If you're having girl problems...

Everytime I see this, I crack up.


(From the always awesome rap graphs)

Note for the older folks who might read this: this refers to Jay-Z's song "99 Problems." If you don't know the song, you probably won't find this funny. Just try to focus on the fact that somebody made Excel graphs about famous rap songs.

Ethics question

Awhile back, I did some freelance public relations work. I operated under an NDA ("non-disclosure agreement"...oddly, at that point in my life, I had three separate NDA projects where the NDA terms were ambiguous), so I'm going to make this as nebulous as possible.

My client made a certain luxury retail product. It is essentially the most expensive luxury product in the world of its kind. It's somewhat of a niche market, though potentially could be a significantly more mainstream market in the future. My client essentially took someone else's product, marked it up by 2000% and then did some fancy marketing. My client was exposed for this. They decided on a strategy of a carefully-worded non-denial denial. They didn't explicitly deny the allegation (and to be fair, I'm not 100% sure that the allegation was true, though I assume so)

I was hired for some of the operations. They had mostly already decided on their strategy. I found their strategy to be somewhat distasteful, but I admired their moxie. Their entire business model was to markup the price on something that could easily become readily available! My skills were valuable, but definitely replaceable in this instance (that is, if I hadn't taken the gig, they would've found someone else who performed just as well). I was well compensated on an hourly basis, though it had negligible impact on my income for that year (eg, less than 5%).

Of course, this isn't really an ethics question. I'm ok with my decision, but in talking with other people I've found that others hold different opinions, ranging from "no way would I take that gig" to "why would you ever even consider not doing it?*" In that sense, it has seemed to me that it is something of a Rorschach test. In this situation, you see whatever ethics you want to see.

* My sticking point was that I had to be ok with my message, and I decided that our PR strategy was carefully enough parsed.

I should have been reading for the CFA

Yesterday I went to the zoo. And actually remembered to bring the camera along.

I took the D line down to the A line, to the stop where we were meeting. I had heard that the A line of the subway has crazy cars. And in fact, I felt like I was in a movie.

Pretty cool, those wooden benches with the old school lighting. The doors you actually had to manually open and close for each stop. Meaning that occasionally someone wouldn't close the door and it would be open. Clearly Argentina doesn't have the number of trial lawyers that we have in the US. Somehow their society has survived anyway.

We met close to the Argentina Congress. They've got a bunch of plazas and parks. And because Argentines love their dogs, there was this random enclosure where people apparently leave their dogs? Weird.

Here's a picture of Congress.

Here's another picture of Congress. Neither are that great. I couldn't be bothered to get closer. ?Deal with it.

Flamingos at the first exhibit when you walked into the park.



Nice beak.

Manew? This was the last picture I took at a regular exhibit (we were at like the 5th exhibit). I'm not much of a picture taker. Requires too much discipline.


This is what happens when you feed fish from the bridge. Mass carnage. That swan amused me.


BLACK SWAN!



This was at the kid's area. Yes, as always, I am wearing the same Kappa warmup that dates back to my junior year of high school. I would be lost without it.


I am flying. Should've taken a movie while I flapped those wings.

The story of the zoo is actually pretty interesting. It started around 15 years ago as an ice cream store out in the suburbs called Munchi's, with some livestock hanging around. Apparently it became popular, in part for the helado and in part for livestock. Eventually, with some 3rd party capital invested in it, Munchi's became a full-on zoo as well as a chain of ice cream stores.

Afterwards, I went to dinner with 5 Dutch girls.

Things I never thought I'd do

Straighten things up in advance of my maid coming. It takes all of 2 minutes, but still...I would've never understood why one does this. Until I did it, of course.

Since OJ had isotoners

I think I've found a place to live, starting June 30/July 1. Conveniently, that's exactly when I must move out of my current place. I have a thing for wasting money on rent.*

First the negative. It's in Belgrano, not Palermo Viejo or Recoleta. Of course, Belgrano is supposedly actually the richest barrio**. So, while it's a slight negative, it's actually only about 5 blocks from my current place, and is actually right next to the supermarket I walk to. It'll mean that I take the subway to spanish lessons everyday -- a move I've resisted only because I like feeling more proletariat by walking. But I think I can afford the 67 cents for the subway round trip. I'm going to have to tolerate walking a few more blocks to my favorite restaurant though.

It's an awesome place. It's in a good location in Belgrano, close to Cabildo Ave, but not too close for noise purposes (my current departamento is too close to the train tracks for my tastes). It's a swanky, new building. Unlike my current building, the portero (doorman) actually does his job once in awhile. Yo esto quiero. And the apartment is on the top floor. Meaning that it has some good views. Oh yeah, and there's this sweet, sweet rooftop terrace with an asado parrilla (barbecue grill, argentina-style). If you come to visit, we will eat red meat and drink red wine, as if we are Argentinos.

It's also quite cheap. Like living in Houston at Castle Court cheap. Given that it is a short-term lease in a furnished apartment in a great building with a terrace in a great part of town, I think I can tolerate it. Yeah...I think so.

It's also going to be a Spanish-only environment with my roommate. Which I really need, because my progress right now is pretty limited because I am taking 4 hours of classes a day, generally putting in 2-3 hours outside of class, and not improving nearly enough. It's not true immersion when you read in English and think in English all day.

Pictures when I get around to going to my place and taking pictures. Which means, not soon. I'm studying for the CFA, remember? Gosh!

* Phrases like "a thing for" make me nervous that I will never, ever be fluent in Spanish. That's not even a phrase you'd expect someone over 35 to use, but is fairly normal among my generation. As Skye told me, you can get to 90% fluency with effort, but the last 10% requires at more effort than the first 90%.

** Don't think this counts Puerto Madero. But I'd never want to live there anyway.

Wah. No vacation for me. Don't cry for me, America.

Remember this post? Yeah.

I hate winter. Despise winter. I moved back to my homeland of Texas when I could, because it didn't have much of a winter (among other reasons, ldo*). So I moved to Buenos Aires. Alas! This means that I get winter twice this year. So I wanted to leave for a significant amount of time. Winter makes me sad, and I don't like being sad.

Here's one of the biggest drawbacks to Buenos Aires: horrible socialist government. True, but, specifically, I mean: aviation. It's expensive to fly into here and out of here. Flying to South African is like $2k+ USD. That's tough to justify. I'm way more likely to fly to Holland and visit the land that gave birth to me.

Well, sigh, I guess I'm just going to tough it out in heaven on earth. Well, fine! I'm planning a trip to Florianopolis (the best beach in Brazil) in the spring though. This is supposed to be an amazing beach. Argentine guys tell me that this place is full of beautiful Brazilian women. Are these Argentinos simply innured to what is around them or is Florianopolis that great? I am confused.

Also, one factor that I confess weighed into my considerations not to take a vacation: liquid assets. I just moved $xxx,000.00 into less liquid trades. Sigh. Even when you're quite confident that the future rewards is worth the current risk, it's still sometimes annoying to lose the liquidity. But measured against my utility curve....


*ldo = laughing, duh obviously. best expression ever.

Childhood memories

I've never thought my sister was that funny before the last few years. But recently, she can crack me up like no one else when she and I start talking about our childhood. She probably doesn't know this, and she'll probably read this, but oh well.