It's more like I can smell the picture. And (other than the bourbon) these aren't particular favorites or particularly evocative memories. Why would I smell a Fig Newton of all things? If I smelled a Nutterbutter that would be my Grandfather. There have got to be a dozen cookies that come before Fig Newton in my emotional/cookie continuum. Today I was watching a special on Moroccan street food and when it was shown I smelled a particular tomato sauce -- not the grilled sardines, ubiquitous orange juice, mountains of spices, or smoke from the goat's head everything -- a mild tame sauce I'd dipped shrimp in once at a stall.
And, right now, if I TRY to smell a Fig Newton I can not. Even if I looked at the picture again I probably wouldn't (which seems NOT synesthesic if that's a word).
I've been sleeping like hell lately. I've had tiny flashes of hallucinations in the past when seriously sleep deprived -- I'd see an image for a second that I knew darn well wasn't there. Maybe I'm just having scent hallucinations.
I'll start writing them in my dream journal and see if any pattern develops. There's certainly room. For the last four nights its pretty much been "Fell asleep too close to dawn, slept through my alarm, dressed and out the door in 18 minutes, can't remember a thing dream-wise."
But naming yourself after the founder of a different order makes a very different statement than naming yourself after the founder of your own order, don't you think?
Not necessarily. None of the papal Benedictines have taken the name Benedict, though plenty of others have.
I have no other papal thoughts. Maybe other than papal indifference.
I cannot sleep which sucks as I have to work 12+ hours today. My whole neighborhood wreaks of jasmine. It's overwhelming and makes me think of the late seasons of Angel. Not in a good way. It also sets off my allergies, which is making the bronchitis work.
But naming yourself after the founder of a different order makes a very different statement than naming yourself after the founder of your own order, don't you think?
Not necessarily. None of the papal Benedictines have taken the name Benedict, though plenty of others have.
I have no other papal thoughts. Maybe other than papal indifference.
I cannot sleep which sucks as I have to work 12+ hours today. My whole neighborhood wreaks of jasmine. It's overwhelming and makes me think of the late seasons of Angel. Not in a good way. It also sets off my allergies, which is making the bronchitis work.
I cannot comment on the Pope stuff, despite having so much to say.
My husband is hanging out with Djimon Hounsou today. I don't think he will appreciate the pretty as much as I would, so I'm calling it UNFAIR.
Smell hallucinations are definitely a Thing. My aunt would get them, when she was having a TIA, especially the smell of gasoline which she hates. OTOH, it alerted her to Go See The Doctor Right Now.
Not that Trudy should be worried about TIAs -- I think lack of sleep is enough to trigger something like that.
So, there's no Djimon Hounsou in my job, but! My boss is super-busy today and out tomorrow, so I feel a little better about not taking these two days off. "Better" in that I don't have to fake working all that hard...
My husband is hanging out with Djimon Hounsou today. I don't think he will appreciate the pretty as much as I would, so I'm calling it UNFAIR.
Oh, that's not fair AT ALL.
My cousin started in on me on Facebook about school vouchers in Indiana and how "non of his kids will attend public school"--meaning his three year old. He conveniently left out of the equation the grown daughter he had when he was 17 and got a 15 year old girl pregnant. A 15 year old daughter of Mexican immigrants who had his child on Medicaid and sent her to Head State and free public schools. But he HATES the Federal Government and all the TAXES.
I hate my extended family.
Even if I looked at the picture again I probably wouldn't (which seems NOT synesthesic if that's a word).
That's pretty key to my suggestion. Memories don't get triggered the same way every time, even when you repeat the stimuli.
If you were smelling something other than the subject of the picture, I could see the synaesthesia argument, but as things stand it seems to be a really straightforward trigger that's sometimes more effective than others.
There's nothing in any description of synaesthesia I've ever read (including just doublechecking the wikipedia entry to see if I was totally off base) includes something so textbook evocative. Those experiences are crosswiring and not as initially clearly linked (although there are similarities between experiences from synaesthete to synaesthete).
