Martin's email of November 16

L.S.,

@Michael: Master's Thesis? Weren't you already doing that when we were in BXL? It seems a lot like my story. I haven't turned in my final version either, and I've been "working" on it since September last year.
@Zeni: How did I get stuck with the reputation as the universal spell check? I'll try to live up to it and write this email flawless. (I already wrote September without the capital letter just now, but I noticed that in time.) Anyway, I'm glad you're now making the big bucks...
@Franzi: Say hi to Violaine for me. As far as I know, she's in Chambéry, the next prefecture to yours. And don't feel too bad, I've been to Annecy and it's a very beautiful place. You could be stuck in Brest, remember...
@Filipe: Feel free to punch Luca whenever you feel the urge. He did that mugger thing to me once, too, at 1 in the morning, at a not particularly well lit piece of street. (Near Arts/Loi, I think.) He almost gave me a heart attack... Anyway, I'm glad to see you've decided to offer some humanitarian aid to your country's upcoming presidency. Do they have a new deputy reper yet? As far as I remember, the guy that was there when I was in BXL was only a temp, and usually these guys get parachuted in at least a year or so before the presidency. Oh, and would you be working with Joana's husband by any chance. I think he's in CFSP, and with your background I'd expect you to run into each other.

As for me, I'm still reading everything with letters. It's really cool to be reading the originals of all these great thinkers, without having to care about the fact that I'm technically supposed to be an economist. So I'm not only reading the great economists like Schumpeter, Robbins and Knight, but also stuff like Weber, Rawls, Dworkin, etc. I still can't believe they're actually paying me for this. Unfortunately, it also means that at some point I'll have to figure out what exactly I will be contributing to the existing knowledge of mankind. The goal is to have a detailed research proposal by March next year. (I already had a basic proposal, which was written before I was even hired in order to obtain the research grant from the government, but that needs to be rewritten, extended, etc, in order to make it something that is really interesting, worth while and possible.)

Apart from my work, my social life is eminently boring, just the way I like it. Upcoming weekend I'll have some festivities, but it'll be the first time in ages. (And no, it's not even my birthday party.) Oh, and by the way, I notice that Skee-Lo song struck a nerve with our esteemed goddess of blog. Thank you, sweetie...

Martin

P.S. I just took the liberty of sticking the emails of yesterday and today on the blog, just for the people who didn't get them. Given that they were sent to a large number of people, I figured they were essentially meant to be public. Obviously, if the author objects, any post can be deleted at the press of a button...