Friday, July 27, 2007

The sense of smell

I had a minorly Proustian moment just now--I finally got some proper adhesive to deal with my index card situation--I am in love with the container visually, too, but it's the smell of the stuff that really takes me back to elementary school. Oh, the allure of coating one's fingers with different kinds of glue--Elmer's for fingerprint molds (I remember my friend K.'s older brother having a forensic science kit, and us aged five or six making a huge mess brushing graphite dust onto glasses and trying to lift the fingerprints off with the special clear stickers that came with the kit, a good but messy toy!)--rubber cement for rolling into a kind of gummy ball that would get quite large if you had patience...

2 comments:

  1. Jenny,
    Cool. I loved making rubber "buggers" out of that glue when I was a kid. I use a gluestick myself, and it does come in handy, mainly for reusing postage stamps.

    I amassed way too many index cards I typed them up into one document for a particular section of a chapter, and now using highlighting pens to demarcate them. I know what you're going through. It's nerve-wracking to sit there everyday trying to hold all the different conceptual strands and permutations up in the air and not lose any of them, or make them too rigid so that new lines can't grow. Also, dealing with all that cutting and pasting. It makes one feel faint. No wonder strenuous exercise is necessary.

    Your summer sounds a lot like mine. 8:00 exercise sessions on Friday nights. Avoidance of social engagements. Am obsessed with yoga--4x a week--and pilates--3x a week--and I make myself do cardio 5X a week or else I feel bad.

    Hang in there. You're doing great.

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  2. Julie, we have clearly come into a state of psychic twinship! Just be careful not to get an injury!

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