This institution panders to the intellectually deficient in ways Marietta could only dream of.

A reading test over 200+ pages of material became, in the wake of a dozen indignant lazy disrespectful students' kvetching, a 3-question, 100-200 words each "test" to be handed in via email by Tuesday; that's four days after the original test date and covering only three articles.

I don't think even T@ger would take that abuse or capitulate so completely.

So that's what I'm "working" on right now. I think I can spare a moment for an entry.

Weekend in England...

I felt at home in England. Wasn't there long enough to know if it's just because in four days the magic didn't have time to wear off, or because I'm disgustingly self-involved and yearn to be surrounded by people whose first language is the same as my own. So I'm not going to say something ridiculous like I made a mistake in coming here. Because I love it here. But I'm not thrilled to be back.

Missed two planes. In fact, pretty much everything went wrong this weekend somehow, but I don't want to dwell on the now-obvious absurdity of my "friendship" with Francesca or any of the rest of it. Let's leave it at missed two planes, and now miss two friends.

And trip details... come later.

I came home to snow. Snow. I had it in my mind that it never, ever snowed in this country. Ridiculous as that is, I believed it. Meanwhile my Dad says it's approaching the 50's in Ohio, and the injustice of this is, truly, almost too much to bear.

And, it seems, I come home to Ralph. Oh, Ralph. I have this quiet anger in me, I don't know who to direct it at. On the one hand, when everyone who agrees with Ralph's message only wants to beat Bush, this is not the time to make that end any more difficult. On the other, writing to you from a country which currently has nine parties in parliament, writing to you always as a person who is a champion of third parties (if I were a champion of parties at all), it is contemptible that anyone should attempt to silence a dissonant voice. I voted for Ralph in 2000; I agree with nearly his entire platform. Bush, Kerry or Nader? The choice seems clear. But this year, this year... Ralph, my vote goes to Kerry.

Yet still. I am being a poor correspondent and diarist both. But redemption is not going to come today.