I don't think we can define what is boring, as that is an abstraction that varies with everyone's taste. And I think to limit our spontaneity to avoid being boring just strait-jackets our freedom of expression, inhibits our postings with a bit of paranoia about "digressing too much," and ultimately (and ironically) guarantees the board will become austere and boring in a more general way. But USING THE SUBJECT LINE for departures from the main topic-flow is certainly the best, and most courteous, remedy to alert folks to posts of disinterest, and to avoid confusion. And especially it is less confusing for new folks...I remember the Neanderthal thread I first posted when I was a stranger suddenly took a turn to a discussion of ümlauts/dieresis that, even with subject headings, left me somewhat lost and confused as to what was happening until I got the hang of the motion here. And even though it kind of fit the general discussion of German etymology and linguistics, and wasn't a huge leap, it still caught me offguard. I recall one recent stranger's thread where we totally lept off the subject...that must have been perplexing and frustrating. I don't think we've heard from that stranger again, truth be told. So heading subject departures should be a common practice. For instance, "ALIAS DIGRESSION", for those prone to that. but that's another story, I hope those complaining about wasting time aren't one and the same I thought of starting a BORING LIST thread on I & A so we could all list what bores us most so we could see how futile it would be to try to govern the board by such a criteria. But, honestly, I can't think of anything that bores me so much I wouldn't read for awhile to see if I could learn something from it, or just peruse it out of curiosity, but that's just me.
