Is this thing on?

So, has anything interesting happened since I last blogged 10 months ago?

Let’s see…

1. Nicole came and visited Uganda where she turned 26, then we celebrated our one-year anniversary in Amsterdam.
2. Worked full-time and balls-out on the Perata for Mayor of Oakland campaign from September to November.
3. We lost that campaign in the first ever ranked-choice-voting reversal-of-fortune.
4. Tea Party revolution; Democrats lost the House.
5. Was very depressed.
6. Went to Hawaii; felt a little better.
7. Jerry Brown sworn in as Governor.
8. Tried to figure out what to do with my life.
9. Nicole and I decided to get these god-dammed dissertations done as fast as possible.
10. Gave our lovely dog Aidan to my parents for safekeeping.
11. Turned 32 years old.
12. Applied for eleventy-billion fellowships.
13. Arab Spring: revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa.
14. Nicole ended her time as a survey project manager at the Public Policy Institute of California.
15. Moved out of our apartment in Jack London Square and did a one-month stint in Moraga.
16. Moved to Turkey in March to conduct dissertation field research for six months.
17. Elections in Uganda.
18. Received only one (!) fellowship; looks like I’ll be back in Uganda in the fall. Perhaps Nigeria too, if I can swing it.  Nicole received a fellowship on campus and will be back in August.
19. About a dozen of our friends gave birth to beautiful healthy babies.
20. Making good progress on the dissertations.