I was taking a break, crafting some stuff on EQ2. I went to Facebook real quick, just to check on some messages and there was a message from a friend who said John Hughes was dead. I looked at the message in shock and immediately shut down the game to go on the web to confirm it.

There it was on the CNN website, Breakfast Club director Hughes dead at 59. Apparently he died of a heart attack.

John Hughes was 80s teen movies. You couldn’t claim to be a teenager in the 80s and not have seen a John Hughes movie. His teem movies were like real teenagers; smart, awkward, cool, nerdy and a jumble of hormones just trying to survive school and figure out what life is all about.

I can’t believe how much of my teenage years can be wrapped up in John Hughes films. Star Wars and George Lucas may have formed my childhood but John Hughes gave me my teenage years.

My favorite John Hughes movie has to be Pretty In Pink. Hey, you got to go with the Duckman. I related to the guy like you wouldn’t believe. The thing about any John Hughes film is even though there weren’t a lot of black people in them (OK, probably no black people) I could relate to the geeky, awkward teenagers in them who were the real heroes of the stories. It wasn’t the super studs or the athletes but the crazy guy who wanted to get the girl or the girl who just wanted to go to the prom, these were stories, as a teenager, I could relate to because I was the geeky guy. What was very cool was my high school was full of geeky people, so we were like the best parts of a John Hughes movie.

So, as a salute, I have turned on the X-Box, linked it to my computer and it’s playing the soundtrack to Pretty in Pink I have loaded on it. Rest in peace John Hughes and thank you for the movies you gave us. You will be missed.