January Round-Up

A lot happened during the month of January. But one blog-worthy story is that I landed a job interview with Mckinsey. The 'experience interview' went well but I botched the case interview :(. On the positive side I learned a few things about management consulting and the importance of structured thinking and presentation. While I have spent a great deal of time these past few days trying to figure out what I could have done differently I have also decided that I would not let that failure dictate my pace in 2012.

Take my new-found love for art for example. When I visited the MoMa earlier in January I met Degas, Rivera, Picasso, Van Gogh et.al. I saw the famous 'Starry Night' by Van Gogh, "The Indian Warrior" by Rivera, Picasso's "Still Life with Chair-Caning" and others. These works moved me in a way that art has never done before and I now realize why. Before going to the museum I did my due diligence and googled some of the works that were on exhibition. The SMART HISTORY videos and the Khan Academy have been useful in initiating me into the world of art history. If, like me, you did not major in Art History I recommend learning about an artist's work and its place in history before going to an exhibition.

As a result I have started paying serious attention to art and plan to visit the National Gallery of Art in DC to see Picasso's earlier work.

Renoir, Moulin de la Galette, 1876 from Smarthistory Videos on Vimeo.

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