AND SINCE I DON'T HAVE A BUTLER, I HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF: Past winners of the ALOTT5MA Award for Funniest Half-Hour of Television of the Year include 2004's The Daily Show -- "Night Two of the Democratic National Convention" ("son of a turd miner") and 2005's South Park -- "Best Friends Forever".

So, who's in the running this year? The list includes The Colbert Report's "Countdown to Guitarmageddon" and Colbert's "White House Correspondents Dinner" speech (our first C-SPAN nominee in this category); South Park's "Cartoon Wars Part II" and "The Return of Chef"; HIMYM's "Slap Bet"; and a long list of episodes of The Office -- including but not limited to "Booze Cruise", "Grief Counseling", "Conflict Resolution" and "Valentine's Day".

(**Notes: Glengarry Glen Claus fell just before the nomination period. And the Rules Committee doesn't know what to do with a super-sized Office episode like "Casino Night".)

The winner, however, is the episode of The Office which Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson submitted for their Emmy bids: "The Injury", written by Mindy Kaling (who plays Kelly). A Foreman Grill. A frantic drive for help. Country Crock. A squirt bottle. The rules of "shotgun". Something odd about Dwight. And an important lesson about respect for the disabled. It is not the best episode of The Office (that would be "Valentine's Day" or "Casino Night"), but I have no trouble calling it the funniest.

ALEXANDRIA'S LONG REAL ESTATE NIGHTMARE STILL NOT OVER: If you're in the market for a new home in the Virginia suburbs of D.C. in the million-dollar range, why not own one where a former president lived?

AIMING FOR THE ALOTT5MA SWEET SPOT: So did anyone receive the new Trivial Pursuit: Totally 80s as a Chrismukkah gift? Mr. Cosmo and I (no slouches in the trivia realm and both decidedly children of the 80s) played our maiden game the other night and were quite impressed. Trivial Pursuit specialty games tend to fall into one of two categories: (a) annoyingly lowest-common-denominator (90s version) or (b) thoroughly arcane (all-star sports). But Totally 80s feels much more like a Genus version in terms of difficulty and is most tubularly focused on pop culture (three of the six categories are music, TV, and movies). Highly recommended and -- dare I say it -- awesome.

(Oh, and to answer the necessary followup: Me.)

A MEDIUM WOUNDED BY THE CD AND KILLED BY ITUNES: How well do you know your classic rock album covers? Me, let's just say that even after seeking wikihelp for a couple of titles that were eluding me, and after getting a little angry that I got bamboozled by the use of the bowdlerized cover for the Hendrix album and the inferior live Motorhead album, and after staring for too long at a couple that I just know I know but can't quite get, I'm still under 50%. And there's no answer key, so cheating will be difficult.

Feel free to post answers in the comments.

WHAT AM I THINKING? I was a big fan of Zoe Heller's novel What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal, so I am excited to see such solid reviews of the film adaptation with Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and Bill Nighy -- though I'm intrigued, to say the least, to see how they handle what I'll call the "unreliable narrator" issue, which was central to the novel's thrills.

TO ME, THE PRESIDENCY AND THE VICE-PRESIDENCY WERE NOT PRIZES TO BE WON, BUT A DUTY TO BE DONE: Former President Gerald Ford, a man who never sought the highest offices in the land but served the nation when called upon to heal the wounds of Nixon and Vietnam, has passed away at the age of 93.

I KEEP TELLING MYSELF, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT MY PORCH LOOKS LIKE: Last week, at the mall, I found myself face to face with Robert Knepper, better known as the dapper T-Bag from Prison Break. Happy to report to the ladies that he looks exactly the same in person as he does on TV. I resisted the urge to call 911, run, warn all pubescent girls and fading beauties, or check his stump.