Well, I think tomorrow will be the last NABJ update. I’m realizing that a grip of the stories don’t transfer to the written word nearly as well as they do the spoken. Gimme a call if you wanna hear nore. Don’t got the number? SOL, baby.

This might be my favorite story of the conference. I was talking from the Hyatt to the Marriott, and I stopped at the door of the Marriott to talk to the valet. I find that’s a good way to get a pulse of what’s going on, plus those cats just tend to be fun.
I roll up on a cat, and I ask him if he’s loving the weekend. After all, with all the scenery that embarked upon the city, it had to be a blast for him.
“Hell no. Messin up my money.”
I asked him if the journalists were tipping him badly. Maybe there are mroe cheap writers than just Bo Jones.
“Naw, I like the journalists. They journalists tip. It’s the damn MegaFest, man.”
The MegaFest was TD Jakes lil’ get together. He and millions of his people hit Atlanta for what looked like a really good time, if you’re into that sort of thing. They were everywhere, rolling too deep to get robbed (I figured one of them would catch it since they all walked around with their MegaFest badges, all of which scream out, “I ain’t from “round here”) but deep enough to stomp out more than a few cliques. They seemed like nice people to me.
Not to my man.
“Man, carryin all them bags upstairs, and all they got for me is ‘God Bless You.’ They know what time it is!”
Buddy was hot. Irate. Can’t blame him considering that his income is probably almost entirely determined by tips. But then, he asked his boy what he thought of megafest.
“Three bags, and all I got was one goddam dollar.”
Hotel people–don’t get hyped up about MegaFest. In a shocking victory, two out of two hotel employees prefer journalists to Jesus. The writing’s religious!
***
Tomorrow–the coolest people at NABJ. Or maybe today. If I could upload it, I’d show you all my Weather Channel demo tape. Who knows…might make it a yousendit file for a few of you. Might go see if I can play with the godson some more. Lil’ sucker’s so adorable. For his sake, good thing he looks like his mama.