I Love Everything About This Trailer

One of the first books I remember falling asleep reading was a huge PEANUTS treasury that I had gotten when I was very young. Even before I could read the words I liked the simple pictures and then when I could read the words I searched for meaning. And there is lots of meaningful lessons to be learned from the Peanuts Gang. Like how some children live in squalor like Pig Pen and how the world isn't fair, ever.

Even though it was heavy with religious messages it seemed not to have a theological agenda to me as a kid. I just understood if you believe is something magical like the Great Pumpkin then you deserve to never taste Halloween candy again. It's like believing in a religion that asks me to give and give but returns to me NOTHING.

When we were in Junior High we had religion class once a week. The Catholic kids (of which I was one) had to go sit in a room with the old priest and hear lectures about how we could only save our souls by building schools in mosquito invested African villages. Then watch his grainy slides of unhappy African villagers being forced to build a school in a place infested with mosquitos.

The protestant kids got to go to the gym where the COOL priest showed PEANUTS slides over modern music. A hip way to get the message to the kids, you dig? You can imagine my choice. The minute I heard ABBA coming from the gym I had an instant conversion. Even though the son of the Protestant Priest was my best friend and knew I wasn't in his 'club', he never busted me. Once a teacher tried to stop me but I told him I converted and he was infringing on my religious freedom. He backed off after that. Hey, it was 40 minutes of my life I would never get back once a week. I was not sitting with Father Boring if I had other options.