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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 31

 

It was a warm and extremely windy week that I would have enjoyed if it weren’t for my back that acted up and was absorbing all my strength and time. And as soon as my back got slightly better my neck has decided it was a good time to become a prima donna.

I’m not done with my weekly reading (it’s very annoying but I can’t even read for too long since it hurts) but since I was collecting posts that created lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes I love, I decided to publish it while I still can. I might lie low for a while – to let my body heal. But when I can, I’ll catch up on the reading your posts.

Lemmings, Laughs, Loves

Lemmings

Civava (Parfumista’s Diary) published the first review for the upcoming Neela Vermeire‘s new perfume Ashoka: My first impression was that this is strange and so different from all other perfumes in Neela’s collection. But very quickly fig milk and more flowery notes emerged. It is lactonic and with skin (at least mine) gets very nice. I wouldn’t say gourmand, because there is not enough sweetness and other spicy elements. I look forward to trying it when it comes out in autumn.1.

Laughs

Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): I remember vividly that Sister once caught me by breaking her routine and moving diagonally across the classroom to make a casual inquiry about a compound-complex sentence while I had a mouthful of the things. When her queries about the main verb went unanswered she swiped me upside the head and I spewed black spit all over the desk top.  I don’t believe either of us ever really lived it down.

Loves

Kafka (Kafkaesque): There is a certain chilly coolness to the elegance. While Puredistance’s founder, Jan Ewoud Vos, feels the perfume evokes his mother (whose name is Antonia), to me, it conjures up a beautiful, slightly haughty, aristocratic European socialite from the early part of the 20th century, languidly lounging in a stunning dress. Here’s my Shahrazad’s tale for this perfume.

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The Perfumed Dandy (The Perfumed Dandy) sees mybeloved Diorella as a Lady of the Knives. Earlier I told the story of my first love in which Diorella played an unexpected part.

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Kafka (Kafkaesque) also reviews my favorite Tom Ford‘s perfume – Arabian Wood: By the start of the second hour, the perfume is truly pretty. The sandalwood has joined the party on the forest floor. It’s beautifully creamy, and its richness feels very much like the real thing, not a synthetic version. Together with that velvety patchouli, it’s a strong backbone for much of the perfume’s remaining development.

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Olfactif: Yay or Nay?

 

I’m constantly on a lookout for new perfume-related … everything: brands, lines, perfumes, services, media coverage and other events. Naturally I got curious about the new service offering a subscription-based access to niche perfumes samples.

There are many ways to obtain samples for perfumes you want to try. I won’t be covering here getting samples from B&M stores, swapping with other perfumistas or participating in splits, all of which are my preferred methods. I want to look into different options for purchasing samples.

Lorraine (Dear Scent Diary) has recently compiled a list of the brands that offer samples. But it’s always a good idea to look for an official website and see what their samples policy is. if I’m interested in the particular brand, all other things being equal, I always try to buy samples from the brand directly.

Sonoma Scent Studio Samples

There are many services and online perfume stores that offer perfume samples of your choice, sometimes in a selection of sizes. Some of these companies have been around for a while, others are relatively new.

So let’s take a look at the new kid on the block: Olfactif. Three dab vial samples (0.7 ml or 1 ml, I’m not sure and they don’t provide that information on the site), perfectly packaged, delivered monthly for $18 subscription fee. First month was offered free (I’m not sure if they plan to do that for future new subscribers). There is no obligation to keep the subscription for any minimum number of months. Steve (The Scented Hound) wrote about his experience with the first installment.

$18 for three 0.7-1 ml niche samples including S&H is neither an outrageous price nor a bargain. For $17-$19 you can get 3 samples of your choice (including the latest releases) delivered from Luckyscent, Surrender to Chance, The Perfumed Court or The Posh Peasant. Aedes de Venustas offers 7 samples of your choice for $20 including S&H ($5 of which is refundable with any full bottle purchase within the next 3 months). Luscious Cargo offers 7 samples for $25 including S&H. MinNY offers 5 samples for ~ $28 including S&H or sells individual samples for $5.

Perfume Samples

So what makes Olfactif different or unique?

A good deal? One month’s subscription fee can be applied to a purchase of a full bottle of one of the featured perfumes. Taking into the account that it’s a full retail price plus shipping charges it’s not too exciting.

Interviews with perfumers and information about perfumes? Look to the right: most blogs listed on My Reading List do it for free with a lot of passion and talent.

A surprise? You pay $18 by the end of the month and then for a couple of days might enjoy not knowing what you’re getting (until your package arrives or the reveal – whatever comes first since according to the site’s FAQ you’ll get the package “a day or two before the first of the month or a day or two after”). I saw some comments from people being excited about that part – not knowing. I remember thinking that there was something in Chandler Burr’s blind sniffing idea but I just couldn’t get past $50+ for a blind buy of 50 ml of a perfume and a chance to play guess games for a month on Mr. Burr’s say-so*. Olfactif offers a speed-dating: 1 ml# x 3 for $18 and you can close your eyes and still do a blind testing.

And that brings me to the last point. Curation. It’s an appealing concept. But who is Tara Swords and why would anyone rely upon her taste in choosing perfumes for them? She might be Turin, Burr and Coifan all-in-one but we don’t know that.

There must be something in the air: it looks like there is market for that type of service.

Last year there was a press release about MinNY launching Fragrance Flight, a Global By-Invitation Private Members Club with Privileged Access to Information, Luxury, & Curated Scents. Since then all I could find was a closed door and not a single mentioning of it. The first rule of Flight Club?..

Recently I saw on Twitter “bergamot: Curated fragrances delivered to your door. Launching Spring 2013.” You can sign up to get notified about the launch.

I have no real objections to Olfactif’s doing what they plan to do: it’s just a business, not worse than other businesses, and I hope that eventually either Olfactif improves: more customized approach, selection based on a user’s profile and previous months’ feedback, better deals, pre-releases, etc.; or there will be another service that does it better. In the end we, consumers and perfume enthusiasts, might benefit.

But if you are [still] reading this you do not need Olfactif in its current form: whether you know anything about niche perfumes or not, I believe you can do better. But if you see in that service something that I’m not seeing (other than nice boxes for storing samples) please share.

 

Images: my own.

 

* BTW, OpenSky is still running Burr’s project; there will be the ninth offering in May. I wasn’t following it after the third episode but from what I gathered now a year later they still haven’t figured out all the quirks.
# UPDATE: Now Olfacif offers 2.25 ml spray samples, which is a huge improvement.

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Entertaining Statistics: March, 2013

 

Our March was good though a bit dry. Luckily it started raining right before the end of the month and we’re still looking at a couple of showers before the end of the raining season.

Recently Steve (The Scented Hound) wrote: But in looking at my perfumes, I noted that there were a few this winter that I barely touched but once or twice.  But last year, I wore these same fragrances multiple times per week (Serge Luten’s Ambre Sultan for instance).  I started wondering if my tastes were changing or if my interest in perfume was dominated by the thrill of the chase in purchasing new perfume rather than for the pure love of the fragrance.

I read it just as I was thinking about my perfume usage and what to do for this month’s statistics post. I almost never wear the same perfume not only two days in a row but even more than once during the month. So to track my habits and to see if I favor the same perfumes year over year I decided to look at a three months period – January-March 2012 vs. the same period of 2013.

March 2013 Stats

In more than 40% of cases I wore the same perfumes in the first quarter of both years. But my wearing pattern changed: this year I used perfumes from more brands so I was less loyal to any of them.

 

Quick stats:

Numbers for Jan-Mar 2012 / Jan-Mar 2013.

* Different perfumes worn1: 58/61 from 26/34 brands on 87/84 occasions;

* Perfumes that I wore both years: 25 from 18 brands on 38/33 occasions;

* Out of 36 perfumes I wore in 2013 only, 10 I owned (bottles or decants) in 2012 and 26 joined my collection after March 2012;

* Perfume house I wore most often: Chanel/Guerlain – just to think that I bought my first Guerlain perfume inFebruary 2012!

 

Do you usually wear the same perfume for several days or do you change it every day?

 

1 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.

 

Image: my own

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When enough is enough?

 

A while ago Kafka (Kafkaesque) wrote in one of her letters:

Question: just how much must one torment oneself with a perfume that one really dislikes (but doesn’t rise to the level of TOTAL revulsion) before one says, to hell with the review, I want this off me? Normally, I scrub only when in agony and with a headache, but I have much less patience these days and this White Cristal makes me feel as though I’m in a hospital and they’ve just rubbed antiseptic on me.

With her permission I decided to answer the question here.

My knee-jerk reaction was: you shouldn’t suffer at all through testing a perfume you do not like, scrub it off immediately and forget!

Stop

But then I stopped myself and looked deeper.

I think it boils down to one’s intent. If you’re looking for the next perfume to like, buy and wear; or you’re writing only about those perfumes you like; or the extend of the negative writing about it in the blog will be: “Here are the notes and the pedigree; tested but it didn’t work for me; next!” – then of course, off it goes after the initial half-test. After all, it’s just a hobby and not a paid job to work through whatever comes your way.

But if you take it upon yourself to write both positive and negative reviews, it comes with some responsibilities. Of course, people are free to do it on their blogs any way they see fit. I’m talking strictly from the moral prospective, how I see it.

While it doesn’t really matter that you write an ode to a perfume you’ve just met, I think chastising a perfume requires a longer courtship. I always remember that negative images and characteristics might be very powerful and much stickier than positive ones. Go and try to shake off the “bathtastic“, “fancy Axe” or an image of Birgit relentlessly checking her son’s diaper.

I’m not saying bloggers shouldn’t do that; I enjoyed all the above-mentioned snarks and, if anybody, those brands can definitely withstand a dozen of such “hits” without even registering their occurrence on the PR seismic scale. But with smaller players it’s important to be mindful.

My position is: we, bloggers, shouldn’t write bad reviews for small niche or indie brands because even a single bad review will represent non-proportionally large segment from the total exposure whereas it’s very subjective and might be influenced by a writer’s mood, weather, stress level and hundreds of other factors. What can come from a subjective positive review for a “bad” perfume? Ten more people decide to pay for a sample and figure out on their own if they like it or not. Most people will not give it a chance after reading a bashing review – even though they might have loved the perfume in question.

But if bloggers want to write negative reviews, to be fair they have to go through at least several testing sessions, no matter how much they dislike the perfume. We are not doctors but since perfumes are our passion and we care about the industry I think we should follow the same principle: Primum non nocere.

Rusty And Sunflower

 

Images: my own.

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A Postcard from Undina: From Point Reyes with Love

From Point Reyes With Love


It was a wonderful almost summer weekend in Point Reyes, Northern California: it’s so strange that right now there are still places covered with snow.

That heart-shaped patch of shrubs that I saw from the window of the house where we were celebrating our friend’s birthday was just a perfect backdrop for the perfect event. I hope Spring comes soon to everybody who’s waiting for it. Stay warm!


With Love,
Undina

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In the Search for the Perfect Iris

 

Favorite flowers

Playing with numbers for the Entertaining Statistics post about favorite flowers of Birgit’s (Olfactoria’s Travels) readers reminded me that I planned to write this post for a long time. It was half a year ago. And I haven’t got to it since then. Last week when hajusuuri shared a cute idea of this week being an iris(h) week  I decided it was my cue.

I like iris as a flower; it was my favorite flower before I knew it was used in perfumery (which wasn’t obvious since irises do not have a pronounced scent). A scarf with irises (at least that was the idea, don’t judge my tracing/drawing abilities too harshly) was my first (of three) silk painting exercises.

Silk Scarf with Irises

Compliments

That day I was wearing my favorite iris necklace and Iris Silver Mist. At an antique shop, as I was paying for two vintage perfume minis, an owner – a woman in her sixties, I guess, – first complimented me on the necklace and asked if it was antique. I told her that it was contemporary and “made by the same designer who made those spoons” (and I pointed to one of the glass displays where a variety of Franz Collection’s porcelain spoons were presented). And she actually remembered the name without looking it up. Then, while wrapping my purchase, she also said something like: “Oh, something smells really good!” She thought it was one of the perfumes I was buying. But actually it was my Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens.

Franz Collection Iris Necklace

Later the same day at Ann Taylor store a sales associate girl in her early twenties complimented me again on the necklace and my outfit. I told her that a piece of it was from the brand and she recognized a blouse. But she really liked my necklace: she told me again how pretty it was and even pointed it out to the girl who worked at the next register. “It looks almost as if it’s made of porcelain!” – she exclaimed. To which I responded: “It’s because it is.” Then she asked me if it was still available and gave me a piece of paper to write down the designer. As I was scribing the name she kept praising the necklace: “It’s sooo beautiful! I’ll try to find it… for my mom – she’ll love it!”

I stepped out from the store and, laughing, told my vSO who waited for me outside about the “compliment” I got. Theoretically, I could be her mother and I can just hope that it’s her mother (who must be at least slightly older than I am) looks younger and not the other way around. But I was glad she didn’t inquire about my perfume: judging by the antique lady’s compliment it could be right up the alley of this girl’s Grandma’s tastes.

Iris perfumes

I found not one but many perfect iris perfumes. Most of them are well-known, well-reviewed and well-loved so I’ll skip the usual part of giving all the details and just name those iris perfumes I enjoy the most.

Iris Perfumes

Infusion d’Iris EdP by Prada (have you read my story Alien wears Prada Infusion d’Iris?), №19 EDT and parfum by Chanel, Iris 39 by Le Labo, Iris Poudre by Frederic Malle (it was featured in two of my Déjà vu episodes; if you’re curious take a look here), Hiris by Hermes (I want to thank again Portia of AustralianPerfumeJunkies for the mini bottle of this beautiful perfume), Orris Noir by Ormonde Jayne, Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens (even if you do not want to read at least take a look at the picture from Natalie’s post; that image stayed with me since I saw it and with which I always associate Iris Silver Mist now), La Femme Bleue by Armani Prive and my most recent perfume crush – Impossible Iris by Ramon Monegal (I think Rusty likes it: it was the only bottle in the group he sniffed for a while).

Rusty And Iris Perfumes

The following perfumes I’ve tried but didn’t fall in love with: Iris Ukiyoé by Hermes, Iris & White Musk by Jo Malone, Iris & Lady Moore by Jo Malone, Iris Pallida 2007 by L’Artisan Parfumeur, Iris Ganache by Guerlain, Bois d’Iris by The Different Company, Iris Nobile by Acqua Di Parma, №19 Poudre by Chanel, 28 La Pausa by Chanel, Irisss by Xerjoff and Iris Noir by Yves Rocher. Most of them were nice and I wouldn’t mind wearing most of them (but Iris Ukiyoé – it smells unpleasant on myskin) if I happen to own them but I do not plan to pursue any bottles from the list.

 

If you like iris in perfumes what are your three top choices? (You won’t have to give up the rest, I promise!)

 

Images: my own

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 30

 

Last week we finally got some rain – which was good. What was not so good, the absence of heating in the office. There was a gas leak in the building next to ours and the gas company shut off everything and is trying to repair the line. Sometimes it felt like outside was warmer than inside. I suggested we had a bet what would happen first: we’d get heat back or we wouldn’t need it any longer because of the weather. But my co-workers were so cold they didn’t want even to joke about it. We’ll see.

After a break I’m back with my weekly round-up post. For those who’ve started reading my blog recently: I’m bringing up those posts from my weekly reading that created some lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes that I love.

Lemmings Laughs Loves

Lemmings

It doesn’t take much for me to get excited about a new Amouage release but Lucas (Chemist in the Bottle) did his part and so did Sheila (The Alembicated Genie). So of course now I want to try Beloved Man.

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Lanier (scents memory) reminded me of a perfume that I liked a while ago, planned to get a bottle of, never did and now I’m hesitant: will I still like Cinema by YSL after all the niche offerings I’ve been with since we last met? For now I’m fighting off these lemmings but I don’t know for how long.

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I do not really care for the new perfume from Boss (neither does Lorraine (Dear Scent Diary)) but I would love to have that sweater Gwyneth Paltrow wears on the picture for the article. But I won’t: even if I could get it I’m not ready to pay $500 for a sweater.

 

Laughs

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): My conventional-looking scone paled into insignificance beside Tara’s humungous chocolate croissant, while Nick’s millefeuille was so substantial that he had to abandon it somewhere around the “cinq cents” mark.

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Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): Actually, I worry so much that I never wear patchouli myself, on the theory that, like a bra strap, she may be showing even when you don’t want her to.  Some people even claim that they’ve been caught with their patchouli down while wearing Chanel’s Coromandel, which is about as high end as it gets.  Is anyone really up for this kind of exposure? Do you want to spend all day worrying if your patchouli is clean in case you get hit by a bus?

 

Loves

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press) reviews one of my favorite Guerlain‘s perfumes: Chamade couples the vibrant smell of Spring—of yellow daffodils and brilliant greens—with a base accord that is the very hallmark of what one expects of classical perfumes: a richly cosmetic scent that conveys a feeling of grandness and sophistication.  If I were going to paint a picture to describe the smell of Chamade, it would be of a dense cluster of daffodils bursting into bloom in a stately marble planter, as this perfume really seems to suggest that there is something excitingly new and sunny issuing forth from a classic antiquity.

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Bryan (From Pyrgos) reviews one of the perfumes that are very dear to me: the boys at Creed could use a tutorial from Annick Goutal on how to use pear in perfume. Petite Chérie is a successful composition that perfectly illustrates the unique youthfulness of peach and pear. I not-a-reviewed it as a part of my weeklong test drives – WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal

 

Leftovers

If you were waiting to try or to order a bottle of the new all-natural perfume Cocoa Sandalwood from Sonoma Scent Studio you’ll be pleased to hear that Laurie has put back a purchasing option. Now you can order all samples (1 ml and 3 ml) as well as any size bottle of Cocoa Sandalwood.

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Entertaining Statistics: February, 2013

 

February was a short month. I don’t mean just a number of days: it ran away from me before I noticed. Probably because there were many pleasant occasions – my birthday, Valentine’s Day and just in general good days. As a result I tested less perfumes but I did not feel pressured to meet any milestones so I went with a flow.

The weather was… great if you ask me – warm and sunny; poor if you talk to my vSO – too warm and not enough rain. We do need more rain but I still enjoyed our local take on Spring (yes, it usually starts in February: fresh green grass, blooming trees and fledging birds).

After discussing the importance of a nice bottle in the matter of getting the most from perfumes I decided to see if the numbers from my February usage support that theory. I took into the account only perfumes that I chose to wear1 and not just tested2.

February 2013 Stats

It looks like I equally enjoy perfumes I apply from real bottles (50% of all perfumes I wore in February) and from all other possible vessels. But I still like owning beautiful bottles.

 

Quick February stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn: 23 (0) from 18 (-2) brands on 26 (-4) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested: 28 (-15) from 14 (-15) brands on 31 (-14) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 12 (-9);

* Perfume house I wore most often: None (There were no defined favorites);

* Perfume house I tested the most: Guerlain;

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear): top – (not counting bergamot) galbanum and rose; middle – (not counting rose and jasmine) ylag-ylang and iris root; base – sandalwood, vanilla and sandalwood;

 

From what type of bottle did you apply the most recent perfume you were wearing (not just testing) and do you think you’d have liked that particular perfume more/less had it been in a different container?

 

1 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.

2 For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.

 

Image: my own

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Does the size… (strike that) bottle matter? Yep!

 

A while ago Monday Question on Olfactoria’s Travels was: How Important Is The Perfume Bottle To You?

Out of 38 respondents 25 (66%) said bottles were very important for the enjoyment of a perfume; 7 (18%) didn’t care for bottles much and 6 (16%) put bottles into the “nice to have but not crucial” category.

I’ve added my voice to the “bottles, please” crowd but my position is a little quirkier; so even though this post covers a slightly different topic I want to reiterate the answer from my comment there.

If I’m in love with a perfume I want to own a bottle of it. And it has to be a real bottle, with a cap and a box: a tester or a refill bottle won’t satisfy my need for a full aesthetic experience. I have no problems with partial bottles though.

When it comes to the perfumes that I just like I’m attracted to unique bottles. And if a brand has standard bottles (Chanel Les Exclusifs, Dior La Collection, Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums, Ormonde Jayne, Guerlain L’Art et La Matière, etc.) owning just one bottle from the line seems to lull the cravings and I feel content with just decants of the other perfumes from that line.

Chanel Cuir de Russie

In the same post Birgit referred to her earlier post about the purchase one of the reasons for which was the beauty of the bottle: So I saw this bottle […] and knew I wanted it for its beauty alone. That it holds an exquisite scent is only the cherry on top and something that makes me happy, but unexpectedly so, because all I knew about 24 Faubourg before I laid hands on my precious Quadrige Edition was from one spray on the back of my hand right there in the store.

I went even further: recently I bought several perfumes… just because of the packaging.

Last July at the First Artisan Salon in San Francisco I saw new packaging for Ineke‘s Floral Curiosities line for Anthropologie and thought it was great. When I initially tested perfumes from the line they were fine but I didn’t love any of them enough to go for a full bottle. But these travel sprays disguised as poetry books were just calling my name. Also since I keep saying that companies should be releasing more perfumes in small bottles I felt like I just had to buy these… So I bought all four: Scarlet Larkspur, Poet’s Jasmine, Sweet William and Angel’s Trumpet.

Ineke Floral Curiosities Travel Bottles

I’ve tested Premier Figuier Extrême by L’Artisan Parfumeur before and thought it was nice but there are several other fig perfumes in my collection and I already have one bottle from L’Artisan Parfumeur line (though those colored labels add some appeal to otherwise similar bottles). Then I came across a special edition bottle… and just couldn’t resist. I will gladly wear Premier Figuier, I like this perfume and think it’ll make a very pleasant office scent. But I do not think I would have bought it any time soon if it hadn’t been for that gorgeous bottle.

Rusty And L'Artisan Premier Figuier

There are several more bottles on my “to buy” list but I think for now I’ve scratched that itch… unless you know where I can buy L’Artisan’s Mure et Musc Extreme in the blackberry-shaped bottle.

4 people from the survey mentioned above also confessed to buying perfumes just for the bottle.

Have you ever bought a perfume just because of the packaging?

 

Images: my own

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Orange Cats in My Life – Part II: A Grin without a Cat

 

For how it all started read Part I: Found and Lost

For years after moving to the US owning a cat was out of question for various reasons. But it was always somewhere in plans for future because both my vSO and I loved cats and wanted to have one. So for a while we had to figure out how to deal with that.

I don’t remember exactly how it happened but I think one morning my vSO found him at our door. And from this first comic strip (see below) through years of newspaper subscriptions, dozens of comic books and even membership in the Garfield Club (it doesn’t exist any longer) this fat well-fed, lazy, mischievous, sarcastic but still charming orange cat moved with us from one apartment to another.

Garfield-1997-10-13

Garfield became our virtual cat. We would use phrases from Garfield stories in appropriate situations.

Diet is ‘die’ with ‘t’.

Give me coffee and nobody will get hurt.

I’m not overweight—I’m undertall.

We had favorite comic strips that we would repeat to each other the way people relive real life memories.

How did you sleep?

Garfield-1988-05-02

I just had a thought…

Garfield-2000-1-6

Crumbs!

Garfield-1998-1-22

So even though we didn’t have a cat we had plenty of grins.

Garfield-1980-04-80

Images: All from garfield.com.