"I couldn't help it. Things come to me and I can't stop them when they do." he used to hate their invasive nature, how helpless he was to stop them, but years of it now had stopped those feelings and left a dull sense of submitting to the inevitable behind them.
"I don't know why artichokes were mentioned; they've got no significance to me. And I'm sorry that I ended up walking into you. When they happen they're all I can see."