John Hughes, Life, Tater Tots

tater tots – episode 89

Kari

if you’re new to my blog, welcome! here is an explanation of the tater tot post.

there’s waldo

remember when i posted that picture of me reading where’s waldo? well, this showed up in my instagram feed a week after:

source

i found this exercise in a book that i was reading a few weeks ago, and i thought it might make for a good blog post down the line. i’m still working through it, but i wanted to share it here. fall seems like the perfect time to celebrate were we find refuge.

one thing i’m reading

memoir as medicine: the healing power of writing your messy, imperfect, unruly (but gorgeously yours) life story by nancy slonim aronie

i’m in love with this book so far- you don’t need to be writing a memoir to enjoy it. lots of great prompts and stories.

one thing i’m watching

i got to see a screening of the john candy documentary last night. it’s really good- it comes out on the 10th. john candy’s son was one of the friends featured, and john hughes’ son was in the audience.

one thing i’m listening to

space age love song by a flock of seagulls

links i clicked on last month

When her car ran out of gas, help came from a homeless encampment

Nora Ephron: What I’ll miss, what I won’t miss

Just for Fun – Inbarbsworld

You Don’t Need Closure, You Need Space

Questions to ask yourself this fall – #178 (i’m turning this into a blog post, but would also make for good journaling prompts…)

DrawAFish.com

Photographer doesn’t force young girls to smile in pictures

Wyoming town erects new monument to violent, anti-immigrant history

quotes that had me thinking

i believed i wanted to be a poet, but deep down i just wanted to be a poem. – jaime gil de biedma

let the beauty we love be what we do. – rumi

fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you. – ruth bader ginsburg

he who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own. – confucius

all joy in this world comes from wanting others to be happy, and all suffering in this world comes from wanting only oneself to be happy. – shantideva

hello, october…

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38 thoughts on “tater tots – episode 89”

  1. You’re the sweetest! Thank you for sharing and we had a lot of fun with that post. I watched the Netflix special last night of Jane Goodall’s, “Famous Last Words”, and it was so powerful. It seems she let them record it just in time. 🙏

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  2. I love that you got to go to the screening of the John Candy documentary. My husband would be so jealous!

    That’s funny that you are listening to one of the ONLY two songs we got to see The Flock of Seagulls perform live in August. Still bitter about that AND the whole David Byrne fiasco.

    I love the Closure vs. Space piece. Very wise words. The girls in the photo of the Smile piece look like AI to me??

    Draw A Fish – my fish earned a 54% probability, whatever that means!!!

    Hope you have a wonderful week! XO

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    1. It was really nice. I loved seeing his son- he is so lovely, just like his dad. Oh, and Jim Belushi was there too! He was funny.

      It’s like I have ESP or something. I don’t blame you for feeling bitter about that whole fiasco.

      I love it too.

      TOTALLY AI. But I like the article- It just feels weird that they went with AI for an article about photography. 🙄

      LOL- I don’t know what that means either!

      I hope you have a wonderful week, too my friend! 😘💜

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  6. Oh that is one documentary I am definitely going to watch!

    That quote “all joy in this world comes from wanting others to be happy, and all suffering in this world comes from wanting only oneself to be happy”… gosh how true is that?

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  7. Lovely post, Kari. “Space Age Love Song” is so good; whenever I hear it I think of seeing A Flock of Seagulls when they came to Winnipeg back in their heyday and gave a fantastic show. Have you ever heard the reboot they did of it and others on 2018’s ‘Ascension’ album, with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra? I featured that version of the song back in 2020: https://songoftheday.ca/2020/06/01/space-age-love-song/

    I think I’ve seen this quote before, but just love it: “i believed i wanted to be a poet, but deep down i just wanted to be a poem.” And the Jane Goodall quote is so relevant to our times, don’t you think? My oh my.

    I like the idea of refuges. We all need them, and they can take many forms, so I look forward to reading what you make of that.

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    1. I’m headed your way to read all about the orchestra version!

      That quote came from Francis Weller’s latest book. 💜

      What’s kind of eerie is that Jane Goodall quote was in my inbox the day or so before she died. And yes, it is so very relevant.

      I like the idea of refuges too. I might publish my findings as a separate blog post.

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      1. Thanks for heading over to that post!

        Ah, nice… I haven’t opened the book yet; saving it until I finish what I’m reading now.

        I look forward to reading your post… 🙏🏼

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  8. You have so many great things here, Kari! Awww, poor Waldo! And the skeleton covered with disco ball colors is the best! (I know he has a name, and do you think I can remember it right now?)
    Thank you for all this great inspiration!

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    1. Aww, thank you, Michelle! 😘💜

      I love that corner of our kitchen- he seems to love it too! (Roger is his name- and no worries, I’m so forgetful of everything these days🤣)

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  9. Oh, I can’t wait to see the John Candy documentary!

    Forgot about that Flock of Seagulls. Used to listen to them in the 80’s.

    That Nora Ephron article…beautiful but heartbreaking.

    The article about closure…wow, interesting take. I bookmarked it to read again, more slowly.

    I’m normally not one for journal prompts, but the ones from that Substack post are really good. I’m going to try some of them in my own journal.

    Beautiful quotes that will be going in my quote journal.

    Roger!!

    xoxo

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    1. It was really good. He was such a lovely human being.

      I heard the song on TikTok last week, and it’s been in my head ever since. I loved that song in the 80s.

      I had to read it a few times- I love articles like that.

      I’m not sure if I’ll make it into a post because some of the prompts are deep and personal, but I’m definitely journaling them.

      I love our quote journals. I’m almost nearing the end of mine, which means soon I’ll need to find another one!

      It’s always good to have Roger back in the house again.

      😘💜

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      1. I have two quote books that I love: The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women and Distilled Genius Quotations by Susan Branch. <3

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  10. Kari, I chuckled when I read “there’s waldo” because this has been happening to me – and A LOT. No sooner do I say (or even THINK something) and I suddenly see it appear online. It’s crazy!

    And YES about “where we find refuge”. I’m looking forward to your future post. And I agree, Fall is the perfect time to share it.

    And thanks for the John Candy documentary mention because you know me, I LOVE docs! In fact, I just recently watched the Charlie Sheen documentary – ‘AKA Charlie Sheen’ – it was fabulous! It was brutally honest, real, and raw – it left nothing unexposed.

    “Nora Ephron: What I’ll miss, what I won’t miss.” – don’t you miss Nora Ephron? I read several of her books and watched the documentary her son made.

    And being a huge lover of Fall and Halloween, I LOVED that final picture!!!!!!! I’m so happy that summer is over!

    Enjoyed this, my friend. As always!

    Have a grrrrrrreat rest of your week!

    X

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    1. Synchronicity! I love that.

      I watched that one too- it was really good. And you’re right, it was very honest. I enjoyed learning more about his story.

      I do miss her! I loved her books and movies. I haven’t seen her documentary- I need to find it.

      I’m so happy summer is over too. It’s finally fall temps here today.

      I hope the rest of your week is wonderful, my friend! 😘💜

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  11. The skeleton screaming into the void (or calling hello to fall, or startling at his reflection) is cracking me up, Kari.

    Love the idea of refuge as presented in that book. And now I’m going to go read the questions I have to ask myself this fall.

    xxoo

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    1. We always put him in that window starting in October. He’s actually yelling at our least favorite neighbor’s house- it feels very therapeutic.

      I’m so glad you’re going to read the questions. I still need to ask myself those too. 😘💜

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  12. how cool that you got to attend a screening of the John candy documentary.

    I enjoyed the nora Ephron article. She was something else.

    the where’s Waldo thing is hilarious.

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    1. I know- Mike surprised me with it as an anniversary present.

      She was something else.

      I know- I guess we don’t have to look for him anymore. 🤣

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  13. The Jane Goodall quote is so lovely – what a great loss to the world she is.

    I love the find your refuges worksheet, and the questions to ask yourself this season – thanks so much for sharing them <3

    Brilliant to read about the photographer who doesn’t force a smile out of young girls. Something I found myself feeling strongly about was that my grandchildren shouldn’t be forced to give hugs or kissed. Firstly, because they are so much more valuable when they’re given freely, and secondly because they need to feel they have autonomy over their own bodies.

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  14. Look at you! A Hollywood screening! That’s fantastic! I’m such a huge John Hughes fan that just seeing his son would do it for me. TBH, I didn’t know much about Jane Goodall until after she died. What a compassionate and lovely person. I’m sorry I didn’t pay much attention to what she was doing when she was alive.

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    1. Haha! I made it sound like I was invited, but Mike got tickets for us as an anniversary gift (our dating anniversary 💜)!

      I knew a little about her, but not much. We started a documentary about her- she nevr went to college, and her mom stayed with her in the jungle! Those two facts alone we learnd in the first 10 muinutes of the documentary. I want to go back and finish it.

      I feel like I know more about horrible people on this earth than the good ones. I want to change that.

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  15. I’m in awe of Jane Goodall. I’ve watched her final interview in bits and pieces so far, and she was a hugely intelligent and passionate woman. The depth of her understanding about Nature and the interconnectedness of man and environment was commanding.

    I agree that fall begins the season of refuge, at least for me. I begin to feel a sort of nesting instinct, a home-making desire, as if readying my environs for the winter ahead. There’s a need for me to feel more comfort and softness, even in my relationship with myself.

    Thanks for these resources. I’ll explore many of them.

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    1. I’m in awe of her too. She never went to college- that is so inspiring. Watching her walk throiugh the jungles barefoot and no fear- she was definitely an amazing human.

      I feel this way too, Nance. With evrything going on in ou country, it feels very necessary to hunker down and get some clarity.

      I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. 😘💜

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  16. I can’t wait to see the John Candy documentary! How cool that you were able to see it already, and you liked it.

    I’m off to check some of your links.

    Happy October!! XO

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  17. The questions to ask yourself for fall are densely good. I started to extract them in a file to answer all together, but I think I need to parse them out one by one as each inspires much contemplation.

    Also and unrelated, going to try not to smile in my next photo and adding the John Candy doc to the list!

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    1. I went through them last week and decided they are definitely journaling material for me, not post material.

      I’m going to pout in photos from now on.

      It’s so good- I think you’ll like it.

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