Plenty of writers have already gone to press/web with writeups and synopsese of Hughes and his career. For more background, you can read articles such as this one, and I won’t try to outdo those or simply repeat them. I’ll simply say that John Hughes was responsible for work that made me laugh my friggin’ ass off and feel pretty good about life during some years where I otherwise spent far too much time looking for ways to be miserable. Thanks, John, for the reminder of just how much there is to enjoy out of life.
And this blog entry is just about the most priceless thing I could ever think of to uncover on this subject. It’s about a young girl who took the time to write to John back in the Breakfast Club days and wound up with a friend. Read it. It’s an outstanding example of how reaching out can have an enriching effect on our lives. If someone inspires you, be it a parent, an artist, a sibling, a friend, a photographer, a musican – let them know. You may never hear anything back from them, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t make ripples on the water.
Dude. That second blog post you link to is amazing. It’s gone totally viral – there are like a thousand comments already, and she was interviewed on All Things Considered. Because it’s awesome. Damnit, why wasn’t I a teenager in the 80s? No, seriously, she had a unique experience, but she also writes about it very well.
But still. Me being the person I am, she slides into the category of “people that make me feel as if I’ve wasted my life”. Meh.
That blog post of hers is amazing. A thousand comments, you say? Wow, and here I thought I was late to the party when it was at 188! I did see it bouncing around Facebook today.
You’ll have to ask your parents why you weren’t a teenage in the 80s. I think it has something to do with their personal schedules. I guess I got luck that way. My folks specifically planned out my birth so that I would be 14 when his stuff started taking off.
We can all have versions of her story as part of our own lives if we just reach out and attempt to connect with others, or so I believe for myself. I was just thinking that of myself, however, when reading your history on your art site, if that makes any difference!
Ha! I just happen to have a knack for positioning myself in front of natural and familial disasters is all.
I have a knack for remembering what a page in a book or magazine looks like when thinking of a quote that I have read, but that doesn’t make for riveting personal essays. I don’t see anything of mine going viral anytime soon.