I have learned in my eight years here at the Sentinel that there are many things that our readers are passionate about. Among the sacred cows in our herd are the crossword puzzle and the comics.

If you want to get people mad in a hurry, mess up the comics or leave out the crossword, or worse yet -- the answers. Not a pretty sight. When we did a redesign of the newspaper in 1998, we conducted a comics survey and asked you, our readers, what comics you wanted to see in the newspaper. The response we received was tremendous. The top 10 vote getters were selected, and our comics page was set. Since then, we have made a few changes. Some of the strips were no longer being produced, so we found replacements. It's probably time to do another survey, but if it ain't broke....

This summer I received a mailing that re-runs of Calvin and Hobbes would be available from Sept. 4 through Dec. 31 of this year. The syndicate and the cartoonist, Bill Watterson, have collaborated to produce a limited edition boxed set of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. The 23 pound boxed set retails for $150 and the initial press run was limited to 250,000 copies.

The re-runs of the strip are, of course, blatant advertising for the book. Calvin and Hobbes was a favorite strip of mine and I am glad to have it back in our paper, even for only four months.

Six-year-old Calvin and his stuffed Tiger, Hobbes (who is only "real" to Calvin and the reader) have many adventures and misadventures. His interaction with his parents, teachers and peers reveals much about human nature. In the media kit we received for the release, there were some nuggets of trivia that Calvin and Hobbes fans might enjoy.

Calvin and Hobbes are both named after famous philosophers. Calvin is named for a sixteenth-century theologian who believed in predestination. Hobbes is named after a seventeenth-century philosopher who held a dim view of human nature. The duo "met" when Calvin "caught" Hobbes with the help of a tuna fish sandwich "tiger trap."

Some of Calvin's quotes reveal a great deal about many of us. Here are a few gems of wisdom:

"Questions I know the answer to I don't need to ask, right?"

"There's an inverse relationship between how good something is for you, and how much fun it is!"

"There's no problem so awful that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse."

"I've got plenty of common sense! I just choose to ignore it."

And, one of my personal favorites: "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

I hope you enjoy the rest of the year with a visit from an old friend.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.