Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: rum   Sight: thick red silk dress; the oak tree on the corner, four houses tall, with a bird nest in the top and a cup for a treehouse; the cat's liquid tail Sound: "Unquiet the Mind ," "Avalanches," "An I for an I" songs by IAMX Touch: cat's paws; the weight of a cat on your chest   Smell: Alfy's; chimney smoke   Extra: the shaggy, moss green sweater with gold threads; the felt black coat with fitted waist and velvet lapels   Grateful for: popcorn and beautiful movies — Anna Karenina , The Hobbit , Cloud Atlas , Life of Pi

Taste: yellow curry   Sight: black face, silver gleaming eyes   Sound: theme songs: The Hobbit and Anna Karenina   Touch: bulky sweaters   Smell: movie popcorn; Banana Republic   Extra: "Snow is bruised lilac in half-lite: such pure solace," — David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas "And they seemed to waken the city--all around, far and near, there were bells, ringing wild music; for fully a minute Jurgis lay lost in wonder, before, all at once, the meaning of it broke over him--that this was Christmas Eve!" — Upton Sinclair, The Jungle   Grateful for: sweaters

Taste: gingerbread coffee Sight: pink, sequins, sparkle, glitter; mushrooms in the front lawn   Sound: "I can taste my death like a candy bar so sweet and complete as infinity takes me." — "Quiet the Mind," IAMX Touch: paws Smell: oil paint; juniper; microwaved cookies Extra: Purrrcules; chest cat; "In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction." — David Mitchell, "Cloud Atlas"; wrestling with a venomous python in the dark and weeping while reading aloud Native American poetry; pushing the door closed with my foot as the gusting winter wind billows in Grateful for: fantasy, oddity, costumes; comic books; stories