((((((( Justfloating! )))))))

I read your complaint with sadness, concern, and amusement.

Let me explain the amusement.

My amusement was an amusement of recognition. Once upon a time, waiting in various lines at different university offices at the beginning of a school year, I read War & Peace. I didn't read from War & Peace; I read War & Peace.

Life went on, and it became my "privilege" to serve in and bump up against several bureaucracies. My summary impression: it's amazing how humans, in seeking order in service of a goal, manage to create chaos and organizations whose real function is their self-perpetuation. They also have a way of eating their young, too, but that's another story.

***insert frustrated, profane rant here***
Oh, how true! And it applies to far more than schools. I believe you owe it to your future happiness and fulfillment to beware bureaucracy. Let your writing passion lead you away from bigness and complexity.