July 28, 2018

"A woman leaned back towards me and — I’m sorry — I coughed because her coat overwhelmed me with lavender and book."

"Some of the smells I can’t place. There’s one that smells a bit like burning cardboard but which my memory is constantly scraping itself to put a name to. There is sileage and rotting meat everywhere. I feel like a farm has gone off in my nose. To write this I’m breathing through my mouth because if I try my nose I can’t concentrate on the screen: fresh emulsion paint, lemons, urban snow, something acrid, something earthy. I’m not near any of this stuff. What’s my brain doing? Is it trying to recalibrate, or is it just telling me this is what I can smell?... I’m sorry, supermarket. I can’t eat your pizza. It tastes of donkey and blood and eggshell and leather jacket. Don’t sue me. I know it’s not true and it’s just my brain interpreting...."

From "I’m having my sense of smell switched back on, and it feels like a farm went off in my nose" by Jason Caplin (at Medium).

19 comments:

rhhardin said...

Dogs are big into smell but not into taste.

M Jordan said...

The article was well written but left me wanting. And what was I wanting? Something bigger, a new view from a tall height. Instead he gave us data. Missed opportunity.

rehajm said...

The lack of detail about the treatment is distracting.

Bob Boyd said...

Doesn't pass the smell test.

Crimso said...

See what you're missing?

whitney said...

I read that. It's an interesting premise but then when I finished I found it I just didn't believe him. I think he made it all up

Ralph L said...

If dogs can smell so well, why do they have to jam their noses in each other's butts and our crotches?

Bob Boyd said...

"why do they have to jam their noses in each other's butts and our crotches?"

They don't have to.

Bob Boyd said...

A dog jams his nose into another dog's butt for the same reason Hillary climbed Mount Everest.

Breezy said...

That article stunk!

Mary Beth said...

I don't think I could identify the taste of donkey.

rhhardin said...

Dogs have an anal gland that produces an identifying smell on their droppings. That's what they're checking for.

It's a social disaster if it stops working.

Ralph L said...

Cats doo too. It doesn't explain why they need to rub their nose in it. To block out all other smells?

I smelt a dead squirrel near my back door the last few days. Nasty, but I wish I could kill them all.

chickelit said...

Althouse, you might enjoy “The Sniffer” on Netflix. It’s about a hyper-osmic crime solver in Russia.

Michael K said...

If I started having that change in odors I would have an MRI. Olfactory ridge tumors can do that.

Wince said...

I can’t eat your pizza. It tastes of donkey and blood and eggshell and leather jacket.

"You must smell like feet wrapped in leathery burnt bacon!"

Howard said...

Getting sense of smell back after a long time off is shocking and takes a while to get used to. It took two surgeries to take for me (knock wood) while recovering from the second, I had to work at a rendering plant for a couple days. Maybe the H2S and NH3 cauterized the wounds making the procedure stick.

southcentralpa said...

Sounds like he has a promising new career waiting for him as a perfumier ...

Rick67 said...

I have not been able to smell anything since an accident 3 years ago. Will probably never be able to smell again. I cannot imagine what it would be like.

My wife and I also enjoyed The Sniffer series. "Vilma Vilma Vilma!"