Hey, so, it's been a long time. Three weeks almost. I have used the three weeks very, very well, for the record.

Rough summary of what has happened on a week by week basis, starting with the semi-week.

Wednesday, January 2 - Friday, January 4: Stalling, probably. Watched West Virginia's coach say "West Gosh Darn Virginia!"

Saturday, January 5 - Friday, January 11: Application-ing. The whole time.

Well, the whole time, until,
Friday, January 11 (10:30 p.m.) - Sunday, January 20: Drinking. Drinking to excess, largely.

Here's the deal:
I bought that GMAT Prep Book, not making the decision official, but making the decision imminent, on Labor Day, Monday, September 3. From Monday, September 3, until Friday, January 11, when I turned in my last application, the whole specter of the thing was. always. hanging. over. me. Always. The whole time. No matter what I was doing, or where I was doing it, or with whom I was doing it, there was always some pang of guilt. Should I be studying? Should I be writing? Should I be "life-mining?" Always, always, the answer was that I could be writing, or studying, or "life-mining," but, unless I was physically typing, or physically scribbling in my workbook or, perhaps, reading old RHH entries, I was doing none of the above. And, you see, that sucked.

So, is drinking to excess an admirable solution? Probably not. But the last ten days have marked about the most fun I've ever had in my life, at least over a period this extended, at least since finishing school. And I've been safe and smart and twice I've shared floor- or bedspace with two other men. This is amazing.

I've committed - strongly - to only enjoying myself for the next two weeks. Now, this is generally my goal in life but, well, "things" sometimes get in the way of enjoyment. But not this week.

So, let's go day-by-day of the greatest 10-day period of my life:

Friday, 1/11: Post-application celebratory beers. Former coworker who I've not seen since pre-Christmas is around for the fun. Bedtime: Roughly 3:30.

Saturday, 1/12: Company party. I get an iPod out of it. Event devolves into a hotel room toga party. Our Director of Marketing, clad in toga, adds to the fun by taking a painting from the hallway and bringing it into our room. I share a bed with two men, the gay one in the middle. As far as I can tell, nothing happens. I take lots of pictures. Bedtime: Roughly 4:15.

Sunday, 1/13: Recovery. Only recovery. Great conversation with my sister, though. And maybe the greatest dinner I've ever made. Rare, wonderful, thick steak. Roasted red peppers. Sour cream & chive loaded baked potato. Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.

Monday, 1/14: To be honest, I can't recall. I don't think I even called any friends. I don't know what I did. I guess, mostly, failed in posting my pictures. Also, I tidied up the place some.

Tuesday, 1/15: Marbles. Martinis. Making sure a friend didn't die. Bedtime: 3:15.

Wednesday, 1/16: Wednesday Night Supper Club. Record turnout, including four newcomers, only one uninvited. The uninvited one is the one who also sucked. WNSC member starts a CD of the Week tradition, and distributes a mix CD including, among other things, Brother freakin' Ali. (I'm albino man - I know I'm pink and pale / and I'm hairy as hell, everywhere but fingernails.) Then, dollar pints. Two people say, "You should totally write a blog." I just giggle. Bedtime: 1 a.m., which is what it usually is when sober.

Thursday, 1/17: Great conversations. Gurs (20 minutes), Haaaarper (90 minutes), Tina (90 minutes).

Friday, 1/18: Immediate post-work bar time. 4:15 until, say 8. Ostensibly a toga party reunion, but a few more added. Then a walk to a coworker's house. Several more beers. I fall asleep before I can make it to the bar, though most others make it... I'm okay with that. Wake up on the floor next to the same two men. Gay one in the middle. He wakes up with the, "Holy Shit, again?" face. Bedtime: Probably 11.

Saturday, 1/19: Morning-after semi-drunk Mexican omelet. Nothing else spectacular. Bills. Groceries. Gym. Loading the iPod. Adding cover art. Bulls win on TV. Catching up on two episodes of Friday Night Lights. Bedtime: 2.

Sunday, 1/20: Near perfect. Up in time for Meet the Press, though it was an all-roundtable episode. Get to the gym as it opens. Begin making this week's chili, but Nemo calls. 90 awesome minutes with Nemo. Breakfast: Black beans, wheat toast, shredded breakfast potatoes, and eggs sunny side up, Holy Jesus. Wow. Eggs sunny side up are really good. To the library for a few New Yorkers and a few Nick Hornby books. Best three-hour cleaning session since 2004, I think, including the maiden usage of my Dirt Devil, and the first-ever dusting of my spiderweb-riddled ceiling fan. Dinner with a friend. I order an Old Style, which is on tap. Yowzers.

So, it's been, well, awesome. Beyond awesome. Inexplicably awesome.

I'm going out Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Martinis and pints, after all. There's talk of taking a winery bus tour on Saturday, though it's highly possible that that was just the beer talking.

I've got two weeks left of planned self-destructive behavior. Then, start thinking about school again, potentially. But knowing that I have, essentially, no freakin' control over my applications this point is, well, great.

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I don't know. Maybe there's nothing else to write about right now.

I finished my essays for Kellogg in late November, let's say. Or early December. I did them first is the point, even though those were the last ones due. I stopped thinking about them. I sent them to my dad, who was generally complimentary.

After that, I worked on Michigan and Chicago's. I finished most of Michigan's in mid-December, all pre-Christmas. I got Michigan's in a few days early, on January 1 or January 2.

On January 1, I also emailed a coworker, to see if she would be willing to read through my Kellogg essays. She was stranded in a blizzard somewhere, and agreed to.

Meantime, I worked and worked and worked through Chicago's, which were tough for me. They were due on Wednesday 1/9, and I uploaded them at about 8 p.m. Other things distracted me from getting work done on Kellogg's, due 1/11.

On about 1/5, my coworker sent back comments on my essays. She was, say, not-complimentary. Ruthless. "Inauthentic," and "sounds like you're writing what you think they want you to write," and, at least at one point, "Ugh."

Then I got to Kellogg's, Thursday, 1/10. She was absolutely right. They were terrible, as they were the first ones I'd done. The ones I'd done before I had an actual comfort writing about myself and writing about business school and whatever. So I rewrote them, almost completely, four out of the five. I think I made them better.

In tribute to Neutral Milk Hotel, I ended my final essay by writing, "I spend my life counting beautiful things," which should be enough for them to reject me on the spot, I'd think.

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Other rock music references:

I bought Pinback's Summer in Abaddon, which is kind of good.
I received, via eBay, Jesus and Mary Chain's Darklands and Honey's Dead. I really, really like JAMC.

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Wow. This is my 600th post. Wow.