If you’re ever interrogated by the CIA, singing St. John’s College’s alma mater might be your best ploy…more on this later! St. John’s College (SJC), in Annapolis, was founded in 1696 as King William’s School. Much of its 36-acre campus resembles Colonial Williamsburg. SJC offers but one degree: a bachelor’s in Liberal Arts. Students are not given grades -- they are evaluated by their class participation and oral exams. In 2011, Newsweek stated St. John’s has the “most rigorous” curriculum in the U.S.: four years of language (ancient Greek, early/middle English, French); four years of math, literature, philosophy and political science; three years of laboratory science. Each year, a 20-30 page essay is required, and during senior year, all students submit a full-blown thesis they must defend, publicly, before three faculty members. The title of my niece’s, whose graduation I was attending, was “Swept up in the Song: Relationship With God Through Music in J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.” A phony, like me, wouldn’t last one semester in such an institution. Thank God for that! Because I couldn’t stomach sitting through the bi-annual “Don Rag” where tutors discuss your progress, as if you weren’t there! Tuition, with all the fixings for four years, pushes a nifty quarter of a million dollars. But considering that SJC produces an articulate, independent-thinking, polished gentleperson, it might be the best deal under the North American sun. Rumor has it that U.S. intelligence agencies heavily recruit these polyglotic, out-of-the-box thinkers. Not bad for a school that supported the British during the American Revolution! SJC competes against other schools, including high schools, in only three sports: rowing, sailing and croquet. And they only have one annual croquet match – against the nearby (about a solid four iron shot) United States Naval Academy. This contest, called by GQ “The purest intercollegiate athletic event in America,” launches graduation weekend. The nattily-dressed participants and picnicking witnesses resembled a scene penned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 
Sometimes a picture is worth far fewer than a thousand words: 
Just as the election of an African American president made EVERY kid in this country believe that they might one day hold that office, this is a message to everyone who ever falls in love that one day they might be able to actually get "hitched". There is still a long way to go...but this is a very significant start.
I loved watching the anti-equal rights folks going crazy last night...and can't wait to see more of them going ballistic today. One of those Bible thumpers from Pittsburgh had his Holy Book open yesterday...with "God's words" about a man lying with another man underlined. Somehow he kinda skipped over the lines about not eating shellfish, or stoning unfaithful wives, or keeping slaves.
I guess God just sorta whispered those things while He shouted the others.
The President took one small but courageous step yesterday....now it's our turn...to take the giant ones to ensure equality for all mankind. Remember friends don't let friends vote for people who hurt their friends...Speak up..just like that Muslim, socialist, Kenyan did.
