comics – Tracy Tran

Life

Halloweenie

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen this, so apologies! Â Sharing here for my mom, whoÂ is the biggest TinTin fan ever, and most certainly not on the ‘gram. Â 🙂

Oh Halloween. It’s come and gone, and now here we are barreling right into the holiday season.Â I was incredibly boring this year and on Halloween night I didn’t go to any haunted houses, silent movies, raging bars, pumpkin patches, or any other such debauchery. The stars just didn’t align, and also I was SO FREAKIN’ TIRED.

I did however have a costume that I felt good about! I love Halloween, but I don’t loveÂ paying a lot for a costume that I will only wear for one day out of the year. I’m on a budget, so this year IÂ picked a costume that would minimize my spending – TinTin :D.Â Most everything was in my wardrobe – I just needed to buy a stuffed dog and a blue sweater.

If you ever want to be TinTin as well, it’s a super easy formula. FromÂ CostumePlaybook.com:Â

White button up shirt
Blue sweater or sweatshirt, crew neck is most accurate (Uniqlo was great for finding just the right blue)
Brown/reddish orange pants or “knickers” – I just rolled my skinny jeans up
White socks pulled up real high
Sensible brown oxfords
Way too much hair gel / hair spray (a curling brush is good for getting the right quiff)
Optional: Spray your hair orange
Optional: trench coat
And of course you need your sidekick Snowy! Official Snowy plush toys are very expensive, but any white dog will do. Â I bought this realistic looking Westie, and freaked people out all day long 🙂

Art, Travel

Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center

If you’re ever in Santa Rosa, you’re in for a treat. Santa Rosa is where Charles Schulz (AKA Sparky) spent the last 30 years of his life. This is where he drew Peanuts, y’all! Over the years he became a part of the community there, and you can feel the love when you step into his museum.

But first, they lure you in with the promise of some vanity shots.

In another life …

So true.

I started out the museum tour the usual way. I ran to the bathroom first. I was not disappointed.

Charlies

Lucies

Comic tiles add character to the bathroom

This is one of the earliest Peanuts strips. Snoopy looked different back in the day, huh?

Snoopy was inspired by Schulz’s family dog Spike. Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani’s wood sculpture Morphing Snoopy shows Snoopy’s different incarnations over the years (from Spike to the Red Baron, to modern Knotts Berry Farm Snoopy). Thankfully they left out Joe Cool. I hated that persona.

This was my favorite piece in the museum. It’s the same artist. A mural of a familiar scene 🙂

It’s made up of 10 years worth of comics strips. NUTS. Although maybe this is not that exciting now that they have programs that automatically set it up for you.

Can this be my living room?

There was an interesting exhibit on how Mid Century Modern design played into the comic strip. It’s honestly something that I’d never noticed before.

An exhibit on the history of the Peanuts tv holiday specials.

Schulz’s comic influences from the 20s and 30s

Sparky’s early work

Tools of the trade

An exhibit on creating Snoopy’s family tree

A mural that Schulz painted for his daughter Meredith’s nursery. They shipped in the actual wall.

This was one of the spookiest exhibits to me- the recreation of Schulz’s studio

ACK!!! It’s Cathy!

Right next door was the skating rink that Schulz had built for the town. He was really into ice hockey and loved to play in seniors games. Note the Midwestern influences.

Famous hockey and ice skating stars came out for games and performances. Check out the Kristi Yamaguchi!

The ice rink had a simple cafe called the Warm Puppy.

Pretty great views of the ice from the cafe

This is where Sparky had his lunch every day. This seat is reserved in his memory.

Life

What Does Depression Feel Like?

I go in and out of waves of low level depression. Not suicidal style, but just general humphiness and a flatline of emotion, accompanied by the usual “what’s the point of life” questions. Â Over the years I’ve gotten my coping strategies together, and mostly just soldier through when the “dog days” arrive, but it’s cyclical and it sucks.

I’ve been trying to think of the best way to describe it, but I think “melancholy” is the simplest. I’ve heard of “dysthymia” but I don’t know if it helps much to self diagnose. Explaining it to friends can be tricky, since there’s such a range of mood disorders. I don’t want to worry people, but I do want to explain what I feel.

Thankfully I’ve run into some really insightful blog posts about depression lately. I’ve been meaning to post about Hyperbole and a Half’s recent posts (part 1 and part 2), but haven’t been able to get around to it. Today The Bloggess wrote a sort of inspirational “Keep on trucking” type of post about depression. It’s pretty great too, so I thought I’d make this one a twofer. You don’t have to read the Bloggess one, but the Hyperbole and a Half ones are SO GOOD. My favorite is part 2. They’re long, so grab a beer and sit back. And if you don’t have time now, here’s a teaser…

She explains how difficult it can be to make casual chitchat with friends when you’re feeling depressed.

I’ve heard that my face is pretty emotionless/hard to read, so I often think about what my face looks like. Totally get it. Along the same lines, ran into this today on The Hairpin and love it. I totally have bitchface.