Venial Sin

As anyone who reads this regularly knows, I’m a complete whore for all things book-related. It can be rather embarrassing actually, the degree to which a good book has the power to excite me. Even more mortifying, is how quickly I’m reduced to being on the verge of losing my mind and turning into some sort of eBay maniac, frantically clicking on the “Refresh” button, compulsively checking “My eBay” and otherwise making a complete fool of myself over something like [...]

While I’ve never watched or got into Survivor, even though I used to think Jeff Probst was kind of cute, I find the show’s current tactic of splitting competitors up by racial/ethnic grouping a horrifically bad idea. I mean, it’s got to be a recipe for some sort of law-suit in the future, right? I realise that (most) reality TV, even the once-wonderful Project Runway bases its yardstick for success on the levels of drama that can be generated by [...]

In response to the few dozen e-mails I’ve received in the last fortnight, berating me for not having posted anything, I have only one thing to say: mea culpa. And I’m sorry, I really am. There’s a lot to write about, but I’m down to my last six weeks in London (five and a half, technically), and the pressure is piling on. I’ve been running myself ragged trying to get all my job applications in and “networking” with people; it [...]

So I have to fill out online application forms for my two potential job interviews that are coming up, and I need to get them done and finished in the next…two to three days?  And the questions are ones that I hate answering: "What is your primary motivation for working in the Financial Services Sector", that sort of thing.  If there's anyone who's either in banking at JP Morgan and/or Deutsche Bank, or knows someone who is and who can [...]

The only remaining part of my Brighton trip that's remotely interesting is the conversation Tim and I had just before we went to bed. Neither one of us could stop grinning like fools as we walked back to my balcony, and a bit unsure of what to do, stepped outside to have another cigarette. "You don't mind my…sticking around, do you?" he asked me, cigarette halfway to his lips. "Not at all," I yelped, practically hurdling the bed to offer [...]

My second (and last) day in Brighton was mostly spent just walking around the town until I figured I'd covered every possible inch of tourist ground. Normally I hate doing things by the guidebook, and when I have more than two days to spend somewhere, I'll make my own way through a city, getting to know it on my own terms. Unfortunately, with the limited time constraints, I had to succumb to normalisation, and by the time I got done, [...]

Obviously it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but that’s largely because I’ve not been sure what I have to actually write about. Brighton? It was an interesting break from the monotony of London (odd though that may sound), and I think it’s actually quite a great city, but I’d not go back on my own. It’s the kind of place where you need to take friends or know people already resident there. Then again, I don’t really like [...]