So I am sad to say that it is confirmed that my brother has no prospects left to him on the grad school front, and that this means that the pressure is further on me to some extent as I have been just hanging out and not moving forward very quickly in terms of my more advanced degrees.

I guess I'm also more frustrating in talking to Mentor about the current situation in the math "department" as regards a four-year curriculum, program, and philosophy. It's an uphill struggle as my only reliable ally is retired, and the other is too dissipated to effectively argue for policy or to implement actually deep and successful math projects. I'm beginning to feel as if a strong traditional program might actually teach more than a badly organized but progressive one. I say all this as I'm procrastinating as far as this paper goes, but then again, I don't need to get into grad school again--here's to safety schools and checks that don't bounce.

Wifey, incidentally, is much nicer to me when he's less stressed and on vacation. We should probably start working out together, as all this kendo is none too good for my muscle tone and general bulk. I know, I know, Skaren, the shovel awaits...