Sparks and Food (comfort posting)

 Hey everyone! It is Jack/Noodle here and I am also now an illustration graduate. I cannot believe I got a degree now, all my long hard hours of work paying off. I’ve had family and friends ask my what’s next for me, to be honest as a young person in the creative field I see not too many opportunities but I won’t stop being creative. I’m hoping to keep updating this page and find a part time job (I personally feel a full time job immediately would exhaust me physically and mentally, plus I need time for me and my arty sides). Today, as of writing most of this, it is a few days after graduation and I’m exhausted. I decided to do a comfort/shorter post about food and sparks. This idea I tried to write earlier and deleted because I wasn’t fully comfortable with my words. This post was also suggested by a fellow sparks friend who asked me about how food impacts me with sensory issues, which I’ll be answering in more detail later in the post. So without further ado, feel free to get your favourite snack or drink and tell me in comments what that is as I’m very curious to know what my friends love to eat and I may try those foods if I can find them or something like that. At the moment my favourite snack is Ritz Crackers and my favourite drink is either Dr Pepper or Cherry Cola. So with that knowledge, enjoy the post today

(Me and my friend after I spend all money on foods) 

For me, I struggle frequently to eat and remembering when to do this. Luckily I have an amazing hairy friend and a really awesome best friend, both remind me of the important factor of foods and hydration. The hairy one is my dog Esme, who can’t stand not seeing her lunch bang on 12pm which often helps motivate me to make my own plate of foods. Due to my sensory issues lunch often doesn’t look like lunch to regular onlookers, I usually will eat just a sandwich and a few bits of fruit and cheese bites, occasionally there’s chocolate or some kind of cereal bar. I find when I’m out for foods I’m extra nervous at the idea of eating, but as long as the cafe looks safe and they do something I eat regular I’ll be satisfied. My best friend, she isn’t a sparks fan but a regular reader here, she always reminds me to drink water and to have snacks when I’m overwhelmed because we’ve found when I’m overwhelmed it’s because I forgot to eat or it’s been a while since I ate something. I love my friend for this because sometimes when she’s not there I’ll go without food for a while because I don’t want to inconvenience people and hold in the overwhelming feeling I get from the hunger. 

Connecting to Sparks, food is seen in a small fact Russell drops in the ‘Sparks Brothers’ documentary where he exposes Ron's eating routine especially with days before the tour, Ron goes on the alphabet diet where he eats an a-z range of foods, one letter for each day. This rigidity of food follows through when I went on a wander around the archive of blog postings from the fan site, these site dates back to the early 2000s so a lot of the language used to describe someone's body shape and weight are outdated. A fan recalls how they read somewhere Ron ate a sandwich with a knife and fork, if it was a big and messy sandwich I can justify needing cutlery, but if it’s a small and clean sandwich then it makes a story humorous because what’s Ron doing eating a basic ham sandwich with a knife and fork. Anyways, I will add in the same thread, a fan labelled Ron from the 70s as ‘Anorexic Ron’ which in today’s world is extremely harmful and not a positive message. If the Mael’s are neurodivergent then maybe Ron’s body image is due to the lack of sensory friendly foods for him or maybe he (like me) cannot eat around people as easily. 

(Me when someone pictures me with any food, interestingly this happened weekend gone…I was eating a Greggs pasty)

Adding onto the ‘Alphabet Diet’ by Ron Mael statement, I mentioned how I believed this was rigid thinking. Rigidity is a common occurrence in neurodivergent people, an example from my perspective is often I’m very strict on where and when I can eat, so in recent months I’ve been trying to ‘break’ that mould I built up. My rigidity sees me in a Greggs a few times a week, often because I know what to expect and its price. My best friend added to this hen we were discussing what eat at the weekend before going to a pride market. She was telling me how much she did not like Greggs, but liked how she could go into one and know what to expect. I’ve recently been trying to go to new cafes/spaces to try their foods or drinks; sometimes I end up buying something similar to my regular foods but often I try and bend myself into getting something exciting or new. The alphabet diet could also be a source of comfort and calm for Ron in the chaotic and nervous wait for the tour to start. Similarly to how I have boba sometimes before or after something big as I was nervous or I am nervous for said next or previous step. It is quite common for autistic people to hate transitions and change, so I feel Ron must go out his way to try new foods during his diet which inspires me to one day do the same, hopefully when I find a job and begin making adult money. The struggle with transitions and change can also be seen in how I often ‘delay’ a blog post as I’m still actively thinking about the last post when I try and write my next post. Another example is my best friend (she’s probably going to eat me up for all the mentions in this post) she doesn't like when it goes from really cold to really hot and because we both live in the UK that is currently happening to us, we look out and think ‘it’s looking cold, let’s do layers’ and then it’s humid and it feels intensely hot. 

(Me on my way to try new foods)

Another pointer to sparks is that both Mael's are vegetarian, this means they do not eat meat. Russell has stated in the Talkhouse Podcast that he’s “95% vegetarian” as he finds he has a soft spot for barbecue chicken. Ron is much more rigid and strict with his vegetarianism. Ron joked in the same podcast that a bad batch of mussels in Brussels made him realise he should try being a vegetarian. Frequently, many neurodivergent people become either a vegetarian or vegan due to the sensory displeasure with a certain texture, commonly seen with a hate to meat textures (I have a love hate relationship with meat). Meat can prove unpredictable a lot of the times, plus a meat can be fried, boiled, grilled etc and then there’s a case of it being breaded or battered or if it has sauce on it. So for many neurodivergent individuals they feel more aligned to the vegetarian world and lifestyle. When I listened to Russell and Ron talk about their food habits in this podcast, which by the way it is on Spotify but I believe they also have it on other music sites, they mention how being in France as vegetarians was way easier than what many believe from Crème Caramels to salads which amazed both of them. 

Linking into how the Mael's were amazed by the food in France, I was really amazed with Glasgow. For my readers who didn’t know, I am originally from Scotland so I’m aware of several traditional dishes and I’m a huge fan of certain kinds of food which originated in Scotland like tatty scones and caramel wafers. When I was in Glasgow I found a quaint cafe for my lunch before the concert which was in the library and I found myself enjoying the peacefulness and not one person clocked me as ‘a stupid tourist’ and then there was the food after the concert which me and Helka enjoyed. I got my safe food in the museum cafe which was mac n cheese and they got something that mentioned it had food made in Scotland. Every place I’ve been in Scotland (which is a lot of places, sadly I won’t be listing and ranking them) they have their own identity with foods, from the post sea sick pastry I had in Malliag to the overpriced sausage and chips in Oban and then the Mac and Cheese pies from Dunkeld. I always find something to love. 

Me with my new fave foods because I tried new things

This is the end of the post, I’ll be dropping it on a day I’m doing an event with my museum and this means looking fun and enjoying being who I am. I also just started a new sketchbook which has a rule of drawing more music that isn’t just sparks. So I cannot wait to try this. As I finish this post off, I feel exhausted because my new room has an awful mould problem so I’m holding off my moving stuff so I’m hoping to use time I would’ve had for relocating my collections to writing here and finishing my stock for the market which is less than a months time and I’ve recently gotten more trinket beads. 

Once again with no more rambling, I’ve been Noodle and you’ve been my reader! Thank you so much and please feel free to send feedback and give me some suggestions for future posts, I love trying to fufil someone's  ideas and concepts.