My darlings – I’m scrambling on this post because I have been up to my eyeballs in classwork, exams, grabbing plants from the impending Black Frost…Life is just a Bag of Tricks, innit?
I had a Felix shopping bag for 35 yrs. Wore. It. OUT!
It’s freezing/raining/cold/dank/dark/icky outside. And while I’ll be fine in a few weeks, the first onset of this type of weather is nearly paralyzing. I’m sitting here, swathed in about 3 layers of clothes, socks & tie shoes (essential for toasty feet) and I was trying so hard to feel sorry for myself, then Ahmad Jamal’s ‘Saturday Morning’ came up in the queue and well, that put paid to THAT! I consider Ahmad Jamal to be a World Treasure (he was designated a Living Jazz Legend by the Kennedy Center and that’s okay by me!) and have adored his music, ever since my dad introduced me to his At the Pershing album. I was 6 years old. It felt like somebody opened a door to the heavens. I didn’t even know what I was hearing – just that it was transporting! He’s now about 542billion years old (okay, he’s 87 ) – but you know how some people kind of fall apart as they age? M. Jamal seems to just distill more and more into this ‘essence’ of himself, both physically and in his performances. Little movements guide his musicians, as if he’s telepathically linked to them (prolly is, for all I know). And he has a symbiotic, near-umbilical connection to the piano that has only strengthened through his years. And he’s even more fabulous at 87 than he was when he was 30.
Can you tell I adore him? Always have. Always will. He will not always be here but he will always be here.
photo gently lifted: heliotricity
I imagine he wears a sandalwood/patchouli oil – not hippie, just something very earthy that was given him on his travels East. Maybe with a touch of oud.
Another Musing: I AM NOW A CERTIFIED OSHA QUEEN! After a LONG slog through the 30hr Construction Certification Course, I ACED the final! Y’all just don’t know – I had to take a sedative to get through Confined Space and when we got to Scaffolding it was if my brain just ….left. But I passed all the classes and my surprise at ACING (did I mention I ACED it) the final was a GASP! heard round the world~
But~ you’re only as good as your last certification – and now it’s on to MSHA (Mine Safety) – we are heading into doing support work for mines (mostly sand) and in order to even be able to go onsite at a mining operating without continuous supervision, we have to be MSHA-certified. I have heard it makes Boring look exciting but you know what? Eh. I can DEW EET! I am that girl who loves to see if she can test out! I’m also taking a course in reading construction blueprints – sounds like an easy one, right? WRONG! Freaks put all SORTS of stuff in those damb prints and it’s like divining from tea leaves some times. So. I’m a bit apprehensive but I figure learning is better than not learning. Though I really do suck at reading prints.
One of my customers took the course at the same time and we laughed at our ‘real’ takeaway (because we both spend a lot of time onsite) – it’s a wonder any of us make it out of there in one piece. Construction is TERRIFYING!
Any thoughts on what to wear to the sand mine? I’m thinking of Tauer’s lovely L’air du Desert Marocain (of course) but also Surrender to Chance’s amazing and GLORIOUS ‘Coldwater Canyon’ by Dominique Dubrana (AbdesSalaam Attar).
I’m all outta time, here and this post is full of a whole lotta NOTHING! So. To reward you for slogging through this with me, tell me a quickie story – is it cold where you are? hot? whatchadoin’? I’ll have The Girl pull a winner or two and we’ll send you some fun. Gosh, you guys are so nice, to let me limp through this post – but I have to go argue with Network Solutions – somebody has gone in and changed my email password AGAIN! And I have 6 projects out there, awaiting award. I NNNEEEED mah email!!!! Sometimes, technology is Not Our Friend.
Congratulations on ACING the exams! It has been beautiful here for several days and we did (finally) get a day of rain. Much needed. I walk my pup along the river and it has gotten so shallow. Better after the rain. Wore Cinnabar today and it smelled wonderful in the Fall temp.
Congratulations on your certification! It definitely sounds exhausting but you made it! The weather in my area has also been pretty dreary and wet and cold, but we got a warm, whole day of sunshine today so it was a sun-soaking after work kind of day. I’m currently trying to work on a thesis and oh man, primary literature is so dry. L’ADDM sounds great! Have you tried Miller et Bertaux’s Study #23 / Newsletter because I feel that would be interesting for the sand mines.
We are dying here in SoCal, it was over 100 today in San Diego. And dry and windy! Tomorrow more of the same, then it should drop on Thursday, hallelujah. Desperate for fall to arrive. I like LADDM or Dune, perfect for the sand mines. 🙂
Oh my gawsh. Hang in there! Not cold here in the northeast for the end of October but it should be? Shirtsleeves today on this rainy and humid day.
My suggestion for the sand mine is…..Maison Margiela Replica ‘Across Sands’!
Another vote from me that it’s too hot here, surface of the sun hot.
Please wear Bat in the mines, hee hee. Way to go on those exams!
Congrats to you! Hot hot here in So Cal! What’s up with it? With Andy Tauer you can never go wrong!
So impressed with anyone who can read technical drawings of any kind! No idea what would fit that kind of work environment. We have been promised the first day with frost on Monday. I would rather take more of the rain. I guess you can tell I am not in a flooded area.
It’s raining inside here. Since my husband and buddy thought they could handle putting a new roof on and since they thought it was weather proofed enough and it wasn’t, I found myself carting my children to a hotel at 2 in the morning when the rain came, as it was raining onto our beds. Today has been a day of drying beds, towels, clothes, stuffed animals and carpets out and trying to find someone who can really fix the roof on our budget. I wore original Liz Claiborne Realities today. Because reality. I say wrap yourself in Areej Le Dore for the mine (any of them) and you’ll be insulated in pure beauty. Good luck!
Fall has arrived in the Pacific Northwest and with it the rains-from now to June, just to keep things green. I felt sorry for my Airbnb guests this weekend; it rained the whole time. But they loved it. As do I for the most part. I’m from the S Texas Plains where its always drought, drought, drought FLOOD. So..I think it’s time for L’Air du Desert. Enter me in your draw!
Congrats on your exam results! I kept reading “sand mine” as “salt mine” and thinking of scents like Lys Mediterranean or Sel de Vetiver. But your LADDM sounds perfect. Or maybe Chergui or Fetes Persanes?
It got very chilly here in Minneapolis, and might even snow Friday. I’ve been pulling out the snuggly perfumes and the leather scents — Cuir de Lancome and Cuir Beluga in heavy rotation right now.
Technology hates us and wants us to fail. As long as you know that, you’ll be ok. And congrats on ACING your exam!
It’s finally Fall here in Dallas, with pleasant days and comfortably chilly nights. My favorite season, and I’m happy.
Congrats on the certification! It suddenly got cold in my neck of the woods and rainy. I’ve been pulling out FdB, LBH and vintage Bal to wear right now. I say go for LADDM for work!
I’m on the BioSafety Committee at work so I salute your certification!
I vote for something very green and “living” when visiting a sand mine. Maybe Wild Hunt by CB I Hate Perfume?
Congratulations, Musette, on your OSHA certification–most impressive! I am the Safety Officer for my (small) company, and I have an inkling of what that must have been like.
I also endorse the Tauer LDDM choice. Can’t go wrong with Andy’s great works; my all-time fave
Tauer perfume is Le Maroc pour Elle. Lemme know if you need a decant, I would send you some from my fb.
Been warm and sunny here in New England, and now warm-ish and foggy or rainy. Hoping for cool or cold, even. But, you know? No wildfires, hurricanes or floods. So, not complaining.
Good luck in the sand mine! I like (trying to read) machining prints but I’ll bet that construction is way more complicated.
Congratulations on passing! I felt like that when I passed the Oracle Database exams on the first slog….after everyone telling me I couldn’t because (a) it was my first time and (b) I didn’t have experience in a database shop yet. I am So Proud of you for passing something difficult also! I hope you guys had a huge celebration. 🙂
Here, it’s cold overnight and hot in the day. Makes me think I need to finally put in a dual thermostat, keeping it between 69 and 73.
On the fragrance front, my husband thought my L’Heure Bleue extrait smelled like pipe tobacco. Not even sure what to think of that. He said it didn’t up against my wrist, but sitting next to me? Yep. Pipe tobacco, just like his candle in his office. ??
Congrats! In Ohio, it was VERY hot all weekend for October. I sat outside reading much of it. Then, it turned fall cold and rainy yesterday. Cozy sleeping at night.
Congratulations! You cannot go wrong with Tauer. While I’m not envying you your weather, we just got hit with out-of-the-blue heat wave and high winds after some terribly destructive fires. I love your writing, and your posts! They always put a smile on my face.
Congratulations on your OSHA Cert! Very impressive! I did pest control (termite) inspections many years ago. I was thin enough to crawl under the heat vents in crawl spaces without denting or dislodging them, so guess where they always sent me? Belly crawling in dirt, or mud. I don’t remember what, or even if i wore, fragrance on “crawl days.”
We’re starting to recover from devastating wildfires. Even those who survived & still have homes are deeply affected.
Congratulations on acing the exam! The temperature is out of control in LA. Like blistering, doorknobs-so-hot-you’ll burn-your-fingers HOT HOT HOT. It’s supposed to be back down into the 80s by Friday, which I guess will feel cool enough after four days of 100+ degrees!
All of this is mostly to say I’m envious of your cold weather, impending black frost or no.
It was too hot here today. In the Monterey Bay we’re not used to heat. You can have our heat to warm your feet. If it only worked that way. Oh, I love the suggestion that you wear Dior Dune. What can top that? Nothing. But here are two other suggestions for days when you are not wearing Dune: Etro Messe de Minuit and Hermes Eau des Merveilles.
Congrats!!! As to “sand mine perfume”, how about Dior Dune? I have never tried it but the name makes me think of the old sci-fi novel DUNE. It’s about a desert planet that has giant sandworms that can be ridden and that produce a spice (scent) that is the most valuable commodity in the universe. How’s that for convoluted reasoning for a perfume choice?
Looks like MrsD and I posted at the same time………..ah, great minds. 🙂
Dune for the sand mine! Congratulations on all those certifications.
I am a female engineer who also works in the mining industry, COOL!!! 🙂 I like it when i can be out of the office on inspection, and where i live it is all surface mining, so i can wear what i like and in the quantity that i like, without having to worry about offending anyone. I went on an inspection last week and doused myself in Idyllwild, and it at least partly made up for having to get dirty, I still felt somewhat glam afterward! Best wishes to you and congrats on your certification success!
Congrats on the certification.
Congratulations, Musette! I love your musings 🙂 LADDM seems like a great choice, not that I’ve ever been in a sand mine. It feels so weird to read about how cold it is where you are. Today’s high where I am was 88 °F.
Congrats on acing your final!! LADDM sounds absolutely perfect for a sand mine. It is starting to get hot again in the Bay Area, and LADDM might be just what I need too 🙂
Supposed to be 101° tomorrow here in Southern California. I’m so over this hot weather. Congrats on passing your test!
At 6am it was 76 degrees in OC. Can I send you some of mine??
Congrats on your certs! I love the “testing out” angle. Sounds like something I would do!
This Summer we moved from New England to the Black Hills, in South Dakota. The Black Hills, the Badlands and the prairie are certainly a change from the cozy hardwood covered hills I was used to but they are really growing on me and the wide open big sky is awesome. The high winds are whipping in with gusts up to mph and are blowing all the russet and golden leaves from the trees.
I find I’m painting local historical figures like Calamity Jane and Wild Bill…….
I was prompted to write this by your mention of your course in Mine Safety…..I find I now live not far from the South Dakota School of Mines……and neighbors are faculty there… really fascinating stuff!
Congratulations on your OSHA certification. I am in awe of anyone who can read blueprints. Weather here is cooler (not cool) and very rainy lately. I’m excited for you, but you make me tired just listening to you.