Had to note this down:

Last weekend I saw this dramatic and sad video on NatGeo. A zebra stallion biting, stamping, flaying and trampling a young fawn to death. Reason: it was not his. The traumatized mother put up a brave fight to save her precious fawn and tried to chase the enraged stallion away, but to no avail; it was hopeless. The fawn died a brutal and painful death. Such was the devotion of the grief stricken mother to her precious little one, that she refused to leave its side even after it was dead. She just couldn't accept the fact that her young one was dead.

The camera crew returned the next morning to find the mother dead too, killed and being eaten by hyenas, probably while it was trying to defend its young one's dead body.

“The thing that people don’t understand is it’s not how likely that the exposure becomes a reality, but what if it does?”
- Congressman Darrell Issa, on the U.S Government's risks with Citi.

Prepare for the worst.

The Bottleneck: A narrow, treacherous stretch of ice that has to be navigated just before reaching the summit of K2. The seracs (huge chunks of precariously poised ice) overhanging this route have claimed lots of lives, most recently and tragically in August 2008.

Of every four people who tries to reach the summit (note tries to reach the summit) one dies. This is the savage mountain.

Haunting, fascinating and powerful ... This is nature.

dirge - a slow, solemn, and mournful piece of music
pillory - to expose to ridicule and abuse

"♫ The financial situation is so bad at the moment that women are marrying for love"

... heh heh!

platitude - dull redundant statement

In this world of randomness we have but one choice to be stoic in our actions.
- A lesson learned from Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb

travesty - mockery
morass - a situation that traps/confuses

Today I left Lehman ... slightly sad :(

skittish - moving quickly
stymie - to obstruct

"Dreaming out loud" by One Republic ... love this song.

exigent - requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing
acolyte - A devoted follower or attendant
soliloquy - a dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections
impertinence - unmannerly intrusion or presumption;insolence
comportment - bearing, deportment


The Gorilla:
Inspite of the fact that I have nothing more left in terms of dealings with the firm, I guess he'll always be an inspiration of sorts ...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aMQJV3iJ5M8c&refer=home


"Administrative costs - These include necessities such as postage, record keeping, customer service, cappuccino machines, etc. Some funds are excellent at minimizing these costs while thers (the ones with the cappuccino machines in the office) are not."
- Investopedia tutorial on mutual fund costs.

Its final - Feedback for me is officially over.

Thanks Akhil! You might not know it but you have taught me a lot :)

"They'll still kill you, but they now do it gently."
- A panelist regarding the current job cuts in the industry.