Bryan is helping organize a Bill Clinton event tomorrow, and he went for a walk-through with Secret Service this morning. When he returned to the car, Bryan gestured at the crowd outside. Everyone was wearing bright T-shirts and jeans, but one guy was in a severe dark suit and shiny dress shoes.

Bryan: Can you guess which of those guys is Secret Service?
Me: (Singing) Which of these kids is doing his own thing?
B: Which of these kids is heav-i-ly armed?

The first installment of my Thoughtful User Guide is up at The Morning News. It’s on iPod etiquette:

“Yes, we know you like music. We can see that it moves you. This is because you’re always moving—bopping your head, dancing, drumming, even singing along. Please, stop it. Otherwise, we’re forced to feign interest in your childlike enthusiasm for a song we can’t even hear. It’s exhausting.”

It’s our first day of birthing class, and all the women show up in sweatpants and T-shirts. I’m looking around thinking, really? We’ve all given up already?

Then the teacher says, “I know the handout mentioned that everyone should come in stretchy clothing, but we won’t be doing floor exercises until next week.”

Oh. The handout. Right.

1. Megan, Will You Be My Mom? or Amazing Spider Cakes and Knitted Wig

Oops. Didn’t realize this was set for private viewing only.2. Portrait of Dorian Champ or Heather Never Ages

3. Where’s My X-Acto Knife? or Sigh-Worthy Paper Cuts

Eden over at Fussy has just christened National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), during which participants agree to post every day during November.

She has quite a list of participants going, and I’m falling in line. I can’t resist tidy little packets of accomplishment. Won’t you join me? Yes! Do!

And please don’t tell me you can’t think of anything to write about. By now, you know what to do about that.