######################## AND NOW, OFFICIALLY A NOBODY ######################## [This email is an update. If you haven't got one from me before you'll find I write them about four times a year. Please email me to opt-out or opt-in, I'm not very methodical about updating the list of people I email this to!] Just back from the beach, my fourth swim in as many days. Thought I might write this email now, but to be honest I'll probably be back down on the beach with a book and enjoying the sun about the time I finish this paragraph. I'm in New Zealand, for the first time in 2.5 years, and it is good. The fruit and veg is so much tastier, it definitely doesn't feel like Autumn and the sea is always at hand. Also, no one really lives here. New Zealand is gloriously empty. I still prefer London though, for so many reasons. For one thing, most things are actually cheaper, the food is good enough and I quite like being able to go see Phantom of the Opera any time I like. New Zealand is a great place to visit and I'll always be at home here, but this trip is leaving me comfortably at peace with really actually moving somewhere else. Anyway, I'll be at the Mount with Mum and Brian for another day, then off to stay with the Northern Branch [of the family] in Auckland, and finally on to see Dad and Mary and everyone else in Wellington. What else has happened since I last wrote? Well, I'm still rounding up my research and writing my thesis. What used to take more than 3 weeks can now be done in less than an hour with my algorithm, and the results are just as good, so I'm quite chuffed about that. Earlier today I finished writing another conference paper. Mostly though I just want to move on. Oxford has been amazing and I do not regret any of it, not for one moment, but academia is not for me and I'm keen for Oxford to be a past tense "fond memory" as soon as possible. Of course, I haven't been only working since I last wrote, and I have lots of other stories to tell. Robert Fox (the defence correspondent) talked in college about Afghanistan and Iraq. He has a commanding knowledge of both, and highlighted an important "Western narrative failure": our tendency to talk about the Taliban like it is a structured and well defined organisation, ala Ba'ath Iraq or the US Army. This is an error because it isn't - rather, they're a disparate collection of groups and tribes with different motivations, allegiances and goals. Treating it like it isn't is a mistake and, what's more, this type of mistake could happen anywhere in life. Just being aware of that possibility seems extremely valuable to me and it's definitely something I'm tucking away for future reference. Other tales, from my life on that small and rainy island? The Cirque du Soleil. This is a circus, but not one with lions and clowns. Instead, it is a circus of dance and acrobatics, and the performers' physical control and daring were amazing. Whether it was twirling effortlessly around a ribbon a dozen metres from the floor, head down and by one ankle, or catapulting themselves from one giant see-saw to another, turning endless flips along the way, it beggared belief and was definitely worth seeing. Next on the list? Les Mis, or maybe Love Never Dies. I quite like London. So many of my friends are moving there and I can't wait to join them. Got my Orange belt in jitsu a couple of weeks ago too; I'm aiming for Green by the end of the year, but maybe I'll do better and get Purple by then? Depends on how much time I have to spend on my degree I suppose! I've celebrated my 28th birthday since I last wrote, and that was great - drinks, dinner, drinks, then dancing. It was impossible to find a night that suited everyone but I'm really grateful that so many people could make it, and I certainly had a great time. An old friend pointed out I'll be 40 in only 12 years time, and maybe he didn't mean it this way, but I'm excited! It means the coming birthdays are all countdowns, countdowns are always exciting and now I can't wait! I suppose the last thing to write about before I draw this email to a close is my MCR Presidency. Yes, it's true - I am now officially an ex-P, a nobody and this means that I cannot solve any of your problems! Sadly, I also don't have any juicy gossip to tell you. Well, I do, but I'm not going to. Looking back on it I'm very happy with how it went, and I learnt a lot. I was lucky to have an amazing exec who made my job so much easier and who helped me along the way. I'm loathe to name names else I'll have to name so many, but Sahana and Barbara were always so wise, especially in crisis, when it mattered most, and I'm very grateful to them for that. Heh, crisis... I mean, really? I always used to think a crisis was something like Kruschev and Kennedy and Cuba. Apparently not. To say "storm in a tea cup" would be wrong because the storms were very real and people were really hurt, but when I look back on it all I can't help but think "storm about a tea cup". Ah well, I was sad to find that so many people I thought were friends and honest were neither, but life goes on and one moves on. It went well, and as Caterina wrote me: "You'll always be the president of the Reign of Terror, Christo! :D". I think she was joking, but anyway - how's that for a legacy? I love photobombs, and captioned photos too, and actually talking of all that made me think of this... http://www.motivatedphotos.com/?id=51293 And before I go - some bragging, thinly disguised as, well, not really disguised at all. Here's a video of me jumping out of a plane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xf2G0Tc86A Was a bit nervous, but very keen to do it again sometime. And here's a video of my V at the Atemi nationals last year (you might need a facebook account to watch this one): http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=311269749444 FINIS