Faithful readers may be wondering what has happened to the Divine Mrs. M.Z. Hemingway this week, since she is the other GetReligionista (besides moi) who almost always posts here on a daily basis. MZ is out of the country at the moment, visiting a location at which there is zippo in the way of options to get on the Internet. I believe that she will be back on Capitol Hill and blogging again early next week. GetReligion readers who frequently cross digital swords with the lady (and you know who you are) may think about putting your feet up and reading a book for a few days.

Of course, we could ask Mark Hemingway to substitute for her -- the way he subbed for Brad during his first round of law-school exams -- except that both halves of the new hip-hop duo MZ MARK are on the same trip (which frequently happens when married folks head off to visit family). There is no truth to the rumors that Mark is out of town in order to do a guest appearance on "30 Rock."

I should also mention, after receiving quite a few puzzled emails, that Mark has been added to our official list of contributors and that he will be posting a few times a week in order to provide MZ a bit more time for her other writing duties. Some of you may have noticed that, in addition to her other freelancing work, MZ is now writing a regular column for Christianity Today called "Throwing Inkwells." Click here if you want to see a sample of her work there.

So this is why things have been a bit slow, this week, during business hours. On top of the MZ MARK gap, I have been in the classroom more than usual since we are in the second week of the spring term here at the Washington Journalism Center. So this has been a bad week for me, when it comes to blogging while the sun is up.

Please be patient with us, for a few more days.

One more thing: Feb. 1 marks the end of GetReligion's sixth year online, with the posting of our "What we do, why we do it" essay. Does anyone have any suggestions for a proper way to observe this "birthday"?

Please be kind.