The Current Blog Queue

I'm quite busy at the moment studying for Level 1 of the CFA examination in a few weeks. As that concludes, I plan to write much more often, with daily being an ambitious goal. I will also be trying to focus my writing on a more constant topic or idea, but still need to figure out how to give the blog a focus, yet still be able to write about all my interests, which seem to know no connection. Here are some topics I look forward to writing about:

I will chronicle my economics interest and education, how it has changed, and my current views.

I read an insightful Wall Street Journal piece on liberal arts colleges, and how they fail their students career wise. Needless to say, I have a few thoughts on this matter.

Taxes, how they are perceived by the public, unconsidered effects, and the likeliness of change from our government.

The Big Short by Michael Lewis: The story of how the sub-prime mortgage market dragged the U.S. into the current financial mire. Many highlighted points have application beyond that isolated time in U.S. history.

Morningstar and why I love the company. In a financial world fraught with opacity, corruption, and poor incentives, Morningstar rises above and gets it right.

Why conversations and especially arguments with friends are some of my favorite and invaluable moments in life.

The lyrics of Meatloaf analyzed in an exhaustive manner, to show the utter insanity that they convey.

The National Deficit, and the National Deficit Commission. In short, if such a commission exists, shouldn't they have all been fired yesterday?

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, and the movie. Why it rose above my expectations, affected me, and stirred thought.

The photography website of a good friend, why I view many photographers as I do law students, and even some graduate students, and why Hello Love Photography is different. (If she's alright with me extolling her virtues).

Incentives and why they are the backbone of everything we do.

The Catch-22 of needing experience to advance in the current job market, but not being able to get that experience because you don't have experience. I will unpack this maddening reality and attempt to find a solution.

Crowdsourcing, does it work, is it valuable, and where can it lead?

Theorized Major League Baseball inefficiencies after the discovery and re-valuation of OBP and defense in the last decade or so.

Depending on how ambitious I feel, I will rank the job sites of many companies. I find it amazing that many sites are tough to navigate and provide precious few bits of relevant information.

Are we suffering from information overload as Bing proposes? Where can we benefit from simplification?

Our education system needs changing, and will demand the breaking down of ideas we accept blindly. Also, the two qualities of a truly great teacher, and how to make your kids intelligent.

Why I find people like Theo Epstein, Don Boudreaux, Jonah Keri, Tony Hsieh, Safra Catz, Nate Silver, and others so interesting.

I'll also dig into companies that fascinate me and sprout thought within me: Oracle, The Container Store, Zappos, Virgin, and whatever grabs me.

What am I doing while unemployed?

I'm doing anything to increase my human capital, both in very job specific ways, and in more general ways.

Of course, I spend most of my time on my job search, continually tweaking and improving my resume and cover letter, contacting people I know, maintaining professional relationships, educating myself on how companies and recruiters think,

I read articles from my RSS feeder, Google Reader, as well as from people I follow on Twitter. These articles hail from Morningstar, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Reuters, ESPN, New York Times, Financial Times, Investors Business Daily, and many more. I want to know what's going on in the business world, the United States, the entire world, and my local community. I read many opinion articles which shape my views on issues that matter, such as the financial crisis, the stimulus, the Iraq war, climate change, political scandals, education reform, green technology, bailouts, government regulation, and more. I'm learning how green technology and government regulation will shape the jobs I'm going to have. I'm learning how the US deals with foreign nations via trade and diplomatic relations affects my life in the US. I'm learning how businesses and businessmen think, what they want, what they need, and how I can help them.

I read books for the same reasons: they make me think, they show me great writing, which make me a better writer, and they expand my imagination. I've read over 15 books in the last two months, ranging from "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, a fictional book about a socially inept, but intellectually brilliant man, still living at home with his mom. I read "Savage Inequalities" by Jonathan Kozol, a discourse about the poor state of our public education. I read "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, which showed the interplay between true brilliance and genius and unique opportunity. I read "Three Cups Of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, which showed the power of education, and how the dedication of one man can change an entire region. "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer, "On Writing Well" by Bill Zinsser, and "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut were a few of the others. A diverse collection to be sure, I'm continually expanding my mind.

I keep track of vocabulary words I don't know, write them on flash cards, and then learn them. Sclerotic, pleurisy, obviate, scofflaw, polemic, dystopia, cabal, and greenhorn are some of the most recent ones.

I run and do situps and pushups, making sure my health is solid.

I watch movies. Movies are a part of everyone's lives, perhaps taking us into a different world, making us laugh or cry, giving us a different perspective on something, or simply capturing our attention for a few hours. I watch all kinds of movies: drama/thrillers like Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Chinatown, Serpico, Unbreakable, Casino and Donnie Brasco, comedies like A Mighty Wind, Idiocracy, and Intolerable Cruelty, and others like Elegy, Before Sunset, Super Size Me, Son of Rambow, and Speed & Angels. These movies keep expanding my mind and give me more ways to relate to people.

I write. I write to express myself, as many people do. I write about things I find interesting, things I find important. I write because it forces me to think. I write because it forces other people to think. Writing is the conveyance of my abstract thoughts into a concrete form. I write about the economy, about books I read and movies I watch, about fantasy baseball and real baseball, and about my life.

I do this because some company will hire me, and will be getting a critically thinking, well-read, culturally literate, current events literate, business world literate, imaginative, eloquent, and succinct writer, diverse thinker, analytic problem solver. And every company that turned me down will be kicking themselves in the future. I can promise you that!