Smells and Nelly

I think smell is an extremely underrated sense. Given the option, I think most people would choose to give up smell or taste over touch, hearing or sight. Sure, it would be bad to not be able to smell your dinner burning in the oven, but at least you could hear the smoke detector. I love the way things smell (see Dirt and The Distillers) and it's mostly because of the connection to the memories associated with those scents. According to scientists, scent and memory are closely linked in the brain (something about the olfactory bulb and the limbic system).

Here are some scents/memories that are particularly important to me:

Vanilla - baking cookies and my mom telling me that vanilla extract doesn't taste as good as it smells
Pink erasers - Standardized testing. Okay, it's weird, but I always liked filling in those little bubbles
Old books - the inside of the Bookmobile
Fall scented candles (pumpkin, apple cider, etc) - fall (obviously) and by association apple picking, and the Utica, IL Burgoo Festival

There are some scents that I can't place, but always remind me of something. For example, all elementary schools smell the same and remind me of a specific time I was walking down the hallway at my elementary school. I must have been coming back from the bathroom because the hall was empty and it was the first time  I noticed the smell of the school. So whenever I'm wandering around some elementary school and I catch a whiff of that smell it always makes me smile.

Hot jam of the week is Ride Wit Me by Nelly. I fully admit to owning the Nellyville CD (which actually doesn't have Ride Wit Me on it, but shows my support). Ride Wit Me is light rap, if there is such a thing. They played it on the radio all the time, there is actually more singing than rapping in it, and even if you don't know all the words, there are enough commonly known words that you can still sound like you know it. Also any song that mentions Vanna White is awesome in my book.

Sorry (or you're welcome) it's the clean version
Bonus points for anyone who can name members of the St. Lunatics before watching the video