Olfactory and all its wonders!

For those of you that do not know, olfactory basically means 'the sense of smell.' Some people have very acute olfactory senses while some people do not.
In reality a lot of scientist believe this is a sense that is starting to fade. It's just not as important to have a very keen sense of smell anymore. We've developed past that and no longer need to use our honkers to the extent that we used to. However for now, we have a wonderful new world of exploration for our olfactory senses!

 There are so many great things about the olfactory senses but in reality we really don't appreciate them as we should!
For instance, everyone knows how the nose smells things, it identifies smells that we like and smells we don't like. However did you know that the olfactory receptors (the part that is responsible for identifying the smells) takes this info up to the brain and then these smells affect how we think?

Ylang ylang

I'm sure you actually do know this, even if you've never thought about it. Everyone has had a smell that has overwhelmed them and gave them a headache, and everyone has their own personal smells that remind them of old memories. (Me personally if I want to take a stroll down memory lane I'll spray a little bit of neroli on my pillow, or eat some raspberries. If my childhood was a smell that's what they would be.)
These smells affect us psychologically, a lot of the time that's how an aromatherapist works. They work with smells and how they affect the brain. For example there are a few smells that are supposed to affect the sex drive. Now we've all heard that oysters are supposed to be an aphrodisiac, I don't know if this is true. If it is, it's not for me, to me they're like big slimy boogers to gulp down, but anyway aromatherapy has smells that work as aphrodisiacs as well. A great example of this is ylang ylang, a flower that blooms on a tree which originates in the Philippines. It's a wonderful flower that is supposed to evoke euphoria and sexual desire to those that smell it. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, if you are allergic, or just plain don't like the smell of ylang ylang (like myself) it's not going to apply to you. Though there are other aromas that are said to do the same such as Jasmine (my favorite!), patchouli, and ginger. There are others but those are the only ones I'll put down here.

The sense of smell is very closely linked with memory in the brain, and with your sense of taste. If we didn't have a sense of smell we wouldn't be able to taste so much food in this world! True it would probably make eating vegetables easier but what a loss! Without the sense of smell we wouldn't be able to taste or even remember like we used to. Just think, Christmas has just passed (by the way hope all had a very Merry Christmas!) and many of you had a real Christmas tree in your living room, just think how sad it would be to not be able to smell that delicious pine smell that comes with each new Christmas tree, and for those of you that didn't have a real one, or any at all for that matter just think about all the delicious smells that come from the Christmas time.

There's cookies, gingerbread especially, peppermint from all those tasty candy canes. Some will make pumpkin pies, or apple pies, the smell of a cooked-honey-glazed ham on Christmas night. All those wonderful smells would be lost, and therefore all the wonderful feelings and memories would be gone as well. I would go even far enough to say without the sense of smell I think a lot of the Christmas spirit (the little left that survives the outrageous commercialism, and greedy Christmas shoppers) would simply disappear without those olfactory receptors to remind us of our Christmas cheer.

 Without our olfactory receptors we also wouldn't be able to detect other potential mates, at least not as well. There was an experiment performed at a college where women were asked to smell pre-worn shirts of males. They didn't see the males, they just smelled the shirts that were worn by them and each of them were asked to rate the shirt on how attractive the smell was to them. Each woman did, and after some looking into it the scientist discovered that each woman picked out a male that had the most different genes than they did. Diversifying genes is what creates the most healthy offspring. That's why back in history when royal families only married each other and kept there genes all in the family insanity and other deformities started to develop because we have to keep diversifying our genes to keep our species healthy. You also see these problems in dog breeding, when there is a lot of inter breeding the breed starts to become weak and more susceptible to health issues. I'm veering off topic a little bit but it gets the point across that smell is important.
Now would we be able to pick out different gene'd mates without our sense of smell? Maybe, I'm sure our bodies would adapt to fix the problem so we could identify them by some other means, but really what's greater than smelling the scent of someone you love? Sure you have their awful morning breath to deal with, their stinky flatulence but come on! Isn't smelling your loved ones after time apart the the best thing ever? I think so, but I'm a military spouse so there's more times for me to appreciate my husbands smell when he's been gone lol.
Besides without smell we wouldn't have aromatherapy, smelly candles, incense, flowers would be almost pointless except that they look nice. We wouldn't have fine dining, except on salt cubes (salt is one of the few things your tongue tastes on its own) or many other things. So come on every one! Appreciate that schnoz you've got on your face! It does a lot for you, and without it I wouldn't be here typing to you getting my aromatherapy degree and preparing my own perfume business. (Okay now you might not be grateful of your sense of smell but you should be!)
Oh yeah and I added this handy video of 'The Magic School Bus,' this episode is all about smells and delves a little bit more into the science of it, but in a fun way!
Oh and for all you 'serious' people that have no time for cartoons I've included a couple sites about the olfactory system and how it affects the brain. It's very interesting and anyone thinking of going into a smelling field should definitely check it out!
Oh and I encourage you to take your olfactory senses on a pleasure tour! Take them to places with wonderful smells. Hey new years eve is coming up, why not remember all the wonderful smells you've experienced this year? Any great movies where you had warm delicious popcorn? How about that time you tried baking a seven layered chocolate cake and the warm sweetness of is filled your senses with happiness... that is until it burnt! lol or how about when you got a brand new puppy this year and the sweet smell of their puppy breath as they licked your nose sent you into waves of joy! Remember these moments, remember them with your nose!
Also I added another Facebook page at the end, the page is for 'The institue for Art and Olfaction,' they are an organization that is currently working on a project called: 'Trip to Japan in sixteen minutes' Basically what they do is take you through 'Japan' using only music, slight visual affects and all your olfactory senses. It takes place in Los Angeles (sucks cause I'm not going to be there!). Check them out!
Don't forget to 'like' me on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/artandolfaction
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_receptor_neuron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_receptor

Character development

I've decided to make a post that is strictly about developing your characters for your story. This is harder than it sounds, especially if you're writing a story for adults, or a story with a lot of emotional depth.

I do have some advice on it, and there are TONS of websites and blogs dedicated to this very thing. I have some helpful sites and pictures listed below.

When I started on my characters, they were very flat. I didn't like it but I didn't know how to fix it. I tried basing them on people that I liked and wanted my character to be like so what I did was that nice bubble diagram (that's what I call it, not sure if that's what others call it) Where you take the character you want your character to be like, for example I'll use Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. I loved his character, dark, mysterious but very moral and brave. I put his name in a bubble and branched off all the qualities he had that I wanted my character to have.
You can't just take all the good qualities though, if you want your character to have depth you need to look at their flaws too. I put down the flaws of the characters I wanted my character to be like and I looked at 'why' they have those flaws. I did this with at least five different characters from various literature and tried to look at my main male protagonist as a person and not just a tool that gets my story from point A. to point B.

Essentially what's going to have to happen is, well you're going to have to go on a first date with your character. That's what it's like, it's like going on a blind date, only you get to decide exactly what your date is going to be like. However like on a date you need to ask your character some questions that will let you 'get to know' this character.
Some good ones to ask that I've found follow like this:

* What were their parents like, how did this affect them?
* Do they have any siblings, how is their relationship with them?
* If your character had to list five words to describe themselves without thinking too much what would they be?
* If your character had to list five flaws without thinking what would they be?
* If your character could choose a super power (if they can't already choose what super power) what super power would it be and why?
* What's their favorite color and why?
* How do they feel about the opposite sex, and the same sex?
* Are they prejudice about anything, why?
* If they had a day off to do whatever they wanted what would it be?
* If they had one wish and they had to spend it on themselves what would it be?
* Who do they care about most in the world and why?
* In an instance where their life is very important, like great things are riding on their survival but their life is in jeapordy because a child is attacking them. What do they do? Do they kill the child without thinking about it, do they try to talk the child down? What do they do if that doesn't work? Do they die even though they 'know' their life is important for some story related reason? If they kill the child how does this affect them?
* What is their weapon of choice? (sword, gun, words, or their a pacifist) and why is it so important to them?
*Do they have an item that they love, why do they love it?
* If they were an animal what would they be and why?

All these odd personality questions that you don't think about when writing a story can really help you flesh out the character to yourself and then that will come out through the writing. Also don't be afraid to put your character to the test with some situations that will really show their true personality, and don't always feel your protagonist has to be the good guy all the time. No one is perfect, people love a good guy they can relate to and is real to them.


Example: Jax Teller on 'Sons of Anarchy,' for those of you that don't know this show, basically he's trying to get his club out of the guns and drug business, make them legit and be a good guy. To do this though he is thrust on a highway to hell becoming the very thing he hates in order to save this club and create a better life for his family and the families of the club members.
People love that! We love that he's trying so hard to be good but he has to do all these horrible things to get it done. We love that it tests his character and we see a side of him that is borderline psychotic.
Another character, and a famous one that I do think Jax Teller is based on (and so does my husband) is Shakespeare's Hamlet. This is another character on the brink of madness trying to do what is right. Unfortunately Hamlet doesn't get his happy ending.
   People love that, they love a character that feels doubt, fear, rage, they love a character that has all the emotions, and if your character is pretty apathetic they want to know 'why?' How did this character end up this way?

Also the antagonist that isn't all bad. People LOVE that, they love a bad guy they can like. A great example is Loki from the movies of Thor. They do a great job of creating a bad guy that you can relate to, even root for but know that he's still a bad guy.
Even the really creepy bad guys like Hannibel Lecter, you like him yet he absolutely terrifies you! You want to have a conversation with this man yet you pray he's not hiding under your bed ready to munch on your face! These are the bad guys that people remember, and for good reason!

So, what a good thing to do is take some sheets of paper and write out your character. What do they look like? Why do they look like that, are their choice of wear a fashion statement or practical? Where did they get the color of their eyes, their facial hair, their hair style and why? Always ask why? Why do they believe like the do?
Why do they feel this way about this person, or these people, and don't just one sentence it. Really think about this, and if you have to do this with every main character, even side characters do it! It can't hurt you, some people feel like they need to rush through writing and now worry about it but I'm telling you! IT. MATTERS!
Date your character, find out their likes and dislikes. Rewrite them, change it to fit better if you think it will, but find out, and I'll say it again ALWAYS ask yourself WHY they are like this!

Below are some great sites I've found that talk about characters. One of them is my pinterest, it has a three part (meaning it's in three separate pictures on my board) walk through of fleshing out your character. It's very in debt and a great thing to do when you're thinking about your characters. Also is my facebook page that has a lot of tidbits, crafts, and mentions sites that are helpful to writers and many other things!

http://missolive.hubpages.com/hub/Writing-Tutorials-Describing-a-Character
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563690076/
http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/the-top-5-female-character-stereotypes-1-tip-to-avoid-them/
http://www.jsmorin.com/2013/11/write-genius-character/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568

Lavender how I love thee, let me count the ways!

Ahh Lavender! So much to love about this handy little plant. In Aromatherapy Lavender is pretty much the 'go to' for different treatments.

The uses for Lavender vary to a wild degree but there are a few things I learned about Lavender in some of my Aromatherapy classes that I just had to share!
First off Lavender essential oil or the latin binomial Lavandula (Genus of the plant) angustifolia (Species) is a wonderful oil that can be used for multiple things. My favorite use for it is relaxation. If you just use a little bit of Lavender Spritzer (A lavender mix that you can spray about the room) on your pillow before you go to bed at night it helps you sleep so much better. I use a couple drops of Lavender essential oil in a hot bath along with a table spoon of some sort of vegetable oil (grape seed, olive, sunflower) to keep the oil from irritating my skin. It is a wonderful way to relax in a bath.

We've only just begun to understand how much this pretty purple plant benefits us. For instance did you know in 1910 a experimenting french scientist and aromatherapist by the name Rene Maurice was in the middle of a laboratory explosion and received multiple burns on his arms and if I remember correctly his face. He was sent to the hospital and they did all they could but he had gangrene in his wounds. Normally when you get this it becomes a 'we'll make sure you're comfortable' and that's that. In a desperate last attempt Maurice applied Lavender oil to his wounds. The result? A miracle, within hours the gangrene was receding and within days was completely gone, his wounds started to mend and Maurice lived to see another day and his son (Marcel) wrote about these findings.
There is a website that sells a Lavender oil that I have been told by friends is a miracle cure.

 You have a bruise? rub some oil on it, you have a bump on your head? Rub some oil on it. Kids are going nuts and won't sleep? Put a bit of oil on your hands and rub the bottom of their feet with it while they're laying down for bed. They swear by this site. It's called doTerra. I have the website listed below for people wanting to look. Basically what doTerra states is their oils are the purest you can possible get on the market because unlike some distilleries that take the entire plant, flower, stem, and leaves and put it in the distiller and get all the oils that comes from all these different parts of the plant. DoTerra takes the only part of the plant that the oil is supposed to come from. In Lavender's case this is the blooms. They take each bloom and distill it equaling in a purer product. Now to me this 'sounds' reasonable but as a corporation I feel they might be a little fishy. I've spoken with a couple Aromatherapist and they don't see any problems with the site but they think there is a lot of marketing going on rather than actual product, but as far as I can tell my friends all love it. I haven't purchased any myself because I have oils of my own and feel a little bit of loyalty to them. Though I encourage others to try this site and comment on their experiences, doTerra isn't cheap but it seems to be worth the money from what I've seen.

Now there are many different breeds of the lavender flower, the lavender I mention above (Lavandula angustifolia) is just one of many types. The type I'm talking about is also called 'English Lavender,' or 'True Lavender.'

   Lavender isn't only used as something great to smell or as a wound treatment, you can also cook with it though you need to make sure when you buy it, it doesn't have any harmful chemicals. (I'm not sure if that's a real worry but I always make sure the lavender I buy is organic or has some mention of using it in cooking.) Sometimes people presume you're going to use it as something to smell so they add some fragrances to keep it long lasting but are harmful if you eat them.
I recently made some lavender/lemon short bread cookies....and they were DELICIOUS! Normally my husband doesn't like odd things, or trying new things but he really liked these cookies. Not exactly a festive holiday type of cookie, these are good cookies to serve in a adult setting with tea or coffee.

I made them in the shape of hearts because I have some antique cookie cutters my mother gave me that have been in the family for a while. They were a Christmas present and they normally only come out around Christmas.
I got the recipe off of Pinterest, and if you've ever seen Pinterest you've probably seen those pictures where they try and recipe or project from Pinterest and then they post their picture with a 'nailed it' caption when the picture....Well we'll just say it doesn't match the original picture from pinterest exactly. Lol but I think I actually got the picture matched pretty well lol.

My photography skills might not be as excellent but the cookies were delicious!
I have two other projects involving Lavender in mind. I want to make a sleeper mask with lavender buds sewn in the center, and then I want to try Lavender hot chocolate! It looks so yummy!
I've already put a small draw string bag of lavender in my drawers and it makes my clothes smell like they just came from the lavender fields in France. Wonderful!

If you're interested in trying things with lavender I highly suggest you go the natural green route. A lot of companies now a days are trying to jump on the 'green' wagon but in reality they don't have to follow any guidelines that prove their products are green. You don't need to do anything to say your product is 'natural' I encourage you to READ LABELS. I know, I know easily said but it would really help if you're trying to go the natural route.
I use wild crafted essential oils, and organic Lavender buds. Now you might be wondering 'what's wild crafted mean?' Well like animals, plants have a natural habitat where they were first created whether by the Holy God, or by more scientific means these plants do best where they were first at. Moving plants to different countries or in hot houses isn't detrimental to the quality but when the plant is in its natural habitat it receives all the nutrients that do it best, creating a better plant. A wild crafter goes to the plant, it doesn't make the plant come to them. They go to the plant and organically (meaning without chemicals) let the plant live freely in its homeland and take from it that way. This creates a healthier environment and better quality oils.
Below I have a few websites that I've mentioned above, like doTerra, my pinterest where the recipes for both the cookies and lavender hot chocolate are kept, my Facebook page (which I recommend you check out and like for many more handy little crafts and fun stuff!) and the actual site with the Lavender lemon cookie recipe if you'd like to peruse all of her other many delicious recipes.
All in all I LOVE lavender, it is wonderful and having it in my life on a daily basis has definitely improved it!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563697460/
http://store.do-essential-oils.com/lavender-essential-oil/
http://montcarte.ca/2009/12/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568

The Desolation of Smaug!! Movie Review

Me and my husband went to see the Hobbit, movie two 'The Desolation of Smaug,' I think the day after it came out into theaters and we were not disappointed!

Over all I really enjoyed this movie and when I watched it, it filled me with a fire to write and I wanted to run home to my laptop and get started! That's always a bonus when a movie inspires you.
I did read the Hobbit, but it was back in high school, I don't remember it all that well so I can't judge how well they kept to the original story. I know Orlando Bloom shouldn't be hanging around, and I have high suspicions about the female elf as well as a character, but over all I didn't mind their appearance. I'm not a die hard fan where I get really ticked if they don't stick to the book exactly, I understand directors want to make the story their own and take a small artistic license with that.
It's the same with Harry Potter 7 part 2 when Harry and Voldemort are flying around the school in black smoke after Harry grabs him and pulls him off the ledge. Didn't happen in the book but don't mind it happening in the movie. Or Twilight four part two when they had the massive battle that didn't happen in the book but they didn't want that huge anticlimax of building up to this battle throughout the whole movie and then it just leading to a verbal confrontation (something that the book did and was awful, did not like the Twilight book four...did not like how it was handled at all as a story.), so they put in an epic battle at the end to satisfy the audience.
I think that is what the Hobbit is trying to do here, though I'm not a huge fan of having Legolas in the story when he wasn't there in reality I don't mind, it makes me think less of Orlando Bloom though. Makes me think he's just money grubbing about til the next Pirates of the Caribbean comes out. I did hear that they tried to see if the actor for Aragorn played by Viggo Mortensen would join in and be in the movie as well but he refused saying that 'Aragorn wasn't involved in that and I'm not either.'
I think though if I had one complaint about the movie that I would definitely go back and change I think it would be Legolas's eyes...why are they blue? I know that's how they were described in the book, but they weren't blue in the LOTR, and if they were blue it was a lot darker than this new version. Don't know why but it bugs me that his eyes are blazing blue when they weren't in the other movies.

....Seriously...it's like night and day over here. If you look closely at the top picture you can kind of see a 'lightness' in his eyes that might suggest they are blue...but nothing like this crazy white fire we've got going on in this picture to the right.

So yeah...the eyes bugged me, everything else? Loved, loved the Tree Elf's place, it was awesome. The Elf king was a good amount of creepy and majestic, LOVED his crown. I want one of my own...seriously.
The Dwarves as always were great and Gandalf is lovable. I would suggest seeing this movie asap if you enjoyed the LOTR movies, or the previous Hobbit movie. I don't want to put in any spoilers so I'm keeping all this as vague as I can, hope I don't ruin the movie for anyone. Oh and lastly Smaug....amazing.... amazing voice, graphics...just...awesome. My husband liked him so much he wants the story to change and Smaug to win and keep all the gold lol, but I don't think they'll deviate that much from the original book.
Hope you all are having a pleasant and safe Holiday season!

Tips and sips

Today I'm sipping on some tea and playing around with my writing.
I wanted to talk about writing for a little bit. I've found a lot of tips for aspiring authors but I have some of my own.
I'm a new writer so I only have my own experiences but I think that might be enough for this.
I started my book in December of last year (2012) I finished it I think mid February (2013) and I thought I had it all. It was the first book I'd ever finished, and I thought it was amazing. I went back and redid things here and there but over all I thought it was amazing as is so as soon as I could I bought a 'how to' book on how to get published and then just plowed right into querying every agent I could find.... then a few months later the rejections came....by the tons.
It was heart breaking but I will say, all those tips I got about setting your book aside after you finish it and then going back and looking at it, well that's what I should have done. Actually it's what I ended up doing just by circumstance because I was so busy making out queries I didn't bother reading my work. After all the rejections I sat down (This is now September when I did) and actually looked at my story, I found soooo many issues and problems. I became discouraged and pushed it away...but I kept thinking about it.
 I started sending chapters to friends to read, and tried finding a critique group.
I had long talks with close friends that I trusted with my work, most of which my husband who had good insights.
Always I was thinking about it, stuff I liked stuff I didn't. I like watching movies based on books and seeing how they look and I think about my story. The descriptions, the feelings, the scenery, what did I leave out? Finally I started making headway, all those parts I wasn't sure about but didn't want to go to the trouble to change I started thinking about and started changing.
I'm in the middle of rewrites right now and some chapters I'm completely writing over and going in a completely different direction than I originally planned, and my book is getting better.
I found you need time to think about your story, some times the fingers just run away with you while your typing and you need to go back and look things over.
Also READ, read a lot. Read stuff that has to do with your genre that you're writing in but don't just read that, read everything. If you have a male or female protagonist and you want to 'flesh' them out and make them deeper, read books with a main character that your protagonist could aspire to. If you want to flesh out your villain (Which I suggest, you don't want a two dimensional villain to go up against your 4 dimensional protagonist) read books with villains you like, villains you want your villain to be like.
If I was to sum up how to write I would say:

Just sit down and do it, it's the only way to get it done. You're only a writer if you write

Writers block is an excuse to do other things...like blogging lol 

You WILL have to rewrite, no getting around it

I love this meme...because it's so true...speaking of which I need some more coffee, starting to get a headache

Rejection is a part of the game, gotta learn to deal with it

Seriously... it'll help

 In reality all you can do is write and keep writing. Good luck!

Introductions

I think as my first post I will explain my blog title...and maybe the odd picture of the fox reading in the middle of an autumn forest wearing a fabulous hat.
First, the title. I'm a writer, as in I write...that's it. Nothing following like titles that have been published or anything. I wish to change that and in my wanderings through literary agent bio's I came across an agent that made it plain she preferred 'both' coffee and tea, though apparently there are many that believe this is an impossibility. Well I thought about that and realized I was the same. I love both coffee and tea, not really sure if I had to pick a favorite which one I'd pick, but I go further in that. Since I was a kid I've never had just 'one' thing I was passionate about. I had many things I liked but nothing to dedicate all my strength and energy towards. Of course as a child this doesn't really matter but when you get older and people start expecting you to choose avenues that will lead to your career it starts becoming an issue.
I'm also an Aromatherapist, aspiring to open an Etsy online store that sells perfumes. (If you don't know what Etsy is but love hand made, organic stuff you have to check it out! www.etsy.com) I hope to do this in the summer of 2014 after I take the advanced class that will license me to work internationally where as right now I am only legal to work within the United States.
 I don't have a particular love that I will forsake all others for, I never have. For some of you that might be normal, you might be like me, others might not understand. I've had friends that have fallen in love with themes, movies, they've dedicated their taste, their wallet and their creativity to these things that they are passionate about. I've always envied them and lamented that I did not share such a passion for anything. That is until I read an article about Elephants. I don't know if this is true or not but it said Elephants are lead by an alpha female (the female pack, the bulls go off on their own and have their own system of things). This female is picked because she is amazing at not just one thing, like finding food, defending the young, or finding good places to sleep, she's chosen because she's good at all of them. A 'jack of all trades' is what she was referred to as, and I think that's what I like to be.
I like to paint, read, write, I play a little music, I mess around with art programs and decorate, cook, and garden. I like all of these things, wouldn't give any of them up, but couldn't dedicate myself solely to any of them. That's where my title comes in, a slight play on words because of my beloved manatea tea buddy,

  ( Look at him! So adorable!)
and my love for coffee. It's the same as my love for writing, and my love for aromatherapy, or natural perfume products. That's why this blog will be about both things. I plan on posting about my journey to be published (I'm in the rewrite stage now of my book, I'm actually here making my first post because I'm blocked!!) and become a published author, and I also plan on writing about my journey to become a internationally licensed aromatherapist and new business owner. (Plus any deals, contest, give aways will also be posted on here so keep an eye out!)
I know that since this is my first post and I'm basically a nobody so no one will probably see this post but for future reference when I'm a famous author and I sell the most beloved perfumes around the globe people can hearken back to this first post of mine and see where it all began!
Oh and BTW the fox is me, I wanted a picture of myself for my first post but didn't like my face so I put a fox there instead, I love foxes so yeah... oh and I just really loved that fabulous green hat!