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This column contains miscellaneous thoughts from the creator of the Letters From Us comic strip. Its odds-and-ends stuff about the strip, the site and related things. Like the other sections on this page, this column is updated sometimes, which usually means once a week.

July 19, 2010

I’ve been running for about 20 years. For me, it’s time very well spent. The solitude provides an excellent opportunity to think things through. Plus, the exertion benefits a lot of body parts.

Recently, a partner has joined me on some of my weekly runs. PJ is a greyhound mix, adopted from a shelter by her new mom last December. No one knows her age for sure, but she’s about 18 months old. At least her vet thinks so.

PJ is a great runner, so I’m not sure she thinks of what we’re doing as running. To her, it might be more like walking fast, but she seems to enjoy it. She has no problem matching my stride or changing pace without notice. We did spend an hour together with a trainer before our first outing. The trainer trained me to train PJ on the ins and outs of putting up with a human running companion. The dog was a quicker study.

I do run with Sidney and Riley as well but on different days. Runners call what the three of us do “intervals”, which usually means run for a while, walk for a while and repeat until you’re beat. Our intervals are much more walk than run but we have fun. Probably because there’s not a lot of panting when we’re done.

If you’re a runner, or want to be, you might consider a running partner for at least some of your runs. PJ’s human is a friend of mine so even if you don’t live with a dog, someone near you might. You’ll be doing both yourself and the dog a good turn.

Until next time, I’ll…

See you in the Center.

April 5, 2010

Sometimes I’m asked about the motivation for putting up the Letters website. Originally, I thought about writing children’s comics featuring Sidney and Riley. I even created a couple of story lines and panels. But, I’m really not in sync with how to entertain children, at least not through books. So, that idea didn’t last long.

After a while, a new idea occurred to me. I grew up with parents who kept up on political events, which they discussed at the dinner table and over the TV news. They also loved the Sunday funnies in the newspapers. My brother and I got to have Sunday breakfast in their room while our Dad read the comics to us. It was one of our favorite times of the week.

As an adult, I worked too many hours to watch much TV news. And I gave up on newspapers decades ago. Too much paper, too much messy newsprint and not enough time to read them anyway. So, the Sunday funnies and weekly comics became a thing of the past, too.

But, after my work life slowed down, and the children’s books weren’t going to get off the ground, the idea for this website developed. Writing political and social commentary comics and blogs, like the old newspaper features, seemed to be the thing to do.

Until next time, I’ll…

See you in the Center.

March 22, 2010

The point of the comic strip is to entertain first and provoke thought second by taking a politically and socially centrist viewpoint. We don’t presume to educate nor could we even if we wanted to. The point is just to give readers an entertainment option that also gets them thinking about things from, perhaps, a different perspective. When humans do that, things often occur to us that we’ve never thought of before. Kind of like talking through ideas out loud, even if no one’s around to listen.

The experience may change minds or simply reinforce existing ideas. Either way is o.k. as long as new ideas are given a fair shake. Otherwise, we’re just burying our heads in the sand, which tastes really bad. Unless, of course, you’re one of those kids who loved eating sand in kindergarten. Even so, if you’re reading this, you’re taste buds are way past that.

What about Sidney and Riley? The comic characters are pretty much completely explained on other pages of the website, like the Comic Stars page. The dogs are also real, although their actual personas are not set out on dedicated site pages. But, they are surprisingly like their comic counterparts, at least as far as personalities go. Of course, Sidney isn’t really a scientist, but she is great mouser. And Riley’s favorite person is himself. However, Sidney and I follow closely in second and second places. So, it works.

In later Letters From Me, I’ll discuss the motivation behind some of the comics, which are my favorite part of the site. I know people enjoy blogs and other features that we offer, and that’s great, but my affection is for the comics. Maybe because they have more of the dogs in them. I do love dogs. All of them, not just mine. And other animals, too. That’s why they have their own weekly section in Spotlight On The Swirl and the reason for the site’s Animal Welfare aspect.

Until next time, I’ll…

See you in the Center.

Extra!
Extra!

A Sunday Talk Show comic with Sidney interviewing persons of interest on the latest topics.