I’m sorry for the silence, it’s been a busy few days. First there was Bryan’s birthday, then we both did some work for the John Kerry campaign fundraiser in San Francisco.

This was the first campaign event where I got a staff pin, or as I call it, a “don’t shoot me” pin. It’s a little metal badge you wear on your lapel that tells the Secret Service that you’re a goodie. Part of my job was distributing hotel information to the campaign staff hotel rooms. I’d passed the Secret Service room a few times, making sure to face the open door so they could see my pin and ID.

After about the fifth time passing the room, I figured everyone inside had seen me, so I just walked past. Friends, you don’t want to do that. That makes several polite, well-trained people in dark suits very curious about you. By “very curious” I mean “within a foot of you without you knowing it in under 1.5 seconds.” And that’s the kind of thing that will make you swallow your tongue when you turn around. Trust me.

After blogging for more than three years, I finally made some T-shirts. I made them mostly because I wanted one for myself and figured you might want one too. They’re risque, but you’re no milquetoast. So, without further ado…

Maybe you run like a girl, throw like a girl, catch like a girl. But there’s one more thing you do like a girl, and no one’s complaining about that.

The Morning News just published my second article in the Virtue series. It’s called “Virtue: Volunteering from Home.” Read it and go do good.

Bryan and I are going to Amsterdam later this year, so I need to pick up a Dutch phrasebook. I want to learn a few key phrases like, “I seem to be bleeding from my ears,” and “I don’t speak Dutch.” Bryan points out that it’s funnier to use a more complex phrase when you’re telling someone you don’t speak their language. We kicked around a few ideas. “I’m terribly sorry, I can’t understand you. Dutch is, most unfortunately, not my native language,” and so on. We finally settled on, “I offer a halfhearted apology for not understanding Dutch. I’m American, so I didn’t bother to learn your little language. Where is the nearest McDonald’s?”

Our flight out of San Francisco was delayed and we had to go through multiple security check points before we finally got on a plane. At said checkpoints, they make you drink any fluid you have in your carry on to prove it’s not bomb-related.

Bryan: Do you have the flask on you?

Me: I packed it. I didn’t want to have to swill vodka before 8a.m.

Bryan: Until tomorrow.

Me: Exactly.