Tuesday, January 29, 2008

My responses to Theorris's 'I love..." challenge...

Theorris has tagged me to write what I love. Looking at the other responses, there are 3 things, so that is what I'll do to, although narrowing it down to 3 is difficult, and these things should be seen as randomly chosen from an overflowing basket of things i love.

1. Old ladies

I love them for the irony of their apparent vulnerability vs. their strength. I love the way their houses smell, like Lux soap, and bread. I love their aesthetic sense, their brooches, 'set' hair, and general formality. I love that they were around when the word 'motoring' was used. I love that they outlive everyone. Old ladies are safety incarnate.

2. Smells

I love certain smells: sheets that have been in the linen closet for years, that first rich whiff of a flowershop after walking in, a very old garage, basements, and the smell of water from a hose, and the smell of water on a very warm sidewalk. Unusual, uncommon flower scents: linden, lily of the valley, tuberose. I love the smell of Stewarts Key Lime soda--I stick my nose in the bottle after it's all gone, and at the time, I can say it is the best smell that has ever been on the planet. There's a certain laundry smell that some people carry, that I still haven't figured out what product it is. I love the smell of certain books, some have it, some don't. My mom used to let me order whatever and however many books I wanted from those Scholastic school book magazines, and I would order so many they would come in my own box. I used to wait until I got home to open it, and take it in my room, so I could enjoy the smell that would puff out of that box alone, without looking like a goober. I love Grocery store smell, especially Dillons grocery store, in Topeka, Ks. I love the smell of the dirt in my houseplants that have been makeshift incense holders for years--there's the natural good dirt smell, mingled with an absorbed perfume. I could go on and on....

number 3 will have to come a bit later...

Okay, 3. Potatoes.

3 comments:

Clint Gardner said...

Ah I too am a book smeller. Old, new, it doesn't matter, although I take special pleasure in new books and identifying their ink.

As for old ladies, their is some amount of nostalgia involved in all that. I find all your scents, in fact, quite appropriate.

You need to email me, by the way, so I can provide appropriate mailing instruction: gardnecl@gmail.com.

richelle said...

Are you a book feeler too? There's a particular kind of trade paperback that is my favorite--those Vintage trades; their texture is just this perfect bit of roughness, yet slick. They're so new. I can barely contain myself with them.

richelle said...

maybe it's not vintage--penguin? I can;t believe I don;t know for sure--I'm running on empty here.