Alison Bechdel- On A Mission

After finishing "Fun Home" I was intrigued enough about her to want to know a little more so I Google searched her and found her website and personal blogs.  While impressed overall, I was still left with the same feeling Charles discussed in his blog- she feels like a woman missing something.  Her website and cartoons, "Dykes to Watch Out For" are very entertaining and she takes you on a personal tour of all that is "Alison".  However, after finishing the tour, I was left wondering if she will ever  be alright.  All her pictures from all over the world show a sad faced woman looking at the camera.  I don't think she smiled in one...even in Venice.  Her words reminisce darkness and hurt and even though tinged with humor, the longing is evident.  One in particular really intrigued me because she told the story of a troupe doing a stage version of "Fun Home".  They had decided that since Alison's old house was now a rental, they would stay there for inspiration and she decided to join them.  At first unsure she made the correct decision, she wondered if she could rest in that terribly haunted house but later said she did "just fine". What really bothered me personally however was the photo of her laying in her old bathtub plugging the drips with her toe.  It was heartbreaking to me that of all the things she remembered in that home, the trauma induced OCD still came back all these years later and she was still compelled, jokingly or not, to cut of the drips with her toe.  I have to agree with Charles that she seems to be missing something and if she cannot break free from the past and move towards a healthier future no amount of literary success will fill the void.  I hope she finds her muse and happiness someday and finds whatever it is that she seems to be unable to find.