wither in the light

Every year at Burning Man I meet people who are missing ("no, I wouldn't say 'missing', Bob") the first days of the school year... Berkeley's year starts pretty early, and it seems many high-schools do as well. In addition to the culture shock this induces (transitioning overnight from Burning Man to being a week behind in school must *suck*) this is a problem because many schools un-enroll you from a class if you don't show up for any of the first three days, regardless of whether you intend to show up for the rest of the term. But they'll usually work with you if there are extenuating circumstances like a death in the family or something.

Apparently the students have run out of fictitious relatives to bump off, and a new excuse is needed for missing the first week of school. Or maybe not - it might just be easier to change the day school starts. So say the parents of many San Francisco burners, who are asking the school board to delay the start of the school year until after Burning Man. The school board ('The Man', as in 'damn the...' and 'stick it to the...') is expected to ignore the parents and rain on everyone's burn and start school the same day Burning Man starts.

Looks like poor old aunt Edith is going to have to go down for a dirt nap... again.