What is a Curmudgeon anyway?

Previous email: "You know that I didn't get one response from my "Curmudgeon" email. I found that rather disappointing! I suppose that means that everyone thought I was serious and they must agree with you. I meant it to be funny."

Thank-you for thinking enough of me to give that title!!

A little research puts me in a rarefied group of people!

A quote:
"What is a Curmudgeon anyway?

A curmudgeon's reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They're neither warped nor evil at heart. They don't hate mankind, just mankind's absurdities. They're just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. . . . . . They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. . . . . . Nature, having failed to equip them with a serviceable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit.

Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can't compromise their standards and can't manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse.
Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor.

- JON WINOKUR "

All of our children and most of our grand children have a "twisted sense of humor". And a sense of humor is an indication of higher intelligence.
That means that their mother and I have done our job; prepare them for a world that is largely witless and humorless and to THINK.
May heaven or some Higher Being grant peace and protection to anyone that marries into this family.

More Quotes:

1. Question: What makes a person funny?

Answer: Funny people have a heightened sense of the absurd. They take life seriously, but not literally. They’re sometimes described as “twisted,” but it’s just the opposite: they’re the sane ones in an insane world. Funny people are also aware of the music of humor. They instinctively know that the stress and number of beats has to be just right and that a superfluous syllable can kill a laugh, whether written or spoken. That’s why copy editors are hazardous to humor manuscripts. They care about being grammatically correct, not funny.

2. Question: Are people born funny or made funny?

Answer: A sense of humor runs in families, whether as a result of nature or nurture or both.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/09/ten_questions_w.html