As it happened, Miss Carlson did not win the SGA President race; despite her funny videos, she was in Chicago studying theater for the entirety of the campaign, and could not overcome the victor's enthusiasm at a distance. Nonetheless, I am confident the SGA will be left in good hands, at least at the top. Other than President-elect Wiley's on-record independent streak, which I mentioned in the last post, she is among the most personable friends I have made at Assumption. When she told me, of late, that she, like me, had given up soda for Lent, I was reassured of what we hold in common, and I'm not only talking beloved beverages with which we could afford to part.

I cannot deny my worry that, with the departure of our cometic Class of 2011, the student government will want a bit of enthusiasm. On election speeches night, many if not most candidates, facing little competition, did not even bother slouching to the podium to say "Ay".

[Who could beat that ticket?? Though I hear there's been some progress in getting new tunes for the Taylor juke box, I'll bet an SGA President Fonz would've fixed it up years ago!]

What kind of representation is that? The students may (due to collective apathy) have only one choice, but I still think they deserve to be told where their student leaders plan on leading them. To be fair though, I do have confidence in the ability and devotion of everyone who got elected. But there was one major disappointment: the notorious Senator Brennan, tired of the ire of Student Affairs and company, quit the race for VP of Academic Affairs even though he was a surefire win. The (unopposed) victor will probably do a great job, but no one can equal Brennan's prowess at navigating scholastic conundrums and enunciating how we ought to do it. On the positive side, we are departing with a last hurrah: a witty and wise article by outgoing VP for Academic Affairs John Guinan, on pretty much the same thing I wrote about, but updated for the new semester. In summary, the mild-mannered and, as I said in my recent sonnet, usually cautious and prudent Mr. Guinan has had it with the way things are run around here, and has typed a worthy complement to my original controversial article. To my credit, he consulted me a few times and accepted a few revisions by me before publication, adding, perhaps most of all, to the piece's humor. If you were wondering when the line "--the winter training from which Senator Brennan played the noblest hooky--" popped into my colleague's brain, now you know. Oh and, the book John mentions in the article is Fr. Barry Bercier, A.A.'s The Skies of Babylon, a fine and true evaluation of the American university under the dispensation of 60s liberalism and professionalism. It's a fine book: you may buy it here.

There will be fury, whether of the open or the covert variety, from the usual foes and differently-minded friends, but this should not be anything new to them, so they can probably endure it without a hissy fit. To the ease of their mind, the author and his ally will soon be but SGA emeriti. Even were they in the mood for a censure, there aren't even enough meetings left to dole out The Brennan Treatment.

At the same time, the scattered devotees of Catholic liberal education have given us positive feedback. Among John's fans, I was emphatically happy to count Bernadette Smith the Ginger, and Lady Margaret (soon-to-be) Jones (she is betrothed to a sturdy, handsome, and worthy Marine, whom she shall marry when he returns to his native soil). Bernadette, longtime readers may recall, was the subject of my 2007 sonnet, "The Faerie Ginger". We had a convivial and happy conversation in Charlie's.

In the spirit of Machiavellian generosity, I inquired into their feelings toward pretzels and, finding them favorable, returned to the CAB office from which I had emerged to, with a degree of permission, pilfer them two snack bags for their immediate consumption.

Margaret (she likes Maggie, but Margaret just sounds swell with Jones doesn't it?) is wearing the Fight Club shirt, as you can guess from her non-ginger hair. Earlier I had commented on the shirt's cleverness; it was part of a campaign to promote hygiene and prevent the spread of flu, very apt given the movie's soap motif. However, as I stressed, I hate Fight Club for its unintellectual nihilism and overall grossness: as my profile reveals, In Cold Blood is more to my taste as far as dark and gruesome motion pictures go. Something in that movie is just just. Other that the beautiful imagery [the other film seems to be of that school that rejects beauty] and subtle touches of theology, it is the best artistic arguments for the rightness of the death penalty I have ever seen. I have ventured beyond our conversation, but no matter! If the conversation then contained more in the way at mildly indignant words toward the Leviathan that is Student Affairs, to communicate with you on the over-appreciation of one film and the wrongheaded overshadowing of the other is no less fine a thing.

*************

On a lighter note, I happily link to a Provoc article covering the ordination of Fr. Vo Tran Gia Dinh, A.A. (yes, he's Vietnamese). Formerly Br. Dinh, he is a jovial pal and the adviser to the Assumption Advocates for Life. Personally, I credit him with knowing the whereabouts of some delectable Vietnamese cuisine, and can "fault" him with nothing more severe than his anomalous axiom, "Time does not exist" (which he did not even pick up from the famed Prof. Bauer). Say a prayer that he may serve the Lord for many years as a holy priest.

For my part, I admit I have been absent from the AA4L of late, given the meeting time of that more pressing engagement, the anime club. Happily, though, piety and program are not always at odds.

Much to my surprise, I recently learned that Maria†Holic, the 2009 Catholic girl's high school comedy with a touch of overt-yet-torturously-thwarted lesbianism (trust me on this one; in the first season there was even a scene where the characters discussed rosaries, and I have pictorial evidence), is having a second season: Maria†Holic: Alive! Saw the first episode just yesterday, and it was fantastic!

Beginners will appreciate that the first episode's opening serves as an informative and hilarious introduction to the whole series. See for yourself!