untapped resource for sodak cultural study

i am a newspaper guy.

though i have virtually abandoned picking up inked newsprint and moved over to bringing my computer to various reading stations throughout my home and work, i will always remain a newspaper guy. everyday i read and look through the new york times, the seattle times, the seattle post-intelligencer, and the sioux falls argus leader--with occasional trips to the university daily kansan, edmonton journal and a variety of other dailies and weeklies.

this is in my blood. thank you to my other grandfather (not elihu) for being a hobbyist related to the newspaper. i think about the art and science that is building community through journalism. i once thought this would be my vocation, but i found that building community through the church would be my primary calling. as a peon writing for the olympian back in younger days was a clue that the daily newspaper life was not for me. i did not come out being a hater...only with a better idea that i needed to look in a different direction to fulfill my calling.

letters to the editor, contrary to the opinion of some, are not a representative sample of opinion or culture in any given locality. the letters to the editor section of the sioux falls argus leader is something i would not miss on a morning where my time is short. reading this section has replaced my reading of the comics section. they download faster, and they are often more humorous. i can almost count on average one letter per day that makes me laugh/smirk/smile/shake my head. after all these letters, one might anecdotally conclude that the circulation reach of the argus leader is full of people who struggle to put together an intelligent thought. there are many intelligent people in this region of the country.

not many of these intelligent people write letters to the editor to the argus leader. if they are intelligent, they have let their wacky thoughts get the best of them.

this guy has something against preachers. because he has something against preachers, he has a great idea about social welfare.

there are going to be more of these. they are too amusing not to share.

have a groovy day.

preacher smales