Update

I just received the best comment I have ever received on this blog - The exams must be over. Please blog!. It is wonderful to know that there are people that actually check my blog regularly. I am deeply appreciative of such nice people and hope that they continue to be regular readers.

Enough gushing. Let's talk updates. Exams are indeed over. I managed to pull straight A's again this semester. However, that's not the only good news. The clincher is that I am completely done with the coursework requirements of the PhD and now it's time for the most interesting part - the actual research and writing the dissertation. Oh, another bit of good news - my cumulative GPA is 4.0. Not a monumental achievement, but still a bit of an ego-boost especially because the CS coursework at UMCP is notoriously difficult.

I was giddy at the thought of not having to take any more classes (yes, they were fun but there comes a time when you just don't want to write any more exams) and so I went on a two day television binge, catching up with my large collection of yet-unseen DVDs - M*A*S*H, Frasier, Agatha Christie's Poirot. There were times I thought about blogging but those thoughts were soon pushed aside by the well-deserved laziness that had enveloped me.

And then it was Christmas time. Family, friends and lots of shopping - online and otherwise. One of my dear old college friends visited from Lansing, Michigan. As I already mentioned, I was otherwise unengaged and so I was able to give her a guided tour of the area - the district looking even more breathtaking during holiday season, the debauchery-drenched yet beautiful Atlantic City and the solemn views of the capital city of Annapolis.

I am typing this from St. Louis, Missouri. I am visiting one of my best friends from college, who has been in the US for a short term project. I will be here long enough to usher in 2006 and then I will head out to MD on January 1st.

That's a pretty long update, I think, and I don't want to test the patience of the few regular readers that I have, so I will end here. I apologize in advance for the lack of links in this post (I usually try and link to everything relevant in the post) but the wireless signal seems to be pretty dismal in this part of the apartment and I am too tired to hunt for a better spot. Therefore, a "linkless" post would have to do for today. Happy Holidays !