At the Tank last night for the festivities. The last time I spent that much time watching politics on the tube—also the last time I did so in public—was election night '92, when as I mention occasionally, I ended up talking to Pierre Trudeau.

Last night I met a few bloggers, something I hadn't done before, and probably won't do very often in the future; but in what I suppose is an amusing parallel to past experience, this time around I met Atrios. I didn't introduce myself, and didn't say much; I thanked his wife for the slice of pizza, and as I was sitting back down, mentioned to him that he was the only political figure in mainstream American politics that I paid much attention to other than out of necessity. I was smiling of course, but I wasn't joking. Then I mentioned my background in Philadelphia and my parents' connection to the activist scene there, on the campuses in the 60's, and their connections with Ed Herman. That took an additional 10 seconds. I mentioned this on the assumption that he had a more long term association with the area, and with Bryn Mawr, than turns out to be true.

[Although I only learned it last night, the secret's been out for a month. After reading the link, click here and scroll down for a bio.]