Smells and Bells

In a world that avoids all things magic, I have come to the understanding that there is no one real reality. Different cultures dictate what is real and what is not. In the past year, I have dabbled in reality-bending myself, I have read books that have made me question what is real? Are there dimensions that are overlapping with ours? How can we really know what we are seeing is what other people around us are seeing.  The world's a mind fuck, to say the least, the sixth sense is just another way that people use to reflect that. I understand that what I see is not always real. I live in a reality dictated by the drugs that my doctors shove down my throat so that I will not see what others do not see. This always made me question what is real. I am a person that has suffered from severe paranoia my entire life. What I heard and what I saw from a young age was not the same as my fellows, so out of fear and conformity I went to the doctor, I got pills that would make the shadows disa...

As an amateur cook, I have learned one thing, sight is what matters more than anything else, now don't get me wrong, taste matters, it matters a whole heck of a lot. But dear reader, would you eat something that looked like putrid vomit or would you eat something that looked fresh, beautiful, and overall appetizing. When I was in a culinary program I was taught one simple thing, we eat without eyes, if the food does not look good than the food in return will not be good. Jumping furthering into my point, think about the last time you went to a nice restaurant and think about the colors, the arrangement of the food and even the plating. Everything matters. For example, you go to a cheap off the highway dive and you order chicken and french fries, it comes out in a red basket with brown paper under a bed of golden french fries and even more golden brown chicken fingers. When looking at the meal your first thought could be "wow, fried, fresh and delicious", at least that i...

Out of all of the senses that I possess I find that I would not be able to live without touch. In all of my life, I have found joy that is indescribable from feeling the damp earth under me while I trudge my way across the uneven grounds that paint the landscape of New England. Or even the pounding of hot rain in the middle of sweltering summer rain. Now more than ever I have found the importance of touch and the impact of the loss of it has caused. Honestly, I cannot even remember the last time I felt the urge to be touched before in such a way. Over the past six weeks, I have learned the meaning of what loss is, one that spans beyond the gravestone and urges those who are still alive to wish that they could explode in a cloud of emotion and dive into the abyss that is humanities need for connection. Throughout all of this, I am sure that all of those who are reading this can relate to the need for a contract beyond that that can be offered by those who are currently around us. In...

There is something that is intoxicating about the smell of someone you may not know. A woman that is other in the bible smells of spice and intoxicants, while a man smells of putrid meats. I cannot say that I am unaware of the way that one may smell to another. There have been countless times where I have been victim to the putrid smell of a random man on a bus. What fascinates me the most out of all of this chapter is the feminization of Israel and how many of the other nations that are masculine in nature and the polar opposite of Israel. The most prevalent example from the book that I can think of is Rome, in all rights the nation of Rome is the polar opposite from Isreal. The core of the matter is that Isreal is one of the first monotheistic religious nations, while Rome is known to be one of the most polytheistic nations before the Catholics took over. While there is the obvious statement that Isreal is the wife of God, it is also important to mention the infidelity of Isreal....

A Review of Diane Ackerman's "A Natural History of the Senses" Vietnam Famous Destinations While I have many problems with the language that is used in Ackerman's book, I have found myself coming to appreciate the message that is presented in the book. Throughout the reading, I have found myself thinking more about the incredible features that my own body possesses. While the overall material of Ackerman's work can be summed up in the three words, "horny old lady", she has a very intriguing way of capturing the reader's eye by adding in memories from her life to create more of a narrative to the book. Her romanticized writing style can either disgust you or lure you in further. Out of everything said in the book, what stuck out to me the most was the way in which she describes relationships with babies and their mothers. Diane writes how people in other cultures primarily those in less developed nations people carry their babies against the...

The Power of Sound What is sound to a person who cannot hear? It is the absence of annoyance but also the yerning of connection. The author of, A Natural History of the Senses, has the idea that sound is what connects us upon all else, for what is community without audible communication? Truely, “If you lose your sense of hearing, a crucial thread dissolves and you lose track of life’s logic. You become cut off from the daily commerce of the world, as if you were a root buried beneath the soil”, Diane Ackerman . As a person that has a sensory issue in regards to hearing I have some understanding of this, everything that I hear causes me to have a physical reaction. The rushing of water flowing down a river makes me breathe in deeply hoping for the smell of earth and a light misting of water on my face. While the sound of chewing disgusts me to the point of jerking away.  But the most magical thing that sound has been able to do to me is to take me to places that are n...