So I guess the title's a bit outdated...

The last few weeks have absolutely flown by, and now I'm back in Ohio, finished with my internship at Google. All good things must come to an end.

I had full-time hire interviews at Google on Friday, flew out last night and started my final semester of college this morning (I'm in class right now, don't tell anybody).

I don't really know what to say about it. Google, I mean. I've done what I can to go back in January, I should find out if they'll have me in the next couple weeks. Obviously I'll be pretty happy to get the job, but even if I don't I think I learned more in three months than I learned in four years of a CS degree, so at least I've gained that much.

From the start I've thought of the whole Google experience like a really nice rental car. You like it, it's comfortable, fun to drive, nice acceleration. It's exactly the kind of car I'd like to own some day, but you know that, for now at least, you'll eventually have to give it back.

People have asked me (and will probably continue to ask) what the best part of Google was. The food? The scooters? The general kindergartenian atmosphere? Nah, those were cool and all, but by far my favorite part was the work. I'm serious. The best part about Google is that they're doing interesting, innovative things, and that I got to be a part of those things. Things I cared about, and things I knew others would care about.

I would rather come in every morning and feel hopelessly overwhelmed with new technologies and problems and stupid questions (and I did, a few times) than to leave at the end of the day feeling like what I worked on wouldn't matter to anyone. It's the reason theoretical Computer Science doesn't interest me nearly as much as application development and software engineering.

Even if I don't get the job at Google I think I'm going to look for a job in New York. I really did like it there. Sure, there were things I'd do differently, but for the most part it was basically the maximum amount of input per square inch, and like Johnny 5, I love input.

For now though it's a combination of enjoying the next four months in Kent, with Lauren, and trying not to fall asleep during all of my classes. Wish me luck...

Oh yeah, so I guess I should stop blogging here, what with my adventures currently not happening in New York. In fact, I'll probably stop blogging entirely, for now at least. If you just can't stand not hearing about my banal minutiae, feel free to check out my tumblelog -- it combines my shared items and tweets, as well as the rare Flickr photos, del.icio.us bookmarks, YouTube favorites, etc. Better yet, subscribe to the tumblelog (in Reader, naturally) and unsubscribe from everything else. All the minutiae you can stand, and more!

Highlights of the last few weeks (with ratings!)

1.) I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A fantastic book, but I'm sure you've heard that already. I thought it tied up all of the series' loose ends perfectly, which is saying a lot. It left me supremely satisfied. *****

2.) I went to an off-site at Coney Island. It was alright. The Cyclone made me miss Cedar Point, and there wasn't much there that you couldn't find at any local fair or carnival, but we pooled all of our tickets together and got a bunch of army men and rubber duckies, so that's cool. ** 1/2

3.) I went to the Googleplex for a week. Fun fact: the land area Silicon Valley is 95% office parks, 4% hotels for business travellers, and 1% Google cafeteria. I also got to go to In-n-Out Burger. If it's good enough for the Dude and Walter, it's good enough for me. ****

4.) On the plane ride to California, I finished A Feast for Crows. It was my least favorite of the series, for a few reasons. A lot of the characters in the book are the left-over supporting characters from the rest of the series (a lot of the main ones got killed off), and half of the surviving main characters just aren't mentioned at all (See here for why). It was still a good book, but noticeably lacking compared to A Storm of Swords and the rest. ****

5.) Almost as soon as I got back from California, I went to Cape Cod for a day and a half with some work people, mostly on a whim. I was only there for about 36 hours, but in that time we managed to hike a mile through sand piles toward the beach, play Mafia and Mario Strikers Charged, and watch Tron. Time well spent, I'd say. ****

6.) And tonight I saw A Camp at the Knitting Factory. A Camp is the side-project of Cardigans leading lady Nina Persson, a more alt-country, acoustic take on the Cardigans typical style. It was a good show, but the doors didn't open until 10:00. A Camp didn't even take the stage until 11:30. Reading that back makes me feel very old. *** 1/2

And that's the highlights. The next few weeks will probably be just as jam-packed, if not more so. Alan's flying into town tomorrow morning, Jessica and friends are driving up next weekend and my brother's coming for my last week in New York. Then it's back to Ohio, to Lauren, to school, and this blog has to find a new name.

I'm taking suggestions, 18 days and counting...