Warning: not a lot of relevant content ahead, which is why this is in General and not Media. You were warned.

So, earlier in the year I ended up fielding a phone call from Gene Weingarten, columnist for The Washington Post Magazine and all-around goodfella.[1] Last month, Adrian Holovaty was in the office getting set up for his new editing gig (and I stupidly failed to introduce myself, of course). And yesterday, I not only met Dan Froomkin, writer of one of my absolute favorite online columns at the Post, but I managed to fix a Citrix client error on his laptop.[2] I guess this is kind of how interns at the physical paper feel when they see someone like Ben Bradlee storming through the fourth floor?[3]

At least this time I got to introduce myself, although I believe I came off a bit like Tom Everett Scott’s character in That Thing You Do!, exclaiming “You are my biggest fan!” to his musical idol. Ah well. Anyway, Dan appears to be a cool frood who knows where his towel is, and he seems to have a keen rapport with the rest of Ops, so perhaps he’ll be back someday. Also, like Mr. Holovaty, he’s quite tall. (Gene, I believe, is not.)

[1] If you’re a Post employee — or even if you aren’t — and you haven’t read Gene’s critique of the paper yet, go check it out; it’s easily one of the best of the bunch. (I’m pretty sure posting it here would be a poor exercise in judgement. Which is why I’m glad FishbowlDC did so instead.) The reader criticisms he alluded to in last Tuesday’s online chat are there, along with some rather insightful observations and Gene’s trademark humor.

[2] Okay, okay, technically I didn’t so much “fix” it as “find a technical workaround for the actual problem.” Still, I did something right, and it wasn’t even my platform. (He’s got a Dell laptop.)

[3] I don’t know that Bradlee actually storms through the newsroom, but that’s the impression I get from reading various accounts of life over there. Besides, it makes for a better mental picture.