050210

My nearby hangout is Madison Square Park. It's got lots of trees, as any park should. It's populated by employees from nearby offices and restaurants. It was the original location of Madison Square Garden.

*Lord's-Jester*

I have one set of samples into a blogger named Tom. With luck, he will be kind. I sent him five perfumes: Selene (EdP), Heracles (EdT), Demeter (EdT), Ares (EdC), and Anthea solid. Really, there's nothing bad he could say; I will take it with a grain of salt. I think it's most likely he will have some rave reviews. He asked me five questions, having to do with my perspectives on natural perfume, what lies ahead with small houses such as mine, whether or not any stores carry my stuff, etc. I haven't yet spoken of Thorson, the premier salesman. In about two months, he will go on a selling spree, hitting up every classy place we can think of, Henri Bendel, Lord & Taylor, Saks, etc.

This week we made a try at something supposed to be a certain animal-note doppelganger. It's a full perfume, but with a light top section. First whiff says we pegged it; it will take a couple of weeks to mature. Part of the reason for our success is that what exactly this particular note smells like is anybody's guess (it's no longer available); as long as it smells primarily animal-like, it will be good to go. Most of my perfumes smell primarily animal-like as a matter of fact, at least to my nose. What goes on above the animal note is where the richness comes in. I think of my perfumes as predicated on animal notes, even if there's only a tiny bit--it's that little bit which gives the perfume life.

My latest article for Fragrantica is published. It asks the question why perfumers do what we do, among numerous other points. In the last paragraph, I write point blank, "I am rosemary, but I feel like labdanum; I exude fir, but the sense of belonging I feel has more to do with pine-needle absolute. How about you?" I suspect on will come a slew of comments, from people largely surprised that anything at all was asked of them. My assertions are vague enough that I believe folks will have fun with it, those who can be bothered to respond that is. At the very least, I know I'll get folks thinking about such questions, under the guise of a would-be "olfactory identity."

*OPP*

Dear Adam,

by Ariell Dione Hartwell

14 April 2010

The wordless

wonder, you

wander to

me, from

beyond the

beyond and

through memory, and

I trust in your soul,

as I've always said,

from the first time

we met, to

those days

at the bars,

to those poems

I forget (about

birds of a

feather,

or painting

as a child, or

a forever day

that you had

at the

beach, or

being lonely

and having

the jazz

to play, or

learning to play

the bass guitar,

or feeling satisfied

that someone

had gone

or

had stayed, or

had stayed away, or

your favorite

poet,

or the

real cures

to illness

you'd find

only

in Third Worlds),

to those

rabbits you

kept, to

those times

I have wept,

to the wine

and the cupboard

and lists

and all that,

to the parties

and live jazz

and old pens

and hats,

to the

vegan nachos

they served

up the street,

to the walk

up the street

and the talk

as we walked,

to the vinyls,

the new sounds,

to the

pissing

downtown

because

it felt right

to piss

in plain sight,

to all that

I can't

or won't

say,

at this time,

to the future poems

that will

need

to

exist, to

the making

of new lists,

and to

that

feral cat

of yours

that had

ringworms,

to your

sense

of humor,

and to

my memory,

I say to you,

quietly, with my

life, as I've said,

since we met

at the bar

like the pull

of a magnet

or Murphy's Law:

Dear Athiest,

you have

become God

over _us_,

decide what to

do; in your

judgment

I trust.

*Quotations*

Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy.

--Picasso

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.

--Goethe

There is no human bliss equal to twelve hours of work with only six hours in which to do it.

--Anthony Trollope

I do not wish women to have power over men, but over themselves.

--Mary Wollstonecraft

With most categories of books you are aiming to make as much money as possible, with poetry you are aiming to lose as little as possible.

--TS Eliot

Where could I live better? Below, the brothel caters to the flesh. And there is the church which forgives sin. And there is the hospital where we die.

--CP Cavafy

Then when I turned, I saw in the cast, just over the woods, the modest, pale, cloud-like moon, two-thirds full, looking spirit-like on these daylight scenes. Such a sight excites me. The earth is worthy to inhabit.

--Thoreau

Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right.

--Samuel Clemens

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

--Leo Buscaglia

The future is the legacy of today.

--Ambassador Braun

*Music*

May Flowers 10:

1. Draw the Line, David Gray

2. Like a Star (bossa-nova remix), Corrine Bailey Rae

3. Fitz and the Dizzyspells, Andrew Bird

4. Aeriel's Song, Jesse Sykes & Phil Wandscher

5. In Love and War, Tina Dico

6. You Painted Yourself In, Jolie Holland

7. Stood Up, A Fine Frenzy

8. Bicycle, Memory Tapes

9. World to Me (live), David Gray

10. Ballad of Copper Junction, Jeffrey Foucault

11. Core and Rind, Andrew Bird

12. Private Party, Tina Dico

13. Bird of the Summer, A Fine Frenzy

14. Palmyra, Jolie Holland

15. 1234 (bossa-nova remix), Feist

16. Neighborhood 2 - Laika, Arcade Fire

17. Ain't No Love (live), David Gray

18. The Privateers, Andrew Bird

19. Hitchhiker's Theme, Tina Dico

20. The Beacon, A Fine Frenzy

21. Enjoy Yourself, Jolie Holland

Peace love and ATOM jazz