OBSESSIONS CAN BE GOOD

My music obsessions have been annoying and confusing to my family, friends, and co-workers. Many think my behavior can be easily explained or discounted as a mid-life crisis. How could such a negative suggestion describe something that gives me so much pleasure? I’ve heard comments like; "act your age," "pay attention to what’s important," "you can’t do that!"," you can’t go there!", "that's not appropriate." On and on and on and on.... I tune it out and try not to hear. But..................... Sometimes in life, you need affirmation. I received that the other day while listening to an interview on NPR’s show All Things Considered.

Chandler Burr an author and columnist for the New York Times, was interviewed. He wrote a book about Luca Turin a scientist whose obsession with perfume lead him on a quest to collect perfume from around the world. This insatiable passion guided him to develop a scientific theory about how humans can smell (olfactory processing). The Nobel Prize might be awarded to this passionate scientist in the future. The book is called The Emperor of Scent: A Story of Obsession, Perfume, and the Last Mystery of the Senses. This was a fascinating and entertaining interview, that you can hear on NPR (archives). 

Well, I won’t be winning the Nobel Prize, but I did start this little site, and people are finding it. One of my first goals was to get people to the site through Google search. The 300-plus people who have found me so far are not related to me. However, they have an interest in music or the musicians I write about. I will conclude by saying, HANG IN THERE.