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gocomics.com

Tempi is a book lover, so Kaitlin and Torben try to keep them out of her reach. They don’t always succeed.

The following is one of their favorite photos, about a book Tempi did not love.

She was highly indignant and wrote about it in Bad Present (in 2016). She wrote

…what kind of a Grandmother would give a book like this to my parents?! And let my Mom read it (or try to) right in front of me?

Did she conveniently forget the damage she had done to Torben’s mother’s living room when they had visited earlier in the year?

Probably. At the end of the post she’s wondering if the book has some new ideas for her to try.

July 2, 2025

gocomics.com

July 1, 2025

Toto is more energetic than Belkin and Bat…he’s still a kitten and not a cat.

It’s fun to watch him grow.

June 30, 2025

This gull understands automatic sliding doors, convenience stores, and how to open a bag of peanuts. Click on the picture to see the video.

Here’s another seagull who likes convenience food:

June 29, 2025

This was a February, 2022 post:

Advice from a mother to her anxiety-ridden and sleep-deprived daughter:

Don’t worry about all of the darkness in the world. Just light your own candle and move ahead.

—@rosensd

A nice variation of

It’s better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

June 28, 2026

It’s an oldie, of course, and it’s suddenly started playing in my mind. Can’t imagine why. 😀

June 27, 2025

It started when I posted a casual photo with a comment something like this: “It’s a cold wet horrible mid-winter day. Time to wear my funny hat.” Implying: “My orange bobble hat hand-knitted in the Malvinas always makes people laugh, and we need a laugh today.” That hat is not a fashin statement. It’s a gift to humanity, a hat with a mind of its own. I love it when my clothes cheer people up.

It was so kind of you to tell me, “Yor fashin statement sucks.” I was thrilled and answered straight away, “Thanks! That’s great!”
—Rachel Alpine, Dear young fashion influencer, don’t be cross

Hurray for Rachel, and for anyone who tries to put a bit more cheer into this poor old world.

June 26, 2025

Kaitlin sent this around 4:40 their time yesterday afternoon.

And Tempi included this picture of herself in her post about the heat,

That is unusual heat for Massachusetts, and AccuWeather predicted cooler temperatures starting this afternoon:

Thank goodness!

Our reprieve started yesterday. We had some rain and the temperature dropped to the low sixties in the afternoon. This was the picture from my bedroom window about 6 pm.

How are things where you are? Fingers crossed for us all.

June 25, 2026

A woman went to a store in Michigan to buy a birthday cake. She saw a worker and asked if someone could write a message on the cake. The worker said yes, and after a long wait, she came back with the finished cake. The woman thanked her without checking how it looked, then went to pay for it.

When she finally looked at the cake, she noticed the writing wasn’t very neat. She smiled a little, but it didn’t bother her. At the checkout, the cashier looked at the cake and didn’t smile either—she called a few other cashiers to come look. They took pictures and talked quietly.

Then one of the cashiers came over to the woman, gently held her arm, and said, “The person who wrote on your cake has autism. Thank you for smiling and saying thank you to her. She usually isn’t asked to do this task, and you probably made her whole day.”

The lesson in this story is that we should be kind to everyone.

It really is a beautiful story, and it touched my heart.

—Maiju Kemppainen

June 24, 2025

NEW SURVIVAL TECHNIQUE: During a heat wave or fights on the reef, clown fish can actually shrink themselves to survive. This is wildly more successful than humans’ tactic for handling heat/conflict resolution—-getting really upset and letting it ruin your day.
—The Morning Brew

I like that one because it reminds me of years ago when Andy and I were riding a train to Paris one hot, sticky evening. A man and a woman started fighting and had to be escorted off. Andy and I figured that wouldn’t have happened if the weather hadn’t been so miserable.

This following cartoon was published before our bombs dropped, and I figured it wasn’t supposed to be a political statement of what to do or not to do. It was sadness at the devastation of war.

gocomics.com/wizarofid

Then there is this piece of advice:

Now that the bombing has begun, there’s no telling where this will end.

Be strong. Be safe. Hug your loved ones.
—Robert Reich

Hugs to you all.

June 23, 2025