And then there were none

^^ That's the name of the Agatha Christie novel-turned-play that I went to see last Friday night. Pretty intense and scary, but really a fun show.

It's been a good few weeks since you last heard from me. I've made good progress on the presentation I'll soon be giving to some investment management consultants on the state of the European investment management market at KPMG. Meanwhile, I've started looking for jobs, which has got me stressed to the max! I can't decide where I'd like to live, which company would be the best fit, what the right trade-off of intrinsic vs. extrinsic benefits is, and it's got me altogether flummoxed, to use a fun word. Nonetheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing some of the companies that are out there in the marketplace, developing what they can, marketing it in completely different sectors, and generally having a great past couple years. It's a great time to get hired right now (apparently), especially for qualified CS majors. They say technical degrees are in high demand and that there aren't enough qualified people. The problem is, the qualifications presented by some companies are so complex that I'd be surprised to meet any perfect individual. There are plenty of smart people looking for work, if you'll give them a month of training time!

In case you're wondering, I am a computer science major, by the way. Business minor, loved working on a computer vision project and would be very interested in an AI/computer vision job. The problem is, I would probably be equally interested in an IT/development job with an investments firm, and those are two very distinct fields I'm thinking about. Pray for me, please.

I will be trying to go to 2 church services tonight, so that I can hear John Stott speak (at the second one) at All Souls. It will be an intense 3 hours of church/travel/church, whew!

I visited the Tower of London and Kensington Palace last weekend. Both were fun places, the tower with its devices of torture, the palace with its dresses and fancy state rooms. The Lord Mayor's show was last weekend... basically, a fancy-dressed guy rides a BEAUTIFUL gold-gilded carriage, behind a 2-mile-long parade. The parade was a kick, all kinds of Britons old and young, variously dressed and including creatively decorated cars, driving couches (thank you Intel), decorated buses, and marching bands. That night there was a dramatic fireworks show. Pretty enjoyable weekend, last weekend.

The prior weekend, I went to two fireworks shows for Guy Fawkes day. It's the closest the Brits get to a 4th of July, and it takes place on the 5th of November. Remember, remember the 5th of November. A group of (persecuted) Catholic rebels planted some dynamite in the basement of Parliament and Guy Fawkes was to light it. Unfortunately for him they found him out, tortured him (the rack) and then he was drawn and quartered, sent to the corners of the UK (like William Wallace). So they celebrate the day they caught him, but they name the day after the terrorist himself... interesting people, these. Did I mention they burn his effigy in huge bonfires all over the country every year?!

I'm working today and tonight on assembling a portfolio for my internship, so I must go. Hope you all are having a great November and enjoying the warmth and coldness of your respective locations. Oh, and congrats to my friend Olga from Central Asia, who just got engaged!
-Brian

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Brian Patton
http://people.bu.edu/bjp/
http://people.bu.edu/reallife/ourstories.html