Recent Comments

1. about 1 hour ago on Peanuts Begins

   Giving for the Sake of GivingPosted by “Eisely” to Scouter.com on 12/20/2004

   Son: “Dad, I think I’m old enough to know now. Is there a Santa Claus?” Not being the world’s fastest thinker, I stalled for time.Dad: “OK, I agree that you’re old enough. But before I tell you, I have a question for you. You see, the truth is a dangerous gift. Once you know something, you can’t un-know it. Once you know the truth about Santa Claus, you will never again understand and relate to him as you do now. So my question is…Are you sure you want to know?” Brief pause.Son: “Yes. I want to know.”Dad: “OK, I’ll tell you: Yes, there IS a Santa Claus.”Son: “Really?”Dad: “Yes, really, but he’s not an old man with a beard in a red suit. That’s just what we tell kids. You see, kids are too young to understand the true nature of Santa Claus, so we explain it to them in a way that they can understand. The truth about Santa Claus is that he’s not a person at all; he’s an idea. Think of all those presents Santa gave you over the years. I actually bought those myself. I watched you open them. And did it bother me that you didn’t thank me? Of course not! In fact, it gave me great pleasure. You see, Santa Claus is the idea of giving for the sake of giving, without thought of thanks or acknowledgement. When I saw that woman collapse on the subway last week and called for help, I knew that she’d never know that it was me who summoned the ambulance. I was being Santa Claus when I did that.”

   Son: “Oh.”Dad: “So now that you know, you’re part of it. You have to be Santa Claus too now. That means you can never tell a young kid the secret, and you have to help us select Santa presents for them, and most important, you have to look for opportunities to help people. Got it?”

2. about 1 hour ago on Frog Applause

   I love me some pickled beets. Pickled anything, really. Umeboshi are the bomb.

3. 2 days ago on Luann

   “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” – Somebody

4. 6 days ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   Here’s the thing. Calvin’s parents don’t put up with Calvin’s unreasonableness, and they don’t give in. But nowhere do we see them recognizing that their child is a budding, pathological narcissist and actually teach him that this kind of behavior is socially unacceptable. It made for great humor and drama, and I utterly adore Watterson’s work, but this is one thing that always rubbed me the wrong way. And over the last 10 years or so of real life’s events, it has socked me in the eye even harder.

5. 7 days ago on Luann

   O Schadenfreude, du bist ja lecker!

6. 7 days ago on Peanuts

   “The timeline for Charlie’s aging has always been strange. Charles Schulz has never adhered to any strict aging rules, as it would have been too rigid for the Peanuts comic strips to run on. His intention to keep the strips’ childlike wonder began with throwing traditional aging out the window. In a strip from 1950, Charlie Brown claims he is four years old. By 1957, Charlie Brown stated his age again, saying he was six. His age isn’t mentioned again for the next two decades; when it finally was brought up again in 1979, he claims that he is eight and a half years old, which seems to have become his stagnant age for the rest of the Peanuts comic strip series.”

   Had to do a deep dive on this, but +1 to you for making me do it.

7. 7 days ago on Frog Applause

   Totally inexplicable, if you ask me. The only thing that happens when there is an unannounced hiatus is that I worry about you.

8. 8 days ago on Luann

   Happy birthday, Greg!

9. 8 days ago on Luann

   “Jerry, Jerry, now the crowd starts their favorite chant / Should I turn off my TV? I just can’t / I have a tendency to watch it religiously / I have a history of taping each one…” (Weird Al)

10. 9 days ago on FoxTrot Classics

    “b0xen” please