The Library and its contents

I have recently taken to spending my lunch time (I can do that now because I'm going to leave my job) in the Boston Public Library reading. After a couple of visits, I started to notice the library seemed to attract the oddities of humanity. Now, the guy who is into Star Trek, the girl reading His Dark Materials for the 12th time, and the ultra nerd brushing up on paleolithic botany, don't fall into this category (neither do I mind you). These are the types of people you'd expect to see in a library.
What I didn't expect to see was such a high concentration of people talking to themselves. In the last week, I've seen (or heard rather) at least two people every day in the library that are talking to themselves. And no, they aren't on cell phones. In addition to them, it seems like the library is a respite from the outdoors for the homeless, or those who look homeless. That is OK too, I guess. But in addition to the talkers, there are all sorts:

Guy reading who decides to pull out a blanket and cozy up near the New Fiction stacks.
Girl who asks everyone who is passing if the book they're reading is any good.
Guy who, instead of a briefcase, has a plastic garbage bag. (Not homeless, unless homeless people have cellphones these days.)

I started to think how different the library was from Borders. It has fewer weirdos, more Lattes, and newer books. What strikes me is how it seems that everyone has been fooled by Border's. The Library lets you read these book for FREE. They even let you renew online! Admittedly, I used to be the guy (and my Father was as well) who loved to collect books and have them on display to show everyone how smart I am. But there was a small problem with that: You never read the book again! Border's charges you for the books, has nicer digs, friendlier staff, and less weirdos. That is all because they need you to come back and buy more books! The library would prefer if you didn't come at all, or maybe just one book from time to time because it would cost them less. Since they don't make any incremental money based on your reading preferences, there is no incentive for the library to be a comfy and cozy spot for you to read in.

Step 4 - Weighing The Decision

This step is the critical moment. Is this new preoccupation going to be something you dedicate your precious mental (and perhaps chronological and monitary) resources to? I find when I'm gettting into something, I really have to step back and say, "Is this really what I'm into?"
A great example of this is my recent foray into shoes. I did the research, found the nice old school brands, found out how to take care of a pair of $300 shoes, and then dropped it all in favor of Johnston & Murphy's on sale.
An even better example was my brief interest in import tuner cars. This was obviously ill-fated from the get go as I was driving a dilapidated 1987 BMW 528e. Anywho, I bought lots of magazines, read tons of internet articles, started looking for a used car, and then decided this investment into a depreciating asset was not worth it at all and I would not fit that scene - especially in MN.

I don't know why to drop one over the other, probably monetary committment, but I find that smaller inclusions into my dilettantery are much easier than a lifestyle shift. Pure knowledge of a subject and simply following that subject is a great way to widen your knowledge (and convo topics) without spending the money. Greentech is always something I've been interested in, and that information is all out there, and all for free! Thank you CNET!

Book Review: When Genius Failed

Quicky review on this one - The book is about a hedge fund called "Long Term Capital Management." This was a badass fund in the late 90s that did bond arbitrage untill the blew up spectacularly. They had Myron Scholes and Robert Merton (of Black-Scholes-Merton option model fame) on staff. They killed it for a very long time with 25%+ returns. They were over leveraged and the spread widenings in credit after the Russian default started a collapse of the fund. The Fed stepped in when danger to the entire financial system was predicted by LTCM and their counterparty banks. It was the Fed's influence that got all of Wall Stree to participate in a bailout for LTCM. They had billions in assets and TRILLIONS in outstanding derivative's notional.

Anywho, this book iscrazy. The money is nuts, and this type of thing still goes on. How do I know that? Because I worked at a hedge fund where the SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. We had similar strategies, and less leverage, but Keynes's quote rang true:

"Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent."

Anywho, the book is a great read even for those outside of the industry. There is not complex jargon and it gives a good insight into the fund and the minds of some of the traders. The books makes some points about the Fed's and the Wall Street bank's irresponsibility to finance and allow hedge funds to run unregulated. I found the big difference between my old employer situation and LTCM was the market was able to absorb the vol and our losses much more easily and without the Fed's influence. My fund was a much nicer place, but we got nailed on a credit crunch with similar strategies.

Fried Goodness

Hello again - here is a quick picture of yours truely enjoying some of the finest food New York City has to offer. Although we ate dinner at the three Michelin star Le Bernardin that night, we returned to A Salt & Battery the next day for lunch #2. American's can't get fish & chips right (even in Boston! What is that!), and these transplanted Brits certainly know what they're doing. It was awesome. Go there if you can - 13th & 8 ave area of NYC.

Interesting read

I saw this article on CNET.com about how the image we all have of the shady guy behind the computer stalking your children and lying about his age may not be all that correct. I found this really interesting because I was pretty sure it was a shady guy behind the computer lying about his age and what not.

I've said before to people that these sexual predators will never really go away, and untill they do something illegal, it is hard to really get them off the streets/net. This suggests that it is really the parents/family that need to hammer home the point not to talk ot strangers on the net or the street. From a cursory read of this it seems the curiosity about sex may be getting the kids on the net talking to strangers. Maybe if that curiosity was satiated by rational, mature parents instead of a puritanical health class in grade school, kids wouldn't seek out the cousel of shady dudes on their computers.

Just a thought, interesting stuff though - this internet thing just keeps on changing.



http://www.news.com/Study-rejects-Internet-sex-predator-stereotype/2100-7348_3-6231050.html?tag=nefd.top

Worse than Moon Boots

High Fashion is wierd. Wierd like Modern Art. If this isn't evidence that high fashion threads are clothes for a small amount of very silly, very rich people, I don't know what is. The only thing that comes to mind is "Derelicte!"

Job Market

I remember my first foray into the job market. I'm not talking about my brief but awesome stint at Bruegger's Bagels (0-Cream Cheese in 1.8 seconds), I'm talking about my post-college days. I had the benefit of graduating in 2002 - worst job market since the depression. So I didn't (and still don't to some degree) know what I wanted to do, and the market didn't want me, but now the market is good. I've accumulated some contacts, I have more experience, the cache of a failed Hedge Fund on my resume, and a nice starting salary - but alas, I'm not happy in my current role. A quick email to an old boss and 2 interviews later I find myself with a job offer! I love it when things like this work out - and I'll make as much or more than when I worked at ye olde hedge fund!
Not only will there be more money, but I think they'll will be career direction! Gone are the days of studing for (and failing) CFA, now I can concentrate on client interaction and learning more programming. Not to mention this gives me a nice excuse to pick up some new shirts and ties, and maybe even a new suit or two! Well, I'm in a good mood! Me and my lovely fiancee are off to New York on Friday for a whirlwind gastro-tour and all is well in the world!

Let's just hope a bus doesn't hit me as I leave my building tonight - I'll be extra careful!

Step 3 - Telling Others

I think this is the critical moment for the Dilettante - the point where this subject matter becomes part of the overall portfolio of knowledge, or passes through to the banal area of "I don't care." A great example of this I don't care, would be sports for me. I can barely remember people on sports teams because I'm just not that into sports. Either way, this part of the process is where said Dilettante starts to tell others of his recent "discovery." Now, if you have a wonderful, patient, and loving Fiancee like me, she'll tolerate you telling her about it all the time, but if not - you must find a ton of people to tell about your new British dress shirts, or new old-school razor, how much better digital coax when used in a home theater, etc...

I believe it is this evangelism that cements the knowledge in the head of the Dilettante. By telling others (and hopefully getting a positive reaction) about new NAND memory or why you hate real orchid plants, the Dilettante becomes committed to a viewpoint. In turn, those facts end up forming a larger portfolio over time of facts, figures, and opinions about a great many things. So next time some annoying guy in a pink shirt tells you about the difference between 2.35 and 1.85 widescreen and changes the topic to why Pharrell's "In My Mind" album was so awesome - you may just be watching the Dilettante process in full swing...

I made the switch!

No, not to Folgers Crystals, but to Gmail from yahoo mail. I had to sing up for Gmail when I set up this blog and since then my hatred of yahoo mail has only increased. For those of you who don't use it, I'll spare you the horror. As for the rest of you, you already know how annoying it is to click on your mail only to be taken to a second homepage!

I am now a total googlevangelist. Their products really do rock. I love this blogger, I now use their calendar, igoogle, Google docs, and Google maps is the best (Double True). The only pain in the ass is doing all the switching. I've switched the most important things:

Bank Account

Credit Cards

Myspace

Facebook

Gamefly

Netflix

Cable

Bluefly

Charles Tyrwhitt

Amazon

But I know I'm forgetting some stuff. I'll have to continue to use my yahoo account until I can get all my old emails over. But I down with no more yahoomail. Good luck Yahoo/Msft!