i moved to toronto, which is near where i grew up, and there are smells here that flatten me with recognition and, i have to admit, revulsion. ok not revulsion.
one smell in particular is exactly the smell of the day care i went to called chalmer's green tot lot.* "the tot lot." "time to go to the tot lot." one year when i thought i was too old to be going to the tot lot i believe i was given the impression that i wasn't one of the tots but was somehow working there, supervising the tots, on a voluntary basis. anyway that place had a very specific smell of some kind of cooking covered up with a limey cleaning product. the back of the house i live in now smells like that.
part of moving is always taking stock of one's possessions, and i wound up consolidating my perfume samples--there are a lot of them. enough that i could smell different every day for a few months. i sprayed myself with serge lutens un bois vanille to go out to dinner with a friend from childhood. the funny thing is that the heart of that perfume is cuminy and waxy like the tot lot smell. it felt good to smell like that walking through watery summer night air in this grubby city that is so much my home.
*canadians have a knack for giving all kinds of things, institutions, stores, businesses, bands, the stupidest possible names. names, furthermore, that emphasize the silliest sounds of the canadian accent. if you know a canadian with an accent, have them say "tot lot."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Chalmer's Green, however, sounds like an exclusive boarding school. Perhaps just shorten the name by cutting off the "tot lot" part and folks will think you had a privleged past.
Hilarious image of you as a volunteer at the tot lot. How long did that illusion last?
Matthew was actually once a paid employee at the tot lot. Much adventure ensued.
i have only a vague memory of the tot lot gig. was i maybe 8 or 9 or something? i think it was just one summer. it was so mom could go down to the lake and read, probably.
as for how long the illusion lasted, it was until i wrote this post, actually.
i hope you are enjoying Toronto!
I need to pass something by you guys: what do you think of Coco Mademoiselle? I like it, but thats not the only thing that matters when buying perfume, right? Like, what is it saying if you wear it? Is it too trendy? a less classy version of #5?
it's a little juicy and powdery for me. i love coco though; one must. it's a heady chypre. you can't wear coco every day.
when and where do you want to wear coco mlle.? and what is the desired outcome of wearing this fragrance?
p.s. hi marcilyn! where are you? how are you? what's going on in your life? email me!
Post a Comment