It's been, like, a year...I know

I'm sorry!

I know that you are all feasting on my every single word that I publish on this blog and the fact that I have not updated in weeks means that you are all extremely malnourished, or probably dead, from lack of sustenance. For that (your undernourishment or death) I do apologize. It is now the time that I give my excuses for not blogging in so long. Now, I don't like to made excuses, but I feel I must. Here goes:

Excuse #1.) I am busy. Like more busy than Barak Obama.

Excuse #2.) I am an extremely important person. Though I would rather be here with you, sharing my thoughts, I am required by my celebrity-like fame and status to make appearances and attend all the social pow-wow's so that I don't get bad talked in the media. You understand.

Excuse #3.) Excuse #2 is a lie (and the latter part of Excuse #1). I waste time not blogging by making up dumb excuses why I can't blog (see above).

Excuse #4.) I am currently working two part-time jobs, one of which employs me almost only during 2nd shift hours (2-11pm).

Excuse #5.) I am in the process of applying to graduate schools (more on that later). This is quite the time filler let me tell you.

Excuse #6.) I'm lazy.

Excuse #7.) I procrastinate.

Excuse #8.) I really like my girlfriend and really enjoy spending time with her.

Now, all excuses aside, I would like to talk a little bit about what's been going on in my life for the past month or so while I've kept you in the dark.

Probably the highlight of the past month or so, maybe not the highlight...one of the bright lights of the past month or so was when Katie took me to Philly (technically Upper Darby) to see a Ray Lamontagne show. It was an early b-day present, and boy was it a special one. I didn't realize until after the show that Ray is probably my favorite musical artist (I usually don't have a favorite...well, musical artist at least). I had been wanting to see him live for awhile and I finally got to see my favorite musical artist with my favorite human being (Katie). It was oh so special. However, there were quite a few drunk, college-age people around us who did their best to ruin the show for those around them that were less drunk and college-aged. For example, the couple directly in front of Katie and I made out for the majority of the concert. Well at least until the girl FELL ASLEEP. I don't know how much they spent on their tickets, but I know they weren't cheap for Katie and I (well, I guess just Katie. Thanks babe!). I don't have that much loose change hanging around to say, "Hey, maybe I'll throw-down 65 bucks for a Ray ticket so I can spend another $50 on alcohol, watch approximately 10% of the show and spend the rest of the 90% either playing tonsil hockey with my boyfriend or catching up on some much needed Z's. All so that I can remember 0% of it due to my inebriation." Maybe if I had some more cash hanging around this thought would go through my head more often. But until then.

Anyways, Ray was incredible. I think Katie summed it up nicely, "That man was made to make music." I agree.

Another great light during the recent past was my Thanksgiving celebration. It was quite different from the usual, but very special nonetheless. Also, coinciding (well almost) with Thanksgiving this year was my 23rd birthday. So that made it all the more special (because, how many times do you get to turn 23?) Katie and I were able to get a few days off work so we could head out to Youngstown, Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with Katie's family. Unfortunately, I was not able to see my family for Thanksgiving this year, and it was the 1st time that I celebrated Thanksgiving not in their presence, but Katie's family treated me like family and made my birthday and Thanksgiving a really wonderful experience. I mean, check this out: when we arrived at their house after driving for several hours, they had already been cooking a delicious meal for us, chicken Parmesan, which happens to be my favorite dish. Not only that, they baked me a cake, sang me happy birthday, and gave me a birthday gift. I never expected any of this. It was truly wonderful. It made being apart from my family a lot easier and really made me thankful that there are such cool people (rf. "Generosity") in the world, unlike the ones mentioned in an earlier post (rf. "Field of Screams").

So, I'd say those are the two highlights of the past month. Now, something that is exciting, but also at the same time quite stressful, is applying to grad school. Going to grad school to get my MSW( Master's in Social Work) has been a big goal of mine for the past 3 or 4 years. It was my intention to spend one or two years out of undergrad study until I begin graduate study. I guess I could only wait one year. This is all quite ludicrous when I think about the fact that up unitl my sophomore year at Westmont, the reality of going to grad school after college was just about as likely as me getting drafted into the NFL. But alas, here I am, applying to grad schools. The schools that I am applying to are Portland State University (in Portland, OR), Washington University (in Seattle, WA), Pittsburgh University (in Pittsburgh, PA...duh), and Temple University (in Philly, PA...not so duh). My number one choice is probably Portland State because I really like the program and I just would like to live in Portland for a time. Now, Katie is also applying to grad schools at this time to get her Master's in Counseling. We're applying to schools that are in the same area and we're both hoping to get into all of the programs we apply to (that would make it a lot easier to decide where to go). So we're both filling out applications, requesting official transcripts, asking for references, doing GPA calculations, and procrastinating on writing the essays that we need to submit. It's exciting, but it's stressful at the same time. Mainly the essay part. Especially because you know that a graduate admissions squad is going to be combing through that essay with a very fine-tooth, graduate school-like comb. I finally started on my personal statement today. And, naturally, I started off the essay addressing the 1st prompt: Influences in your life that led you to select social work as a profession, with a story from my life in which an episode of Family Guy influenced me to not want to be a social worker. We'll see how that works out...

Anyways, I should get going. I hope to write about the neighborhood that I live in and some other things that I have wrestled with/thought about a lot since moving here soon. Tomorrow I am taking Katie to NYC for an early birthday gift of her own. We're going to see "Ragtime" on Broadway. I am excited. I'll be sure to tell you how that goes.

Thanks for checking in. Love and Peace and Grace and Joy.