Spray Paint

This past weekend I attended Bastille Days in Milwaukee. I can only assume this guy was there to show how spray paint can be french. Or something. What REALLY made me happy about this token street art presentation, were the intoxicating fumes that emanated from it. I have nothing but love for the smell of spray paint. And while I'm no Bansky, I've certainly clocked enough hours with the stuff for it to forever remind me of high school boys, a myriad of projects in college and grad school, a smattering of DIY projects, and, most memorably, this back alley in Boston.

What Dan's Nose Thinks...

"You know those grates you walk over on the sidewalks of Chicago? The ones where sometimes there is cooler temperature burst of air coming from the tunnels below. Well, it is interesting because this air sort of smells musty and old, probably because it is. But, even though the smell is itself is negative, I actually find it to be somewhat nostalgic. It reminds me of some of the rides at Disney Land that incorporate water (It's a small world) and other theme parks. It is a musty, old smell but attached to good memories growing up. Just a thought, and a weird one at that."

Popcorn Paws

Above, you will find a photo of THE most adorable dog in the world, his name is Ramos Gin Fizz. You will also see a close up of his paws and a bowl of popcorn. Why, you may ask, are these together as if they have something to do with each other?? Well they do, obviously. And if you have a dog, you should already know why. There is a phenomenon out there, sometimes referred to as "popcorn paws" and in some circles "frito feet" ... both corn products. Despite the fact that popcorn paws gets over 2 million search results on google, including several businesses with the name, I'm finding very few scientific explanations of this. One vet suspects it is the smell of a common, non-infectious bacteria. The most important thing to realize here is that some guy named Murray Weinstock was so passionate about popcorn paws that he wrote this. Listen and weep.

Dad's Nose

As of late, I like to ask friends and family what their noses think. My dad has a rather large nose, and, might I add, one with expensive taste. Although he doesn't know it. This Hermes soap happens to be one of his favorite smells, because it reminds him of a family trip to Italy. As you may or may not know, smell is intrinsically liked to memory. The soap actually came in miniature size in the hotel bathroom. (Ti amo Roma!) Can you imagine checking in to a hotel room in the US and finding Hermes? Not so much. Ever since that trip, my mother, like a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat, manages to produce mini Hermes soap bars for my father.

Challah Bread

Unless you are emotionally inept or a corpse, you should love the smell of bread. People who say they don't are liars. Same goes for those who say they don't like salt and butter. For me, it's the smell of Challah toast that really tugs at the ol' heart strings. It reminds me of my late-but-lovely jewish grandparents in Allentown, PA. My search for facts about the smell of bread didn't turn up much I hadn't seen before...men love bread etc etc.
Then I found this article about the dangers of bread!! Oh dear, if you need a good laugh I beg you to read it.

Cement

This is the creepy staircase in the parking garage (bottom). Walking through here is certainly the low point of every day, as you could imagine. It's always damp and gives me that public pool locker room feeling. Specifically Gath pool in Newton (top). It also reminds me of how much I HATE walking around with wet feet.

When googling around about cement I found this. Technically it's on Yahoo but you get my point.

Copper and Eggs

This past weekend, a girlfriend of mine and I cooked, among other things, hard boiled eggs for brunch. She has all sorts of cute things floating around her kitchen, including this copper pot. After I ran the cooked eggs under cold water, the combined of smell of copper and eggs shot right up my nose. My brain assumes metallic and sulfur, but really, I interpreted it as cold.

Too bad we didn't make scrambled eggs, because apparently, copper bowls are great for whipping eggs!