I’ll be poor, but at least I’ll smell fantastic!

It all started last month…

I was perusing some random blogs on the Internets, mainly those related to Lovecraft. I came upon one that told about some kind of HPL-inspired perfume. It intrigued me; I wondered how someone could translate “cosmic fear” into a scent. The website was called Black Phoenix Alchemical Laboratory, and the perfumes the blog spoke about were from the Picnic in Arkham collection. Now my interest was really piqued!

After looking over the entire list about fifty times, I decided on six samples (called Imp’s Ears or simply Imps) to order: Al-Azif, Arkham, Miskatonic University, The Music of Erich Zann (although they spell it “Zahn”), Nyarlathotep, and Shub-Niggurath.

I guess now is a good time to explain why BPAL (and other things eagerly waited for in the mail) will always remind me of pain…

I went out to go check the mail last Monday or so. Anyone who’s been in my house knows that we have a front portion that’s half-built, where my dad and his friends hang out. Well, a few months ago Dad decided he wanted a walk-in closet added to the master bedroom. In order to build it, it had to jut out into the large half-built room that Dad hangs out in. It’s not really that big of a deal (except it really gets in the way when you’re trying to play pool!), but after walking through that room for years, it takes some getting used to. Anyway, when I went out to get the mail, I was walking pretty quickly, eager to see if I got my BPAL samples. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and the left side of my body slammed into the corner of the closet! It hurt so bad that I had to take a minute to catch my breath; Dad and his friends were outside, and I didn’t want to look like I’d just gone through a war zone. So after a minute of recovery, I went out to get the mail; Dad had already gotten it, and my BPAL order was there! The whole incident reminded me of something the character Sabine from the book Griffin and Sabine said that her father told her: “Pain and beauty are constant bedfellows.” For me, it was more of pain and excitement/happiness, but it was still a weird feeling.

So in my box, not only did I get the imps I ordered, but also there were two free samples included: The Deep Ones (also from the Picnic in Arkham collection) and Le Serpent Qui Danse. The former is an aquatic, and the latter is a floral/vanilla combination. Sad to say, Le Serpent is way too floral for my tastes! Mom likes it, though…

After BPAL, I discovered another perfume house called CB I Hate Perfume. All of the scents looked really intriguing, and I really wanted to try a lot of them! After a couple days’ worth of poring over the collection, I decided on At the Beach 1966 and In the Summer Kitchen. I’m really excited to get them…they should be here on Monday, but my fingers are crossed for tomorrow, since Indiana isn’t that far away from Brooklyn. We’ll see, though!

I also found out that Christopher Brosius is the founder of Demeter. I’d heard of that company back in the ’90s, when its Gin and Tonic scent was being touted by Drew Barrymore, but I had forgotten all about it since then. I’m looking at their “fragrance library” right now, and I’m putting together a list of $5 Cologne Mini-Splashes to order.

When will this madness END?! Hopefully never, if I have anything to say about it.

But, for now, I’m gonna go have some lunch. The Demeter catalog makes me hungry!

[EDIT] I forgot to mention that when I ran into the closet, I got a 1-by-two-inch bright red bruise on my left hip bone. It’s since faded to a nice mixture of red and yellow, but it still hurts. Duh. [/EDIT]

This time it’s for real.

I was inspired by Wil Wheaton’s blog and decided to get off my lazy behind and sign up for a blog. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t been blogging since seventh frickin’ grade, but I’m too lazy to design and code my own blog (not to mention keeping the files organized), and, besides, Blogger is slower than slow. So far, WordPress is pretty speedy for dial-up. Maybe this is just the incentive I need to actually get my post quota back up to par.

I know nobody’s gonna read this, just like all the rest, but still…I like writing, even if it’s about nothing important. And the general definition of “not important” is my forte.

So, if you didn’t notice, I’m pretty big on Lovecraft. I have been for some time now, but it’s really peaked in the past two months. And you can bet your bippy I’ll be writing about HPL a lot.

I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for short stories for a long time, and, like Lovecraft, I’ve tried turning to my dreams for inspiration. Unlike Lovecraft, however, my dreams are rarely nightmares. They’re usually pretty neutral, with high points peppered about. I think I love the high points of my dreams too much to be able to use them to create a horror story. The best parts of my dreams are intangible and indescribable, anyway.

Which reminds me…I went to sleep the other night with my mp3 player on, with a steady flow of Lovecraft radio theatre adaptations playing in my head. In the morning, I had a dream about going on an expedition to climb up a mountain. One of my companions discovered a football-sized potato with small, two-inch-long white roots at one end. He decided to eat it, since apparently we were stranded without food. I felt an inexplicable revulsion toward the tuber, and an inner narrator told me that the plant was actually the spawn of an Elder God. Lots more happened in the dream, but it ended with that guy going insane. When I faded back into consciousness, I realized that the headphones were still on my ears, and I had been listening to the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company’s production of “At the Mountains of Madness.” I guess I’d subconsciously received suggestions from the program, which I guess would explain why it’s the only Mythos-related dream I’ve had so far.

I just got a huge craving for those old checkerboard Cheetos. You know, those ones back in the day that were not as crunchy as the Crunchy Cheetos, but not as soft as the puffed ones. Their flavor was so good…and so artificial. They were reborn as the Xs and Os, and then as the green and blue Xs and Os…but since then, they discontinued that flavor. I miss it. The spiral Cheetos they have now are okay, but they don’t hold a candle to the old checkerboard ones.

“Not important”, indeed.