1st & foremost, BIG UPS to the F/R/S MASSIVE! This trip was indeed brought to you by readers like yourself. So thank you, everyone (anon or otherwise) who sent in donations over the last few weeks, because this trip was an absolute blast.

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If I had to describe my most recent misadventure in 2 words, they would be, ‘Good Trip’. Which is really weird considering just how warped my 2009 has been so far.

It all started before I got started with my most recent (fixed-income) job. I happened upon a random chance drawing to meet Secretary of Treasury, Tim Geithner. For those of you who don’t know, he’s the guy in change of making sure we don’t go into another recession, and is arguably more important that President Obama. CNBC put a spot up on the air and said if you wrote in, you’d get a shot to ask the boss C.F.O. himself one question. I entered on impulse; figured I’d never get picked for the event. So imagine my surprise when the producers told me I’d been picked for T.G.’s (1st ever) town hall meeting. That’s right, this was Geithner’s FIRST EVER town hall, and I got to be there when he made history. I’d say I lucked out, but we all know this is why they call me D-2-da-A!

This thing came really close to not happening though, and I’m so glad it didn’t. Everything was mad, last minute, but I managed to pull it off; just barely. I also told no one about my trip (with the exception of my boss, who was really freaking cool for letting me off like that out of the blue practically right after I’d gotten my foot in the door). As wonky as some of this year had been for me, I didn’t wanna jinx anything.

I spent a few hours playin in Atlanta pre-trip; snagging some very nice pix for the collection.

South Carolina was the 1st priority as I took to the road, as it has officially been entered into the ‘Challenge’!

I brought some really great reading material, but barely got a chance to touch it because I couldn’t stop working on my new book. I got this ‘writer’s rush’; the type of inspiration writers die for. It was so cool too, cause I hadn’t been this pumped about writing a book, well, since my 1st.

Spent a spell in Charlotte, North Carolina to rest overnight & instead of going to sleep and resting (the smart thing to do), I went to go play in the city. It’d been some time since I’d been there and I’d forgotten the look and feel. It was refreshing to say the least, but I’d be back for one more surprise before the trip was over.

Got to D.C. & headed for Union Station, the massive train station/movie theater/mall. As I entered the station, I literally walked into a station-wide tourist exhibit on Colombia. It was completely free; there was free coffee, and music, and all sorts of fun facts about the country. Without a doubt, one of the most pleasant surprises of the trip.

And going from one surprise to the next, I found myself walking into Fantom Comics, this wicked little comic shop at the end of the station. I had absolutely no idea this place even existed. Points all around! The shop was not too big or small, had tons of of the latest, most recent releases (including an entire section for these copies), had a friendly, knowledgeable staff who not only knew what they were talking about, but were spot on w/recommendations for several customers-myself included. Not to mention they had a vast (That’s right, vast; not mediocre, not decent, vast) selection of indie comics *gush* & manga *faint*. MASSIVE…I was so blown away by this place that I literally stood in the doorway for 2 minutes, dazed; as if I were living a dream. And this says nothing to the EPIC effect they produce on promoting comics as an art form & an industry. A Grade-A comicshop in the heart of D.C.? I don’t even have to tell you the type of publicity & fostering that comes with that kind of territory. But ask the staff and they’ll be more than happy to regale you with tale after tale of travelers who come in curious about the comics. The cherry on top? Apparently they let a good deal of up-in-comers come and promote their works. This is actually how I ran into Barry Wernick, whom among many talents, is the writer and co-creator of ‘Bad Kids Go To Hell’. I was able to grab a signed copy of BKGTH #2 & some keen advice from him, much to my delight. I would’ve loved to do an interview with the owner of Fantom Comics, but he wasn’t around at the time & time was of the essence.

I decided against going to see a movie in favor of getting something to eat. Which was good all things considering, cause if I’d gone to change before I’d eaten [as opposed to vice versa], I would’ve lost my appetite VERY quickly. Getting prepped in the bathroom for the Town Hall, I found a boom of cockroaches in the guy’s bathroom. Absolutely sickening.

Yes MASSIVE, our nation’s finest roaches skittering around for dear life. Moving on, very quickly, I got some eats, a [marvelous] massage, and did some touring of good ol D.C.

Being in line for the Town Hall was a little weird, because for the 1st time, in a LONG time, I’d felt like I was at an anime convention. Yes, being around a bunch of rich stiffs and homely retired folks (who make or collect more this year than you’ll probably make in the next 2) made me feel like I was at an anime convention; sadly, more so than the past several I’ve been to. Everyone was dressed up, just like cosplayers, albeit in suits. The masses where impatient and didn’t want to wait in line for an hour w/an estimated 400 others. Let me tell you something MASSIVE, if all I had to do was wait an hour to get to my event at a con like Otakon or Anime North, I’d be a fucking happy camper. Do you know how joyous it would be if pre-reg for AnimeNEXT only took 1 hour?!?! Staff herded us around, only none of the staff on hand were really, how shall we say, moody. The line started to wrap around the venue. Sound familiar? And all the tourist that weren’t in line stopped (or at least slowed down) to stare at us. Which actually got one of these guys [in line] to say something that really kinda grinded my gears. 2 gentlemen behind the offender [in particular] were making remarks about what they thought the tourists (staring at our group) thought about our line. The offender turns around (just completely jumps into the conversation uninvited) and says, “You never know. Nowadays, it might be unemployment.” Ha Ha Ha! Laughs all around. I just wanted to punch that guy in the face right then and there. I mean, just because you don’t have to worry about losing your job, doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t.

But little things like that I really noticed around these individuals, whose culture is so alien to so many. It was such a culture shift, because I’m in the mist of rebuilding most of my financial base as it is, and I talked to a dozen individuals whom were making business deals (in that line), planning to take a cruise the following weekend, talking about options and commodity trading (think more advanced versions of the stock market), and just overall seemed better off in life than most Americans we hear, see, read about and/or meet nowadays. I shouldn’t sit here and assume everyone in that line was loaded, but suffice to say, my net worth felt so outta place. As the line started to move inside, we were led to a holding area (where we were feed) through a cryptic maze of walkways-just like the pre-tournament ch/ep of EVERY Shonen Jump title-EVER! Maybe I do watch too much anime, but I can’t help but notice the similarities….

Now, for the most part, this thing was very last minute on everyone’s part. So I don’t think there’s anyone who’d say this went as planned, but the finished product looks about as good as it can all things considered. Geithner just happened to have a free day, and CNBC just happened to find a studio. The questions were all pre-screened, and picked (as far as I can tell, though I could be entirely wrong) based on what hit closest on the criteria Geithner was going to be asked. So did I get to ask my question? No. Did I at least get to meet Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner in person? No. But all things considered, given that he (and I suppose the CNBC producers who put this together) was the main reason I went on this trip in the 1st place, it was still nice just to be there. I would’ve like a chance to ask my question, but it’s not the end of the world. It was however the end of the heat. The tech crew had the bright idea to let the air blow for a good few hours in order to counter the lights that’d be used for filming (which admittedly get a tad warm). But the air’d been on so long, you couldn’t feel any heat whatsoever. And I was the only guy in the room who didn’t have a suit on, so I just barely escaped freezing to death before all was said and done. Here I am freezing to death in the video at 7:58 (for like all of 2 seconds, lol).

A lot of the questions did not make it to the final cut; we didn’t have a lot of time to shoot & it basically aired an hour after we finished shooting; right before the Steelers/Titans game. Looking back at the broadcast is kinda amusing. You can really tell where the tech crew is really trying to sell the shot, and who in the audience had never been on TV before. Geithner threw a good dose of PR into each of his answers, but he seemed pretty candid overall. If you’re the type who likes to grade Obama’s speeches, then I’d watch the Town Hall cause there are interesting comparisons between the way these 2 address.

I left D.C. feeling pretty accomplished, and 10 hours later I was in Charlotte again. This time however, there was a surprise. Now, I’m no stranger to coincidence, I get my fair share quite often; I am D-2-da-A after all. But as I aimlessly roamed Charlotte’s fine city streets, I randomly came across the stomping ground of one of XenoPhoenix’s finest. Low & behold, I had somehow found myself on the campus of Ralenta’s cooking school. Lolololol! How’s that for random & surprising.

Back in Atlanta, I figured my trip was over & well ended. That was until I got to the subway & a giant, blue-furry, mascot, thing walked past me (and countless other metroites) seemingly out of the blue. He/she/it would dance everytime someone stared at it. I sadly did not get chance t get a pic, it wouldn’t stop moving. I did however manage a shot of a piece I’ve been eying for a while.

This is the podcast of my worst roadtrip experience ever. I figured I’ll post it since I took the time to record. But it’s really pointless for you to listen to this, take my word for it-this was a terrible roadtrip.

Greyhound To Georgia.mp3

I’ve been to North Carolina once or twice, but never had it been such the displeasure it was the trip I took down here when this state was officially entered into the challenge. This was the worst trip I had EVER had (& hopefully ever will). That however is not a reflection on North Carolina-just Greyhound. North Carolina is a great state with tons to do, and hopefully one day I’ll get a chance to go back and experience more of the tourist lifestyle. Went subtle with the artifact this time & you can see me podcasting about what a horrible, horrible trip I had.

North Carolina Stuff

-This state was entered in the challenge during my worst roadtrip ever.

The 50 State Challenge