There's a Little Bit of Fruitcake in Every One of Us

When I was 14, I heard Jimmy Buffett's song "Fruitcakes."  I immediately fell in love with it because of the verse about religion:

Wheres the church, who took the steeple
Religion is in the hands of some crazy-ass people
Television preachers with bad hair and dimples
The gods honest truth is it's not that simple
Its the buddhist in you, it's the pagan in me
Its the muslim in him, she's catholic aint she?
Its the born again look it's the wasp and the jew
Tell me what's goin on, I aint gotta clue

It seemed profound.  Until that moment it hadn't really occurred to me that I didn't have to subscribe to the same religious views as my parents did.  8 years later I'm still in love with this song, but for a different verse:

Fruitcakes in the kitchen
Fruitcakes on the street
Struttin' naked through the crosswalk
In the middle of the week
Half-baked cookies in the oven
Half-baked people on the bus
There's a little bit of fruitcake left in everyone of us

Comparing people to cake?  What a fantastic metaphor! The idea that we're all fruity/nutty, that none of us are done "baking" makes a lot of sense.  People are crazy.  And thank goodness that we are.

Here is the music video for Fruitcakes.  It's more than a little entertaining. Plus Jimmy gives a little nod to Mark Twain.

In a nutshell, this song has inspired me to bake.  Making food and then sharing it with others is incredibly intimate.  I'm excited about exploring my own interpersonal relationships, but also the relationship between food and family and history. I have very little experience in the kitchen and even less if you count "made from scratch" recipes. But I am majoring in sculpture where anything goes, so "Keep baking baby. Keep baking."