There is a line from NCIS: New Orleans that has quietly followed me around for years. Resident Agent in Charge Dwayne Pride is talking to someone younger. They’re eager to prove themselves, eager to become an expert, eager to arrive. He simply says, “Go. Learn things.” Great line. It contains no urgency. No finish line. […]
essential parfums
Meeting Before Judging
By the second week of this project, Chad and I had acknowledged that we were spectacularly bad at predicting fragrances. It was becoming a bit laughable. But then perhaps that’s exactly what happens when you put a Virgo, Year of the Ox, contracts lawyer, and an AI together to predict perfume. (That sounds like the […]
An Ordinary Perfect Day
By the third fragrance of Week Two, I thought I understood the assignment. Marco Polo had taken me travelling. Nigel Pembroke had quietly stretched an evening until no one had any reason to look at the clock. Cherry Punk had taught me that some destinations ask too much of the traveller. I expected this one […]
Cataloging Scents, Cataloging Selves – Motion
Part 4: Motion By the fourth pair of fragrances, I thought I understood where this project was going. First, fragrances became places. Then they became people. Apparently, I assumed that was enough. It wasn’t. The next discovery wasn’t about where a fragrance took me. Or who I met there. It was about what happened next. […]