As die-hard HOH fans are undoubtedly aware, this institution underwent a paradigm shift earlier this year when my co-columnist and partner, Neda Semnani, took her leave in order to pursue her dream of becoming a full-fledged author.

The indomitable yin to my sophomoric yang, Semnani approached each looming deadline with verve and aplomb.

Armed with incisive wit, a healthy amount of skepticism and a burning desire to crawl inside the headspaces of those who make their living from supposedly exercising the will of the vox populi, Semnani fearlessly probed those in power — and their often tragicomic associates — until she got to the heart of what was really going on.

I miss her every day.

Luckily, I’ve got these gems to remind me of how lucky I was to have worked alongside a true congressional junkie.

• Tom Coburn’s late-night dip: Wherein we learned that a certain Oklahoma Republican might want to take his pig book-blinders off and perhaps watch where he is going.
• The goof is out there: This just in — there is life after Congress. And it involves free tinfoil hats!
• The GOP works out its feelings about Jane Fonda: God forbid anything should ever happen to Hanoi Jane. But it could.
• Wringing every last drop from Marco Rubio: The Florida Republican got some major play out of staying hydrated, but that was only half the story.
• Standing her ground against hypocrisy: The gun lobby takes cares of its own. The rest of us, not so much.
• SCOTUS goes all Burning Man: Some days in Washington are wilder than others.
• Can’t work? Go play!: Sequestration isn’t all bad. Just ask everyone who found love while catching flights (and hopefully nothing else).