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This is pretty damn clever. And funny! My wife is still working but I'm retired. So I do most of the grocery shopping. And I'm an expert at placing the items in the order they appear as I walk through the store. One of my lists would have definitely baffled you because there's so much "healthy" on it: soy dogs, soy bacon and sausage, loads of vegetables, whole wheat bread, Amy's frozen meals, no meat of any kind.

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Thanks! That sounds like a delightful list! I wonder what a mural just made up of people's grocery lists would look like? I know many people just use their phones now, but I would love to see a patchwork collage of thousands of grocery lists of all different sizes.

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You are truly brilliant. I love the images, and the magic of the things you created because of this inspiring scrap of paper. BTW, I think the print want written by a grade-school kid and the cursive maybe by the same kid. Maybe! Both have that callow stiffness to them, straight up and down rather than slanted in either direction. Letters like soldiers standing at attention. Maybe Mom or Dad yelled in from the living room "don't forget the cigs!" A package or a carton? I love you deductive powers. Now you've got me doing it. Thank you, Jason.

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Aww, thank you! I think it's interesting how the list switches into cursive with the cheese in cream cheese and with the note for small jar. That cursive is much different from the cursive of cigarettes. The mixed printing and cursive looks like an adult, while the straight print of the top of the list and the cursive cigarettes does look like a grade schooler.

I love how mysterious and magical the world can be!

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Jul 4, 2023Liked by Jason McBride

Very, very cool!

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Thanks! Reading about all the ways people use notebooks in your Substack has my neurons constantly firing away at how to apply those techniques to my notebook!

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Jul 4, 2023Liked by Jason McBride

I'm obsessed with found grocery lists or really any scraps of paper with handwritten notes. Once at the zoo I found a handwritten card - the tiny kind like you'd find dangling from a gift bag. Inside, it says "Thanks for inviting me to your party From Sarah" in dainty letters with hearts over the i's. The front of the card is yellow with a cartoon monkey eating a banana. I still have it. It's a prized possession of mine. 🩷

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That sounds fantastic! I’d love to see a picture of that note! The bits of stuff we leave behind is so intriguing to me

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That would be awesome!!! You could even segment them into unhealthy, okay, and healthy! Like ... 1) 20 lbs. hamburger, two cases Mountain Dew; 3 bags pork rinds. 2) two steaks; white potatoes; coleslaw. 3) salmon, sweet potatoes, broccoli. 🤣

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What fun!!! I love it that you took something so ordinary and made it magical!!!! Beautifully done!!!

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Thank you! Seeing all your notebook sketches these past few months has made me want to consciously make more visual art in my notebooks!

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Awwww that's so kind of you to say!! 💚💚💚💚💚 I just love you being yourself!!

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Like you told me yesterday, stories/poetry are everywhere! I love when they appear unexpectedly. What a gift. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

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Thanks Justin!

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I love your weird brain and the weird stuff that comes out of it!

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Thanks! I'm grateful that you enjoy the weird things I come up with!

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You further justify to me why to not throw away old papers. You just never know- one or some of them can turn out into wonderful written pieces.

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Inspiration is everywhere!

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I love how much creativity can be inspired from something as innoucous as a discarded shopping list. What you have created here is wonderful, and makes my own imagination fly too. Thank you for sharing this Jason!

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Thanks!

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Pop, not soda...how introspective of you!

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I’m a bit obsessed with the American English regionalisms around pop, soda, coke, etc.

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"Whoever wrote that list for smokes, soda, and potato salad fixings will probably never know they inspired me to make so many different things. But all of our lives touch each other in ways we cannot control. All we can do is choose what energy we want to send out."

thank you for this write. you are truly brilliant.

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Thank you! I appreciate you reading my work!

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Cool..... It looks deeper in the story 💯❤.

Please do well to subscribe to my page,read and like.

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Oct 27, 2023Liked by Jason McBride

I love this. Ive always thought other people’s grocery list feel like they hold a secret meaning.

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Thanks! Me too--it's almost like other people's lists are written in a code that if I could crack I would uncover the secret of life

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Oct 27, 2023Liked by Jason McBride

Ha! Exactly.

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