Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air interviewed Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half about her new book, her popular website, and her battle with depression. At one point, Gross asked her why she drew herself in such an odd fashion.
BROSH: All right. So I draw myself with very crude illustrations in a program called Paintbrush. It's sort of the Macintosh analog of MSPaint. And I look very funny. I've got these buggy eyes, and I have sort of, like, a tube body and a little, like, triangle ponytail thing on the top of my head, and it's a strange sort of animal-like creature.
And the reason I draw myself this way is I feel like this absurd, squiggly thing is actually a much more accurate representation of myself than I am. It's a better tool for communicating my sense of humor and actually getting across what I'm trying to say than, say, you know, being there in the flesh. I feel like it's - that's actually one of the reasons why I don't do standup and why I do this instead, because I can use this character to communicate and make it much more accurate and true to what I'm trying to say and true to my tone.
You can listen to the 38 minute show (which has highlights on the page), or read the transcript. -via Metafilter
How wrong I was.
She did gave us a lot more of insight about her depression. Heck, she even described her plan to kill herself without making people too much upset. Kinda weird and funny and sad and funny.
Also, she described the time she tried to set her sister on fire when she was 3. That wasn't on her blog or the book. Her childhood stories are always a blast.
I'm glad to know she's well.