Narcissism in 2011

As 2011 ends, I thought I would mention some highlights and lowlights in the world of the Spew family:

• I gave my last lecture of Intro to IR to 600 students, including five minutes in French to pay off an old bet.  I will not be teaching such a course in my new job, and I doubt that I will ever be teaching a class so large again.  I will miss it, despite the ten percent problem.  It is inherently fun material, and I am quite the attention hound.
• Usually, an academic has much shorter notice between getting a new job and leaving.  I am in the middle of essentially a year long process.  So, McGill students have expressed some very nice thoughts on my long way out the door. 
• There were riot police at McGill.  Not good.
• I had a fun Halloween.
• Got to have a few chances to present my work this fall, including at William and Mary with co-author David Auerswald.  And it gave me a chance to do more tourism--Yorktown and Busch Gardens.
• I got a terrific job offer from Carleton University to become the Paterson Chair of International Affairs, and I finally was able to announce it here.  Clearly, THE highlight of 2011 for myself and my family.
• I had an op-ed on the illusory tradeoff between teaching and research that went kind of viral.
• Had a grand brief time in the UK, as I was presenting a paper in the hinterlands (Upper Slaughter), but had a chance to enjoy London. 
• A truly enjoyable APSA in a city completely new to me: Seattle.
• Our dog, Tessa, died in August, leaving us dog-less for the first time since 1992. She, like Flynn, lived a long life--16-17 years.  We miss her and him greatly, but will not be getting another dog as we seek to travel in the years ahead.
  
• Did not get hit by falling concrete.  In Montreal, that is a daily highlight, given the likelihood.
• After flying to Australia to present some research, I had the chance to dive for the first time in my life.  A great experience.
  
• Spent a Long Weekend up in northern Quebec at an airbase, chatting with pilots who flew in Libya and watching an airshow.
• I made a list of top Canadian twiter-ers! Kind of strange, since it just deepens my identity conflicts.
• Vaguest Reference to a Job Talk: see this post.
• Most Surprising Collision: School bus takes the worst of left turns through a stop sign and then thru the front left corner of my car.
• I started a monthly column at Current Intelligence. 
• Best ISA Panel in Years, and I missed it so I had to come up with a post specifying my take on the Zombie phenomenon and political science.
• ISA in the Hometown.  A mixed bag since it means heaps of driving, less networking but less flying as well.
• Best Use of GPS: Traveling in the Ardennes in between interview weeks in the Netherlands and Belgium.
• Catching Up on The Wire: In retrospect, it is hard for me to understand how it took so long for me to watch this series.  Some thoughts on seasons 3.

As there is far more blue than red, one can pretty easily observe that 2011 has been very good to me.  Sure, my car got crushed by a bus, but I was not hurt.  Plus it made for a good story when I gave my job talk at Carleton, which produced a mighty fine job that I can spend looking forward to during the first half of 2012.

I hope my readers had a great 2011 and best wishes for a most wonderful end of the world in 2012.