My most controversial Love Letter yet
A treatise on why Charlie Brown is the absolute worst
I know. I know. I am insulting an American institution. I may even lose followers over this, but it has to be said: Charlie Brown and his friends are actually terrible.
Forgive me, y’all. I just can’t handle it. I didn’t grow up with Charlie Brown, so I did not see it until I was an adult, and I assumed I’d love it just like the rest of the world. I wanted to like Charlie Brown. I really did! But when the girls got a DVD with the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials on it and we watched them, I was actually astounded by how awful these kids were to each other! So much negativity, so much bullying!
Before I start getting nasty letters addressed to That Charlie Brown Hater, please know that there is one character I like. Linus is pretty cool. I like his love for the Great Pumpkin and I liked him telling the Christmas story. And that was pretty much it.
Lucy is hateful to Charlie about playing football. Peppermint Patty invites herself and 2 other people to a party Charlie Brown isn’t even hosting and then she has the audacity to complain about the food?! Everyone is always yelling and being mean to each other?! No thanks.
That being said, my girls have watched that DVD approximately 23432 times since October, and I am slowly losing my mind. I asked Joy to clean up her room and she said, “Good grief.” I hate it.
So we are putting the DVD up for a while for my own mental health lol
Am I the only one who doesn’t understand the world’s love for Charlie Brown? Let me know. (Nicely, please. I am not into internet fights about a cartoon lol)
I reposted this poem the other day. I shared it just a day after decorating for Christmas. I needed the reminder to be chill about the holidays!
We are currently in that post-Thanksgiving haze where you’re too tired from all the turkey to do anything, but your to-do list is a mile long. Thankfully, I anticipated this, and I decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving (as mentioned before), and now I can really embrace the holiday. I have Christmas cards to mail out, a few gifts left to buy, a whole bunch to wrap, and I have a couple of parties to plan. It’s still a lot to do, but I really love all the fun and tradition around Christmas. With the exception of Charlie Brown!
Speaking of Christmas gifts, if you’re looking for a good one, the Moms Who Write The Magic of Us poetry anthology came out on Black Friday. I am so honored to have several poems included, and most of them are brand-spankin’-new, never-before-seen words straight from my heart to yours. It is always wonderful to see your words printed in a book filled with so many incredible women writers.
If you would like a copy of my book to give as a gift this season, Amazon has my book on the deepest discount I’ve ever seen. I can promise, you won’t find a better deal, probably ever. I was actually concerned about how cheap it was, so I went back and forth with KDP and Ingram Spark to make sure it wasn’t a pirated copy or something, and they have assured me everything is as it should be. That being said, I can’t imagine it will stay this cheap for long.
Also, if you’re on the fence about my retreat in March, this is a perfect time to add it to your Christmas list! If you missed the retreat info, here’s a link to everything, including an interest form.
I mean, can you imagine writing on this porch while hanging out with this deer? Heaven, right?
LISTENING/READING/WATCHING/WRITING
LISTENING:
Since it’s officially the holiday season, I’ve been listening to Spotify’s Christmas Classics playlist. My girls are obsessed with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” which is actually pretty cute when they’re dancing around the house actually getting along.
Unrelated to Christmas, I’ve been listening to Surviving Sister Wives on Spotify. They recap every episode of Sister Wives, and they’re pretty funny. I haven’t been able to watch this season, but because of the podcast, I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything. There is some strong language so be aware of that if you don’t want to hear it.
READING:
I have been slowly reading Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros’s sequel to Fourth Wing. I would love to just dive in and not come up for air until I’m finished, but life keeps getting in the way of my reading. So far, I’m enjoying it, and I have managed to avoid most of the spoilers (except one big one that I found by reading what was supposed to be a spoiler free review!). It’s been a fun ride (no dragon-rider pun intended), and I’m excited to finish it. I’m sure it’s another cliffhanger because I think there is supposed to be several in the series.
I also finished a poetry collection called Younger by Kiana Lin. A friend gave me a copy, and I really enjoyed it! I liked all of them, but there were a few poems that really touched me. If you haven’t read it, be sure to grab a copy here. I really love the front cover!
WATCHING:
Jared and I have been watching The Witcher on Netflix, and I do not know why I like it so much, but it’s a fascinating story. Maybe I should just go ahead and admit that I think I like fantasy stories now?! (It makes sense given my reading this past year lol). I have never been into all the world building and the characters with the wild names, but this year I’m eating it up. Also, they mention wyvern in one episode, and because I’ve read Fourth Wing, I knew what that was! So basically, all the fluff-reading I’m doing is teaching me about the worlds in the fluff-watching I’m doing. We just started the 3rd season, and I’m sad because I heard that Henry Cavill won’t be coming back for season 4?! Where do I sign up to riot? Let me know.
WRITING:
On this front, let me start by saying hahahahahahahhahahaha and end with a hearty sigh because I actually started this month attempting NANOWRIMO and ended it with the same word count that I started with approximately 5 days into November. Who thought 50k in 30 days was a good idea for November?! Whoever it was, they were not the one primarily responsible for holiday prep, I can tell you that.
All that to say, I am not doing well on my word count goals, but I am around 57k into the story. My latest goal is 80k, and I’m hoping to finish by my birthday on January 30th. A mom in the Moms Who Write group on facebook decided she was going to host MAMAWRIMO in January where more logical people would host a writing contest, and I am going to really try and finish in January. We will see how it all turns out.
Anyway, I hope y’all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and are well into your Christmas to-do lists so you will have plenty of time to do all the fun Christmas stuff you want. Even if all that you want to do is sit in your pajamas and watch Elf on repeat. As long as it’s not Charlie Brown, you have my full support.
I love y’all!
Tristan
P.S. If you’d like signed copies of my book, you can order those here. Make sure you give yourself a plenty of time for it to arrive!