades.

--Isak Dineson

I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies.

--Pietro Aretino

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

--Steve Jobs

For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

--Ivan Panin

It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away."

--Lincoln

A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt to be dangerous.

--Alfred Adler

Peace love and ATOM jazz

041110

I'm more than a little distracted this week, what with the big conference tomorrow.

*Lord's-Jester*

I'm madly preparing for Sniffapalooza, which entails preparing 85 sample packets with seven perfumes each. I have 1ml sample bottles, which is just enough liquid for a person to have a taste and come back for more. Anya told me to be prepared to give away a lot of samples. I'm hoping folks smell samples and come right up and order whole bottles. We'll see how it goes. Anya said to be prepared to spend a fair amount in order to get some back. Thorson, Chikako, and Meredith will be joining me and doing things I can't do, presenting, selling, handing out business cards, etc. It's sure to be a total gas. Loads of like-minded people, all caring about the sublime aspects of perfume.

One thing which interests me is the notes which don't fit easily into one of the three categories of base, middle, and top. There are notes which are part way between between base and heart, and there are notes which are part way between heart and top. I guess it's not so much that I'm interested in them per se, more that I can see them being fertile ground, for inspiration, for new perspectives, for alternate routes. This is something I will view with renewed interest once the conference is over. That's preoccupying me a fair amount. Couple of more days and we're free. I'm busy already contemplating my next perfumes!

*Quotations*

You have to be very fond of men. Very, very fond. You have to be very fond of them to love them. Otherwise they're simply unbearable.

--Marguerite Duras

The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

--Thomas Hobbes

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

--Emerson

You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.

--Ann Lamott

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

--MLK Jr

While waiting for a Moses to lead us into the promised land, we have forgotten how to walk.

--Wendell Johnson

California is a tragic country--like Palestine, like every Promised Land.

--Christopher Isherwood

I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I could lead you in, somebody else would lead you out.

--Eugene Debs

The Promised Land always lies on the other side of a Wilderness.

--Havelock Ellis

The promised land guarantees nothing. It is only an opportunity, not a deliverance.

--Shelby Steele

*Music*

I downloaded the latest albums from Sonya Kitchell, Jess Klein, and Josh Rouse.

Sonya Kitchell, Convict of Conviction. This is a very elegant record. Kitchell by now has tremendous instrumentation at her disposal, and she makes the most of it here. Pianos, strings, percussion, etc.; about the only instrument which isn't featured is the guitar, and it appears but only when necessary. Sophisticated arrangements of classy compositions.

Jess Klein, Bound to Love. This is a rootsy record. Guitar heavy, but that's to be expected. I think this recording is very much in line with the rest of her work; others may disagree, but here you'll find Ms Klein's fluttery voice in all its glory, and this record ends up being spot on. One couldn't ask for more.

Josh Rouse, El Turista. This is the first full-length record from Rouse since he moved to Spain. I would say the move was inspirational. Here is found a wide variety of music types, mostly latin tinged. This is not quite in line with the rest of his phenomenal oeuvre, but it's close. Happily will listen more; maybe what I'll find with successive listenings will make it stand out more.

Peace love and ATOM jazz

040410

I'm preparing myself for next Sunday's Sniffapalooza, which is _this coming Sunday_. Lots to make sure about. This is my first international conference on perfume. I plan to come on like gangbusters, especially now that I have the Professional-Perfumer title.

*Move*

This will be a short installment. I am right in the middle of a move. A few blocks over and about 30 blocks down. I am so incredibly happy it's not even funny. I'm in the middle of the island. I am much closer to downtown than I was before, and so closer to head shops and tattoo parlors and real ethnic food. I have Blue Smoke and The Jazz Standard right around the corner--I could even walk there myself easily. And they have brunch on the weekends. Also I'm right in the middle of Little Bombay, so loads of Indian restaurants are all around, from vegetarian and kosher to meat galore; I have recently become a vegetarian again so I'm in heaven. Idlees, utappam, dosas, holy-shit halva, coconut chutney, etc. I couldn't have chosen a better spot if I had the run of the whole city. Thanks to Carlos, who also got me my last apartment. I have yet to find a diner, where I can go daily for breakfast. My new wheelchair will be coming soon, so then anything goes.

*Adam's-Index*

Number one thing about my new neighborhood: jazz and really good comfort food (southern) around the corner

Number two thing: best vegetarian Indian in New York (Vatan) a block away

Number three: heart of Little Bombay

Number four: less than a block from a gourmet south-Indian restaurant

Number five: close to head shops

Number six: close to tattoo parlors

Number seven: close to downtown (where anything goes)

Number eight: right in the heart of matters

Number nine: close to subway (I have yet to use my wheelchair on the subway)

Number ten: in the center of the greatest city in the world

*Quotations*

The scientific consensus confirms the dangers of climate change. Yet rarely are climate deniers called on to cite fact-based, peer-reviewed evidence for their rebuttals.

--Frances Beinecke

I'm going to do what every San Franciscan does who goes to Heaven. I'll look around and say, 'It's not bad, but it ain't San Francisco.

--Herb Caen

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

--Kahlil Gibran

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.

--Oscar Wilde

A man's errors are his portals of discovery.

--James Joyce

Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.

--Paul Coelho

The only source of knowledge is experience.

--Einstein

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

--Eleanor Roosevelt

Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won't have time to make them all yourself.

--Alfred Sheinwold

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

--Auguste Rodin

Peace love and ATOM jazz