Blog

Amyloid, Prion, and Altered States of Protein in Our Soft Tissues

How I will avoid Alzheimer’s and other related diseases. Let me know if you can see it.

What do these things have in common?

White foods, including pasta, cakes, white sugar, white rice, and white bread. Consuming these causes a spike in insulin production and sends toxins to the brain. Microwave popcorn contains diacetyl, a chemical that may increase amyloid plaques in the brain.

Diacetyl is an organic compound that is created naturally during certain cooking and fermentation processes. … Diacetyl naturally occurs in the production of butter (in fact, giving butter its flavor), cheese, milk, yogurt, whiskey, wine, beer, vinegar, roasted coffee, processed tomato products, and citrus juices.

Amyloidosis (am-uh-loi-DO-sis) is a disease that occurs when an abnormal protein, called amyloid, builds up in your organs and interferes with their normal function. Amyloid isn’t normally found in the body, but it can be formed from several different types of protein.

A prion is a type of protein that can trigger normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. Sounds like phagocytosis to me.

One of our lovely cells performing kamikaze. Suiciding itself for the greater good of the whole. For homeostasis it engulfs something it doesn’t like, something harmful to us; for our benefit, encasing it in state. Right there in place in our soft tissues including our brain; ready at a moment’s notice to give anything an all-encompassing homeostatic hug if you will.

Our soft tissues are filled with potent stem cells just lying in wait for something like this to happen. We call them immune cells but they would better be understood simply as consumers. They are there to denature something that is not supposed to be there, by nature.

Those cute little freckles on your face and arms…Those are evidence of a job well done. Next time you get a new beauty mark know that your body did a beautiful thing by protecting you. And the best way to avoid these blemishes on our skin is to not put the things into our bodies that would then require the services of these kamikaze consumers.

How Would We Choose?

As a parent, I don’t always agree with the dietary or lifestyle choices of my children. I have a 27-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old daughter. As far as I am concerned, they are both free to make their own dietary choices independent of my own personal will. One because she is a fully grown adult no longer dependent on my financial means for life, and the other because I choose to not interfere directly with her decision-making processes as she continues to develop into adulthood. With the younger of the two, I only asked that she, in exchange for her freedom of choice, allow me to share with her my own understanding about what I understand to be the best way of approaching both physical and dietary lifestyle practices. I figure she is best served by being educated along with being allowed her freedom of choice.

Sometimes I do cringe at some of the choices both of them make, but they are both good children and listen to me respectfully when I feel the need to disagree with their choices verbally.

From an external perspective, I don’t ever want to see my children suffer. I would want them to never encounter any form of disease. I want them each to live a life full of experiences completely free from anything that could hinder that experience.

So what if, I could grant them a life full of years. 127 years with a body that looked, felt, and by all measures was no more than 24. A body that stops aging once fully grown that was never able to experience disease. A life without hindrance where their bodies would remain free of disease or aging as we currently know it. Living to a ripe old age of 127 years and simply falling asleep one night never to wake up again. Would I choose that for them? Probably.

I imagine I would do the same thing for all of my family members if I could.

Now, what if that meant that they would have to exercise 30 minutes a day and eat a whole food plant-based diet? To me, that would be a no-brainer. I already do that myself and don’t find it to be a burden in any way.

If we could step outside of our box and look at ourselves objectively as just another human living amongst 8 Billion other humans, as an individual creation, how would we choose for ourselves? What decisions do we make because we are blinded by our own box that results in self-deception and self-sabotage? What if we could see ourselves as a part of a whole, whose purpose is greater than the sum of its individual parts and how would that affect our decision-making processes?

I suspect that if we could truly understand ourselves as a singular part of a greater whole that we would start making better decisions with the individual biological units we call our bodies. Because then, at least, we could see that our health and well-being are not just ours, but something more.

What if we could step outside of our own bodies and look at ourselves from a distance? If we weren’t able to communicate to that person that we are looking at that is us, what would we hope for in them?

I know for me that I would not want to see myself suffer ever again. I would want a life that was as full as possible. Filled with time. A life well spent. A life where wealth is not measured in denominations or monetary exchange, but one that is filled with our most precious asset, time. Time is truly the most valuable asset we have and we spend it each and every day. Sometimes wisely, other times not so much. The sad part is, once it is spent there is no way of getting it back. Time is the only true currency we have.

From that outside perspective, how would we love ourselves? If we knew that there was a way to maximize the human experience, topping off the totality of experience and time to a full 127 years(Option A) with a body that looked and felt no more than a robust and healthy 24, would we want that for our visible self?

What if the other option was a life that ended painfully at 78.5 years(Option B). A life that only had 65 useful years where the only real choice was a life of retirement, where our health would continue to decline until our body ultimately succumbed to a disease like cancer, Parkinson’s, or dementia? Which would we choose for that self we are observing from a distance? Would we be okay watching our life wither and our health fail or would we want to do something about it?

What about our grandchildren? What would they choose for us? Option A or option B? What would you have chosen for your grandparents? I know for me that I would love nothing more at 50 years of age than to know that I had another 27 years of time to spend with my grandparents that have long passed away. I’m not even sure that would be a tough decision to make. I would definitely go for option A.

These are the questions I ask myself as I seek a better way to convince my fellow man that we have so much potential that is going unfulfilled. It’s bad enough that we waste time, but what bothers me more is that people aren’t even aware that there is something we could, or should be able to do regarding that potential 50 years we are leaving on the table. And this is what drives me. What gives me that desire to continually move forward in figuring out how to undo the effects of aging that have plagued me into my fifth decade. I want to be that grandpa that is around to not only see his great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren but also be able to play with them at their own energy level without physical hindrances. I want to be that example so that they can see that it is possible to not have to fall headlong into disease if they choose.

What Grows in Your Garden?

If an acre of land gives birth to a palm tree, once fully grown could that acre of land do anything to remove that palm tree?

One might say, “I suppose it could starve the tree.” To which I would respond, “By what means or actions would the soil go about removing itself from all of the environmental inputs that are making it hospitable as a host for that palm tree? What would that topsoil have to do?”

Could that topsoil of its own accord proverbially close its mouth to the nutrient sources that originally by nature made it able to sprout, grow, and then nurture the growth of that palm tree to its viable state? Could that topsoil simply get up and walk away from its foundation of clay that it grew upon for so many generations before and until it was able to be that fertile ground?

The answer should be rather obvious. No. That topsoil or terrain in and of itself has no natural means by which to act upon that fully grown lifeform that is now integrated into its landscape. The terrain and its immediate environmental conditions are the biological accords that determine what forms of life are able to be hosted. And unless the terrain or topsoil as host is made to be inhospitable to that palm tree, it will perpetually remain a guest to the fullest extent of its natural predefined lifespan.

We also see this in garden environments with weeds. No matter how diligent a gardener is to remove weeds, they will continue to come back until the topsoil is made to be no longer welcoming to these specific weeds.

Now substitute the topsoil and the palm tree for our body and cancer…8)

[To Be Continued…]

A Boulder Lifted

Could my body create a problem big enough that it couldn’t fix it? I am going to suggest the answer is no. Our body doesn’t have the ability to kill itself. Its imperatives are too divine. That would be against its own will and nature.

Or better yet can I even know enough about reality to make the above statement with any surety other than my own self-inflated sense of authority? Maybe not in so much as my knowledge is subject to my own limitations. Yikes. Here we go

The creation that I exist in is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in its being, wisdom, and power. It is all-sufficient, incomprehensible in its fullness, everywhere in its presence and it is a recording of all things.

The creation that I know exists in and of itself and from itself and is in no way dependent on us for its existence. My creation is not served by me, on the contrary, I am served by it.

The creation that I find in my existence is not unique to me but a stream that is constantly flowing in only one direction without variance. Death is the past, the finite time we call life spent whether productive or not, our most valuable asset, time that cannot be recovered because it is past. That is the realm of death. Now, this present existence, is what is flowing through the river of life, the space-time continuum, what we call our experience is one reason why we are here. To observe and to write it down for future generations to look upon to better understand their present life. Our future is hope. Hope is all we have to look forward to because we cannot do anything about it any more than we can change the past. Of course, we can make plans and even try and execute them, but there is no way of knowing if we will succeed. And hope, if well exercised, allows us the benefits of a sort of salve for the bruises we currently receive and experience as we feel our way, with limited vision, around in this world as we move onward and upward.

As far as I can tell it is futile to even imagine a beginning or an end. I don’t have a light bright enough to shine that far back in time to see what a beginning would look like anyways. My history does not begin and end with me, that is the realm of my creator and its creation. It is the beginning and end; I am just along for the ride and the water is nice in this river of water of life.

If I want to know what is the purpose of this creation of mine I need to look no further than the creation around me. Its purpose and function are everywhere; it knows no different. Our creation, its purpose is life, and life more abundant as each opportunity presents itself. If there is any lack of goodness or purpose in the creation around me it is because I or one like me has interfered in the course of nature; the stream of life(all things).

Purpose, symmetry, and asymmetry…Balance.

Apparently, my creator is also very merciful; compassionate in every way imaginable knowing the unusual amount of distress I once embodied as a creation; even to the ignoring of the continual and even willful missing of the mark. That mark and standard being life, in and of itself.

In its infinite wisdom, my creator placed within its creation provision for the inevitability that marks would be missed and messes well made would need to be cleaned up. Not only is my creator compassionate enough to fix my problems but had enough forethought to plan on them.

The creation I enjoy supplies all of my needs even if I don’t understand that some of what I think I need is not as much of a need, but a desire, or something that possesses me; a possession, which is most likely a liability. It is only when I strip away that which possesses me, that I, with sober-minded clarity, see that my needs are very small and always met, it’s just that I have become gluttonous in my creator’s abundance rather than my own understanding.

This creation is one that does not, by nature, cause distress, but that does not mean that I or one like me within creation cannot, or does not, foment that which is distressing. I know…I am a drama-sapien. It is how, in my own head, I add meaning to my existence. If by chance that added meaning, narrative, or for better lack of a term, drama spills out into the creation around me, somehow mercy was there waiting for me too, with a smile; mop in hand.

This garden I know(my body); is planted within creation, crafted by my creator who is clearly slow to anger. Forgiving of inequity and iniquity alike to maintain a creation free from hindrance always working all things back to the center. Ultimately ready to forgive me for both and more.

The lusts and overindulgences I exhibit in this creation are independent of the creator’s explicit creative act and are inconsistent with my creator’s will(direction/flow). My indiscretions are only eggs on my face and in no way a reflection of my creator.

The creator is not difficult to understand, separated from its creation standing by with disinterest; far from it. And if I ever for a moment begin to think that the river of water of life I find myself in is going to stop, reverse, and flow the other way I should just slap myself. That’s just silly. My creator seems to only know ONE WAY—>

My creation does not and cannot suffer. It only knows life and conservation thereof even through death. My creator is without body, parts, or passions. Without emotion, whether grief, pain, or sorrow; knowing only stability and steadiness of course through its action.

I imagine my creator is nothing I could or should even begin to wrap an image around. So far every god I’ve seen fashioned seems to look an awful lot like the creature rather than the creation. That and I might not like what I see if I actually were able to observe it.

And even if I were able to observe such a creator I imagine it would simply invoke more questions than answers in that the answers were likely never intended to be found, much less searched out.

There is no limit to creation, my creator, or its creative powers. Yet I am limited by what I call time. Limited to such a small sliver of my creators existence that it appears immovable; like a rock. Like a statue frozen in time. Like a man with a swatter, chasing after a fly, wrenching out one grand gesture after another while that fly, from its perspective, is making an epic voyage, like Christopher Columbus, across the vast Sea of Kitchen. I imagine we look much like the Statue of Liberty to that annoying imp of a buzzard.

The power and wisdom of our creator are everywhere all at once in balance whether we see all that is being held in balance; homeostasis.

The power of our creator and creation is a life-giving force that flows from one source; our innermost being and it is simpler than we can imagine because it is precisely the fruit and excesses of our imagination that obscures our access to this creative life-giving force within.

That which is called god for better lack of language is always making provision, continually creating for our future, providing for us everything we need even in our ignorance; gross, slight, or acute. Nature doesn’t just rain on individuals but upon us all, even though it might occasionally seem so as it can appear as though the sun doth smile upon us uniquely at times. That is the joy of creation always working towards the center towards balance and homeostasis.

My creator is always right and good and just; factors of which I have no bearing. A unity in the simplicity of its parts that begins with one that becomes everything else fulfilling all creation as intended from a grand illusion we see as a beginning. We couldn’t create a god if we tried because everything that already exists is god in essence and it is I, the hearty fool to think he can improve on perfection.

It was in me all along…

-Michael J. Loomis

Where Do I Get My Protein?

I get this question from people I speak to about my diet quite frequently. It is a question I am quite used to by now.

Where do I get protein?

I get it from the same place you do. My liver. It is probably the most important organ for making protein in my body. It creates millions of molecules of protein each and every day from amino acids for many different purposes. Some of these amino acids are already in my body available for use while others I get from my food.

You see, my body does not need me to eat protein any more than your body needs you to. And it does not need me to eat anything animal to get protein because again it does not need protein. It needs amino acids and our body would benefit the most by doing the least amount of work for those amino acids. At the lowest metabolic cost.

Yes, you can if you so choose, get your amino acids from animal-based sources but it is not necessary.

It is our body that makes the proteins it needs from the broken-down foods we eat. All of them contain amino acids.

As well, all the amino acids we humans need are bound up within our own cells that were formed within our body, so yes our body does store amino acids for later use. As every cell in our body has a limited use window(lifetime), they all will eventually be either sluffed off on the outside or reabsorbed into the vascular system on the inside. These proteins get broken down by the lymphocytes within the lymphatic system and ultimately make their way back into general vascular circulation to be processed by our organs for reuse or elimination if we have more than necessary. We also continually sluff off the lining of our G.I. tract which is also conveniently made of all the amino acids that were previously used to build our proteins the last time around. Our body is very efficient and conservative by nature.

Of course, we still need additional amino acids, most of which can be supplied very easily each and every day even by someone that consumes a raw whole food plant-based diet. The amount we need though is very small compared to the large volume that most people in the Western world consume daily.

How much protein(amino acids) do we need? It would appear that it is much less than most people would believe. What follows is the composition of human breast milk.

  • 86-88% water.
  • 7% carbohydrates, mainly lactose, benefits gut microbiota and aids in calcium absorption.
  • 4% fats for the development of the brain, eyes, and nervous system.
  • 1% proteins for essential building blocks, growth, and development.
  • 0.2% vitamins and minerals
  • 0.5%-2% prebiotics for healthy gut bacteria growth and immune support.

As you can see, even a fully developing baby over its first few years needs only a small amount of high-quality protein.

Life in the Fast Lane

Why is riding a galloping horse thrilling to me? Because it is outside the boundaries of my normal experience.

I drive in a vehicle every day. Often times I drive at speeds faster than any roller coaster I have ever been on. Not often, but occasionally while driving in Los Angeles a lane change requires slightly more aggressive behaviors.  There’s not a whole lot about that specific experience that is overtly stimulating anymore but strap me into a roller coaster, a car that has 500+ horsepower, or an aircraft of any sort and I feel exhilaration like no other. It’s exciting and it feels good. However, I imagine if I was experiencing those every day, they might be like that Los Angeles lane changes I mentioned above.

So what’s the difference?

It’s what you and I have grown accustomed to and the contrast between the normal and the exceptional.

Now imagine someone that had only ever known driving or riding in a 1915 Ford Model T or horse-drawn carriage going for a ride in a fully appointed Tesla Model S in track mode. They might even pass out in a quarter-mile sprint. Maybe even hurl like a kid on a roller coaster.

This made me wonder. Could moving at rates of speed faster than my body has evolved to travel over many many millennia be having a negative effect on me?

My brain is a highly complicated computing mechanism that developed over many millennia. My senses evolved to interface with my immediate surroundings and my brain processes all of that information from all of my senses all at once so that I can know what to do next. And yet we have only just begun traveling beyond the rate of one horsepower over the last 170 years or so.

When any one of my senses gets overstimulated it can literally cause a mental logjam as I try to process the additional information. The result feels like an increase in overall bodily metabolism mechanisms cranking up; a heightening of senses. A defense mechanism. It’s like my body’s ancient programming kicks in to protect itself despite my will from the overdose/stimulation. It shuts down other things to focus on the immediate danger. Adrenal fatigue much? Perhaps.

There is plenty of reason to believe that this is exactly what is happening. Research has shown that exposure to these kinds of stresses I mentioned resulting in things like brain fog, a loss of energy, depression, cravings for carbohydrates and electrolytes, lightheadedness along with other various symptoms.

Have I become numb? Surely, I have. Was I born numbed by my mother’s own body ignoring hormonal emergency messages during the first 10 months of my existence, entering into a world of accelerated living from day one?

How would I know if I was addicted to this acceleration if everyone else around me is also born into this world of overstimulation as well? How would anyone know if the only thing they see when they look around is people just like them?

Reflections on Restoration and Recovery

Death and life are two factors in the same equation. Two sides of the same coin if you will. Disease is not something that happens to us. We are not victims of diseases. We are an organic lifeform that can end up in a state of disease if all of the right environmental conditions are met, combined with long spans of time. As an organic lifeform, perfect health could or should be described as a complete state of ease where everything is systemically working in harmony as designed, completely free of resistance or hindrance.

I prefer to look at life as a spectrum. I do not see death as something that is in front of us but as something that is behind us. The only thing that is truly dead is the time that we spent whether well or poorly spent. We were born into this current existence as sentient lifeforms that will eventually transition away from this current phase of life on Earth. What lay before us is hope and potential. A potential life marked by ease on one end and a life filled with dis-ease on the other end of the spectrum. Pain is my body telling me that I am doing something wrong; suffering results from me not listening to that pain. I’ve learned my lesson, and I am ready to get on with my life.

As I drive around the streets of Los Angeles, I daily see people who likely don’t know that their body is aging much faster than necessary. And some people are just falling apart. I used to be that guy.

June 1, 2022, marks six years since I began a journey of recovery that would be something more than a voyage of grand discovery. On that day, I started my journey toward sober-minded decision-making, which helped me realize that something bigger than me was in charge of what was going on and that my plans were the problem. I had failed some of those around me, but even more so, I had failed my own body, and now it seemed to be failing me. But maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps it was just crying out in pain for some desperately needed attention.

Yet, in my ignorance, my body saw fit to teach me that there is nothing that I can do to improve its functionality. My body already knew the program that I was about to learn. And that if I want it to perform optimally, I need do nothing more than get out of its way, stop interfering, and let it teach me in its ancient ways.

Everything about my body demonstrates less evidence of age, week after week. Day after day, my body confirms that I am continually moving in the right direction. And I can’t imagine that this would continue to happen if I were mistaken. I know that I am unique, as all of us are, but I don’t believe I have any special abilities that every one of you doesn’t also have.

The spontaneous healing of cancer is a phenomenon that can be observed and has been for hundreds and thousands of years. After being the subject of many controversies, it has been accepted as an indisputable fact. Our body can spontaneously heal itself from many stages of disease if it has the right amount and kind of resources, the energy to do the work, and ALL the hydration needed to accomplish the task. And if my body can spontaneously heal from all manner of disease, then I can’t imagine why it shouldn’t be able to recover from any disease state of a lesser nature.

I am a first-hand witness to this in my own life. Provide the body with the proper conditions, nutrients, and sufficient hydration, and it knows nothing other than to find homeostasis and heal whatever keeps you from enjoying a life of ease rather than disease. Just look around at the rest of nature. It does not argue, fuss, or fight. It simply goes with the flow submitting completely to the greater intellect that is creation itself. Nature is never confused and even if we think we can go against nature and its infinitely wise ways we are simply missing the bigger picture. There is no going against nature without removing ourselves from nature which is an impossible feat regardless of courage, skill, or strength. There is no going against nature because even that is part of nature too. You’ll just end up battered, torn, and beaten and nature will still have its way. Our body is nature.

These days I am very fortunate to be looking at a bright future thanks to the human body’s ability to heal itself from the metabolic nightmare I put it through. Alcohol was just the first excess that had to go. Little did I know just how far my body could recover. I have a feeling the life of this body is needed somewhere far off in the future. But for what I don’t yet know?

Biologically, I am a strict determinist. And if there is one thing I see everywhere in nature, it is that biology does not waste energy where there is no potential for the growth of healthy life.

Where is this body taking me? Only time will tell.

Letter To a Future Me[editing]

I am currently writing a book called, “Chew Digest Chronicles.” And I am getting pretty close to being done with the first volume.

You’ll notice I emphasized, first volume because I plan on publishing books like this on a regular basis as a way to catalog my thought process as well as share my thoughts in the form of essays that are easy enough to digest one at a time. Digestible essays of at least 500 words containing my thoughts as I continue my journey of understanding from a lifetime of bad judgment and not so sober-minded decision making that almost led me to the brink of destruction. A life that was filled with a physical disease as well as mental disorder; a mind continually embroiled with chaos.

This book in one sense is me publishing a letter to and for my future self as well as my succeeding generations. A forever journal that I want to share with the rest of creation. A digest of my thought processes cataloging the fruit of my auto-didactic labors for a future me. I fully expect that there will come a time when Artificial Intelligence reaches such a point that, given enough information, a future me will be able to have a nice sit-down dinner with my future family ten, twenty, or even thirty generations into the future. That I will be able to speak to them from a catalog of my own specific thoughts and wisdom because of a publicly available written record of what is going on between my ears and behind my eyes.

I fully believe that a time will come when we will be able to, in some sense, upload a snapshot of our consciousness into a virtual space or even a cybernetic organism that will be able to inhabit the same space we humans currently do alongside our future family. But only if there is sufficient code based written data to draw from be it spoken word, or actual written text like what I am doing here. I imagine it would be smart to do both so that even our facial expressions and other dramatic gestures can accurately depict who I am now in a future space long after I have left this current physical form.

I am also writing this book and the rest to follow to help people better understand human physiology and disease pathology at a level that even a 14-year-old can understand. I would like people to be able to understand the things that I didn’t that landed me in a world of hurt so that they don’t have to end up suffering the same fate that I did. I can’t go back. I can’t send myself a letter to a 15-year-old me telling me what not to do, but I can pay that debt of regret forward as a future gift not only for all of future humanity but especially to the kids, grandkids, and future generations of those nearest and dearest to me that still think that they are invincible in their ways like I once did.

To Be Continued…

Illustration: Circulatory and Lymphatic System

Every once in a while I find a medical illustration that does a really good job visually explaining how something works. This is one of them. And occasionally they inspire me; motivating me to study far beyond my original search for answers. With this one there are a lot of potential learning and teaching points whether the author or artist intended any additional meaning or potential in their efforts.

I like this one…8). I’ve been intimately aware of my circulatory system as long as I’ve heard my heartbeat. But I didn’t really understand the significance of that extra green part. The lymphatic system. Of course, I had heard of it, but I didn’t fully understand the significance of it and its proper functionality for my well-being. That is until my body decided to teach me a more excellent way of taking care of business. Handling cellular life…8). More on that later.

An adult circulatory system, arteries, and veins, transport about 6,000-7,500 liters of plasma and its companions, red and white blood cells.

The lymphatic system helps maintain fluid balance. It returns excess tissue fluid or blood plasma(same thing; different place) along with proteins from our soft tissues that cannot be returned through the blood vessels.

Blood Plasma = Tissue Fluid = Lymphatic Fluid

The tissue fluid is found in the tissue spaces and cavities, in the tiny spaces surrounding cells, known as the interstitial spaces, which are reached by the smallest blood and lymph capillaries.

Around 90 percent of the plasma that reaches our soft tissues from the arterial blood capillaries is returned by the venous capillaries and back along veins. The remaining 10 percent remains in the soft tissues and is eventually drained back by the lymphatics.

Each day, around 2-3 liters are returned. This fluid includes waste proteins that are too large to be transported via the blood vessels. As that process is taking place these proteins are continually denatured along the way until they reenter general circulation at the end of their journey just above our heart where it begins the journey all over again.

If this system failed to function properly the toxic burden on our bodies would be too great and we would die within a day. Without this third leg of our circulatory system draining its fluids excess waste or cellular debris, our soft tissues would swell. Blood volume would decrease because that fluid is our blood plasma, just outside the arteries and veins and blood pressure would increase until the skin, kidneys, liver, and lungs become overburdened resulting in acute failure.

I Met Ray Bradbury On This Day

How often do we get to meet our superheroes?

On Saturday, April 05, 2008, the day Charlton Heston died, I met my literary superhero, Ray Bradbury. The wifeypoo(Susan) had convinced me to skip out on my work responsibilities. That we would have more fun visiting her favorite mortuary, Hollywood Forever, followed by a dinner at Palms Thai, a restaurant with a Thai Elvis impersonator. Little did I know I would also be meeting my literary hero Ray Bradbury.

At that time in my life, I had been working as a Longshoreman, Electrician, and Radio DJ. Had an expensive life at that time I guess. That and I’m pretty sure I’ve always been a work-a-holic. I still work way too much. Nonetheless, the wife cajoled me into taking the night off to drive up to Hollywood Forever for another one of our regular wanderings about the grounds of the old graveyard and mausoleum. Honestly, I wasn’t too thrilled to be going out that night and was somewhat of a petulant child about having gone. That is until I almost ran Ray Bradbury down with my olive green 2006 Toyota Camry.

Interestingly, Ray was a man who took it upon himself to never drive an automobile. He didn’t like them very much and felt the world would be a better place without them. Maybe he was right. At this point, we will never know. I imagine roads filled with driverless vehicles within my own lifetime. It could be a reality already if we really wanted it to be. It’s 2022 and the current level of testing that they are doing with fleets of driverless vehicles is proving positively that they are much safer than humans behind the wheel.

True to form, without a vehicle, Ray Bradbury was out with his caretaker for a night on the town. Or at least a cup of Starbucks coffee.

Wifeypoo and I had just left Hollywood Forever and were headed to dinner at Palms Thai when we got diverted in search of the apartment that Julia Roberts occupied in the movie Pretty Woman located just above Hollywood Boulevard, not more than a block from where I met Ray. We headed back down to Hollywood Boulevard and were met with quite a bit of traffic. After a few boatloads of traffic and just as many rivers of pedestrians pouring across Hollywood Boulevard I saw a momentary opportunity to squeeze my car through before the next raft of short-stepping pedestrians would subject me to another red light in frustration. So I made the leap of faith.

All of a sudden the next few moments morphed strangely into a 3-second slow-motion reel as I realized the man crossing the street right in front of me was none other than Ray Bradbury. The only thing I could utter was, “Oh my God, that’s Ray Bradbury.” I was so shocked I’m almost surprised I didn’t rear-end the car that was just before me as I made the turn.

Filled with emotion and amazement I started craning my head around to see where he was going next. As I look to my right I see him being assisted by his caretaker, both heading into the front door of Starbucks Coffee. I was now a man on a mission and I knew what my next move would be. Find something that was likely not going to exist that close to Hollywood Boulevard. An open parking space on a busy Saturday evening. But alas, my karmic bank must have been overfull that night because like a miracle of that same God I called out for in surprise made parted a Red Sea of cars, providing me with a parking spot just outside of Starbucks, and one with no parking meter hungrily begging for nutrient-rich coin. So I fulfilled my calling and parked the car.

Filled to the brim with emotion I jumped out of the car and headed into the Starbucks. Not sure why, but for some reason, the wifeypoo stayed in the car. Gathering my composure, I entered Starbucks to be greeted by none other than Ray Bradbury.

I imagine you can tell by the look on my face that I was in rather good spirits. Over the years I had intended on going to a book signing or attending a lecture of his but never did. This however was much better. After paying him a debt of gratitude for inspiring me to want to read more as a boy in Junior High, he asked me which of his books I liked the most. I told him that I’m not sure I could nail it down to just one, so I didn’t. I had two favorite books. The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. Afterwhich he invited me to attend the opening night of a new rendering of Fahrenheit 451 taking place just two weeks later at the Fremont Centre Theatre in Pasadena. Of course, I took him up on the offer.

The theatre was cozy, to say the least. If I remember correctly, it only seated about 50 guests. And Ray Bradbury was one of them on that opening night.

After the show, Susan and I had a chance to talk with Ray for a moment while he was signing books for people. He signed a copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes for me. We even got to share a glass of wine with him. It was a nice evening and a great way to get to know someone that you look up to. And to boot, he was a genuinely nice person interested in those that invested their time reading his books. In some sense, it felt like he was as happy to see all of us as we were to see him.

It’s hard to say what the best thing was about the whole experience, but I will never forget what he said when I introduced him to my wife. He said, “Why didn’t you tell me your wife was so fu**ing beautiful?”

I write this almost 10 years after Ray Bradbury passed away. And I would like to imagine that he is able to in some way read this post along with all of the other kind words that people have written about him since he moved on. That being said…

Hey there friend. It has been a while since we spoke last. Since that time you looked upon my beautiful wife, we have gone our separate ways. She is still a beautiful and wonderful person, but we just couldn’t get along together in a healthy manner, so we decided to build a better life apart. I’m not sure if you remember, or if I even mentioned it to you, but she is a mortician and is often found working in various cemeteries around Southern California. And she occasionally ends up there at Westwood Memorial to visit Norma Jeane Mortenson(Marilyn Monroe) along with some of her other favorite actors. And on occasion, she makes her way past your little piece of eternal real estate. So keep your eyes open my friend. You may just get to see another side of her as she stops by to pay her respects.

I’ve got a lot more work to do catching up to the likes of you. You see, these days I am an author too, and it’s going to take me a while to catch up to you and your legacy, but I’m going to do it. I know the secret thanks to you. I’ll see you in a bit old friend. Then we can both enjoy the view from that generous and welcoming porch at your timeshare on Mars. We can sip a little dandelion wine late one October night while looking back on Earth from afar. By then Elon Musk will have those rockets you described so well running on a regular schedule and they can provide us with that gentle rumble off in the distance that will bring a smile to your face.

Until then, your friend.

Michael J. Loomis