Although I read the entire daily newspaper (well...I ignore the Sports Section), my greatest enjoyment is from the "funny pages" - the pages of cartoons. Sometimes there is nothing interesting there, but sometimes we are lucky and get a twofer. I'll give an example of a twofer from Friday's newspaper - The Wichita Eagle.
Pickles by Brian Crane April 17, 2015
Pickles cartoons are based on the lives of an older couple. It plays into many of the stereotypes about oldsters: that excessive time is spent with grandchildren, with pets, with knitting, puttering, loafing....The cartoonist does poke gentle fun at some of the stereotypes.
How did the stereotypes develop? Well, there must have been grains of truths in them. That doesn't keep me from bristling when an acquaintance implies one of those stereotypes violating my Pet Peeve #9. BTW: I'm taking the couple in Pickles to be 10-15 years younger than Hunky Husband and me.
B.C. by Mastrioanni and Hart April 17, 2015
I loved this B.C. strip because of Stu's recent posting Generating Pythagorean Triples, a somewhat typical posting for Stu who has an impressive background in mathematics; but, I was particularly attracted to the B.C. cartoon because of a snarky comment that one of his readers had made. One gathered from the comment that she had wasted her time by reading the posting - the subject being of no interest to her.
Obviously, we (the multitude) do not have equivalent interests. I think it bad manners to carry on in public about it, though. It violates my Pet Peeve #10. If a reader doesn't care for a topic, I expect him/her to skip postings on the subject or, if most postings on a blog are uninteresting, to stop reading that blog. When asked (as Stu has, in the past*) what subjects people find interesting, it is perfectly acceptable for a reader to express their preferences in an email. I think that B.C. gave a perfect response.
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* My own answer to Stu was that he should keep on posting on the wide variety of topics that he finds interesting. I am perfectly willing and able to skip a posting that doesn't pique my interest!
I promise that monday's blogpost will be more interesting than that one was ;-)
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | April 18, 2015 at 04:13 PM
Hey! I'm not complaining about your subject matter. Anyone who doesn't like right triangles is warped! *smirking*
Posted by: Cop Car | April 19, 2015 at 01:58 PM
wot is a right triangle???
Posted by: mary ec.... | April 19, 2015 at 03:34 PM
One with a 90° corner
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | April 19, 2015 at 11:35 PM
Stu's postings are always interesting to me, even if I can't figger them out. What interests me is his lively mind!! Just imagine someone who can think like that!!!
Posted by: mary ec.... | April 20, 2015 at 06:56 AM
I live with a scientist. I don't expect to understand everything but am always curious about stuff anyway. I can tell that Stu is a great guy and fun and so I always look at his blog. Same with you, Cop Car. Wouldn't it be fun to meet in person some day?
Posted by: Hattie | April 20, 2015 at 04:57 PM
I love Pythagorean triples. We had to memorize the first 5 when I was a sophomore in high school. I still remember them today and they have come in handy on occasion.
Posted by: Ingineer66 | April 21, 2015 at 10:07 PM