This’ll be my final reminder, as the deadline creeps closer than a B-movie villain, but you’ve got one last chance to apply for a Nieman Fellowship. You may know it by its alternate name, The Sweetest Deal in the Universe: You get to spend an academic year away from your newsroom, studying the subjects of your choice here at Harvard or down the road at MIT. And we pay you to do it — at least $65K, plus more if you’ve got kids. And your husband/wife/significant other gets to come along and take classes, too. Trust me when I tell you that it’s a pretty nice way to spend a year, even if there’s a big slab of winter smack in the middle of it. (That’s our home, Lippmann House, above in less frozen days.)

The deadline for your application to be postmarked is this Saturday. The thing you’d need to move on most quickly is getting your four letters of recommendation, but beyond that there are two short essays, a sampling of your work, and some paperwork. If you start now, there’s still time, but it’s running short. If you’ve got any questions, get in touch with my man John Breen or drop me a line.