They must've run out of professionals......

Wow, I almost look thoughtful in this photo.

Anyway, this past weekend I had the distinct privledge of serving as the Cartoonist-in- residence at the Schulz museum in Santa Rosa. The staff of the museum, especially the education director Jessica Ruskin, were extremely accomidating and understanding when my bus ran late and I couldn't find a cab to save my life. I had a fantastic time chatting with visitors and answering questions about the wonderful profession of cartooning.

The Cartoonist-in-residence program is the museum's way of offering visitors a special glimpse into the creative process of any and all mediums of cartooning including comic strips, comic books and animation. To do so the museum invites a professional cartoonist out every second Saturday of each month. To this extent, I'm not sure why I was invited (heh). My theory is that they ran out of professional members of the Northern California Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society, who are the kindly benefactors (along with the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco) of this program.

Here is a scan of the sign perched on my table.

One of the highlights of the day, or any day I visit the museum, was chatting with Jeannie Schulz. She is such an insightful woman and a great conversationalist. It's always great to hear her quote Sparky!

Oh, I almost forgot...I got to meet Robert Smigel! Y'know, Saturday TV Funhouse...The Ambiguously Gay Duo.....Robert Smigel! He and his wife were in town visiting and decided to drop by the museum on the day I was doing the residency. How fortuitous is that?! In case you're wondering he is a very nice man whose modest as all hell for everything he's accomplished. His wife is fantastic as well! If they're reading this, I just wanted to say again how wonderful it was to meet both of you!

In closing, I wanted to thank Jeannie and Jessica again for having me and say if you ever have a chance to visit the museum you should take full advantage. It stands as a moving and loving tribute to the profession's most innovative and influential artist. Charles Schulz will live on forever inside those walls and though I never had the opportunity to meet him, through his work I feel as though he was inviting us all into his life.
Thanks Sparky.