Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Nosy Interview: Carissa Halston

Carissa in a rotated Galaxies, Stars, and Dust, © Ignacio de la Cueva Torregrosa (Capturandoeluniverso, A.A.E.)

Carissa and I met at a going-away gathering for Elisa (miss you, girl!), and since that time I've had the pleasure of watching Carissa completely command a big, rowdy audience as she read from her novella The Mere Weight of Words. In addition to writing books, Carissa runs a small press and a reading series, and still somehow finds time to tweet

What do you smell like?
I like to think that I smell like the things I wear/do every day. Each day, I wear two white gold bands (one on each hand). My right hand has the advantage of tiny sapphires and diamonds. I walk and I read and I write every day, so add sweat to the mix (two parts cerebral, one part physical). As a writer, I'm fond of em dashes and as an editor, I'm fond of compression (delete, delete, delete), so I also smell of punctuation and absence. According to my best friend, I smell "warm," which I find comforting because it's sentimental and pleasantly surprising because I'd never describe myself that way.

What do you like to smell? 
I like to smell books, though it's very rare that I find a great book smell. Often, they smell like spaces (obvious ones: libraries, used book stores, dusty shelves, boxes). Though occasionally, they smell like books, which is a pulpy, inky, old (or sometimes new) smell. It's the faint scent of glue and cloth. Some books have very non-book odors. Health textbooks have a distinctly skunky scent. The very first book I remember smelling was my health book in second grade. It smelled foul, but I couldn't keep my face out of it. Its stench was compelling in its strangeness.

I love smelling freshly cut lime. I also love to smell nutmeg. And hyacinths. And hot pavement after a dramatic pour. Summer days by the ocean (for the salt water), autumnal days in the city (for the leaves). The smell of winter right before it snows. The smell of spring right before the thaw. Cloves, which make me think first of ham and second of cigarettes and the boy I used to know who smoked them. Sandalwood, which my best friend wears. Cedar, which my father's shoe-
trees were made of. For nostalgic purposes, rubber cement--it reminds me of fifth grade and a friend I haven't seen in years who was my very first smart friend (i.e., he was the first person I ever met who I knew I could be smart with). Juniper. Anise. Earl grey.

2 comments:

khairy said...

شركة تسليك مجاري بمكة
شركة تنظيف فلل بمكة
شركة تنظيف شقق بمكة
شركة تنظيف منازل بمكة
شركة تنظيف خزانات بمكة

Emersonsallyjack said...

However Licht, a cabinet maker by profession, started designing his wooden confections quite by chance. An optician's prognosis for prescription glasses made him realise that Cheap Jordans Online he wanted to make them himself using the material he knew best wood. From a personal experiment to a luxury enterprise, the artisan now makes almost 300 pairs a year in Coach Outlet Clearance Sale oak, cherry and maple pear and walnut. Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet

While scientists are still working to find a cure for cancer there are many who Michael Kors Bags Outlet are dying. Cancer does not discriminate between adults and children. Cancer has only one mission and that is to kill! The cancer industry does not want a cure to be found while billions of dollars are being invested into cancer research and Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses not one Coach Outlet Online Store has discovered a Fake Yeezys cure New Jordan Shoes 2020 yet.

Inside your What's On this week. We've got five, festive pages of pantomimes Cheap Real Yeezys across the county so you can get your tickets ready for curtain up. We also preview this weekend's very special Armistice centenary event with Hollywood director Danny Boyle in Folkestone Pages of the Sea and how you can be there to see it happen.

Post a Comment