Pot Pourri

I was hoping for one main theme to present itself before I wrote a new blog, but instead it seems to be a number of different colourful - and scented - items, to be put together in the pot, which seems kind of fitting.

First, an update on an earlier blog where I highlighted the subtle damage being done to our health by the built environment - also another where I particularly highlighted the need for auditory boundaries. For once, I wasn't so out of synch with mainstream media, as a number of articles flooded places like the BBC on just this subject, including one on how songbirds become more aggressive when surrounded by traffic noise, and the impact on our own health. As far as humans are concerned, experts were saying that anything above 55 decibels has an adverse effect on our systems, which is about the level of a conversational voice. I'm glad to say this is being taken seriously though how long it will take for anyone to actually do anything about it on a large scale...well, I won't hold my breath.

Sticking with the subject of subtle, even subliminal environmental effects, through a series of coincidences, or synchronicity, I have become fascinated by the world of perfume. I was always aware of the importance of straightforward scents like incense - not only do they shift the ambience of a room dramatically, they can also be used to work on the etheric level, hence the use of herbs like sage or rosemary for cleansing a room of energetic detritus. But perfume is a whole other level of complexity. It's a world of which I have always been rather dismissive. There's too much to write here about my turnaround, though what I've been discovering will make its way into the novel I'm working on now, and a more in-depth essay to be published elsewhere. Suffice to say, it's a new language in which to engage others who also know the terms and hidden depths, and every new exciting bottle is like an olfactory novel. There's a girl who bushwhacks me every time I go past her perfume counter now, in order to subject me to more samples. Of course, she wishes to make a sale, something to add to my 'perfume library' at home, but I also suspect she's grateful to interact with someone who talks the same language. Her perfumes are very long-lasting. At home I leave the sample sticks in the utility room, so it now smells like an exotic middle eastern bazaar rather than of garbage as it used to. Transformation, baby!

To follow on from my last post, there is something I'm waiting to do on a geomancy level in Plymouth but I need someone with shamanic inclinations and a car to visit. The work will take less than an hour and involves some healing of what I call a Lizard's Back formation, when three or more lines run in parallel. I wrote about this formation in The Poisoned Dragon (still available on eBay and elsewhere I notice). It's a particularly powerful formation, where a number of lines work in cohort. When one line is damaged or wounded in some way, it can affect the others and an entire area will be the worse off. A shamanic driver did visit yesterday actually but there wasn't enough time. In Cornwall, I couldn't walk out of the door without running into someone with those attributes!

Lizard's Back, Cornwall (from 'The Poisoned Dragon')

Writing wise, my main focus is on the epic novel I began a year ago which - coincidentally enough - has two characters who work in the perfume industry. That was only meant to be a background sketch originally but, of course, with recent developments it's taken on a life of its own, with background rapidly moving into the foreground. The biggest news writing-wise for this year probably is that I am publishing a second edition of Quality Time: The Equivocal Return of Lizzie Borden, including a hardback version. Up till now it's only been available on Kindle but, as I found out, I'm not the only one who prefers the tactile experience of real books. I have always been very pleased with Quality Time, as it brought a poetic sensibiility to the prose with all the precision and accuracy that demands - something I only really sought to achieve in Alien Humanity otherwise - and I think it deserves the hardback treatment. This is also an experiment, to see how it turns out as I've never published in hardback before. I've got two books that have been in the wings for a long time, waiting for the chance to be born as hardbacks. They were written quite a while ago but in my opinion hold up well, even though my writing style has evolved considerably since. If all goes well with Quality Time, you'll be seeing those next two books in print over the next two years. (Actually 'Two Years' is the title of the second one!) The new edition of Quality Time should be available within a month or so. I will, of course, be sure to let you know.

Leisure-wise, I often find myself drawn to the harbour at Plymouth, particularly the Mayflower embarkation point. There could be a good reason for this, in that an ancestor of mine was one of the pilgrims heading off to the New World. His story after that becomes a bit vague and mysterious, but we do know he survived that first harsh winter. I didn't get any answers at the Mayflower Museum, but was impressed how the museum partnered with the Wampanoag tribe whose version of events are given plenty of space, so that a more complete picture is formed of the colony rather than the usual one-sided one. I don't, however, go to the harbour for a history lesson any more - I've had to go elsewhere for that - but it's an area where a lot is happening, and a perfect place to meet friends and have a drink. And allow the fresh sea breeze to waft away any residual perfume scents!

WaI donmpanoagWampanoag