It Always Comes Back To The Blues

I've no idea why that is. Even though I'm not really a blues player, in a technical sense. I guess I am in another sense. It's an emotional thing, when the opportunity arises, and that is real blues. It is not that great to feel it, but that is jst the way it is.

The theme carries further than playing stupid blues harmonica. I always think my limited playing ability is stupid, even though I do pretty much kick ass, and I'm no copy cat.

What it really comes back to, and this definitely has some blues to it, is what once was said about me by a close relative; "He's blablabla...IF you can get past THAT". I understand the That, and I'm not sure I can get past it. That one couldn't. I guess in the past I'd managed to cover or compensate or something.
Truthfully, I don't expect anyone to get past THAT. I can't help it. I'm not that different from anyone else except a little less involved in ways.
Anyway, it will never bother me again. And I will never be so dumb as I was the time I was monumentally dumb in the most expensive way.

Mostly I figure I will survive, despite that fact that I know damaged goods, and it r us. That is sad to me. I am pretty sure I’ll never be hitting on all cylinders because one or two are just gone. Make the best of what there is. Can’t think of a better goal. I also can’t quite figure out what that means, or how to do it.

I’m angry tonight. I was thinking of the old staff I had when I first entered the Memphis scene at the airport. What a lying stealing bunch of people, including my boss. Thieves over me, and thieves under me; liars all, and the sorriest group of workers I’ve ever seen. I guess I did do some good. At what cost to me, I wonder. I did have a few of them convinced I would only put up with so much on the job–pc policies and modern corporate double talk protects the dishonest and incompetent–so I let a few know I was ready to surprise them in the parking lot with a ball bat, and that I had nothing to lose so I did not care about consequences. I half believed it myself. Never had to do it.

That was hell.

This is not, but the THAT thing bugs me to this day. Sometimes I hate relatives and wish they would shut up.

Too Hot, Too Cold

Would there still be Santa Ana winds if Davey Crockett and those guys had won at the Alamo?

We're not actually experiencing those winds at the moment. The heat is here anyway. Geez, it is hot hot hot. A dry heat, of course, which is even worse in the land of fires and idiots who make it harder to prevent or extinguish fires. What idiots?

Let's start with threat #1---your basic "undocumented" camper, traveling by foot. Due to the fact that, contrary to popular belief, third world cultures generally see the world as their trash can, any garbage either goes into the fire or just gets left where its usefulness died. This culture also sees the world as their campsite. If it means the tiny campfire grows to the point of boiling the oceans, oh well, must be God's will. I'm not concluding anything here, except it is another case of uninvolved Americans bearing the brunt of problems caused by other elements. And the cure is usually to make it even tougher for the people who aren't the cause. Same as airport security.

Other idiots would be those who protect the environment but threatening the environment. It appears their real goal is to make life hell for humans whenever possible. So, we don't have adequate fire breaks because that might mean cutting out some protected species, which are abundant in the area. This of course means less defense against out of control fire, which means more protected species get burned out. Environmentalists are happy because there are humans who get screwed over, lose property, and if all goes well, die a horrible death.

Environmentalists, in the sense of those who spike trees and promote junk science and forest fires, appear to have as their main driving force an irrational disdain for their own species. Any time man is caused pain they are happy, or at least completely without compassion. Man eaten by bear---enviro says--bears were here first, he provoked the bear by appearing tasty. He deserved it.
I've actually heard very similar statements. IDIOTS. They are the enemy of the human race so why not treat them like any active enemy? You know, jail them, provide special diet, then after awhile let them back out to spike some more trees or bomb research scientists.

Oh, there are the corrupt energy leeches, power company monopoly people who risk people and property while pretending the opposite. That story has many tangents, like tentacles of a giant squid. So, never mind.

All this nonsense is due to the heat. I don't give a damn what happens to the environment or to those who have made the goddamn earth and it's feelings their religion. I don't care. It is hot and I want to ignore other things.

In other dimensions there is a chill wind blowing, but that does nothing to alleviate the heat. If I ever build anything it will have air conditioning. No one on the west coast thinks they need it, so they will swelter and pretend. It is somehow a matter of principle; "I live in Paradise, so I do not need AC."

There is an odd sort of stubborn streak that runs through the culture. That may be what makes it fertile ground for idealists. I mean, look, people are still clinging to the same philosophy even though they have a bankrupt state. Odd that they can't trace the path from solvency to insolvency and see that it may be in direct proportion to the implementation of their plans.

Nice people, nuts when it comes to air conditioning. I love AC. Some people do not.

Chill winds, I do not like in the figurative sense. Odd, because I often do like them in the literal sense. I expect to be riding one whenever I take my last breath. A chill wind, thousands of feet up. just flying along holding an umbrella.

People, even though I am one, scare the piss out of me. I don't know why. They just do. Better they seem, spookier they become. Almost by definition. Good thing I am not vulnerable to any of that. I'm really not. I learned how stupid it can be to be stupid, so I won't be That kind of stupid any more.
Goddamitt!!! this farging heat

Go West, and Be Barely Legal; almost jail bait

There's no turning back now. I am officially a citizen of the land of fruits and nuts, a west coaster. I'm thinking the likelihood of ever living east of the Mississippi again is very slim. From the time I was 6, when I first visited northern CA, I never intended to remain east, yet I did for several lifetimes over a period of more years than makes sense.

The coolest thing is that California, in all their wisdom, has declared me younger than I would have guessed. By moving here, I became a few months my old self's junior. What a country!! You show up, allow the HP to abuse and make fun of you, then they say, "Hey, welcome. You are no longer 102. You are only 98!" I guess a place built by miners, criminals and whores, and made famous by surfers and Hollywood whores (be he man or woman) is bound to have some fun customs.

What a great capper to the day. Certain insights and resolutions were achieved on my pilgimage to the higher altitude sanctuary, great feelings of gratitude for the people in my life washed through me as if I am some sappy sap, and then I find out I am aging in reverse. Not only that but I am bound for another adventure to the north next week. Thank you Southwest for those getaway fares.

How could I not want to go for another visit ASAP? This is another of those windows in time which seems filled with good life. This is a very good moment.

wow looking closely, I see they put a halo on my head. Caleeforneeya thinks I'm either a saint or an angel. What luck.

I am beginning to realize that much of my life was spent not feeling like it was OK to enjoy the moment at hand without an "if" or "but" in the inner dialog. "This is great, if it doesn't blow up and we all die". "This would be a perfect day, but it could blow up and they send me the bill, and we all die." That sort of thing.

Often it had to do with "Yea, I'm doing OK, but it would really be OK if I could just do some grandiose or half way normal thing and get this job or that money and not be a dolt any more".

No one can entertain such thinking habitually without spiraling downward, becoming chronically drunk and/or drugged, or both, and maybe worse. It takes some sicko strength to survive yourself if you set your mind toward self destruction and denial of living life. Or wacky luck. Maybe both.

I believe it is important to learn to appreciate what you have right now, and where you are. Maybe I just fell into hell so many times that all this is such a contrast that I appreciate it more. I don't think I feel the need to sabotage it. That is something it has taken me all my adult life to learn to avoid.

Obviously one doesn't feel this up for long if he is isolated and feeling lonely. I don't feel very alone, between friends and friend it seems I'm becoming emotionally whole. Who would think it possible? That's rhetorical so don't feel compelled to answer or despair that I didn't make it multiple choice.

All I know is that there is more to life than meets the eye, and a lot of what meets the eye is good.

Ted K, an example to us all

What a shame that Teddy has moved on to that gangland wonderland in the sky. Or somewhere. He was my favorite example when looking to flesh out an illustration of the corrupt, elitist, sociopathic career elected official. Who better filled the bill? Maybe they'll send another Bush along.

The idea that "we need Camelot" or any other imaginary royal dynasty in America is as idiotic as any idea ever. However I have heard people say that on TV with that tone of affected intellectualism accompanied by their best pensive furrowed brow, also an affectation.

We've really sunk low when the Lyin' of the Senate gets treated to unbelievably shameless eulogies attributing to him every virtue he did not have. To think someone who came from gangster riches, never really had a job, and did not need one, actually has a grip on normal life and is dedicated to making things better for the downtrodden, is to think blindly and falsely.

Every single move the man made was designed to solidify, if not create, a voter block. All about power. I'm sure he did something in his life that was not involved with a lie or covering a lie. I'm just not sure what.

Some think he stood for equality. I think not. For one thing, he has done as much as anyone to keep an entire group of citizens in ignorance, and believing that entitlement is the same as opportunity. The New Orleans debacle was as much due to having more faith in an all powerful government-god as it was the failure of government on every level; city, state and national. Local procedures which had been discussed and modeled in mock emergency exercises were not followed. It just went on from there. The point is, due to the tactics employed by Ted and company, people honestly thought doing nothing was their job and that the world would somehow pluck them out of the depths.

Living below sea level may have never entered anyone's mind as far as having a ready plan B in case sea level became the norm in the place. I blame Ted as much as anyone for the bizarre reaction of the people. I've live through too many hurricanes to buy the rhetoric spouted by other elitists like Sean Penn or demagogues like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

There's no question that the aftermath is rife with double dealing and skullduggery. But that does not change some of the elemental problems which were created by pretending to promote rights while promoting special case, ward of the state mentality. It is all about votes. Free people do not vote in a block unless it is to achieve more freedom. That is different from voting to get special treatment in various ways. When people don't know how the country is supposed to be set up they assume you just come up with ideas and can do anything without restriction. Like, "wow, solar energy is a great idea, let's subsidize it with other taxpayers' money!!". That is actually far from constitutional, in spirit.

But Ted was an icon, a lion, when it came to shredding and mauling the basis of this country. He is applauded for it by others who see nothing wrong with being in an elected office for many decades, using power and wealth to ensure that excessive duration, using power and wealth to skirt the laws against manslaughter, being a drunken miscreant, abusing the less powerful, and having no conscience. Obviously he was a great example to others who hope to remain in power until their brains fry.

Political dynasties are an abomination in this country. Our Constitution was written to avoid such abuse. It's number one purpose was to limit power of government, and of individuals who would seek to make a profession of controlling and spending the money of others. Monarchy was a dirty word.

Ted cared about your health care? Then why did he not fight to let elected officials get their own, or be subjected to the same BS he wanted to foist on the rest of us? Because it never was about you and your health. It was and is about power.

One of my Ted stories happened to a friend who was walking on a sidewalk in NYC. My friend is a small guy, maybe 5'3". Ted's limo pulled up and Ted stumbled out, oblivious to the pedestrian traffic, bulldozing into my friend. He said nothing as the body guards slammed my friend down on the hood of the car cussing him out for touching the senator. I have more of those but I think it demonstrates how much those people think of the downtrodden, or even just normal people who can't get away with murder and rape. (since Ted cared so much about polarizing based on race or ethnicity--my friend is Hispanic)

It's OK, though. We have evolved into a country run not only by a number of oligarchies forming one all powerful one, but a country controlled by elitists who truly think the rest of us cannot think for ourselves or function properly without their oversight and total control. People sucker for anything. That's the lesson in that. The worst part is that the idea that the alternative or opposite approach is to be found in the Republican party is believed by most of the citizens, and non citizen voters.

That is a big lie and a very difficult one for people to see. The only choice is not necessarily between dumb and dumber; or intrusive and rape. To think so is to play right into the trap the professional tax vampires and elitists have so cleverly set. Somehow the old team loyalty thing, and habit, as well as family allegiances tend to make it tough to face the truth and can the idea that these two evil institutions aren't both enemies of liberty and the constitutional republic.

And that is the legacy of the Lyin Liberal of the senate; proof that people will believe anything as long as you throw them a crumb or two, while picking their pockets and stealing their souls.

Don't worry that the Lyin' is gone from the senate. That Lyin spirit lives on and will be with us for a long time.

I'll miss you Ted. Few of your colleagues so clearly illustrate the abuse this country takes for granted, and which threatens our freedom, and as a result, our prosperity. Some come close, but they don't have that Camelot dynasty thing going

A Strange Life--or just a strange person living normally?

There you have it, the crux of my inner confusion. See, when you aren’t sure of the basic premise, reasoning further only leads to suspect conclusions.

Frequently I find myself in the most unusual circumstances, given the actual effort expended and likelihood of of such things. They tend to be horizon broadening and fun, and way beyond my pay grade, yet somehow quite natural. It baffles me.

Another possibility is the alien theory; either that I’m an alien who just landed here, or that they abduct me whenever the want which is plenty.

Maybe it is just a matter of contrasts. Extreme contrasts in life can make the new seem suspect, like it was just a figment of imagination. Maybe that is why I had the unpleasant cop adventure when my car was trashed–just to demonstrate how positive most interactions actually have been since I launched the Tour. Whatever the case, it is a mindblowing adventure. The styles of life, people, places and thinking I’ve stumbled into here in CA do tend to amaze me. All that serves to make me wonder how I could have ever been so darkly secluded in Memphis.

It has to be the contrast at work. I start to think that I’m not used to the socializing and respect, but given the course of the last year, it is becoming more the rule than exception. That doesn’t stop it from being surprising every time a new and unusual, horizon broadening twist of fate presents itself.

No matter how it is viewed, I still don’t get it. Although, much of it is what I consciously asked for on some level. Only I did not know exactly what it would be like in reality. How can you know what you don’t know but hope to experience?

So, it was another one of those weekends. Extraordinary. Maybe it is good I don’t have the pattern and stability I sometimes crave, or lament. It allows for enough flexibility to experience things that broaden my view of life and its possibilities. Whatever the truth, it appears that my outlook on a lot has definitely undergone some changes. I’m glad of that.

At least I was able to keep my word, which involved a frying pan. The details are unimportant, except that some non stick pans look like plain metal, but they aren’t. That can lead one to damage the coating, resulting in God only knows what.

Another area of living, I did not do as well with, but that will work out. Still, there is a degree of honor involved, and that’s what needs to be considered. Health, and nervousness, and any number of other factors could play a role, but the part about maintaining the integrity, keeping the word, that is most important.

It would take very little to convince me I’ve landed on a new planet. I hope this doesn’t mean I’m merely nuts.

snap out of it

All things good going on and I'm wanting to fight ghosts. That is no good.
Can't say something reasonable and positive then don't say anything. I caught myself feeding the wrong things and that is not smart. I cannot afford that luxury.
So another hour and half sleep and then I'll make an early early day of it. This has been a peculiar day.

Maybe she's right about the influence of sunspots. Something is amiss and I'll be glad to put this day behind me. It was too peculiar and nothing went as planned.

The Age of Defectors

I'm not really that old, but I do realize there are huge numbers of people in this country who aren't old enough to recall the days when athletes, entertainers and pilots would seek political asylum in the USA. There were many from the USSR, and from Cuba. Just about all the communist regimes which had people locked in were greatly annoyed when citizens would escape, seeking freedom.

It has come full circle. This is no longer a place sought out on principle. It is becoming more difficult for us to leave the country now. We are slowly being locked in ourselves. In the name of security, if you want to travel abroad you are opening yourself up to a type of scrutiny which has nothing to do with whether you are a spy or a plane wrecker.

Immigrants don't stream across the border seeking freedom, dignity or because they believe in the sanctity of the individual. They come because they can get paid. They get more stuff for less work here. It is all money and often public services. How they get it does not matter. If the taxpayer covers it, fine, if it just means good jobs, fine. That is not political asylum. The main people who'd be after that are people like me, and there is nowhere that has the same guarantees against a heavy handed government we were supposed to have. It is not there.

How hard can it really be to trace almost every major problem back to government involvement, corruption, or program? It has never made sense as we watched one thing after another go from problem created by over reaching government to solution offered by even further over reaching.

If I knew of a place in the world that wasn't some insane feudal state, I'd go there. I have not found any place that sounds any freer over all. Some are free in ways we aren't but then they make up for it some other way. The least oppressive are impossible as far as relocating. Probably be a disappointment.

It just struck me that political asylum is probably a dead concept. We've got a lot of rather dim people in this country who would not know the difference if we suddenly found ourselves officially under a dictator. That leaves it wide open to any group in power who has the finesse to pull it off. All they have to do is grease the right skids. And they are.

Reactively Nuts

This would be a good description if I wasn't me but I was my shrink making notes. That is because it is easy to react as if a certain scenario is in action, even though it may or may not be. If strong evidence to the contrary is not present then visions of how repulsed others must be by my general way of being fill my mind.

At that point the decision to shut down, avoid, hide, and shroud myself in various forms of incommunicado is made. I'll leave the phone at home, the computer off, and generally be hard to find should anyone try. Most of the time no one even knows I've done that because they have something else to do besides track me down or call. So, when I return to no messages, notes, letters, etc., the foolishness and probable immaturity of my thought patterns become evident.

From there I reverse the plan, decide to be man and not mouse, be strong and get over it. What is it, I wonder. The old, "screw it" philosophy enters in. Back to the drawing board. Start with what I can control. Other people are not in that group of things. My own thoughts and attitudes for the most part are.

How could anyone be repulsed, anyway? I'm not that pushy, dirty, or otherwise difficult, I don't think. Maybe my aversion to, and distrust of, authority troubles some people. Or my desire to avoid people who lie, cheat, and/or steal. Of course, I could see how my weak frontal lobe activity would be a bit problematic at times. It has certainly plagued me and become tiring at times. I have to really make effort in order to filter what comes forth. Usually I can manage that.

When I compare myself to successful guys my age who are well integrated into the culture and our civilization, the contrast feels a bit stark. I'm not sure most of them are any more fun and I know that there are things I wouldn't change in order to be more like them, even if I could. However, there are things that separate us which I wistfully envy, for want of a better word. Good for them, they did it right. The only cure is to think in terms of now on, even though what the best path is now remains a mystery. The template is not so clear after a point. Maybe it never was.

The last year or so was predicated upon a single goal which may have been part of a larger goal; change everything and go search for home. I don't know if I am home but it is much closer than it was. Only so much dreariness is possible now. The acceptable level of isolation and self loathing has reduced dramatically.

Therefore, the level of half baked reaction based on what I imagine, but do not know, has necessarily reduced in intensity and duration as well. The entire key in my case is to have nerve and belief, and refuse to fall into overwhelming self doubt. That has been a lesson I've found hard to learn and put to work most of my life. It comes and goes. That is where the knowledge that thoughts can be controlled and directed is an essential tool of survival.
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Off the subject: shame on Switzerland for agreeing to provide the IRS with any private banking info. The real crime is the IRS itself. People around the world used to admire freedom, and now we are leading the way on the road to viewing it as somehow evil. That sucks.

Back to life. It was a temptation to discuss the many initiatives which influence private lives that are elementally wrong. I've heard some very elitist analysis of people who aren't on the bandwagon lately and it is born of as much ignorance as they attribute to the other.
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House cleaning has proceeded at light speed. Go faster than light and time goes backwards. Clearly, my description is stated in the most optimistic sounding terms.
I found my lost glasses again while on my way to a job many miles away to look for them. That saved a bit of travel.

Dumb as a Post

That could have many meanings in this venue.

I'm not sure if it is dimwittedness or uncertainty generated fear that causes some of my better moments; those semi catatonic instances when I am totally blank and dull, yet odd word combos are sent into the world from my vocal cords anyway.

For example--forget it, I won't detail the latest. Suffice to say a discussion of lawn mowers and weather stripping was about the last thing that made any sense in the context.

I have to write to get it out of my system. I'm timing the work day so that I have time to do what I need to do and don't get home until dark. That's the way of it. Why I am so clouded over, I am not sure. Apparently it is how this organism is wired.

I'm testing the pros and cons of a 3 day beard. Pros---it is simpler than shaving. Cons---being mostly gray, I look like the corner wino. Pro--looking like the corner wino, it wouldn't seem out of place to hit people up for a dollar outside the convenience store, or at intersections.

Conclusion---I better shave it off. Besides, when I had a non gray beard, as much fun as it can be, I missed being able to feel my face.

Pulling myself out of the fog, especially in search of enthusiasm and love of life, is an imperative, even if it is not easy. Why being fogged over and half asleep for no reason brings the spirits down, I'm not sure. It does, and it can lead to depression if I don't actively push through it. I downed a bunch of vitamins and some OJ, as well as some java. That seems to be helping.

This damned fog thing has haunted me on and off most of my adult life. There was even a time when people were seriously studying the thing. It goes a bit beyond the normal fatigue and muddiness of normal existence. Don't tell that to the arm chair neurologists I've known through the years. "Everyone feels like that". Good thing I didn't consult them that time I woke up with pneumonia. I wonder at people who are sure how everyone feels and thinks when it comes to matters which seriously impair the lives of others. They don't know.

Every time this comes over me, I notice my resentment of those I've stupidly tried to advise of the condition seems to surface. There is no simple way to frame it and I guess I only do it so they don't think it is a matter of like or dislike or an affront to be taken personally. I've discovered it is better to avoid people or just let them take things personally because the alternative always results in me thinking they think I am weak, which I probably am not.

I want to somehow not have those resentments any more. For one thing, it does nothing toward dissolving the fog, and for another, resentments are bad for your health; physical, mental, and spiritual. Better to seek to understand than to be understood. That is absolutely a key toward not being bummed out all the time. I don't even understand myself, how can I want or expect it from others? Accepted may be a different story. I'd like acceptance, even though I probably accept myself less than is prudent.

That almost covers things enough that I can clearly move forward with the day. The main thing that I think is rolling through my subconscious is the idea that I get tired of being alone but fear not being alone, even though that is really stupid. It is only when I am alone that such forces are at play. Not something to even consider purposely. Let it roll through, observe, and resist forming an opinion or fueling it one way or the other.

Where am I going to put all this stuff? There is too much to put under the bed and much of it won't fit anyway.

I've got to find a way to rent the movie Cadillac Records. I saw the beginning and it is killer. All about Chess Records, Muddy Waters and Little Walter. LW is often considered the best blues harp player ever, and he was only 17 when he got hooked up with Muddy. Just from what I saw, I could tell the music in the flick is stellar, and the cast superb.

Another time I may relay the events which led me to the discovery of the flick. It was one of those peculiar days in my life which lead me to cross paths with people in unexpected ways.

You Think I'm Strange? What about FOOD?

That's right, I find the whole food thing stranger than anything. Before I go into in depth analysis, let me give you an example of how sneaky food can be.

OK. So, I left my friends' house in the perfect part of the city this morning, with a belly full of vegetable juice--too many different ones to name; lots of green ones--and a cup of my favorite coffee; Cafe Pajaro. Parrot coffee from Trader Joe's. (just one more aside here: I would understand completely if a person relocated simply to be in close proximity to Trader Joe's. There were none near Memphis)

Continuing now, I had to be at job O in order to tour the forensic construction guy through the kitchen and explain what happened and when--long story, but it takes a tech with lots of gadgets to detect what needs detecting because the worst of it is not visible any more.

I also had to let the sound guy in to deal with the fried receiver/amp. What were they doing? King O and his conc. manage to fry a perfectly good sound system, and twist off a fancy, English made door knob--on the entrance door. I saw no blood so that rules out one scenario.

Back on point. I was having a great time discussing infra red cameras and their use for determining things in the building. All the while I was thinking of sneakier more blatantly voyeuristic possibilities, but I kept that to myself. Just thinking such things may be a grievous offense punishable in some unpleasant way. Mostly I was not too hungry, however I was thinking I need breakfast food when I get home, but I had none on hand.

I get home in the nick of time to eat a few tortillas with cheese, then bounce up the dirt road to practice with the band. They always have the best snacks. I felt like a cretin but I ate most of the snacks by myself. Real hunger was setting in and I'm trying to encourage my appetite. People I know well have been calling me names and making fun of my thinisity.

After playing I headed out to get a few breakfast food items. I can eat breakfast more readily than anything else, no matter the time of day. My hunger center was calling for some hash browns, eggs and other things like that. The potato chips were unrelated. They were on sale and sometimes I get to jonesing for them.

By the time I made it home, I had no appetite or desire for food whatsoever. Logical thought told me I probably needed to put food in the body even if I had to force feed myself. No hunger at all. I figured a few relatively empty calories might be better than nothing. I can almost always eat a few chips. So I did.

Then I was hungry again. As I was writing this I had stuff cooking in the frying pan (where else?), with the big steel bowl inverted over it to form a high tech oven of some kind. It fits that frying pan just right. Now I am eating breakfast.

That shows how sneaky food can be. All these odd things that we get excited about, almost in the Biblical sense, and we just shove it in like it is better than dope. All it does is fuel the organism. Nothing more than what coal would be to a steam engine. You don't see the old locomotives oohing and ahhing and having orgasmic reactions at the thought of coal. People and food, now we do see some action there.

Mammals in particular, but animals in general, are suckers for food. You can train them using little morsels of this or that. Do not try it with crocodiles, alligators or bears, because they are all evil and associate you with the food so if they see you without it, all they know is to eat, then you become dinner.

For such docile innocent looking stuff food has an extraordinary amount of control over living things. I believe it thinks and conspires. We are its slaves.

Awareness of this may be increasing in the collective unconscious or somewhere. That is why chefs are more and more gaining the status of rock stars. We revere those who dare to go behind enemy lines and boldly manipulate with such abandon and style. Very gutsy people, and possibly our only hope.