[Ed. note: I’m having various internet access & other technology issues. Apologies for the lack of posts today — here, a bit late, is Angie’s weekly article. Hopefully I’ll be back in business soon. Robin]
When I was a kid, the year broke easily into two pieces: a hot, dusty summer of playing at the swimming hole and making forts out of dried Manzanita branches; and the school year of textbooks, reuniting with friends, and tetherball.
In some ways, the start of the new school year was more significant than New Year’s day. Each school year, I hoped my carefully selected outfit from the Montgomery Wards catalog would signal my good taste and worldliness. My new haircut would launch me into the stratosphere of girls boys liked. My memorization of the capitals of all fifty states would awe the smart kids. Maybe, for the first time, some of the boys might even be taller than I was. The beginning of the school year was a time for optimism.
Today — the day after Labor Day — starts the school year for most American students. These days, I’ve taken to perfume to express my optimism for the brilliant new me that will surely take root. (O.K., maybe vintage coats play a role, too. And that chunky cast bronze ring I’ve had my eye on.) Through perfume, I can express the qualities I want to embody.
First, I’d like my perfume to convey something witty and unexpected…
