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