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About this blog

Notes to myself and anyone else

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random boredom post

Wow, I guess it's my turn in the barrel for forum problems tonight. I've had hour-long stretches where I couldn't get anywhere, because the page just kept loading and loading.....eeeeever so slowly. Apparently it has been going around lately.   In other news, fingers are crossed because my requests are in for the last 4 Lupercalia decants that I wanted to try. Still waiting to hear if they're available or not. I had thought about risking a bottle unsniffed again this time, but the choice is just too hard. I want to try them first. As usual, excited as heck about pending decants!   More later if I am still this bored.....

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more Chaos squeeing

I want these!!   Dorian with......   Sunflower accord (like the Salon blend) Clove and autumn leaves     Snake Oil with.....   red wine

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blecch

I feel yucky and anxious, nervous even. No damn good reason at all. And also feeling burnt out on my routine, both at work and at school. I keep telling myself it's my usual anxiety and it will pass. Soon. I know exercise would help.   On the plus side, I feel a little better about my apartment, and tentatively decided to stay for another year. Yeah, the neighbors and the neighborhood suck, but it's so close to school. And it's a lot of space for a little money. Now I just have to do more fun stuff with it. Furniture, rugs, curtains, etc.....which I have put off for what, eight months now?? :love!: Anyway, the thought of moving again in 2 or 3 months is rather exhausting. : /

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Possets wish list

This is for my future swap post. I'll have some Possets bottles up for grabs, and here are some that I would swap for:   Adamus The Awakening Conscience Cootie Dark Lady Margot Queen Of The Night Risk Sex With The Spirits Tulipomania Warmth

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wish list 2009/Jan

[i will periodically copy and past my wish-list, because I edit it pretty often and sometimes like to look at old versions]   Bold type just means I have a particular interest, or higher priority for that scent. I try to update this pretty often....   5ml interests...or partials, I love partials! : ) A Blade Of Grass Baron Samedi Carceri d'Invenzione Carnaval Diabolique Cloister Graveyard In The Snow Great Sword Of War Obatala Satan and Death With Sin Intervening Scales Of Deprivation Theodosius Three Gorgons Wood Phoenix   GC imps that I want (imps/decants would be delightful) Aelopile Baghdad Bensiabel Black Hellebore Brisingamen Bruised Violet Compound The Caterpillar Deep In Earth Frumious Bandersnatch Hanging Gardens Hecate Imp Inferno Intrigue Jersey Devil Kill-Devil Lampades Libertine Love's Torments Lyonesse Mary Read Nero Niflheim No. 93 Engine Nostrum Remedium The Phantom Wooer Port Royal Queen of Sheba Rome Santo Domingo The Sea Foams Blood Serpents With Glittering Eyes And Forky Tongues Strangler Fig Sundew Sybaris Thorns To A Woman Tushnamatay Verdandi The Witch's Garden   'Set Only' imps/unimpables I would like (imps or decants) The Ecstacy of St. Theresa Famine Haloes The House The Ifrit La Vague Lucretia Madonna Parsifal Silence Three Brides Three Gorgons   LE/Trading Post/etc Decants ISO any testable amount 413 U.S. 15/Miller Vs. California The Blood Garden The Bloody Sword Cagliostro The Chapel The Contract Of Theophilus Of Adana The Cracked Bell Damnation Humbug Knucklebones Long Night Moon Moana Pumpkin Patch III (2007) Scattered Gloom Shill Tupapau Uncertain Horror Upa Upa Virgo 2007 Yule   Single Notes dream list (decants) Ambergris, Black Cherry, Black Musk, Black Poppy, Cherry, Licorice Bark, Light Myrrh, Oakmoss, Red Musk, Red Mysore Sandalwood, Redwood, Siberian Musk, Tonka Bean, White Sandalwood

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video games

So here I am, blogging about video games on a perfume discussion forum. Ten years ago I would have had no idea what that even meant. But I already have the last post in the video game discussion thread, and I don't want to double post.   I'm still playing Dragon Quest VIII, but I got Final Fantasy IX this past weekend, and I may be switching over to that for a while.   In DQVIII, I got all the way up to the big God Bird, but haven't been able to beat it. So I'm back-tracking, trying to alchemize better weapons, level up, and also buy better equipment. I will beat that damn bird!   Switching over to FFIX was a little jarring. The graphics are so different, and the battle system is a little different since it's Active. I like being able to sit and think about my next move, and you can't really do that here. But I'm determined to find another RPG that I love, so on I go.   The great news is, after my class tomorrow, I'll have no real obligations for the rest of the day, and all the next day. So I can play to my heart's content. : )

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Halloweenie breakdown

Here are my thoughts. I need to write get it on paper (or on computer screen, as it were) so I can figure out what decants I want. And what bottles. Here we go....   edit: decant desires bolded   BLACK BUTTERFLY MOON Soft, deep, and luminous: Lady of the Night orchid, benzoin, opopponax, currant, black chypre, white gardenia, ambergris, damp, wooded mosses, and black lily. The notes sound nice, except for black lily. I don't feel the need to try this, though. Probably somewhat feminine and perfumey.   THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER A quiet, solitary scent: white rose, frankincense, Arabian sandalwood, neroli, orris root, and patchouli. With 'Rose' in the name, I can safely pass on this one. Not that I hate rose, but I don't really like orris and the combination here would probably be soapy and/or powdery.   SHADOWLESS LIKE SILENCE Dry leaves and white sandalwood, rock moss, cypress, and dry, lifeless roses. Dry, lifeless roses sounds powdery or soapy to me. Another I can pass up. Edit: preliminary reviews are saying the rose is faint.....maybe a decant after all.   SUMMER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT Doomed summer, supported on the shoulders of winter and autumn: citrus-infused Baltic amber, red valerian, marigold, blood orange, and sunflower subdued by somber myrrh and dry geranium alongside the leaves of autumn and a breath of winter wind. Sounds nice enough, except it does sound like at least one other blend that I already have a whole bottle of (Red Moon, the newer one). Worth a decant.   UNDER THE HARVEST MOON Blue and white musk, summer roses, wild crimson leaves, grey amber, carnation, lavender bud, and vanilla bean. Sounds very perfumey which I know is a lame adjective but it describes the kind of scent that I'm trying to avoid lately. It's just the word I use for a particular quality that I don't know how else to describe.   BITE ME Croquembouche with almond silk and a drizzle of caramel. Nah, not so much.....I'd sniff it given the chance but not going out of my way to obtain some.   BOO Eerie billows of spun sugar, fluttering white cotton, and sheets of cream. Definitely not. I'm not into cotton/linen notes, or cream for that matter. Worth a sniff, though.   CARLIN Black sage, ivy-twined rowan, thistle, snapdragon, heather, gorse, fumitory, and anise. Just not sure about this one.......worth a decant just to find out. I like herbal scents from time to time.   CREEPY 2009 A return of 2006's Ridiculous Scent! As creepy as Spooky was spooky, this is the scent of butterscotch-kissed, caramel-smothered red apples spiked with a blast of coconut rum. I swapped my bottle from '06, no need to try it again. It's nice enough but a little too rich for me.   DEVIL'S NIGHT 2009 This is the scent of autumn night, fires in the distance, with a touch of boozy swoon, playful sugar and thuggish musk. One of my favorites, but I already have enough to last me a long time. I may get a decant if the reviews indicate it's different from the past ones.   DIA DE LOS MUERTOS 2009 dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus. Never have tried this, I may end up with a decant eventually. I just don't like chocolate in perfume (usually).   FEEDING THE DEAD A barrel of beer, a pyramid of cakes, and three sticks of incense. I am interested, enough for a decant.   THE HELL-GATE OF IRELAND Smoldering brimstone, bitter labdanum, clove, black musk, and copper-colored feathers. This is one of the more interesting prospects. The only worry is that sometimes black musk is powdery. But not always. Decant.   LAMBS-WOOL A popular holy day beverage in 18th century Ireland: roasted apples mashed into warmed milk and ale, with nutmeg, sugar, ginger, and clove. Warmed milk is the only thing holding me back from a decant. I will watch reviews.   POMONA Azaroles, nuts, and apple blossoms with red apple pulp, mulberry, blackberry, and pomegranate juice. Nahh, too fruity for me. I'll stick with Possets' Pomona.   SAMHAIN 2009 Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. I am so stocked up on Samhain in its past incarnations, that I really don't need more at this point. Especially since I don't even wear it that much.   SUCK IT Sexy and suckable: black cherry brandy. This sounds like it could be nice, just not sure. Possibly a decant?   TRICK OR TREAT 2009 The sticky sweet scent of candy corn! Even cornier for 2009! - cuz corny is how we roll at BPAL. I might like a decant, to compare with my older decant. I do like the sweet comforting scents every now and then, and the older one has a nice touch of spice.   Pumpkin Patch I Pumpkin, almond, brown musk, and honey. Brown musk and honey make this a no-go.   Pumpkin Patch II Pumpkin, rosewood, red sandalwood, and tea rose. Nah, not so much. Worth a sniff some time, maybe, but not priority right now.   Pumpkin Patch III Pumpkin, fir needle, pitch, rosemary, and tomato. I would like a decant. I love pine and fir scents.   Pumpkin Patch IV Pumpkin, black musk, tobacco, myrrh, and clove. Possibly worth a decant, we'll see how much I have to spend.   Pumpkin Patch V Pumpkin, chocolate, coffee bean, vanilla bean, and hazelnut. There's that chocolate again.......again, worth a sniff, but probably not a priority right now.   TATTIE BOGLE Hay, gunpowder, patchouli, autumn herbs, and sun-baked wood. Could be nice, if I ever ran across a sniffie.   ARIADNE BRUNNELL Poppy flowers, peat, sphagnum moss, gardenia, and white water lily. Sounds good except for the lily. It's not one of my more successful notes.   CLARIMONDE Pallid skin musk, white roses, and a languorous vapor of Oriental perfume. Again, perfumey. This will be very perfumey. Also I think skin musk reminds me of honey, which is a note I really don't like very often.   CRISTINA Chestnut trees, juniper berries, violet leaf, labdanum, dazzling, moonlit white musk, and night-blooming summer flowers. Hmmm, could be worth a decant, just not sure on this one. As far as autumn scents, this is probably lower in my priorities, but it could be a nice scent.   COUNTESS DOLINGEN OF GRATZ Hailstone-pounded cypress boughs, olibanum, and an ozone blast of lightning. Definitely want to try a decant of this.   THE GIRL A seductive, serpentine white scent, elusive, crystalline, and spellbinding: white amber, silver birch, immortelle, davana, pale musk, star jasmine, and ylang ylang. Worth a sniff, but not so much calling to me.   MIRCALLA, COUNTESS KARNSTEIN Languid, melancholy fire: red musk, purple orchid, frankincense, smoky vanilla, Styrian herbs, peru balsam, tonka, Zanzibar clove, and patchouli. This should appeal to me....but I think I have a few scents like this already. I will watch reviews.   LORD RUTHVEN The father of all dandy aristocrat vampires: Aqua Admirabilis with polished boot leather and blood. I could be into this one......possibly a decant.   SARAH Unholy mist congealing into soft, white flesh, with black marble, remnants of liturgical incense, wolf's fur, and black flecks of froth. Wolf's fur is the only thing I am wary of, because I don't like muzzy furry notes all that much. But this is just so odd, I have to try a decant.   JULIA STONE Rotting once-white fabric, spotted with mold. I don't usually like linen notes, but I have a thing for the underdog. In most of the other breakdowns, everyone pretty much dismissed this one......which of course makes me want to try a decant! We'll see how the reviews go.   PERLE VON MAUREN Heliotrope, grave soil, and blood. Soil is a gamble of a note for me, I think I'll let this one pass me by, unless the reviews shout otherwise.   So, overall, no immediate bottle purchases. I have this nagging feeling about Lambs-Wool.....I think it's going to be a big hit, and I am pretty sure I want to try it. I might just get a surprise, even with the warm milk note! Other than that, I want to try the obvious masculine ones for the most part, and a couple others.

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More zoo stuff

I went to the zoo again last week, and had a nice relaxing visit. The weather was really great, a little chilly but sunny and windy.   I enjoy watching the serval in the cat house.....so graceful and.....willowy? I also love the feathertailed gliders in the nocturnal house. They are incredibly cute. It's funny because the nocturnal house is, of course, dark inside. At first when I looked in on the feathertailed gliders, I didn't see anything moving. So after standing still and watching for a couple minutes, I started to notice little darting movements here and there. They are like small mice, with weird tails that look kind of flattened out, which they use for gliding. I didn't see any of them jump or glide, but they were darting around and moving all over. They are so cute!   I watched the Sumatran rhinos eat for a while. I love their eyes. They open their eyes so wide you can see the white parts. The zoo built these really cool sun-shades over the rhino habitat, to protect them from the sun.   The insect house has a whole section that you walk into, and it looks like a greenhouse, and it's full of butterflies. There are a few different kinds of birds, too, including hummingbirds, my favorite. For a while I didn't see any hummingbirds but I was determined so I stayed in there for a few minutes, and finally spotted one. It was great.

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Wow

I am all moved in now at my new apartment. I like it a lot more than the old one! I'm still unpacking and arranging, which will probably take me a while, but I have 5 closets, which is wonderful. I'm looking forward to a couple of relaxing days just getting settled in.

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more breaking down

Phantom Time Hypothesis....."A traditional Medieval perfume that never existed: balm, benzoin, damask rose, gumdragon, lignum aloes, orange water, ambergris, and vegetal musk". Hmm, sounds interesting, except for the rose! I can probably pass on this one, honestly. I'm kind of intrigued by vegetal musk, though.   Reptoid Dominion....."Malevolent superintelligent para-dimensional shapeshifting reptoid musk". I don't like all musks, but I'd love to try this one! It could be really great.   Skytyping With Chemtrails....."Incapacitating poofiness: spun sugar, white amber, white musk, citron, and lemongrass masking a sinister, almost chemical undernote of elemi, zdravetz, and ravintsara". Well, not so interested in this one....reminds me of a few other scents that I've already tried. I could end up liking it but I'm still trying to track down that bottle of Metal Phoenix. I may try this some day, though.   Staged Moon Landing....."Prop moon rocks: muguet, orris, white sandalwood, galbanum, cistus, and dusty vanilla". I am generally not fond of papery, dusty scents, with a few notable exceptions, so this one isn't really tripping my radar. White sandalwood can be papery on me, it's probably my least favorite kind of sandalwood.   Teatime In Roswell....."Aliens at high tea: Earl Grey, biscuits, Battenberg cake, and strangely-glowing cucumber sandwiches". I'm curious....or is that just the hype getting to me? : ) I would like to try this, though. I'm not totally against the occasional cakey scent.   Traipsing Through The Crop Circles....."Miles and miles of flattened wheat, barley, and maize". Not sure about this one. Just from the description, I can't really imagine what it would smell like. I didn't really fall for Bezoar or Hay Moon, and corn doesn't sound all that appealing, but again, this could be another one that surprises me and ends up smelling great. I just can't tell sometimes.

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ebay and other stuff

I can't seem to resist making outrageous bids on ebay, for bpal scents that I've been wanting for a while. I guess I shouldn't feel guilty.....some of these things I've really wanted for a long time, and they never seem to come up in swaps around here. Of course, it doesn't matter in the end, when I'm outbid less than 12 hours after I place my starting bid (this was for the Holly King proto)! And the winning bid is more than twice what I was willing to pay. I was kind of surprised at that one, I guess I'm not the only one who wanted it badly!   But now I have another auction that I placed a bid on, and we'll see how high that goes. I'm not going to raise my highest bid, because I've already bid more than I really should spend. So, we'll see. It's actually a scent that I already have half a bottle of, and this would be a back-up bottle (something nearly unheard of in my collection, except for Snake Oil which is for aging).   In other news........I'm in the middle of my long stretch of work, interrupted only by being off Tuesday night, until the weekend. I'm looking forward to Tuesday and really looking forward to the weekend, although it's pretty far off. I bought an annual pass to the Newport Aquarium, because I miss the Zoo's aquarium, which was made into the manitee exhibit. The manatees are pretty cool, but the aquarium was always my favorite part of the Zoo. And the Newport Aquarium is not even that great.....there are some cool parts, though. I only have to go once more to make up for the cost of my annual pass (and I'm pretty sure I'll go more than once more in the next year).   Anyway, yeah.....spending lots of money when I should be concentrating on credit card debt. Oh well, gotta have fun somehow, right??   Oh and speaking of spending money, I made an order with Nature's Gift. I bought their Sacred emotional synergy for a room scent. I wanted something for a sort of peaceful meditation blend, although I already have their Meditation blend....and it's pretty awesome.....but I wanted another spiritual blend, too. I also bought some jojoba oil and something for my occasional dermatitis/eczema.....now I can't even remember which oil, LOL.....oh yeah, calendula oil for skin care. And I asked for some samples of their fir/pine essential oils. Can't wait to see what they send me! They're always really nice about sending free samples when I ask for them.

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Well, allrighty.

Absolutely nothing going on here at work.....very boring.   I want to make another Lab order this week. I really can't afford it, but I want more Chaos Theories before they go away (at least one). But, do I want amber or frankincense? Or another Tilt-A-Whirl? I really don't know. I should just get one of each and be done with it.   I ordered 4 of the Tilt-A-Whirl already......   One is straight-up powdery floral. I guessed poppy and carnation, with possibly a little rose too, like tea rose. This is already living with moonarcana now because it is so much more her kind of thing than mine!   Another one is almost exactly like Cathedral. Seriously, you have to smell them side by side to tell the difference. The Chaos is a little stronger on the woods. It has a cedary note that is almost pungent, but truthfully, it's almost exactly like Cathedral.   One is weird and herbal with sassafras, I think. It's like sassafras without any sweetness. It reminds me of some kind of herbal hair product. It's herbal, but not pretty herbal, or spring-like, or anything like that. If anything, it's almost brackish, but not really aquatic, if that makes any sense at all. Brackish. I'm not even sure what that means but it seems like a good word. Swamp-like?   And finally, one of them is really, really pretty. Glowing reddish orange, florals, slightly fruity, with something warm like resin or maybe amber. It's really great but not quite something that I would wear. I described it as a tropical sunset and that's still pretty much the image I get. Lotus and amber, and more? I'll have to try this one again and really think about whether I want to keep it.

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Oh, and also.....

Continuing my previous posts.....how could I overlook the Snake Pit? I bought the whole thing when it first came out, swapped out a couple of those bottles (Asp Viper, Banded Sea Snake, Green Tree Viper, Australian Copperhead....okay, more than a couple), and I still want to get rid of Saw-Scaled Viper, eventually. But with the ones that I've kept, I doubt that I will need any kind of Snake Oil-related scent again, ever.......especially since I have 2 bottles of Snake Oil itself 'cellared' (and it's hard to believe one of them will be 2 years old in November!). Oh and I swapped that imp of Anaconda for Doc Buzzard, a worthy trade in my opinion.   So unless Snake Charmer is re-released, I am good on Snakey scents for a long, long time. At the rate I wear oils, I may never use them up completely.

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Not about perfume

I've only been here at work for an hour and a half, and I've already had my fill of these people. I know that supposedly there's no scientific evidence that the full moon affects people's behavior, but I'm here to tell you that it does happen. This current full moon (which was actually last night, I think) has brought out a lot of aggression and anger in many people that I've interacted with. It continues tonight, and I'm just about over it. Scratch that.....I am over it.

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Video Game Excitement

I realized yesterday that I've reached the point where upcoming video games are more exciting to me now than upcoming movies. I guess a lot of people crossed that line a long time ago, but for me it's pretty amazing that I reached it at all.   I am still excited about the Dark Crystal sequel, and the Dawn Treader movie from the Narnia series. However, I am much, much more excited about the Last Guardian. In fact, I just preordered it. Woo Hoo!! I can't wait.

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Shill

I don't wear food scents a whole lot, mostly just around the house as 'comfort' scents. I was curious about this one. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out for me. It comes off kind of flat, like stale popcorn. I didn't get much of a butter note, it's more salty and a little stale. And it fades really fast....within an hour or less, it's pretty much gone unless I sniff up close to where I applied it. So there ya go, curiosity satisfied.

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Pending....

Well I'll be damned......how did I end up with all this stuff pending??   Decants.....   Carlin, Feeding The Dead, Hell-Gate Of Ireland, Lambs-Wool, Trick Or Treat, and Devil's Night   Countess Dolingen Of Gratz, Sarah, and Julia Stone   A Fit Of Artistic Enthusiasm, and Hideous Heart   Trevor Bruttenhelm, and Abe Sapien   (a total of lucky 13!)   Lab order.......   Falling Leaf Moon, Kroenen, and 2 bottles for Moonarcana.   Woo Hoo! This always happens at the beginning of fall.

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Jan 2010 Lupercalia breakdown

For my own selfish reasons, because I have to sort out which ones I want, for now I'm only including wants or might-wants.   First the Shungas......   Konseishin The Penis God......"Apple blossom, champaca, fir needle, cistus, myrrh, Peru balsam, and Tan Xiang".....I think Tan Xiang is sandalwood, and I don't see much about this scent that I don't like!   Okayaki....."Olive blossom, cardamom pod, amber, morning star lily, bergamot, and a well-aimed snowball".....will be watching reviews.   Penis Admiration....."Lilac, ho wood, smoky vanilla, galbanum, and tonka".....not sure about a couple notes here, lilac and galbanum, but I'll be watching reviews with interest.   Prosperity Of A Country....."Frankincense, orris root, asuhi, leather, and ginger-infused cream accord"......I think asuhi is hiba wood. I'm really interested in this scent. Could be my "take-a-chance" scent.   Ronin......"White sandalwood, rice flower, honey, black pepper, and oakmoss".....sometimes don't like white sandalwood, or black pepper, and usually don't like honey, but I like the art of this one and will watch reviews.   Now Ode To Ares......   Andreiphontes......"Tonka, benzoin, black sandalwood, and nutmeg".....has potential.   Enkhespalos......."Elder wood, leather, blonde tobacco, and cognac"......has potential.   Enyalios......"Patchouli, frankincense, olibanum, thyme, cocoa absolute, Peru balsam, oakmoss, and juniper".......this could be too much dood-fume, or it could be really fantastic.   Khalkokorustes......"Champaca, pear, cedar, black pepper, jasmine, and red sandalwood".....this sounds like some fabulous love-child between Quincey Morris and Dr. John Seward. I need to try this one.   That is about it for now. I'll be reading others' breakdowns and thinking some more but really, those are the most interesting right now.

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Possets Halloween

Mini-breakdown.....   $10,00....."A dry masculine and memorable scent featuring a smooth yellow amber, bay, bay wood, a drop of tobacco flower, a very tiny amount of lavender". Sounds good but just doesn't grab me. I dunno, Possets are so inexpensive it might be worth a try. I do like dude-fumes, and I like bay. We'll see.   301...."a multiplicity of my favorite musks and cashmeran". Not much to go on there. Could be good, I looked up cashmeran and all I could find is that it's a synthetic musk. Moving on for now....   Black Hole...."Vetiver and black pepper, lavender and earth, a "black" patchouli, a slight slight slight bit of tarragon". Again, sounds okay but not shouting out "buy me, buy me!". I'll watch reviews and keep it on my list for consideration. The more I think about it, this could be a good one, but I do have a few scents like that already. I never even wear Void Moon or Winter Solstice, which I should because they're both really great scents.   Dank...."sweetbriar makes an appearance lending it's zest to the whole, while root oils hold the bottom half down, particularly vetiver and ginger. There is a splash of booze and a few autumn plums in the mix to give it an air of being a luxurious rest rather than drippy". This sounds good too, unless it has that galbanum-like note that Fabienne has been using lately. I don't like it and it could be one of the 'root oils' mentioned. I'll have to sniff this before risking a whole bottle.   Dark...."A thick and perfumy blend with a heavy dose of Frankincense to start off, black musk and fig. No greenery with it but a good layer of an almost burnt sugar and an animalic undercurrent which somehow becomes very light and sweet when breathed out". This sounds appealing....yet again.....could have that green rooty note that I don't like. Maybe I should just ask her what it is?   Phantome...."A very light and transparent scent with a subtle amber as a base, Sicilian lemon zest, a drop of cognac, and the tiniest amount of menthol (you really would not notice it if you were not looking)". Okay....getting more and more promising....this sounds pretty good. Sounds kind of sophisticated and ethereal. We'll see.   Specter...."Amber and fennel, put together in a thoroughly unexpected way". Now we're cooking with gas....this sounds really interesting, and it's high up on my list of what to seek out and at least sniff first.   Spirit....."A strong dark chypre with a lot of incense and resin to it. Frankincense, myrrh, copal, fir resin, and labdenum. Yet this is a certified Western European chypre. It is lovely, dry and captivating. Neither warm nor cold, like a spirit with a 10,000 mile stare". Oooooh, this sounds really great. This has the most potential for an unsniffed purchase. I could always use another good fir scent. The only thing holding me back is if this were major dude-fume, which can be a turn-off. I like butch but there's such a thing as too butch. Possible bottle?   That's all I got for now. I skipped the kitties because they will be at the Possets/OAR party at Fabienne's studio, and I'll be able to test first. I'll report back on those.

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Labores Solis

This is the scent that I can never spell. : /   It has given me different impressions the three times that I wore it. Mostly it is herbal, resins, and somehow slightly woody. I can pick out chamomile, frankincense, and amber. I have never learned to identify saffron (I'm not sure what it tastes like either), but I think it adds a slight medicinial, bitter feel from what I've heard. Not unpleasant at all. At first I didn't think this scent was powdery, but I put some on tonight and applied very lightly (not sure if that made the difference), and it definitely is powdery this time, kind of the same way that Minotaur is powdery.   Anyway, this reminds me of several other bpal scents, like Sol, Sagittarius, and Carceri D'Invenzione as portalkat mentioned. I swear there's a little bit of wood in here. So, do I like it? Yes! I didn't care for Sol all that much, but this seems to be more like what I wanted from that scent. It's unique. I can wear this to work, because it's not all dark and sexy, even with the element of darkness.

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Rice Field

I wore Lovers In A Rice Field again today, and I like it more and more. The plum blossom was much more apparent, and overall it smells like some kind of fabulous plum/cream dessert, but still not totally foody. It's rather on the femme side for a bearded guy like me but that doesn't hasn't stopped me from wearing it, and in some situations it would be just great. Possible bottle? Or maybe just another decant would suffice. Still have to test my other decants which are still pending, and there may be another favorite among those.

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Lilith And The Jarocho

Posting this because the entire description should be saved somewhere. I haven't tried the scent itself, but I'd like to find a decant. I think I would like it but I just can't justify a whole bottle right now, with my financial situation being what it is.   Lilith And The Jarocho.... In the past eight months since Lilith was born, Ted and I have had many moments of unutterable joy. There is one, in particular, that stands out from the rest as perfect.   Our daughter loves music… everything from the clank of her toy piano, to unending looped choruses of "You Are My Sunshine" (with Moonshine variants) and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" (or Bat) sung by her mother at naptime, to a rousing round of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" belted out by her father at playtime, to all the hair band videos she watches on Metal Mania.   This kid LOVES music.   On the last Saturday in April, Ted and I took Lilith to Olvera Street, and stopped at the El Paseo Inn for lunch. While we were waiting for our food, the band came to stand behind our table, and Lili was riveted by their music. At the end of the first song, she clapped! Holy hell, that was adorable. The singer saw Lilith clapping and staring, and walked over to us. This sweet, wonderful man serenaded her.   There was a Perfect Moment -- the kindness on the singer’s face as he sang to my baby, Lilith’s eyes as wide as saucers, her hands in prayer position, and the joy radiating from my husband -- this was a moment that brought me to tears.   This scent is a swirl of everything I felt, sensed, smelled, and saw right then, at that perfect point in time: Jasmine, vanilla, Spanish cedar, moss, marigold, purple verbena, candied tamarind, lime rind, a splash of margaritas on a nearby table, a little bit of Dorian, a little bit of Snake Oil, and a bright bouquet of mal de ojo.

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Oops

I bought the HP Lovecraft Retrospective book of art. :love!:   Very expensive, but very stunning book. It's huge.

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Alien prequel

I'm excited, of course. The first one is pretty much my all time favorite movie, and I liked all the sequels, even the ones that most other people said were crap. I liked the third one, and even liked that 4th one somewhat. Never cared much about the Alien Vs Predator spin-offs, though.   I have been hoping for a prequel for years. I always wanted to know more about the Space Jockey in the first film. So, of course I can hardly wait for this. I don't expect to be blown away, but I also don't think it will completely suck. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. I think with the current technology, the special effects could be really great. The Space Jockey was a lot bigger than the humans in the first movie, so maybe the Aliens will be a lot bigger too. They seem to take on the physical stature of the host, somewhat (like the "dog-alien" in the third movie).   As for the story, who knows. It could go pretty much anywhere, really. I like the idea of the movie ending on a down note, because of what we already know about the story in the first Alien movie. But I guess it's pretty useless to speculate at this early stage.   But really, it would be so great if the series was redeemed in the eyes of.....well, everyone since pretty much everyone hated the last one.

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Grrrr

I am an idiot.   My lease is over at the end of this month (October, not November). It's too late for me to move out. And the landlady already told me she won't go month-to-month.   The reason I got confused, is because the last time I moved, I got sick in the middle of the process. I spent 2 or 3 weeks recovering, and had to stop the whole moving process, which means I stayed over a couple weeks at my old apartment. I actually should have paid them another month's rent, but they let it slide.   Anyway, looks like I'm staying put for another year after all.

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