Montreal Deja Vu

I am briefly back in Montreal for a presentation to Latin American military officers and diplomats.  It is a last minute kind of thing, but it was handy to force me to think about how does civil society (academics, think tanks, media) play significant roles in civil-military relations.  I will post my take tomorrow.

Being back in Montreal reminded me of many things and a few new realizations:

• There were more hipsters in the restaurant on the plateau tonight than probably in all of Ottawa.
• The construction alongside A-20 reminds me why I left--this monstrosity is going to take forever.
• Montreal drivers ne care pas about the HOV lane, as plenty of cars passed me despite not being electric and not having three passengers.
• I hate, hate not being able to turn right on red.
• The food is always, always good.  I don't usually take food photos but for deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough, I had to:
  

Oh, and the Bill Simmons podcast with Key and Peele had a very interesting quote that bothers me a bit: comparison is the thief of joy. Apparently, Teddy Roosevelt said it.  On the one hand, yes, envy and jealousy are bad, so we should just declare success and embrace our own happiness.  On the other, as a social scientist, I am a big believer in comparing, as we can learn more about ourselves (our politics, our foreign policy, etc) by comparing with that of others.

Anyhow, it was great to see some of my favorite people.  I look forward to presenting my stuff to a group of interesting and interested folks.  And, yes, I love my job.