On hearing from Media Matters that Arianna Huffington would be at Politics and Prose talking about her new book "Right is Wrong," I decided to make the trek to Chevy Chase.

Unfortunately, the northbound L series of buses up Connecticut Avenue from Van Ness Metro to Chevy Chase Circle were shockingly absent, gone, not there, failed to post, whatever. The buses run for that stretch about 7 times an hour in late rush hour, but I (and 15 other angry passengers) waited at Van Ness close to half an hour. Arianna was scheduled to start her talk at 7 PM, which is when I punch out. I was just hoping to hear the last 20-25 minutes or so. Of course, when the bus finally did arrive, it brought me to Connecticut and Nebraska just in time for me to hear, in her lovely, unmistakable Greek accent, "Thank you all for coming." Out marched the hordes of applauding liberals both old and ancient, nearly mowing me down. On my child-support oriented budget, there would be no chance I would buy this book new in hardcover, so I did not bother to stand in line. Instead, I caught one picture of the lovely author from in between several liberal hordelings, and rushed out the door just in time to catch a timely arriving M4 bus quickly crosstown a few blocks to Tenleytown, to check out computer printers and storage doodads.

This trip was a strikeout but I am glad I did it anyway. It's the sort of thing that I can do, when the timing works, now that I live in DC. My new Dada lifestyle down here has its ups and downs. Among the ups is being surprised by the joy and relief that one can take in two autistic children actually enjoying one's little apartment, without wrecking it or going crazy for most of a weekend. Among the downs is watching their mother's fairly new, very serious boyfriend holding one of them in a shopping mall parking lot when "visitation" is over. (Not that the chap's all bad but it still sucks.) Among the small "ups" is being a subway and a bus ride (theoretically) away from Arianna Huffington preaching to the very well-funded, grey-goatee-and-tweed liberal horde. Perhaps I should have stood in line anyway, but there will be a lot more like this.