I like being busy. I do, honestly - the months between getting laid off from my glorious bubble-era job in 2001 and going back to NYU in 2002 were awfully dull in retrospect (although at the time I would have called them “relaxing”). The best part about being busy is that I seem to accomplish more in a week than I used to in a month, which I suppose is because I have to, but it’s a nice feeling nonetheless. The worst part about being busy is that I’ve started getting these god-awful skull-splitting headaches - tension headaches, I’m told. And of course the only thing to do for tension headaches apart from gulping Advil in quantities that can’t be entirely healthy is to actually reduce one’s tension, which is easier said than done.

That said, though, I’m definitely digging this semester, as frantic as it is. My classes are (for the most part) challenging enough to be interesting, and after this semester I’ll have finished the philosophy major. Of course, I still have to write my senior thesis next semester - but that’s not quite the same thing as sitting through History of Ancient Philosophy twice a week. Next semester, given that I’ll have finished my major-required classes and I’ve been done with the core curriculum for a year, I’ve really only got to do the one remaining class for my CS minor, and the other three are completely up to me. I haven’t had any space for electives in a long time, although truth be told I’ll probably end up taking more philosophy just for the fun of it.

Of course, part of all this tension is the uncertainty about what I’m doing after graduation in the spring. I go back and forth on it with alarming frequency - I’m more or less set on going for my PhD at this point, but what I’m not at all sure about is whether or not I want to start it next fall. I feel like I need some sort of a break before I launch into another seven years (or so) of school, but at the same time I don’t think there’s any point to working at a job I’m not interested in as just sort of a placeholder. And who knows, maybe the summer is all I need to rest up for whatever’s next. But I certainly haven’t decided yet, although I’ll take the GRE within the next few weeks just to keep my options open either way.