Atlanta Week: Searching for Anderson

It’s Atlanta Week here on ye olde blog, brought to you by the fact that I forgot to transfer a magazine from my luggage to my purse and was thus left with no reading material on a long flight, giving me lots of uninterrupted time to write off the top of my head. First up, CNN tour:

I, like most people, love Anderson Cooper. Given that CNN’s headquarters are in Atlanta, I thought I’d take the opportunity to tour the building and, perchance, run into him. When I told people this plan, many turned to me and said in a low voice, “You know he’s gay, right?”

A) Yes, I do. B) Can’t I want to meet Anderson for his journalistic skills and not his looks? C) My chances of dating Anderson Cooper are approximately the same (e.g., nil) regardless of his sexual orientation, so I’m not sure it’s relevant.

In any case, Anderson wasn’t in the building, but some other folks were. I got there 60 seconds before the VIP tour that only runs once a week I didn’t know existed was starting, and although I chose the basic tour, I had a change of heart at the last second and plunked down an extra $20 for the privilege of getting to meet and sit in on Rick Sanchez’s show and get that lovely picture above taken. Along the way, I also met and talked to Brooke Baldwin, who, unlike me, knows Anderson. Also unlike me, Brooke was made for TV – she’s gorgeous.

It was really interesting getting to listen in on the control room of the show, and our group of five got to peek into the newsroom (props to the writers who do all that research behind the scenes), read the teleprompter, and learn some fun tidbits about CNN. We also got to ride the world’s longest free-standing escalator, so there’s that.

Anderson may have eluded me this time, but Rick Sanchez told me he liked my dress, so all was not lost.