Small Talk: Back At Camp

[Special K]

In my dreams, I'd be fine with the fasting and sleeping (I still backpack and camp out and end up sleeping on rocks, etc.) and I'd be better than expected for an older woman on challenges.  But I would be driven absolutely mad by the constant forced interaction with other people.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.  :)

I think Survivor should do some kind of amusement park where people like us can go and take part in challenges. 

[Hanahope]

My 10 year old is hoping Survivor is still around in 8 years so she can try out.  I told her that she has to put me down as her loved one for a visit. :)

[Jobiska]

On 4/9/2017 at 2:50 AM, SVNBob said:

And potentially a Robert team as well.  I think there's about 6, if I remember my Survivor namesakes....

I was looking for at least 8, so you're not quite there...yet!  (My husband's a Robert as well!) From this site, which I assume is accurate because there's no way my own memory could factcheck it, heh:  http://www.truedorktimes.com/survivor/cast/

BOB Crowley

BOBBY JON Drinkard

'BOB-DAWG' Mason

ROB Cesternino

ROB 'The General' DeCanio

'BOSTON ROB' Mariano

ROBB Zbacnick

Although if you add Jean-Robert Bellande you'd get 8, and if you go with last names Troyzan Robertson and Burton Roberts, you'd rule the beach!  And since I have a pretty good memory of all the above but Bob-Dawg, that speaks pretty well for the Roberts, since any other group I'd be "who?"

Until the Johnston/Johnson-George/Johnsons joined forces with the first-name-Johns....then you'd be outnumbered again.

I also derived amusement from the fact that out of five Jessicas, three strongly preferred another name (Sugar, Flica, and Figgy).  

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Special K said:

In my dreams, I'd be fine with the fasting and sleeping (I still backpack and camp out and end up sleeping on rocks, etc.) and I'd be better than expected for an older woman on challenges.  But I would be driven absolutely mad by the constant forced interaction with other people.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.  :)

I think Survivor should do some kind of amusement park where people like us can go and take part in challenges. 

I say all the time that my dream job would be to buy an island and make it into a Survivor/Amazing Race vacation destination.  

If you like the puzzle aspect, check out local escape rooms.  Those are super fun.  

[KimberStormer]

11 hours ago, Jobiska said:

And since I have a pretty good memory of all the above but Bob-Dawg, that speaks pretty well for the Roberts, since any other group I'd be "who?"

Bob Dawg was an underrated, gone-too-soon part of the pure beautiful Survivor magic that was CASAYA TRIBE.  Something of a victim of crappy editing, as I recall; his most memorable moment was using the toilet which Casaya won as reward, to Danielle's disapproval.  He was voted out in a weird tribal where everyone was voting practically at random like in Season One.  I believe he's been somewhat active on the Survivor Internet somewhere.  I would vote for him for a Second Chance tbh.

[NutMeg]

4 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Bob Dawg was an underrated, gone-too-soon part of the pure beautiful Survivor magic that was CASAYA TRIBE.  Something of a victim of crappy editing, as I recall; his most memorable moment was using the toilet which Casaya won as reward, to Danielle's disapproval.  He was voted out in a weird tribal where everyone was voting practically at random like in Season One.  I believe he's been somewhat active on the Survivor Internet somewhere.  I would vote for him for a Second Chance tbh.

Oh, yes, I really discovered him when he was posting on Survivors talk back (if indeed that was the name of this amazing blog where former Survivor players were posting their thoughts on the current season and players. Good times! I suppose CBS scrapped that when they decided returning players, often, was the way to go. 

It was a shame they scrapped it too, because not only did it have interesting tidbits about what it is like in the game, and comments from previous players on the strategies of then current players, it also brought up gems such as the post from Palau Katie about a dream she had, which was pretty amazing in both an out there and realistic way, if that makes sense).

That being say, while I'd welcome Bob Dawg's snark, I have no idea what kind of player he'd be. So often the one who talks best disappoints as a player :( But yeah, the confessionals would make up for that :)   

[Hera]

5 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Bob Dawg was an underrated, gone-too-soon part of the pure beautiful Survivor magic that was CASAYA TRIBE.  Something of a victim of crappy editing, as I recall; his most memorable moment was using the toilet which Casaya won as reward, to Danielle's disapproval.

Don't sell him short! He also was the one who drank all the wine in the outhouse with Bruce (there wasn't room for them in the shelter, so they made the best of it) and then, when Courtney confronted him about it the next day, told her, "I don't feel bad that I stole your wine...I feel bad that I deprived [the rest of the tribe] of wine, but I have no hard feelings whatsoever about the fact that you've been deprived of wine."

I would also love to see him back, but I suspect that a combination of him getting booted relatively early in his season and his career (he's a lawyer, as I recall) will keep that from ever happening.

[Special K]

15 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

 

If you like the puzzle aspect, check out local escape rooms.  Those are super fun.  

OMG, I just looked that up!  I wanna!  Now to convince several friends...

[Rough Draft]

9 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Bob Dawg was an underrated, gone-too-soon part of the pure beautiful Survivor magic that was CASAYA TRIBE.  Something of a victim of crappy editing, as I recall; his most memorable moment was using the toilet which Casaya won as reward, to Danielle's disapproval.  He was voted out in a weird tribal where everyone was voting practically at random like in Season One.  I believe he's been somewhat active on the Survivor Internet somewhere.  I would vote for him for a Second Chance tbh.

I wasn't a fan of Bob Dawg during his season, but afterwards he posted a lot at SurvivorSucks. He was hilarious and totally redeemed himself to me. I'd love to see him return.

[simplyme]

Jesus. Just imagine the challenge narration and voting in a season of, say, Tribe Bob versus Tribe Jessica.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Special K said:

OMG, I just looked that up!  I wanna!  Now to convince several friends...

That's the problem I have, finding friends who'll go.  You don't need to fill a room, you can play with strangers, too.  The one I did was 3 groups of two.  Look for groupons.  Have fun!

[Jobiska]

On 4/12/2017 at 2:24 AM, KimberStormer said:

his most memorable moment was using the toilet which Casaya won as reward

Indeed...now I remember him!  Ha!  You are right that that would be the key!

[Hera]

To avoid getting off-topic in the Survivor in the Media thread, I decided to take my replies to the discussion about people who enjoy spoilers vs. people who don't to this thread.

3 hours ago, NutMeg said:

[I also have another question totally off topic: what makes those of you who do read spoilers do it? Does it enhance your viewing experience? I'm really curious because the one time I was spoiled on Survivor ruined a big part of the experience for me, so for me it seems that real fan and spoiled are contradictory, but I'm still open to reading otherwise. Thanks a bunch to those who will answer, I really come with this out of curiosity and not with any judgement]

1 hour ago, Hanahope said:

Well, for the last 20-25 years, 90% of my television viewing is through recordings, whether VCR, DVR, or discs.  My life schedule is such that I so very rarely get to watch prime-time live.  I'd say probably only about 20% of what I've seen I had no clue as to what was going to happen.  I guess I'm just so used to knowing in advance the general plotline, outcome, winner, that its not the goal of my watching.  My goal, my enjoyment is watching the story, the journey, the process.

You and me both. I rarely see stuff when it airs (for instance, I haven't watched the most recent episode of Survivor yet, but I know what I'm in for based on what people here have posted). Honestly, knowing the ending of something before I watch/read it has never bothered me—possibly because I don't like surprises in general.

Zeus, on the other hand, feels very differently. He gets annoyed if he finds out that I knew what's going to happen ahead of time, just on principle, even if I don't relay any information to him. I'm willing to say nothing about a program (or book) until we've both watched/read it, but I draw the line at depriving myself of my normal internet haunts (or stopping otherwise enjoyable conversations in order to avoid spoilers) just so that he can know that I am unspoiled as well. I simply don't tell him what I already had going in, even after we've both seen it.

A friendly suggestion (and I do mean it in a  friendly way, so apologies in advance if this suggestion comes off as snarky or obvious) for people who suspect that some people's posts are informed by spoilers: take advantage of this forum's feature that allows you to hide the posts of an individual poster—just hover your mouse over their user icon and click "Ignore User" when the box appears. Once you've done this, you can selectively unhide individual posts if they're part of a larger conversation that you do want to read, while avoiding their possibly spoiler-informed posts the rest of the time. Obviously, the people who read spoilers should do their best to keep it out of the other threads, but if anyone's really concerned about people slipping up, this might be a good defensive step.

[NutMeg]

Arggh, the agony... How could I ever block people that I otherwise like to read, but am afraid could reveal too much? There were other treads that had been vaulted when I could have blocked people, but then I didn't, because reading other very different views to one is always interesting, I think. In Survivor it's trickier, because you never know who could spoil it, and really spoilers mostly came from one-off posters, the regular posters are generally cool.

[RescueMom]

I've been reading these forums for years and have never been spoiled by anything anyone has posted in the non-spoiler threads.  

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, Hera said:

Zeus, on the other hand, feels very differently. He gets annoyed if he finds out that I knew what's going to happen ahead of time, just on principle, even if I don't relay any information to him.

I am like Zeus and my sister is like you lol. She doesn't mind getting spoiled for stuff and if I know she is spoiled for something we're going to watch together I get so annoyed with her even though she never tells me anything. 

I have never been one to want spoilers for reality shows (outside of BB because I do watch the live feeds but that's a different thing imo), but when I was younger I used to read all the spoilers I could find about the scripted shows I watched. For some reason my older age has made me super against spoilers. I don't even really like to read episode descriptions for scripted shows. But there is still a part of me that craves being spoiled so I do read spoilers for General Hospital because I don't truly care about it so it doesn't bother me to be spoiled and it allows me to scratch that spoiler itch.

Edited April 13, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[MissEwa]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I have never been one to want spoilers for reality shows (outside of BB because I do watch the live feeds but that's a different thing imo), but when I was younger I used to read all the spoilers I could find about the scripted shows I watched. For some reason my older age has made me super against spoilers. I don't even really like to read episode descriptions for scripted shows. 

I'm the opposite. I used to be super-against spoilers but now I'm just too impatient and don't want to be disappointed when things don't go the way I want them to. This is particularly true for any scripted show with a really drawn-out love triangle or a will-they-won't-they - if I find myself rooting for a couple I'll read ahead to see if they end up together because I'm wary of investing the time if they won't. I still might if I like the show but if I'm getting bored I probably won't. 

Survivor-wise, I blame the blindsides. I feel like at some point the show fell in love with them and now it's too stressful to watch if I don't know my faves are safe. 

[KimberStormer]

I have a weird split consciousness where I came in to Survivor in the middle and so tons of seasons I was thoroughly spoiled for, but I completely avoid spoilers for the ones I watch when they're on.  Yet I love some of the ones I was spoiled for, and it didn't ruin them at all.  I think in several cases it made them better; for example, people hate Gabon but I liked it just fine, and I think a big part of that is that I knew going in what the deal was, especially how Sugar was going to play and be edited and how weird that is.  If I had to be on the edge of my seat about Marcus or Corinne or someone winning, it would have been excruciating.  I think knowing the winner in advance makes it much easier to see their game and in many cases how awesome they are, which is often obscured by editors trying to enhance the suspense.  I think there are probably many seasons it's better to be spoiled for, probably.

YET!  I hate getting spoiled.  For anything.  I avoid it for anything I think I might want to experience, even if I can be pretty certain I never will, like video games from 15 years ago or whatever.  And for things that are completely bananas to think of in terms of "spoilers" like nonfiction books.  I was spoiled by a malicious spoiler comment on a Heroes VS Villains recap some episodes before the end and it was a real drag.  I am twice-shy about any Survivor media as a result.

I admit I sometimes am tempted to believe people here have been spoiled and their knowledge of what is going to happen is coloring their commentary.  I examine their arguments suspiciously, and you know how I roll, I feel overly sure of myself and my Survivor Opinions so sometimes I think, "The only way they could think something so obviously absurd is if they've been spoiled, and want to say they knew it all along!!"  Yet I am as far as I know always wrong about this.  I have a trusted source who reads all spoilers and he will tell me so, "no, this season there aren't any spoilers" or whatever.

I'm honestly not sure what the best thing is.  I know it's always a delight when I'm surprised by something awesome.  But that is so rare, especially the winner (tbh the only times when my true fave has won were Micronesia and One World), and the surprise of something awful is a bad feeling indeed; maybe I should spoil myself and perhaps I'll enjoy things more.

[peachmangosteen]

Your post speaks for me so perfectly, @KimberStormer.

10 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

I'm honestly not sure what the best thing is.  I know it's always a delight when I'm surprised by something awesome.  But that is so rare, especially the winner (tbh the only times when my true fave has won were Micronesia and One World) ...

That made me wonder about which winners were ones who were truly my faves and that I was rooting for to win (as opposed to just ones I liked and was fine with winning). I looked over the winners and from what I can recall (I don't really remember the earlier seasons in great detail or remember who exactly I loved during them) the ones I was actually rooting for were Parvati, Sandra, Michele, Kim, Natalie A, Natalie W, Sophie, and Danni. So, damn, I've fared pretty well actually!

Edited April 14, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[pennben]

I hate spoilers in general when I am watching tv or reading a book (I shut down my access to the internet and outside life in general, stayed up almost all night reading the last Harry Potter book, napped and then finished it without outside contact, I so badly didn't want the ending spoiled).  However, with reality tv, I try to have as many spoilers as possible before investing in a season.  

So I do have spoilers when I post on a general episode thread and I am very careful to limit my comments to what was actually seen in a particular episode.  I also know who posts in the spoiler threads and I can see that they too are careful not to give anything away. I think we also police each other.  One season someone had written something that maybe only pinged to me because I knew spoilers and wouldn't ping to someone else who hadn't, but I pm'd the poster and out of an abundance of caution that poster happily agreed to change the wording. I certainly would be grateful if someone who also was spoiled had concerns about my wording and let me know, as I am vigilant to not ever do anything to spoil others.

All of this is a long way of saying I think you are safe in episode threads based on my observations over the years. 

Edited April 14, 2017 by pennben

[Jobiska]

The only one I've been spoiled for, in comments on a pre-season or early-season web article, was Caramoan.  I do like Cochran so it wasn't as bad as if I had found that only people I disliked were at the end and I had to slog through or give up, but it was a different experience.

The one time I felt that someone with inside knowledge unintentionally gave away the ending was when Amazing Racer Flo (of Flo and Zach) came on the TWOP boards posting as "Florinka" and something about the defensive yet aggressive way she was posting made me realize that she was Flo and that she won.  I don't think I've seen anything in spec or episode/character threads that made me sure the poster knew something I didn't!

[spiderpig]

Anybody know who makes shirts like the ones Jeff Probst wears on the show?  (If you say CBS wardrobe I will give you a frowny face!)

I checked their online store, but it's all logo t-shirts and stuff.  I want the breezy, breathable shirts with pockets in  cool colors like Jeff's.  I've tried Google and Amazon - but surely someone on this board might recognize the manufacturer.

[cooksdelight]

He says they are custom made just for him. But they look a lot like Columbia clothing, check their website. 

[spiderpig]

Just now, cooksdelight said:

He says they are custom made just for him. But they look a lot like Columbia clothing, check their website. 

I knew I could count on you, delight.  They remind me so much of comfy stuff I used to get in the early days of Banana Republic before they expanded.

[fishcakes]

5 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

Anybody know who makes shirts like the ones Jeff Probst wears on the show?  (If you say CBS wardrobe I will give you a frowny face!)

I can feel you frowning at me because the answer appears to be CBS wardrobe. At least that was true 8 years ago. Although in that article he also mentions a couple of brands he likes.

[spiderpig]

2 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I can feel you frowning at me because the answer appears to be CBS wardrobe. At least that was true 8 years ago. Although in that article he also mentions a couple of brands he likes.

Fishcakes, you are hereby exempt from any future spiderpig frowny faces because of your swift response that answered all my questions.

(waves wand)

[Jobiska]

The specific inventory on Sierra Trading Post varies depending on what they've got available, but I suspect you'd find some things like that there.

[spiderpig]

Just now, Jobiska said:

The specific inventory on Sierra Trading Post varies depending on what they've got available, but I suspect you'd find some things like that there.

Thanks, Jobiska.  Going to check it out! :-)

[AZChristian]

I've seen shirts a lot like those at Sam's Club.  They're breathable, soft, etc.  And pretty colors!

[spiderpig]

Just now, AZChristian said:

I've seen shirts a lot like those at Sam's Club.  They're breathable, soft, etc.  And pretty colors!

Adding to Sam's shopping list, along with their Italian Rose salsa.  Thanks!

[Wings]

56 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

Adding to Sam's shopping list, along with their Italian Rose salsa.  Thanks!

What?  What? 

[spiderpig]

1 minute ago, wings707 said:

What?  What? 

Excellent salsa.  Haven't seen it anywhere else. Comes in regular and and cilantro, and is stocked with their cheeses, sausages, etc. in the open top refrigerator cases.

I'm sure our Survivors would go crazy over it after a reward challenge! (Just to keep on topic...oh wait - this is Small Talk. We can say anything we want!).

[cooksdelight]

I love Goldwater's Pineapple salsa. I found it in the airport at Phoenix one time during a layover, I'm addicted to that stuff.

[simplyme]

I just want to wish everyone a happy Dyngus Day.

Wikipedia link to Dyngus Day in the US

[spiderpig]

2 hours ago, simplyme said:

I just want to wish everyone a happy Dyngus Day.

Wikipedia link to Dyngus Day in the US

Are you from Buffalo?

[simplyme]

22 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Are you from Buffalo?

WNY state, though not Buffalo itself. I also spent over a decade living in Pittsburgh, which has a significant Dyngus Day celebration. All in all, it's just a fun day for everyone to celebrate being Polish, even if they aren't.

[cherrypj]

I read the spoilers because I like knowing. You'd be surprised, I think, at how bad the spoilers are. For returnee seasons like Game Changers, it's well-spoiled. (We knew Jeff was going, but not HOW he was going--that was still a nasty surprise.) For other seasons, there's little difference between the Spoiler and the Speculation threads. So I like knowing, but I don't often know.

Now, I'm also going through the past seasons (currently at HvV, which is awesome so far--Randy just got booted). I'm spoiled for ALL of these past seasons, obviously. I don't know every circumstance, but I know the winners. And I love that. I love watching to see if I can figure out how someone wins. (There weren't a lot of clues in Samoa, that's for sure!) I love getting to the episodes that generated so much discussion (and still do!). Can't wait to see JT fawn over Russell. To see Parv pull an Oprah and give everyone an idol. To see Kim S just rock.

I'll have to take the bad moments, too, of course, but at least I know how they end, so I can grin and bear it.

[Hera]

@cherrypj, that's how I feel watching old seasons as well. I think knowing who wins also makes the more maligned seasons (Fiji, Gabon, etc.) a lot more tolerable than they apparently were for people who saw them as they aired. Some of that might also be the ability to binge a season—if an episode is bad/boring/disappointing, you can immediately watch the next one, rather than spend a week stewing over the episode you hated. I suspect that when this season becomes rewatchable, most people will go into it knowing that Varner outs Zeke. I suspect that many people will immediately follow that episode up with this week's, as a palate cleanser.

[cherrypj]

One thing I'll add: I won't go to Survivor Sucks or Reddit. Cesspools, the lot of them. My spoilers are entirely from this site. So maybe it's not hard-core spoiling, and that's OK with me.

[laurakaye]

42 minutes ago, cherrypj said:

Now, I'm also going through the past seasons (currently at HvV, which is awesome so far--Randy just got booted). I'm spoiled for ALL of these past seasons, obviously. I don't know every circumstance, but I know the winners. And I love that. I love watching to see if I can figure out how someone wins. (There weren't a lot of clues in Samoa, that's for sure!) I love getting to the episodes that generated so much discussion (and still do!). Can't wait to see JT fawn over Russell. To see Parv pull an Oprah and give everyone an idol. To see Kim S just rock.

We started using Hulu in January.  I was so geeked to see that I had 288 episodes of Survivor to watch!  Alas, now I only have about 90.  But the fun for me now is watching the players get introduced every season, immediately knowing who wins, but not remembering how they did it.

Plus, I could watch Cook Islands all day long.

[cooksdelight]

I watched "Cast Away" this morning and found some interesting trivia, that sort of pertains to Survivor because I've wondered how they get such good sound quality. The movie was filmed in Fiji.

Quote

Virtually all the sound, including dialogue, in the scenes on the island (about an hour and a half of screen time) had to be replaced in post-production. Sound man William B. Kaplanmade a valiant attempt at getting usable sound on the island, but the nearby surf made it impossible, given that many of the scenes needed to be very quiet

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162222/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

[Nashville]

5 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I watched "Cast Away" this morning and found some interesting trivia, that sort of pertains to Survivor because I've wondered how they get such good sound quality. The movie was filmed in Fiji.

Quote

Virtually all the sound, including dialogue, in the scenes on the island (about an hour and a half of screen time) had to be replaced in post-production. Sound man William B. Kaplanmade a valiant attempt at getting usable sound on the island, but the nearby surf made it impossible, given that many of the scenes needed to be very quiet

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162222/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

I've thought this about Survivor multiple times - and although I know it's nominated a few times, I think the fact Survivor has never won a Primetime Emmy for Sound Editing or Sound Mixing to be a crime of minor proportions.

[KimberStormer]

I had another Survivor dream last night.  Presumably because I was posting about Cook Islands just before bed, I dreamed that I had been on that season, indeed that I was one of the Aitu 4.  I was on vacation and in this college-dorm-like bungalow and I felt super-intense nostalgia, because, in the dream, this was where I had lived while playing Survivor.  (Somehow there was no contradiction between being on Survivor and living indoors...my bed, really just a mattress, had been in the kitchen, next to Stephanie Izard from Top Chef, who had also been on my Survivor season.)  I told my travelling companions the whole story of Cooks, how Jonathan and Candice had mutinied, leaving only the four of us, etc.  Parvati and Yul were both there to corroborate my story.  It was only when I got to the end and realized that I couldn't have been in the Final 3 because Yul and Ozzy and Becky were that it occurred to me that I hadn't been there, and had never played Survivor at all.

[NutMeg]

What a great dream, KimberStormer!

That season must have truly impacted me deeply, because I dreamed of a story where a few years later these four would be thrown together again because one of them showed up unexpectedly needing help from another one, who would call another to advise. I might still write it, because they were more artifacts than the real people, but what made it powerful was that they were people who would normally have never met each other but had this deep connection because they had played Survivor together. Never before or since has a Survivor season inspired me such, in dreams or otherwise.

[Nashville]

Just threw this PSA up on my FB, figured I'd sling it here as well:

 

To users of the iPhone 5S and up, the iPad Air and up, the iPad Mini 2 and up, plus the iPod Touch (6th generation):

If you have not yet upgraded from IOS 10.3.x to IOS 11, ***DO NOT PERFORM THE UPGRADE AT THIS TIME***. 

For IOS versions 11 / 11.0.1 / 11.0.2, significant problems are being reported with:
- Degraded battery life.
- General system instability, such as the device unilaterally crashing and/or rebooting on its own.

[cooksdelight]

I updated my phone before seeing this, so far no issues. I’ll wait on updating the iPad, thanks for the info!

[Guest]

I've often wondered how they get such clear sound.  We rarely see mics on the cast, besides some visible mic packs on backs in challenges.  Are there boom mics all over camp and the vicinity?  Or does a sound man follow each player around, along with a cameraman, like on TAR?  The sound is as good as BB which is on an indoor set with visibly worn mics near the mouths.   

[cooksdelight]

49 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I've often wondered how they get such clear sound.  We rarely see mics on the cast, besides some visible mic packs on backs in challenges.  Are there boom mics all over camp and the vicinity?  Or does a sound man follow each player around, along with a cameraman, like on TAR?  The sound is as good as BB which is on an indoor set with visibly worn mics near the mouths.   

I’ll ask. :)

[cooksdelight]

They have boom mics around each camp. Each contestant has a camera/mic person assigned to them.

[marys1000]

I*d love to do it if I was 30 years younger.  While some 60 year olds are still fit I am not.  I would have problems with the social part.  I can be very sensitive and also have 

tendency to paranoia in relationships.  I don't need much sleep, that wouldn't be a problem.  My biggest problem would be food.  I am a real wimp about eating anything outside 

of a small circle of normalness.  Just...Cant.