Joining the Boys' Club

"Since Xmas vacation, I've gone through three and a half metamorphoses and am beginning to feel as though there is a smorgasbord of personalities spread before me. So far, I've used alienated academic, involved pseudo-hippie, educational and social reformer and one-half of withdrawn simplicity."

"Sunday was lethargic from the beginning as I wallowed in a morass of general and specific dislike and pity for most people but me especially."

"Can you be a misanthrope and still love or enjoy some individuals? How about a compassionate misanthrope?"

Writing actual letters! Today it's all electronic: lol u must be 2 funny. brb. Not much about being a misanthrope.

The L.A. Times makes a trenchant observation about the 2008 race:

"It's easy to tell the difference between the two parties on foreign policy in this presidential campaign. The Democrats all want to talk about getting out of Iraq, but not so much about Al Qaeda or terrorism. The Republicans all want to talk about terrorism, but not so much about Iraq.

"Although fireworks erupted last week among the leading Democratic candidates, those differences are narrow compared with the chasm between the two parties' worldviews, one focused on battling the threat of radical Islam, the other on ending the war.

"The problem each party faces, polls show, is that most Americans want answers to both questions, not just one or the other."

Finally, I know most of you are too high-minded to click on the 50 Most Beautiful People on the Hill, but for those who can't resist . . .