ATL - Just Peachy.

Peace in Atlanta.

Sunday. On the plane leaving NYC on route to ATL. Get there and remember just how fucking big ATL's airport is. Hop in cab and head to the Fairfield Inn and Suites. Not a terribly good choice. I am beat, but my eyes are glued, I tell you, glued to A&E's special on child actors. There's Kim Fields and Patty Duke. People crying, lying and dying. Imagine being on TV as a kid, making a shitload of money and then almost losing it all - the fame, the money, the mobility - all before turning 18! Of course you can't! You ain't a star! Damaged, I tell you, these people. Up until about 3 a.m.

Monday. Get up for the free continental breakfast and then take my yella ass back to bed for a few hours - after an episode of Charmed! I get up, take a walk around the city. I was in Midtown. Walked around Peachtree, West Peachtree and Spring streets. Ate at a cute little Indian restaurant. Visited a library and poked around on the Internet. Go back to my room and sleep a few hours until I was wisked away by two fab soon-to-be graduated James and his best friend who is sooo sweet (please don't kill me cuz I forgot your name, sweetness! You know you my homeslice!) They took me to The Flying Biscuit, the most excellent eatery ever. A lot of flying biscuits flew up into this mouth, let me tellyou! We all talked about Clark Atlanta University School of Library and Information Studies, and they shared their experiences, goals and aspirations. I love these two! So smart, so funny, sooooo full of purpose! Inspiring. Back at the hotel, I prepare for my presentation. I am inspired, ready to jam. Then it's bedtime - after I take in a little Cold Case Files on A&E. Hmmm. Okay, bed at 4 a.m.

Tuesday. I get up and start rehearsing my speech. I work out, do a little yoga, stretch. About 1 p.m. I head over to the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center and get registered. I attend a few workshops and then give my presentation. Roughly about 15 people showed up. Needless to say, I was fly. I was very pleased with the Q&A after my presentation. Many of the people did not know about the archive and were genuinely interested in the project. That's always nice. After the presentation I hook up with an old friend, Kevin, and his boyfriend Shawn. We went to a black-owned coffee shop in Midtown where the staff was dressed in black, and the food was just okay. The jazz quartet on duty was fabulous, but their playing stopped up the table convo. Kevin and I went to Bulldogs after that, a black gay bar. It wasn't when I lived there; then it was white with a sprinking of brothers. After an hour or so of dancing and soaking up cigarette smoke, it was time to leave. Back at the hotel, I fell asleep for a hot second before my eyes snapped open for second helping of Cold Case Files. God, I love it. Sleep had to wait. Bed at 5am.

Wednesday. Eat breakfast and chill and watch Charmed. This show is so cute! My friend Alicia came to get me to run around ATL until 9pm when my plane leaves. I met her in graduate school. She's from Detroit, 45 min away from my hometown Toledo. We clicked immediately. She's a writer and a intellectually. Married with a child, I miss her. We did a quick tour of places I had once haunted: Little 5 Points, AUC, CAU. Seeing folks at the Atlanta Univeristy Center was nice--well, at least two of them. Karen Jefferson, Head of the Archives and Special Collections Division is always wonderful and great, and so Jackie, a librarian there who I adore. I used to work there as a grad student. At Clark Atlanta University, I get to say goodbye to some staff and faculty at the SLIS. Wow. My graduate school is closing at the end of this semester. Several schools have now closed. Nativity (grades 1-2); Macomber/Whitney Vocational Technical High School (grades 9-12); and now CAU School of Library and Information Studies. Kinda sad in way, but maybe not, right? Life goes on. So after that, Alicia and I pick up her husband and we eat dinner and talk about old times. I tried to see another friend, but she wasn't at home. One thing I remember about ATL is that you can do a hellava lot of driving in one day. Being in a car for too long makes me stir crazy. Anyways, I get dropped off at the airport and at 9pm board the plane. Bye ATL!

On the plane. So, there I am, trying to chill and the two people next to me, a woman and a man, who just met on this plane, want to chat me up. He's drunk so that's outta the question. Thank goodness for headphones. My seatmates are getting sufficiently smashed while I take in a little Strangers with Candy. Turbulence is awful. We are flying through clouds. I am on a roller coaster and I don't know when the ride will end. While the plane is bumping up and down, so are my seatmates! He's kissing her in the mouth! She's kissing him back! They grossed me the fuck out!

The plane lands and I am happy to have not died in a slow motion fiery crash with the kissing freaks sitting next to me. At baggage claim, the woman was NOW slobbering over some other guy! Loose Lips had her arms draped around the new guy like he was the only one. I had half a testicle to tell him that his girl is a slut of the highest order and that he should get tested for herpes the next day.

Back to NYC. And sanity.

Monday, May 10, 2004 @ 01:58 PM