My good people:

I only want to say this once again, this time in print so everyone can see it. I AM NOT DOING ANYTHING WITH MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. I can give the average person several answers to the question "So what have you been up to?" but this here is the truth. Since January, and for the next few months, I will be sleeping in, watching more television, and spending more time in my pajamas. And I enjoy it. Sure, I work part time. Sure, I'm slowly but steadily writing a Master's Thesis. Sometimes I even work as a substitute teacher. But you know what? On the average weekday I'm deciding my own fate. I'm reading more, taking short walks, talking to a friend or two, going through my record collection, and whatever else I feel like doing. I'm writing this at three in the morning on a Wednesday, and it doesn't matter because I haven't needed to wear a watch in weeks.

This is not a permanent situation so I might as well enjoy it. I used to pull all-nighters doing math homework in high school, then did even more in college. Sometimes I kept three jobs while simultaneously pulling a full course load. In summer I would put sixty-hour work weeks with no overtime pay because those hours weren't all at one place. My idea of a vacation would be a couple weeks of missionary work and cold showers in the middle of nowhere. As late as December I was getting up at 5:30 and driving for two hours to two jobs only to go home and type a paper, then do it all again in the morning.

In a month or so I might be visiting new schools or interviewing for jobs, but for now all I need is a laptop and a bed. My schedule is free and I'm never bored. It's great, and somehow I'm saving money to boot. I'd write more about how doing nothing has made me content, but I feel like doing something else with my time. As you yours, I'm sure.