Back from vacation, but more importantly, Allie Brosh is on WTF

Tuesday night I got in late after a long weekend visiting my very good friend Dan in South Carolina and my parents in Georgia. A very good time with both- Dan is a friend who, though we haven’t seen each other in probably close to two years, I can fall right back into familiar patterns with. We have no pretenses around one another and had some very funny, deep and intellectually stimulating conversations. Everyone should be so lucky to have such a friend. With my parents I got to experience a little bit of their retirement-lite lifestyle and I definitely see the appeal. I sat by the pool (and did a little swimming), we played a little golf (I had two really great (for me) holes, with a par and a bogey that was about a hand-width away from being another par). We took a nice long walk on the paths that run throughout their community, around lagoons with alligators, herons and turtles and out to the salt marshes with ospreys, egrets, etc. We went out to some great restaurants in Savannah, explored antique stores and used book shops. It was a great few days.

But, as I said, more importantly, Allie Brosh is on today’s episode of “WTF with Marc Maron.” Allie is the creator of the “Hyperbole and a Half” blog/web comic and the book of the same name. Allie is about my age and has been able to present depression and anxiety better than any other person or book or medical diagnosis can. When I first read her post on depression I found myself nodding along thinking “Yes, yes, yes, this is it.” I bought her book and gave it to my sister and my mom to read. If you are dealing with mental health issues (specifically depression or an anxiety disorder) or know someone who is, READ Allie’s book!

When I saw that she was going to be a guest on WTF, I could not wait for today to roll around. Marc Maron has a well deserved reputation not only as a great interviewer, but what makes him uniquely suited to having a conversation with Allie is his own openness about things like addiction, growing up with a bi-polar father and his own anxiety issues. The conversation did not disappoint. If I leave you with one call to action this week it’s to go read Allie’s stuff on her site and then listen to the podcast.