There were a lot of little interesting run-ins in D.C. during inaugural week, all framed by the frustrations in getting around, though, to be honest. For conservatives, besides NRO’s packed Fado’s event, the place to be was the “conservative ball” on Thursday night at the City Museum in D.C., sponsored by a handful of conservative think tanks and Pfizer. Ran into and chatted a little with the charming CEO of Pfizer, for one, there. Others seen there included Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, N.Y. Governor George Pataki (who spent a few minutes at a microphone; as well as with a Sam Adams, as Bernadette Malone reported last week), new White House speechwriter Bill McGurn, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, and many more (what party would be complete without the O’Beirne-Lowry-Ponnuru-Goldberg-Lopez crowd? Present!). Unlike the official balls, it was the formal where you could actually always turn around and run into someone you knew. In other words, much more useful than just about any other ball in town.