Call it naivete, call it stupidity, or just plain beginning-of-term bewilderment. I felt like a demolition ball with a cut cable (ball stolen by metal thieves, I suppose), regarding the April Fool's Day article and picture.

Good grief, I went to an evening class and tsk-tsked my students because they hadn't read about this heartless crime. The verisimilitude was masterful, and I got a lot of laughs over the story when awareness finally dawned. Now, it only remains for me to tell the truth to my terrified or bemused students, who will probably wonder whether their teacher is a pathological liar or simply hallucinating.

Anyway, thanks for the light touch -- from Japan's leading April fool!

loretta lorenz