A Game to Sharpen your Senses: Love this, Hate that

Let's play this game I just made up. I call it "Love this, Hate that". It's actually an exercise to hone your writing skills, but don't tell my good friends Geoff Hoff and Steve Mancini that. They are master writers who really teach how to write. I'm just having fun and trying to help myself and those of you who like to write get a little bit more descriptive.

Here is how you play. Pick a sense. It is probably best to start with the one you feel you are sharpest at. I am hard of hearing, so I won't pick that one. However, I think being hard of hearing makes me have a heightened sense of smell. I am definitely a good smeller. (I smell good? or ....I smell well?)

Then you make a list of stuff you love to smell, see, taste, hear or feel and stuff you hate to smell, see, taste, hear or feel. One "Love" always followed by one "Hate". When you run out of stuff you love and hate, you're done. Number your love/hate pairs. Post your entries as replies.

Do not do this:

I love to taste chocolate
I hate to taste sauerkraut

Do do this:

I love the way dark chocolate scoots around on my tongue until it finds the perfect tasting place, then lingers long after it is gone.

I hate the way sauerkraut squenches up my lips and makes me want to cement my mouth shut.




My list of stuff I love to smell and stuff I hate to smell.


1. I love way the smell of baby powder reminds me of innocence.

I hate to drive by the Hercules paper plant in Hattiesburg, MS. The smell is so rancid I can taste it in my ears.

2. I love the way the smell of fresh baked brownies makes me feel. Even though I salivate like Pavlov's dog when I smell them, the smell has a place all its own. They seem to smell even better than they taste.

I hate to get behind a deisel powered vehicle at a stoplight, especially on a hot day. Even with the windows rolled up, the fumes give me an instant headache. Being stuck in such a predicament with no escape tends to create a mild panic in me.

3. I love the smell of fresh laundry. When I buy laundry detergent I always open the cap and give it a good smell test. If it makes me think of running through a grassy field on a hilltop and singing like Julie Andrews, it's a winner!

image by cherrycoke

I hate the way those huge hot dryers smell in a laundromat when they have not been cleaned in a while. Mystery gunk, having seeped through the holes in the sides, is constantly reheated, creating a sickening death-like stench. Where's the bleach?

Your turn!