Assorted Afflatuses

This will be a brief entry. I should have more time to write and, more importantly, focus next week as I return to the West coast for Bates' somewhat haphazard February break.

It only took four months, but Apple finally addressed my sole remaining Leopard-related complaint. The Mac OS X 10.5.2 update, released yesterday, adds the "Transparent Menu Bar" checkbox to the Desktop and Screensaver preference pane. At long last, the menu bar need not be a hard-to-read, mildly unsightly blemish atop my screen.

In other news, Quidditch teams have begun sprouting up at colleges in the Northeast. Given that Vassar and Middlebury have formed teams, I cannot help but think Bates will soon follow. The lack of flying broomsticks, enchanted bludgers and winged snitches makes the phenomenon somewhat nonsensical. But whatever technical or logical problems are easily trumped by the college Quidditch scene's wonderful whimsy. The YouTube video of the Vassar team practicing is particularly charming.