May 25 -- evening

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My better half spotted this.  We seem to have much in common with these people!

We love Pooh.  Our kid was in choir, rather than orchestra, but it looks like we can agree about some important elements of politics.  I have been known to spend some time with the Snoods (an elderly computer game).  As recently as this morning.......... 

(The Poohs look as though it's possible their honey was fermented.......)



The 25th was just packed.  There was a Smell & Tell, which I planned to attend.

It turned out that the golf course was full of a high-school tournament on the 25th.  This meant my husband could go along to the Smell & Tell (rather than golfing into the night). 

We decided to begin with supper at Jerusalem Garden (just around the corner from the library), and our daughter decided to join us.  We had a pleasant family evening, enjoying falafel at Jerusalem Garden, and then strolling over to the library for the Smell & Tell.  It was about roses..........................

Perception of chemicals in the environment is Life's oldest sense.  Vastly older than come-lately senses like hearing and vision.  Since Life began, billions of years ago, it has prospered through attentiveness to the scent of its environment.

Given the antiquity of smell and taste, it's not a surprise that they should be closer to the essence of being alive than newer senses.  Not a surprise that they are intertwined with emotion and memory in a unique way.

Most of us walk through our days paying very little attention to our noses and the news they bring us. 
Not so for Michelle Krell Kidd, whose nose has guided her since her early childhood. 

Michelle, Ann Arbor's only trained Nose*, is on a mission to help all of us pay more attention to what we are smelling, and to help us practice describing the unseeable.  On the 25th, her subject was roses.  The history of rose cultivation, the differences between different roses, the ways humans have sought to preserve and enjoy the scent of roses, the way perfumers have used roses in the design of fragrances....

This is only the second Smell & Tell at which I have been offered tastes as well as smells.  We began with rose Turkish delight.  When I was a kid, I had a little round tin of those small hard candies.  As an example of memory brought forward by smell/taste, I am pretty sure that my little candies tasted like the rose Turkish delight we ate on the 25th..........

We went on to smell the scent of a couple of different roses.  We tasted D'Arbo rose hip jam, which is delicious.  We smelled a couple of rose perfumes, and didn't have time to smell all the ones Michelle brought with her, alas.

As always, in addition to the history and culture of perfume, in addition to the active smelling, in addition to telling what those smells entice us to remember (perhaps connections to places/times/people), we also receive a lot of information on how and where to acquire the things we enjoy at a Smell & Tell.

I got some D'Arbo rose hip jam at Busch's yesterday.  (Rose hips!  Something new to add to my Food as Medicine repertoire for 20 different foods each day!)

If you live near Ann Arbor, and you want to expand your mind with an experience you aren't likely to find anywhere else, I encourage you to try a Smell & Tell.  Michelle's connections often mean we get to smell things that basically no one else will get to smell.  Each Smell & Tell is a unique venture into a place most of us don't usually get to visit.  Highly recommended.

The next one is June 22, when the topic will be patchouli.


* Wikipedia:  A perfumer is a term used for an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a Nose (French: le nez) due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions. The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained in depth on the concepts of fragrance aesthetics and who is capable of conveying abstract concepts and moods with fragrance compositions. At the most rudimentary level, a perfumer must have a keen knowledge of a large variety of fragrance ingredients and their smells, and be able to distinguish each of the fragrance ingredients whether alone or in combination with other fragrances. As well, they must know how each ingredient reveals itself through time with other ingredients.


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April 20

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Quince.

Species tulips in the periwinkle in my front yard.

Walking downtown for a Smell and Tell.  Cherry.

This month's Smell and Tell was on Musk.  As always, Michelle Krell Kidd (glasspetalsmoke@blogspot.com) blended history and science with interesting and lovely things to smell.

Now that I think of it, I suppose putting together a Smell and Tell is something like building a perfume.  There's a beginning.  There's a middle.  There's an end.  There are timeless ingredients, and there are the results of new technology.  Layers and layers of information are presented to the senses.  The experience is a bit different for each of us, depending on who we are and what we bring with us............

From a flight of fancy to the barnyard............  Humans will do the darnedest things to attract a mate.   This is hardly news -- we are famous killing everything in sight and/or using absolutely anything in any way we can think of, if we believe it might improve our sex lives.  I already knew this.

On the 20th I learned this sort of human behavior includes spraying ourselves with things that attract other species but not our own.  Boar taint, anyone?  You can buy androstenone -- one of two ingredients in boar taint -- in a spray can, and apparently some people use it on themselves................. 

(Wikipedia:  A pheromone (from Ancient Greek φέρω phero "to bear" and hormone, from Ancient Greek ὁρμή "impetus") is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual.^[1]) 

(Editorial note -- "trigger a social response in members of the SAME species".................)

Public service announcement:  Spraying yourself with something that attracts some other species is not a good idea, especially if you go where wild animals can smell you and get the wrong idea.....................



Musk for human use used to mean death for animals, but now there are good synthetics that can be used instead.
 
Different components of perfume have different functions.  Musk is an "exalter" -- one of the ingredients that exalts other ingredients (makes them more noticeable).  It does the same thing for other smells -- if you need a bath, musk is going to make that plainer to others, rather than masking it.

I guess musky odors can smell funky to some people, but I am apparently not one of them.  I thought some of the things we smelled were "too strong" but in a "too-strong soapy/perfume-y" way, not in a funky way.  I thought most of the things we smelled (including the deer lure) smelled good.  (We did not smell boar taint....)

There are all sorts of different "odor wheels" to help people develop a vocabulary for describing smells and tastes.  Here's one for whisky.  Here's one for tea.

Given that odor wheels exist, it's not a surprise that they exist for ... all kinds of different sources of odor.

If you want to see a nice crisp image of the body odor wheel, there is one here.



In this Information Age, we can access more information, and access it WAY more easily, than in former times.  Many things we read online are not correct.  (This is equally true of things we hear from the person behind us in line at the grocery.............)

As Theodore Sturgeon said, "90% of everything is crud."

Here are a bunch of really good questions we can ask ourselves, when we are trying to find out about something.  SMELL makes a good acronym.  "Does this info SMELL, or might it be reliable?"

John McManus, on using the SMELL test to see if information is likely to be reliable.

McManus focuses on info found online, but I can't think it matters.  The same questions are equally applicable to info from any source, in my humble.
 


Thank you, MIchelle, for another interesting Smell and Tell.

The next Smell and Tell is May 25 at the Ann Arbor downtown library, and the subject is roses..........  Y'all come.



I took the bus home from the Smell and Tell.  It was dark, but not quite totally dark.  This Bradford pear is right under a street light.  The camera couldn't have done this, but the phone can.

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next Smell & Tell -- Baking with Flavor

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I just learned this morning that the next Smell & Tell will be "Baking with Flavor," on Wednesday January 20, 2016: 6:30 pm to 8:45 pm, at the Downtown Library, in the 4th Floor Meeting Room (which I think of as the School Board Meeting Room).


I've been hoping she would reprise this one.  Michelle presented a Smell & Tell with a baking focus before I became aware of the Smell & Tells, and I have been worry I missed it. 

I'll be there! 

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October 28, part 2

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Still walking, on the afternoon of the 28th.  More and more maples.

Mama Nature's arrangement, on older and newer sidewalk squares.

Maple trunk.

Leaves from a different dark-purple maple, showing more color than usual (along with paler leaves from other trees).

Tulip tree leaf on wet driveway.

Maple.

I had something to eat, and then I went downtown to a Smell & Tell.  I got to the library early, so I had time to enjoy some work by the Ann Arbor Women Artists.

Love this.  "Best Friends" by Marty Walker.

I thought this looked like some sort of scientific info.  This is a Female Pine Grosbeak's Song.  By Carol Hanna.  My image does not do it justice!

Hey!  I believe this is Totoro!

When my kid was little, she was bothered by anything that was the least bit scary.  (She resembled her mother -- I found Disney movies painfully scary when I was little......)

We looked and looked for videos she could enjoy, way back then, and were happy to find Totoro. 

The image above is on an interior library window, between public space and staff-only space.  I'm always happy to see Totoro...............



Goodness!  Here's something else I am always glad to see -- a new view.  I went into the ladies' room on the fourth floor, and discovered it has a big window!  How often do you see a window with a view in a public restroom?

This one looks right in at the sinks, and right out at a northerly view of Ann Arbor.  The stair-step brown building at left is the post office, which is on the corner of Fifth Ave. and Liberty.  Fifth Ave. goes right in front of the library.

The Smell & Tell was about Norman Norell, his life and experience, and the perfume he helped design, and also about Josephine Catapano, the nose who was the perfumer behind Norell the fragrance.

As always, it was an interesting evening.  Norell was a small-town boy from Indiana, who went to New York to make his fortune in the fashion industry.  In those days, Fashion came from Paris.  Someone would go to Paris and buy a couple of hundred garments, and bring them home to New York.

Norell was one of the people who disassembled those garments, to figure out how they were made, and then knock-offs were made in New York.  (No viable copyright in those days?  Or just blatant violation of copyright?)

Norell learned A LOT about sewing, clothing construction, and couture techniques.  And then branched out on his own.  He designed clothing (think of those boxy coats of the 60s, with big buttons..........). 

And he was the first American fashion designer to market a fragrance under his name.

Couture and Fashion are in the category of things I never think about, so it was all news to me.  We saw some interesting garments, and smelled some interesting smells.

As always -- it was an intelligent and well-prepared presentation, presented in an energetic and entertaining way.



On my way out to the car -- leaf on carpet.  The contrast between the curved lines of the leaf and the straight machine-made lines of the rug caught my eye.

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September 30

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Walking downtown for supper and a Smell & Tell.  Excellent skies.

Looking north from West Park.

Standing around waiting for my daughter.    Looking southeast.  Sun over the post office.  See the bit of rainbow sundog, about in the center of the image?

Looking east toward the library.

Looking northeast over the library parking lot.  I like the grass.  And the mostly muted colors (except for the sky!) and that RED car.

Supper was a bit strange.  A new restaurant has taken over a space in which I have eaten many times.  They've repainted, and have a completely different menu.  It felt odd to be in such a familiar space, with a totally new vibe.

It was also strange, I thought, that having told the waitress that one of the dishes we ordered was really hotter than I prefer (and that I thought the menu should be clearer about the hotness of dishes), she let us order an even hotter dish, with no warning.  At least it was expensive.....   I'm not eager to go back.



The sky was still excellent as we headed to the library.

Another interesting Smell & Tell from Michelle Krell Kydd.

Fracas is a perfume, created by perfumer Germaine Cellier. 

There was more history and culture in this presentation than there has been in previous Smell & Tells I've attended.

As you might predict, if you thought about it, life was very difficult for women in science (Cellier was a chemist), in the first half of the 20th century, and even worse for women perfumers.

It was interesting to hear how Germaine Cellier persisted in the face of obstacles, and made large marks on the face of perfumerie.  Michelle is determined to learn everything she can about the women who have made significant contributions to the art and science of perfume, and to make sure they become better known rather than being forgotten.

We got to smell Fracas, which is based largely on tuberose, and a lot of its components, including tuberose and orange blossom.

A very interesting presentation, as always.  Michelle is enthusiastic and interesting.  Her knowledge and skill set are unique in my experience.  I always enjoy the Smell & Tells.

The next one is set for the last Wednesday in October......

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Smell & Tell on Aug 26

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I was reading the Observer  as I had lunch, and I saw that there is going to be another Smell & Tell on Aug 26 (at the library downtown).  6:30 pm.

These presentations are always instructive and entertaining -- if you'll be in Ann Arbor and don't have something pressing to do on the 26th, I suggest you might like to check it out.

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April 8

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On the 8th I went to the library to participate in a conversation with Michelle Krell Kydd.

Michelle is an extremely engaging speaker.  She lives in a world I can only imagine, replete with smells.  Populated by artists and visionaries, gardeners and distillers.  Michelle is eager to help everyone learn about (and learn to appreciate) all of this.  She gives us a hand, and a handful of perfumer's blotters suffused with scent, and invites us in......

She brings all sorts of things for us to smell, savor, and consider, and tells us stories about where they came from and how they are grown/made/used.  She helps us acquire a vocabulary to describe the images/memories/feelings smells evoke.

She's going to be at the library again next month.  If you are near Ann Arbor, and are enticed by the thought of a two-hour vacation to an exotic place you never dreamed existed, come downtown on May 20, at 7:00 pm................

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February 10

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We went to Zingerman's Bakehouse for lunch.  Potato leek soup, with baguette.  Mmmmmmmm.

I don't like to venture out when it's getting dark, especially when it's COLD.  I tried walking downtown on the 10th, but there was so much ice on the sidewalk that I decided after walking half a block that I would go home and get the car.

The car and I went downtown and parked next to the library.  Looking south at the sky over downtown.......

There was another Smell and Tell on the 9th.  You knew it would take something significant to get me out, on a cold winter night...............

If you live in or near Ann Arbor, and you see on the library's website (or in the library's ad in the Observer) that Michelle is going to do another talk (April 8!), I bet you'd enjoy it.  She is full of energy and enthusiasm and stories and knowledge.  She is "the only trained nose in Ann Arbor," and she perceives the world in a different way than I do.  Her knowledge of scent is only rivaled by the pleasure she takes in sharing that knowledge with the rest of us...........

I just love hearing about the world from a perspective so different from mine.  It's like going on vacation.....

On the 10th, Michelle told us about Chanel No. 5 -- how it came to be, what the design intent was ("the scent of a woman's freshly scrubbed skin"), what the ingredients are (and how they are made)....  Chanel has its own proprietary roses and jasmine, grown on their own land in France (terroir).....

As was true the last time I listened to Michelle (patchouli!) she brought all sorts of interesting things for us to smell.  This time it was mostly the ingredients of Chanel No. 5, including the absolute of Chanel's roses, and the absolute of their jasmine. 

Did you know that Johnson & Johnson's baby soap's scent is a based on the top notes of Chanel No. 5?

It was another fascinating evening with Michelle.  I am looking forward to another mini vacation on April 8!

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December 3 -- Smell and Tell

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I did something excellent on the evening of the 3rd.  I went downtown to the library, even though it was cold.  Even though it was dark.  Even though I wasn't sure if I'd have trouble finding a place to park.

I'm so glad I did!

Michelle Krell Kydd, who used to work in the perfume industry, gave a talk about patchouli -- its uses past and present, where it comes from, what perfumes it's part of............. 

We heard about the way our sense of smell works (smell info goes straight to our emotional brain, and only later does the translated smell info get to our cerebral cortex).  We heard stories about perfumers she knows and loves (including a French man who has a mohawk and wears a red leather jacket).  Stories about what some supposed health risks of various ingredients is doing to the perfume industry.  Stories about how patchouli has gone in and out of fashion over the decades..........

Michelle calls the talks she has given at the library "Smell and Tell."  She brings various scents and perfumes for her lucky listeners to smell. We started with the smell of damp earth, and then some 15-yr-old patchouli (one of the only scents that gets better over time).  We smelled several different perfumes that consist partly of patchouli.

We got to smell a part of the scent of patchouli which now is synthesized (GMO yeast makes it!).  We are the very first people outside the lab where it was invented to smell it as a group..............  Cool.  :-)


Where was I for the previous 9 of these talks?????  She was fascinating and engaging.

I always love finding out about some cool topic that I had no idea about, but which is its own world.  The world of scent/perfume has its own rock stars, with recognizable styles.

Of course there are perfume rock stars and divas, but I never thought about it.................

Anyway -- it was Different.  And excellent.  A whole nother aspect of living in our world that I'd never given any thought to.  She can sit on a crowded New York City bus and know which perfumes people are wearing, and who designed those perfumes.........

Who knew.



In addition to the great presentation, I spotted someone in the audience whose daughter went to elementary school with mine.  It was nice to catch up with her, a tiny bit, and to hear that her sister (a college friend of mine) is doing well, and to hear that another friend of hers and mine is also doing well.

An evening very well spent!



I definitely need to pay a lot more attention to what is going on at the library!  I am wondering what other really interesting things I've been missing!

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