Slow Down!!!

WARninG: Probably a really crappy post, about all my doubts and insecurities, so I will understand perfectly if you guys skip this one. But its’ better to have these thoughts down here, in the blog, rather than roaming around in my head and ruining all my [few] attempts to study tax.

First off, I set up this blog for one thing, but I have gotten something else from it, altogether. I wanted to see for myself, if I could keep up with the rigour and discipline of regular posts…and apart from two [big] breaks in-between, I think I managed to make time for it, et al. More important, I found that I could actually think of things to say, and write, and communicate, hopefully without completely boring you all.

The subject of this blog, obviously, is not about what I did today, or what dishes I have tried to cook (aka Julie & Julia!), the news of the day, or even exclusively the books I am reading. I wanted to pick one and all of these, arbitrarily, to hold them up to “the cold light of scrutiny”. (Don’t ask me who said that, but its’ a really nice quote; my regards to whomsoever did say it…)

I always, always, have wanted to be able to add that little something to ordinary discussions. For instance, it makes no sense, to me, to say for example, that the GDP of a country is phenomenally high, if you don’t also add that 20% of people hold 80% of wealth. Or vice versa.

And it certainly is no fun, to say that GDP is xxxx billion dollars, but to not use the word “phenomenal”…I bet no one has ever used those words in the same sentence before! :-P

But the one thing I’ve learnt since beginning this blog, is that, that “little something” remains extremely, irrelevantly negligible, if you just keep looking for new “somethings”. My Oxford essay talks about a big potential breakthrough in some theoretical models, because finally, theorists are moving away from a “frenzied race to maximize utility”, and accepting that perfection is impossible in a social science, and imperfection is an acceptable compromise. Oddly, that essay has as much to teach me, as it has, to convey to the rest of the world.

Does this mean my post frequency will come down??? I hope not. Because what I do receive from this blog, is the perfect opportunity to vent all these stupid thoughts, on my hapless, captive (*really sweet smile*) audience. Leaving me free to study for my tax exam.

Bibliophilia: II

I am not even going to attempt to explain my absence. It was inexcusable, but I just couldn’t drag myself to the front of the computer. But I have been reading, instead…and really good books. Anything to keep away from application work!

For one, I read Terry Prachett again, and was disappointed, yet again. As you might remember, I said he was a little erratic – turns out, he only shows isolated flashes of brilliance. The more I read, the more I am let down. I read this book called Pyramids, got through nearly three-quarters of it, seeing as it kept holding out the promise of better reading ahead. Just a thought to the content which was so intriguing…

First, it continues on Prachett’s fictional creation, Discworld. This is a great way to explore what our world could be, if things were just a little different. For instance, theives and assassins are coherently unionized, working in perfect harmony. Something like Godfather, but with a sense of humour as well as honour.

In this book, a frustrated Prince of an undeveloped, insular, desert kingdom, goes out into the urban metropolis, joining the elite assassins. His dad dies, on the eve of graduation…the book follows the newly-crowned assassin-King. When no one in the bureacracy listens, the new King initiates his own system of rescuing condemned prisoners, using the skills of an assassin. Full marks for plot.

But then he ruins it, with math and physics and accounts. The King appoints pyramid builders to build the largest pyramid in history, but the building requires “quantum” calculations to meet deadlines. This backfires, ending with the kingdom itself disappearing into a “crack” in a rock.

Why??? How does this contribute to the plot??? Existential questions of being a microscopic part of a macroscopic world demand a full, separate book. They have nothing to do with mutiny-in-Yes-Minister. The cherry on the cake is, the conversations of the pyramid builders are the funniest, most innovative part of the book.