So, the Labour Party has leapt into School Playground mode as Charles Clarke, the MP who looks like he spends his breaks nicking other MPs' dinner money, accused Gordon Brown of being "absolutely stupid" for smiling as he left Downing Street a week or so ago. Absolutely stupid, Mr Clarke, like, say, letting hundreds of criminals who don't have the right to remain in the country in the first place out of prison early? Let's face it, when it comes to stupidity, Clarke of all people ought to know.
Clarke apparently favours Alan Milburn for the leadership, which I have to say is enough to put me off him, even though I know nothing about him. It does not, however, endear me to another possible contender, Alan Johnson. (Please note that being called "Alan" greatly increases your chances of being able to stand in this particular contest.) On a practical level, he's the Education Secretary, and so, in my opinion, at least partially responsible for the heavily indebted and overworked students that turn up at my office door every day or, worse, those that don't, and later drop out altogether. On a more superstitious note, alarm bells really should start ringing when an Education Minister comes out of nowhere and unexpectedly claims the leadership of a major political party.

My "book" has started to feel rather like a figment of my imagination. It is still not yet on Amazon, is it was supposed to be, and as for a physical copy, they don't appear to exist yet. This is only adding to my generally miserable and grumpy mood today, as is the headache on which two paracetamol have made absolutely no impact. And today I have to tell 100 bored Foundation students how wonderful their lives are now that they have access to a Counselling Service and a Careers Office half an hours' walk away.

On the upside, my downstairs neighbours (not the ones who broke my lock) get the Guardian delivered every day. I'm sure there's an oxymoron in there somewhere, but anyway, this has considerably improved my opinion of them.