Cosmo and the luddite girl he met last week are about as opposite as it gets. Does this make romance impossible? How far apart can people be and still have a relationship? Contrast and conflict are the stuff of drama (and comedy), so in this comic, disparate people come together -- and it does strain credibility that they stay, I admit. But it's their tension and arguments that often propels the humour in Weltschmerz.

Why are Frank and Horst still buddies (they've been since high school)? Will Celia and Cindy soon be on the outs? How could Horst and Celia have remained together as long as they did (most of this strip's 14-year history)?

Still, opposites do attract, while similarities divide. Look at all the infighting in politics. Obama vs. Clinton. Dion vs. all Liberals.

Today, retailers are pulling products containing bisphenol-A off the shelves. If you've got any nalgene or baby bottles, ditch them. I get water for my studio cooler in hard plastic bottles. I already asked my supplier for glass, but they claimed the #7 bottles pose no danger (which was the government and line until recently). I will call them again, now that Health Canada is finally classifying bisphenol-A as a toxic substance when it comes in contact with food products. I did a cartoon on this a year ago, featuring a classic Horst rant.

In retrospect, Horst was a little off the mark, factually speaking -- it's hard, #7 plastic that leaches BPA, not the bottles in which water is commonly sold. However, this plastic should be avoided anyway, due to the waste and the fact that the water isn't any better (often worse) than tap water, for which the standards are far more rigorous.

Below, a note from a Green Guide page on water bottles:

#1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), the most common and easily recycled plastic for bottled water and soft drinks, has also been considered the most safe. However, one 2003 Italian study found that the amount of DEHP in bottled spring water increased after 9 months of storage in a PET bottle.