Smelly Details

The writing prompt for today was to describe the smelly thing. I like to keep it short and sweet, as can be seen by the following examples:

Lotion:
Kinda smells like peaches. Some cinnamon mixed in. Something else that I can't identify.

Sharpie:
Smells like school or work. Professional. Strong. Sharp. Dark. Suffocating. Fun. Permanent or unchangable. Soaking.

Rub:
Smells like foooood. Italian, somewhat, belongs on a chicken. Garlic, onion....other various spices. Smells like a a good meal, fellowship, friends, conversation. Laughter.

Chapstick:
Orange CREAM! Dreamy. Fruity. Soothing. Sweet. Yummy. Orange Julius. Foamy. Vanilla-y. Young. Fresh.


Gone:
Fresh, warm, chocolate chip cookies. Glue. Crayons. Muddy, grass-stained boys/outside. Pie. Cinnamon candles. Other unique candles.

One thing I notice about all the previous examples is that emotions are heavily attributed to each smell. Obviously, a chicken rub doesn't SMELL like laughter, but it completely represents that for me because I think of the context in which it would be used/eaten. There would be laughter there.

Of course, I would make more complete sentences if I were to incorporate these smells into a story or essay. However, I would likely still be abrupt since that tends to be my style. The following is more incorporating:

One smell I love is strawberry- rhubarb pie. It's a smell that I could probably detect anywhere and one that most people aren't familiar with. It is a slightly sweet smell, but perhaps very sweet to some noses. Rhubarb itself has a very tart flavor, which comes out too, in the smell. Can tart be smelled? I think once you smell it, you know it instantly the next time it is present. I suppose this applies to any smell.

Things I especially liked about the readings:

Toni Morrison's piece was packed with good info/advice. It was especially helpful to me that she discussed how a memory doesn't have to be recorded or recounted perfectly because I feel like I have a terrible memory. "Memory is a form of willed creation." Creation is key, because a written account must be created and at the same time, it is being recreated in some ways. She also talks about parts versus pieces. It is these pieces that start the process for Morrison. These pieces then amalgamate into a unified part of the creation process. Memory on its own needs some help which is where the creation part comes into play. This is especially true with particular characters. Morrison speaks about how it is "the galaxy of emotions" that is useful to her in character creation, and that a person from real life is not as useful because they are already a complete person, not needing any alteration. "Baked bread" is what Morrison terms them. It is the baking that Morrison is able to do with the pieces of her memory, in order to make a whole part, a whole loaf. Additionally, I like what she says about not remembering the whole thing, as with a dream. Our memory is not likely to remember the whole of anything, but only pieces. This is ok! It probably means that what we have remembered is the most important thing. I struggle with this fact, because I always want to remember my whole dream. I have this urge to get the facts exactly right; I don't want to make anything up.