Three Tenors

I've been waiting forever for Blockbuster Online to send me "The Three Tenors," the live performance in Rome by Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti from 1990. Sure I have the DVD, but I wanted to see it too. Yesterday it finally arrived and I got tears in my eyes hearing Pavarotti sing Nessun Dorma. Totally amazing. It was a great way to honor his memory, to listen to him sing when his voice was still at its peak. Ciao, Luciano, you brought so much pleasure to so many people.

The books I've been waiting for from Amazon.com finally came too. Two books are about perfume making by Mandy Aftel, "Essence and Alchemy" and "Scents & Sensibilities: Creating Solid Perfumes for Well-Being." Great books for anyone, like me, who yearns to learn the perfumer's art. I would so love to get ahold of her Oil Kit to do some experimenting.

The thing about perfumery though is that it is so expensive. It's not something you just dabble in, especially because the price of many essential oils has gone way up because of drought all over the world. The cost of patchouli oil alone has gone up 3X or more in the past month.

One thing I've considered doing is getting a small still, one that will work with a smaller amount of plant material, to produce my own essential oils. I might ask for a still for Christmas. Weird, I know. That's just how I am.