Things I Didn't Know I Loved*

that's hot ..
 

What smells do you like?
 

Tough one .
Lemme think ...

I like the smell of the magic marker ... i occasionally sniff the felt tip while working .

I like the smell of our cleaning lady .. She always smells of "Bledge" and "clorox" and onions and B.O. .... The smell of hardship .

I like the lazy smell of Fridays when i wake up in my bed : Incense , fried eggs , minted tea , freshly roasted coffee beans mixed with cardamom and , of course , my sheets stinking of my sweat after a long deep sleep .

An ex-gf used to go like " Hey , it smells like sex in here " .
I asked what does sex smell like .
She listed the ingredients : closed room's canned air , scented candles , genitals , sweat and body "fluids" , perfume and deodorant , toothpaste , cigarettes and wine .
I like the smell of sex , the smell of lust and/or love .

I like the smell of my niece : a blend of Johnson&Johnson shampoo and "Zara for kids" perfume .... The smell of innocence .

I also play this game with my nephew : i sit him up on my lap and smell his feet then make a disgusted face and go like "uuuuffffffffffffff" in a dramatic way .
It cracks him up and his giggles echoe into me and elate me like nothing else could .
Needless to say , his feet always stink but the sensation linked to that smell is just priceless .

I like the smell in my Granny's place .
I'm not sure if it's the oak of the hardwood floors or the polish she uses to shine her sliverware or the freon gas leaking from the antique refregirator or the dust on the piano that hasn't gotten laid in decades ...
I always link that blend of smells to authenticity ... or maybe it's the smell of death ? ...
I like it nevertheless .

I like the "Kabab" aromas . It makes my mouth water .

I like the smell of Parisian bakeries at dawn . It softens my mood like butter on toast .

I like the smell of leather in a new car or couch : the smell of success .
I mean if you can afford a leather couch or a "lazy boy" , you must be successful no ?!

I like the smell of a new book .
When i buy a new book i like to bring it close to my nose and leaf through it flipping the pages over and over so that all the trapped smell molecules would come back to life like a genie that's just been rubbed out of the bottle .
Then the smell molecules would thank me for freeing them and grant me one wish ; I'd ask them to make this book as enjoyable and stimulating as could be !

To name a few .....
 

Oh

And i love the smell of our prayer rug when i kneel on it during the prayer .
I don't know if it smells like my dad or it's dad that smells like it .

And my mom's natural scent ... i'm not gonna even try and describe that .

Dude they are just way too many to mention ...
 

Never thought of that. I like the smell of fresh basil and second-hand bookstores. Freshly washed hair on a woman. Arabic bokhour. Caramel. Oh, and teen spirit, to all you Nirvana fans:)

Michael Ondaatje is the fellow who wrote English Patient, right? His autobiography (Running in the Family) is pretty fascinating.
 

most orientalist post ever written, w!

also, what does michael ondaatje know about spices and the like? the man grew up in england and canada! i can vouch for canada having no smells at all. it used to drive me crazy.
 

interestingly, or not, the smell of cinnamon makes me sick to my stomach. i avoid cinnabons whenever i can.
 

Max,

Wow! I may have to publish that up there as a guest post.

Your magic marker habit may explain some of the content on your blog.

Ironic that 'Johnson&Johnson' + 'Zara for Kids' = the smell of innocence for you. It actually deeply saddens me how brand-conscious the whole new generation of rich Egyptian kids are. Met a brand-obsessed four-year-old the other day. It broke my heart.

I love the smell of books as well, both brand-new and dusty-old! And my mum...you're right...one of the best smells in the world. (الأصل)

Wonderful, thank you.


Mr Fawlty,

Acid test of allegiance:

Do you pronounce that 'bah-sil' like a true Anglophile, or 'bay-sil' like a New Yorker?

Thanks for the book recommendation - will look that up.


Boo,

The dude is half Sinhalese, was born in Sri Lanka and lived there till the age of 11. You may want to dial the bullshit down a notch. Just think about it.
 

Incidentally, going in to work the next day a security guard asked me "Fein el kharazana?" I could tell from the tone of his voice that it was a joke, but had no idea what a 'kharazana' was, so missed the punch(word) - and told him so. Turns out it's one of those canes teachers use to smack kids with, ubiquitous in 19th century English schoolrooms and the modern Egyptian educational system. Now, this was a new security guard that I'd never seen before, so I presume he meant it innocently enough (insofar as thinking of blunt instruments as an essential educational tool is innocent) - but under the influence of the blindfold incident of the day before, my mind, for a moment, exploded into S&M images.

Promised him to bring one in next time, and perhaps some spiked leather - stay tuned.
 

Rich Egyptian kids .... ooookkkkkk ... I'll take that as a compliment i guess !
And too late fot the guest post idea .
It's already on my blog .
I'm capitalizing on your kind invitation ...
 

Hey
and how exactly does the occasional sniffing of the magic marker explain the "content on my blog" huh ?
I dont like the sound of that .
Not one bit i don't !
 

BTW - cardamon is a perfectly acceptable spelling of the word, pronounced cardamuhn.
 

Max,

By 'rich Egyptian kids' I meant kids, you know, under-10s...which I sincerely hope you're not.

The magic marker thing was a reference to the surreal and freewheeling nature of some of your writing - both very good things, trust me.


DNA,

Didn't know that - merci!
 

Dave Barry! Hurrah!
 

like i was saying...11 is really too young to have experienced the sensual spices of the orient. i know his life story, thank you, his writings were forced on me at university.

YOU might want to dial down kazza 7aga bardo.
 

College of Engineering at Unizah is a new college which is affiliated to Qassim University. It follows the same curriculum as that of the College of Engineering in the main campus.