So, this whole affair of flying back home on the weekends can get old really quick. I could go on for a few minutes about how US Scareways continuously demonstrates the incompetence of its management--I am still amazed at how, despite the frequency of rain-delayed flights, their staff still does not seem to have any semblance of an action plan. I don't think it takes a PhD to understand that if there's a line that's about 100 people long it would probably be a good idea to open up the five closed positions and ease the work of that one solitary "pre-flight specialist." If there's any comfort in having been a part of that ordeal it's that Senator Kerry (NE) was also flying coach and was also a victim of incompetence.

I did manage to get onto a really cushy seat on the front of the plane, one of those really wide leather seats reserved for first class on flights were it actually matters. On the lowly shuttle, they're just six space hoggers. Comfortable space hoggers... 

I haven't written in a while, but that's because I've been too computer-tired to actually get any writing in. I travelled back to Ithaca, NY last weekend and had the first really relaxing weekend I've had in a long time. My interview with a panel of faculty members who would determine whether or not I'd be nominated by Cornell for the Marshall Scholarship went incredibly well. I'm always pleased when at the end of an interview I'm somewhat reluctant to leave.

I got to hang out at Willard Straight Hall, read back issues of Wired, and actually found a book in the library to read for pleasure (well, the history of cable TV in Britain, if you must know). I walked, rejoiced in the fantastic scenery, and had a great artichoke thing at Moosewood downtown. My friend Seth and I ran into an impromptu performance of a scene from Stoppard's All in the timing down on the Commons (a pedestrian mall in downtown Ithaca). I had Dim-Sum upstate-NY style. I got four different kinds of tea and some kind of spirulina milks-shake thing at Greenstar cooperative, the local organic and vegeterian stuff store. I particularly liked it because, unlike the yuppie chains like Whole Foods and Fresh Fields (which irritate me to no end for the endless lines of SUVs streaming out of the parking lots), the food is actually affordable by regular people. Why should tofu be eaten only by people who jot their shopping lists on their PDAs? Why shouldn't hemp be affordable to all?

I returned to DC a couple of days ago. This is what I have learned:
- A judge finally ruled on the lawsuit brought by the ACLU against Bob Barr's little attempt at recreating the Southern Plantation in the District, saying that the City Board of Elections should have pushed the button all along and counted the votes... and stand in the name of basic civil rights. So now we know that 70% of DC's population is in favor of medical marijuana. Big suprise.
- I got the nomination for the Marshall Scholarship, so now the British consulate has to think I'm worthy of an interview before I can begin packing my bags for Edinburgh.
- The Saturday Night Live music marathon on VH1 has not been a complete waste of time
- I have once again gotten into liking chess at coffeshops. I just wish the Java Shack was open till later.