Just no budget there, so the .com side of the house dials back to just John Richardson writing a political blog. He's already on salary as a "writer at large," as opposed to my--essentially free-lance, sub-contractor--status as "contributing editor" (meaning, I cost extra whenever I get something published), so I can't beat his price. So I close out with 34 columns in total, including the original two I did as a sub for RIchardson's column. Probably about 36-37,000 words in all. I will admit to some relief regarding the requirement to do two columns every week, although I liked working with the editor of the site, Matt Sullivan. Still, it kept me busy during a stretch when I could not get into the print magazine (2009 was not kind to the contributing editors). Thus, one hopes that my piece in the Feb issue augurs well for 2010. Obviously, I enjoy being associated with Esquire and wish the magazine well as it continues to adapt itself to the post-crash era (unlike so many newspapers and other mags that simply disappeared). But, as usual, the only constant is change. Meanwhile, I'll continue to be on the lookout for other opportunities, simply because I love to write.