My favorite holiday came and went already, and I was offline, celebrating it as it should be: shopping for pumpkins at the Farmers’ Market downtown and carving Jack-o’-Lanterns to put outside. Only two Trick-or-Treaters came since it was a bit rainy and I live in an apartment complex. That’s still two more than last year.

The past two weeks at school just about killed me, so I took this week off, skipping my Tuesday and Thursday evening classes. I’ve loved the free time to catch up on other projects: writing letters & sending cards to my pals abroad, sleeping, reading course material for my Saturday morning class, planning my next step on this crazy planet. Good offers are coming in, so perhaps I’ll be leaving Amerika yet again, soon.

The election here is looking more and more frightening. Son of Bush actually has a chance of winning; and Gore is looking more and more incompetent. I will be voting my conscience this year–unlike so many other years when I simply voted for the lesser of two (or even three) evils: I’m voting Green. Being in Texas, my vote doesn’t count in any real, material way for Gore because of our lovely Electoral College, though I’m not sure I’d vote for him even if Nader were not running. No matter who “wins” the White House, I earnestly hope that the Green Party gets its percentage to be finally considered a *real political party in this country.

The Cine closed this Wednesday evening; it was my favorite art house cinema in Dallas. I can’t count the number of films I saw there, films that were incredible and gorgeous and intelligent. When I haven’t been here, I’ve missed watching films there. But now I will always miss it as one less good thing about being here exists.