Time for some updates, people

Last time we chatted, I was about to spend a weekend in NYC with my college buddies. Needless to say, it was wonderful. Hadn't seen those guys in a year, so we did a lot of catching up, hanging out, watching tv, eating bad food, and drinking beer. Worth every penny.
After that, there was Thanksgiving. I had a marvelous time in Boston, seeing family, seeing high school friends, eating delicious food, and finally getting to hang out with this little cutie:
Last time I saw my niece was in January, when she was just a couple weeks old. But now look at her! She walks, she plays, she's got style, and she makes noises with her mouth! Too cool. It was a phenomenal trip.
Then I headed back to Chicago, and back to my wonderful little doggies. I've been hanging with my Chicago friends, listening to great music, and just living the dream. A week and a half ago my buddy Gregg and I went down to Valparaiso, Indiana for a performance of Dr. Schelle's great piece "Wright Flight." Not only did I get to hear one of my favorite works in person, but I got to hang with everybody from Butler who was there. A few of my buddies even came back to my apartment and spent the night, it was a blast.
Other than that, you know me, just reading reading reading! I read A Farewell to Arms, which was amazing. Then at Mom's suggestion, I read The Known World, which I had never heard of, but it really floored me. After that I tried another Palahniuk novel, this one called Survivor. It wasn't as amazing as Choke, but I was still pleased. And now I'm about two thirds done with American Pastoral by Philip Roth, which is written in a style that is unlike anything else I've been reading. It's intense, to say the least. I've been getting some great book recommendations from everybody, but one person in particular has taken it a step further and sent me a few books, apparently because they find the Chicago Public Library system to be lacking. The problem is, the packages don't tell me who sent them! So if someone wants to fess up and admit that it was their doing, I will thank you personally. Until then, I've received American Pastoral, The Third Man, and the Ginger Man, and can't wait to read them all. Thank you whoever you are!
Lastly, I've been working on my thesis! I know, who would've thought? It's coming along nicely.