culture

What Went Well
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What Went Well

  1. My son made the basketball team at his school! Because he practiced a lot before tryouts and had three great days when he scored himself and had several good assists to his teammates.
  2. I ventured into the specialty perfume areas of Saks and Neiman Marcus, which was really fun (although I don’t see myself paying their prices any time soon); and the sales associates were very nice, sharing their thoughts and some samples. Because I am educating myself about fragrance, a pursuit I took up when I was unable to garden this summer and am enjoying very much.
  3. I got great tickets to take my daughters to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company this winter — wonderful seats at the lowest price! Because I planned ahead better than usual.

I feel blessed that our family can do these things. Yes, we have worked very hard our whole lives to make that possible, but we are also fortunate to have had health, brains and solid childhoods. What went well for you this week?

Photo: Andrea Mohin, for The New York Times

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THE ROSY SCENT TRAIL OF MS. PUSEY

Wonderful musings on media, life, perfume and literature, all rolled into one post on Black Narcissus!

ginzaintherain's avatarThe Black Narcissus

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I lost my iPhone in June, and have not looked back. I was walking home at night, late after work, exhausted, and coming up from the Kitakamakura pond to cross the railtracks, it must have fallen out of one of my pockets ( I had just been using it, after leaving the convenience store, so I know I definitely had it), but by the time I was standing in front of the great Engakuji and its soaring pine trees, an exquisite, ancient zen temple and place that even business people on their way home from Tokyo often stand before and pray to, it had gone. Even then I knew, strangely, that I didn’t really care, but I of course naturally went through the motions of looking for it in the undergrowth, backtracking and rootling among the shrubs by the pond just in case: oh well, maybe I’ll find it in the…

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What Went Well
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What Went Well

This was a gold-star week for What Went Well!

  1. We took our three teenagers to Orlando for a long weekend, with the sole goal of visiting the Harry Potter theme parks at Universal. Because our kids literally grew up with the Harry Potter series, which we read aloud to them for years and listened to on audiobooks on long family trips in the minivan.
  2. The attention to detail in the Harry Potter areas was breathtaking, right down to the food (lots of fish and chips, no hamburgers or hot dogs; lots of Butterbeer and pumpkin juice, no high-fructose corn syrup or soda). Because, apparently, J.K. Rowling kept more creative control over the design and presentations than any creative person has had over a theme park since Walt Disney himself. Thank you, yet again, J.K. Rowling!
  3. We laughed and laughed for three straight days, which was so refreshing. Because we have stressful work lives, but we also have a wonderful family that still knows how to enjoy each other’s company.

P.S. As you might imagine, theme parks are not a favored destination for this introvert (I also get motion sickness) and I have hardly gone to any, as I don’t usually enjoy them very much. This was SO MUCH FUN! I do wish I could have gone on a couple of the immersive rides, as my family says they were fantastic, but it was probably wiser for me to skip those. There were plenty of other diversions to enjoy.

Fragrance Friday: Cabaret, Cirque du Soleil
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Fragrance Friday: Cabaret, Cirque du Soleil

I love reading other people’s comments on perfumes. Some are full-length reviews by known “perfumistas”, others are anonymous comments on sites like Fragrantica.com.  Many are very clever and evocative. For instance, this comment about the eau de parfum Cabaret, by Gres:

It is a rose chypre, somewhat melancholy in feeling but still alive. Like a ghost…. Cabaret is a great name…it also reminds me of my theatre background. Fresh soft florals, mostly rose at the top, and the base is a very dry clay smell. It is cool and elegant with a transparent, almost dusty smell. I think of the atmosphere backstage at every show I have been involved in. Antique wood counters in the dressing room, waxy makeup and powder strewn across them. Vases and vases of roses and lilies. That musky smell of fresh sweat from dancers just coming off stage.

The image that immediately came to my mind was a Cirque du Soleil show I saw this year, called “Zarkana.” It is described as being set in an abandoned theatre that mysteriously comes back to life for an evening, starting with the appearance of ghostly white figures of performers like ballerinas and acrobats with white-powdered hair and stage make up. At the start, the huge stage is lusciously draped with great swags of crimson velvet. The pale figures emerge from the darkness after the curtain swirls upward. And at the very end of the show, the cinematic backdrop turns into a rippling cascade of deep red roses, while the same ghostly performers and other more colorful characters come out to take their final bows.  Maybe this perfume should be renamed Zarkana. Or at least Cirque.

Finale, Zarkana, Cirque du Soleil.

Photo: Cirque du Soleil.

Scentbird?
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Scentbird?

One of the tags I follow is “Perfume”. I have always loved perfume and even saved up my money in eighth grade to buy my mother a small flacon of Chanel No. 5, her signature perfume. An early memory of mine is sitting on her bed watching her get ready to go out with my father, as she sat at a real dressing-table whose lid, when lifted, revealed a mirror and a deep compartment filled with mysterious bottles of fragrance, lotion and makeup. I am firmly convinced that scent and fragrance can help transport us to a different (better?) state of mind, as the sense of smell connects to the most primitive, unconscious parts of the human brain, the ones that process emotions and memories. Let’s use that power for good!  Serenity now!

Today, another blog featured a subscription service called “Scentbird.” I loved that name so much, I had to read more just to find out what it was. Turns out it is a service where you pay a monthly fee to receive a decanted sample of a different named fragrance each month. This has clearly been given a lot of thought; subscribers get a special container to hold their samples, which come in small glass vials. Very creative! I had heard of another subscription for beauty supply samples — “Birchbox” — but not for fragrance. Where do they get these great names, by the way?

Anyway, Scentbird also has a blog where contributors comment on various fragrances: Scentbird. And today’s post included a fragrance I just tried myself in a store and liked very much: Hermes Jour d’Hermes. The blog aptly describes it as taking its wearer into a beautiful garden — and you know how much we love gardens here at Serenity Now. It was very appealing, with its white florals, green notes, sweet pea, citrus and water notes. And yes, it made me feel more serene.

Next up for me to try: Hermes Jour d’Hermes Absolu, pictured above with my favorite roses!

jourdhermes-bottle

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Liebster Award and Nominations

liebster award sticker

Thank you to Fun Simplicity for nominating me for the Liebster Award!

Here are the questions I am to answer:

  1. Who/What inspires you to start a blog? I started Serenity Now because I wanted a routine to capture my observations about the many beautiful things I encounter in life and to remind myself to notice and appreciate them; and because I love to write and am trying to get back in the habit.
  2. Who is your favourite author? I have many favorite authors, as anyone who read my post on favorite childhood books knows: Too Many To Choose Just One. Favorite authors of books for adults right now are: Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, David Halberstam, Robert Caro, Elizabeth Goudge, Taylor Branch.
  3. What is your favourite pastime? Reading.
  4. Which country are you from? The United States.
  5. What is your favourite season? Spring, but I also love autumn.
  6. What is your most memorable moment? My wedding day; and the births of my children.
  7. If you’ve won a free trip, which country would you like to travel to? Japan.
  8. If you are alone in a haunted house, what will you do? Leave. Quickly.
  9. If you meet an alien, what will you say? I think I’d be speechless!
  10. If  you have a time machine, which era will you travel too? Tudor England.
  11. What is your Christmas wish for Santa this year? A yearlong sabbatical with a generous travel allowance.

My nominations for the Liebster Award are:

1. Expat on ACK; a recovering lawyer, she blogs about life as a British expatriate living on the unique island of Nantucket off the shore of Massachusetts.

2. Newshound to Novelist; Donna-Louise Bishop is a journalist who is trying to complete and publish her first novel. She’s a gifted writer and deserves a wider audience!

3. The Hopeful Herbalist; a former nurse and city resident, she blogs about the move she and her husband made to a cottage in the country, near the sea, where she is restoring a derelict garden after having retrained as an herbalist in Scotland.

4. The Perfume Magpie; she has a wonderful blog about perfume, which she illustrates with her own beautiful drawings. Seriously, her illustrations are gorgeous.

5. The Introvert’s Dictionary; Charlotte Latvala blogs a rotating list of alphabetized word definitions from an introvert’s point of view. Speaking as a card-carrying introvert myself, they are hilarious and she is spot on.

Here are the questions I ask my nominees to answer; some are the same as above:

  1. Why did you start a blog?
  2. What is the best book you’ve read this year?
  3. What is your favorite pastime other than writing?
  4. What is your favorite smell?
  5. What is your favorite season?
  6. What is your most memorable moment and where did it happen?
  7. Which country would you most like to visit?
  8. If you could meet any author, past or present, whom would you choose?
  9. Do you believe in fairies?
  10. If  you could be any character in a novel or film, who would that be?
  11. If a genie gave you three wishes, what would you wish?

The Rules:

  1. Once you are nominated, make a post thanking and linking the person who nominated you. Include the Liebster Award sticker in the post too.
  2. Nominate 5-10 other bloggers who you feel are worthy of this award. Let them know they have been nominated by commenting on one of their posts. You can also nominate the person who nominated you.
  3. Ensure all these bloggers have less than 200 followers.
  4. Answer the eleven questions asked to you by the person who nominated you, and make eleven questions of your own or your nominees or you may use the same questions.
  5. Lastly, COPY these rules in the post
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Inspired By A Newshound

Today’s Blogging 101 assignment is to write a post inspired by another blogger’s post on which we commented earlier.Donna-Louise at her blog “Newshound to Novelist” wrote a post called Follow the Literary Brick Road, about turning 30 and wanting to publish a novel instead of continuing in the journalism where she has found success. By leaving her a comment, I hoped to encourage her to persevere. That, and a recent story on the BBC about J.K. Rowling, got me thinking about the various paths so many writers take. Continue reading →

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Reblogged: Digital Devices and Learning to Grow Up

Very insightful post from The Frailest Thing:

Digital Devices and Learning to Grow Up

“Yes, digital devices have given us the power to decide who is worthy of our attention minute by minute. Advocates of this constant connectivity–many of them, like Facebook, acting out of obvious self-interest–want us to believe this is an unmitigated good and that we should exercise this power with impunity. But–how to say this without sounding alarmist–encouraging people to habitually render other human beings unworthy of their attention seems like a poor way to build a just and equitable society.”