Happiness Is A Sad Puppy

HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO - I was just on the Yahoo! homepage where the headline was, "Good Grief, Charles Schultz." The story was about a new biography which painted an "unexpected portrait" of the man behind "Peanuts."

The unexpected part? He was a sad guy.

Am I the only one not surprised by this? I wasn't even aware this was breaking news. I always just assumed.

I think as a small child, I liked the "Peanuts" crew because it had Snoopy and I just really didn't care otherwise. I remember these largish vinyl "Peanuts" toys I used to play with at my great-aunt Chick's house. I'm guessing they were remnants of my dad's cousins' childhoods. There was Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, and Linus. I loved those things even if I didn't know anything more about them than the Christmas special.

As a slightly older child, I found I really didn't like "Peanuts." I grew too old for the TV specials, but was always reading the Sunday comics. I regularly skipped "Peanuts" because I decided they just weren't funny.

The older I became, though, the greater my appreciation grew for this little strip. I found it often insightful and quietly funny. And sometimes thoroughly depressing.

Why would anyone be surprised that the guy behind Charlie Brown was actually a melancholic and lonely guy? The main character made a career out of failing to kick a football and his favorite line was, "Good Grief."

I don't know why this struck me in this way. I guess it just seems ridiculous to me that everyone would think that a man who spends so much time pondering the unfortunate state of things in this world wouldn't end up carrying around a significant amount of sadness simply because he draws a goofy dog. Maybe he experienced the only happiness he was capable of by confronting the sadness in the world each day. Who knows?

Right now, I'm thinking of another important comic strip (this particular medium really doesn't get the credit it deserves): Calvin and Hobbes. A comic strip named after two philosophers which pondered deep issues much of the time. And how do we choose to honor that legacy after the strip ended? That's right, by making a bunch of stickers featuring Calvin pissing on things we don't like. Things like other car companies, and football teams, and other countries. Then let's plaster these stickers on as many pickup trucks as this glorious nation can hold! Why engage in any serious debate in this country about real issues? I'll just express my frustration, sadness, or rage by having a little boy piss on things!

Whoa, whoa. I'm looking back on this posting now and realizing I'm getting a little carried away. This originally started as a brief commentary about a news article that surprised me by how blind people are sometimes. Now I'm not really sure where it's going. Left field. Way out.

Good grief.

Have a good day everybody!