Things I'm Diggin', Pt. 2.
A continuation, really, of what I began yesterday. Let us dive right in:
1. Candles: Sure, sure, everyone loves candles. If you find a candle on a table at a restaurant, you automatically feel like your surroundings are a touch more posh. If you light a candle in a room, you automatically feel a little more cozy, as you bask in the small, flickering glow cast by the flame. If you light a candle in your car as you are stuck by the side of the road in a snowstorm, you automatically feel a little less dead.
These are the obvious charms of the humble taper, but I'd like to pay tribute to a very tricky part of the candle world: the scented candle.
For the most part, scented candles smell like the following:
- your grandmother's perfume
- your dog
- old soap
- Ben Gay
- Liza Minellli
- Jolly Rancher candies
- plastic
Mmm, mmm. I can't really think of a less inspiring list of potential fragrance options for the ideal room. You can find the offending objects almost anywhere: supermarkets, drugstores, gift shops, dollar stores, teenage-girl bedrooms, etc. I'm a person given to allergies, and despite the fact that I can slather on any number of yummy lotions and perfumes, I will invariably get congested and rather pissed-off in the presence of a badly-scented candle. So when I choose to light something to impact the scent of my surroundings, I'm darned picky. Here is my list of quick rules for choosing a scented candle:
1. If the candle is named after an emotion, rather than an actual fragrance, avoid it ('Passion', 'Desire', 'Delight', 'Rampant Melancholy').
2. If the candle is fruit scented, but you can't quite figure out what fruit, avoid it. If it says what fruit it is, and it smells like something else, avoid it.
3. If the candle is in the shape of anything other than a votive, a glass jar, a taper, or a pillar, avoid it. This applies particularily to anything shaped like a teddy bear or an angel.
4. If the candle smells like any teachers you had in school, especially elderly ones that were given to nodding off in class, avoid it.
5. If it sparkles at all, avoid it.
Given these strictures, you can't really go wrong. My personal favourite candles of all time (I reccommend them highly for giving any room a little love):
- Anything by Demeter is lovely...the scents ring true, and they burn forever. 'Wet Garden' and 'Cinnamon Bun' are incredibly fresh, and delectably warm, respectively.
- L'Occitane makes fabulous travel candles in fun little tins, and all the scents are quite pleasing and subtle. 'Clementine' and 'Lavender Amber' are my favourites.
- The Fresh 'Sugar' candle is delicious. Hell, it's called 'Sugar'.
- Try stuff by Jo Malone, Annick Goutal, Lush, or Comptoire Sud Pacifique...they'll do you up just fine.
Finallly, never light anything in your kitchen that doesn't smell like food, never light anything in your bathroom that DOES smell like food, and light whatever you want in your bedroom, as long as it isn't near the curtains.
2. Magazines: I am a mag-a-holic. Recently, since embarking upon my new career path, I've been forced to wean myself off the vast majority of my monthly buys, but I still know what I love, and why:
- Ooooh, Harpers. No magazine on earth makes you feel quite so informed and clever and droll as this one. It's not flashy, it's not pushy, it's not cheap, and that's why I buy it when I feel woefully stupid or underinformed about pretty much anything. The cover art is spare, the writers are excellent, and I'm never left wanting for something to think about after I've flipped the final page.
- The New Yorker is a controversial choice in my life, seeing as some of my nearest and dearest adore it (clipping cartoons, reading portions aloud, storing back issues), and others reject it (scoffing at the cartoons, labelling it as 'elitist'). While it does feature some of the best short-form writing from some of the best authors publishing right now, it also features gallery, theatre and performance reviews for a city in which most of us do not live. It's not of use as a cultural guide of any sort unless you live in one of the Boroughs, but it is a thoughtful, often witty collection of both serious and satirical works (Louis Menaud, Steve Martin, David Sedaris, Calvin Trillin are among the regular contributors. Works for me!).
- Here's where I'm going to get hacked on...I love In Style magazine. Yes, I'm aware it's probably written by publicists for the stars it covers. Yes, I'm aware it's more than 60% obvious advertising (the other 38% being sneaky advertising). Yes, I'm aware I can't afford most of what I find on those glossy, glossy pages. But it's an escape on a grand scale; a indulgence of my indulgent side. It's well laid-out, it's visually pleasing, and it's the perfect hybrid of Us Weekly and Architectural Digest, the former being something I'm too embarassed to buy, and the latter being something I can't afford to buy very often.
- I also love Sports Illustrated, Athlon Football Pre-Season Guide, Elle Decor, Vogue, W, Elle, Town and Country, Harper's Bazaar, Wallpaper, The Utne Reader, and mmmm...The Hockey News.
I get my magazine addiction from my parents, who are exceptionally frugal people, but still love a flip through the pages of a good journal or glossy now and then. They buy stuff I would never even take notice of (Model Train? Family Circle?), and only realize how much they've bought when the time comes to move ("How many issues of GQ did you find?!?!").
3. I really love bloggers. Yes, all of you, with your weird niches, your odd fetishes, your candid moments, your ostentatious rants, your world-saving plans, your eye-popping disclosures, your moments of both subtle and Louisville Slugger wit...I dig you! Now that I'm back as a part of the Salon community, I'm exposed once again to what a bit of creativity, mild HTML understanding, and a few hours in front of a computer can bring into glorious and bizarre existence.
I'm shocked and humbled by the openness you display. I'm touched and blessed by the community sentiments you share, and by your concern for one another. I'm inspired by the reason, sense and wisdom that I find in many of your words. I'm confused by some of your political views, but excited nonetheless by the passion you pack into them. Passion is always a good, good start.
I'm also totally brain-numbed by some of the colour choices, font styles, graphics, punctuation, and language that some of you choose to use, but sometimes that's the best part of a blog ("Blue text on a red background? With a GIF of Karl Rove's head photoshopped onto a minotaur's body? Okayyyy....").
Most of all, I am thrilled to see people expressing themselves, responding actively to other peoples' expression, and generally embracing the Net as a place where anyone and everyone who can get net access for even ten minutes, even just once, possesses a voice that billions can discover through Google. That rocks.
Granted, one does need to step away from the computer and actually live life, now and again, and granted, the word 'blog' is pretty freaking funny. I'm all about encouraging dialogue on every level possible, though, and I cannot fault a medium that has allowed me to:
- meet people from all over the world...some of whom I adore!
- rethink some of my most deeply-held opinions, and even change a few...
- laugh until I was sick to my stomach...
- babble, and have people pay attention! YES!
So to all of you: keep blogging, keep commenting, and keep having fun. It's making a difference, in big ways and small.
And that's what I'm diggin' for now.
10:25:42 PM 
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