The Fourteenth (020091224)

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This is my fourteenth update email. I send one every three months or
so, and to a long list that I update quite haphazardly. So, as always,
if you get this and don't want it please email me, and likewise if you
want it but don't.

Enough introduction. I had a ride in a small plane recently, but
wasn't really getting a lot out of it. So I left. Which was way too
much fun! It was a solo jump on a static line, which means you're on
your own but they don't trust you to actually open the parachute
yourself. Unless something goes wrong with the main chute, in which
case there's a reserve you need to figure out and there's no one there
to help you. I was half hoping my main chute would fail because I
really wanted to do it all myself, but I'm also glad I didn't have to.

So what's skydiving like? How does it feel? In short, amazing and
incredible and a lot of fun! Well worth the money and the long wait
for good-enough weather. But I'm not going to pretend it has given me
some transcendental new view on life. It hasn't, and in some ways it
was much the same as looking out the window of a windy aeroplane. I
also understand now why drills are so important in the military. When
it came time to jump I wasn't scared, I just did the drill. Hang my
legs out the door, one hand here, the other there, sneak a quick look
at the ground below (not meant to do that), watch the jump master and
push off when he says "go". The plane shrinks away above you but after
only a few seconds you're under chute and looking up to check it's
"there and square".

Back at ground level, the Hyde Park Christmas fair was great, and I
really recommend going along. Lots and lots and lots of junk food and
stalls with gifts ranging from the cheap and tacky to extremely
expensive, but also funfair rides and even ice skating. I'll go back
next year, probably more than once. I also had a great time in Tenby.
The coastline is gorgeous and it reminds me of, well, farms back in
New Zealand. Sadly not the wilderness I miss, but you can't hold that
against it. The backpackers we were staying in was still under
construction. When the heating and hot water stopped working in our
room we made an executive decision and moved ourselves to another.

Went to a panel discussion with George Soros a couple of weeks ago.
That was really interesting and it's motivated me to reread his books
on "reflexivity". I think that's just another word for a feedback
loop, but their analysis and application to the markets is very
interesting. Especially the interplay of people's expectations and
actions in the market. It is access to people and events like this
that help make Oxford such an incredible place to study.

Academically, things are going well. I have started writing my thesis,
have drafts-with-gaps for 3 of 9 chapters, and the structure of the
rest. To be honest, I think that the key to writing a thesis from
scratch is having a thesis to revise. Which means either plagiarism
(naughty naughty) or junking something together and patching it up.
It's a slow slow process. Just back from the AI2009 conference in
Cambridge, which was great, and I'll be helping organise it next year,
which is even better.

I'm still madly keen on jitsu, and slowly improving. The little kernel
of fear every time I train is still there, but it's a good thing -
both it's presence and to ignore. Unfortunately, jitsu clashes with
the salsa team and so I can't train as often as I'd like. Maybe the
jitsu and the skydiving makes you think I'm angling for a Bond-esque
career in MI6. Tempting, but after thinking about it very carefully
I've decided to accept an offer from BCG instead. Now, finally, I am
extremely excited! I'll be starting in January 2011 and I cannot wait,
to work there and also to be living in London. Did I mention how
extremely excited I am? Staying in London is a pretty big change in
direction for me, with lots of consequences, but mostly I'm just
excited. So excited it's quite repetitive for everyone else.

The photos are all pretty self-explanatory this time, so no captions
needed. Apart from the Christmas tree. We've got one for our flat, and
this makes me very happy. But we had no decorations and have had to
make our own. My favourites? The "bondage sheep", strapped to the top
in place of a star, and the bright red emo snowman with a frowning
face (perhaps because he has no arms?). I like to think it's a tree
with character, but mostly it's just random happy festive stuff. Like
the dinner planned for Christmas Eve tonight. Home made sushi and home
made tablet. What more could you want?

FINIS

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