Midland: World Destination for Bloggers
Category: Navel Gazing...
Posted Thursday, September 14, 2006 at 09:23 PM [GMT-6]

Jim's whirlwind "Meet the US Bloggers Tour" blew through west Texas and it was a pleasure to meet the man behind Serotoninrain. Up to this point, he'd had Starbucks with Gwynne in Kansas City and barbecue-and-blues with Cowtown Pattie in Foat Wuth, but in Midland he had his work cut out for him as there were three bloggers anxious to get better acquainted with him.

He pulled up in a lean, mean, blogger-touring machine that we christened the Beige Bull:

This is the Ford Taurus that Jim's using to cause Budget Car Rental to rethink what it means by "unlimited mileage."

MLB and I hosted Jim for the evening, taking him for his first taste of asado puerco at Jorge's and then on to the newest Starbucks where we met up with Jeff for coffee, dessert, and a rather esoteric discussion of the Christian themes present in the LOTR trilogy. (Actually, they discussed and I listened; it's been too many years since I read the books.)

Afterward, back at home, we learned why Jim is such a good blogger:

Yes, once he hooked into our wifi, the remainder of our communication was via email and IM. ;-) But, no matter. He brought chocolate.

This morning, Jeff gave us the VIP tour of the KWES TV studios and then we drove downtown to get a similar tour of the Midland Reporter Telegram facility, hosted by Jimmy.

This was followed by a leisurely lunch at Jimmy's regular spot at The Italian Village, where the owner falls all over himself to make sure Jimmy's happy. It's a sight to behold. Anyway, here are the Three Amigos (l-r): Jeff, Jim, and Jimmy. I'm not in the photo because I lack the requisite number of j's in my name.

The most revealing bit of information to come out of lunch was the realization that we were all high school band members (yeah, like that's a big shock), although Jim got the award for cool assignments as he played a car battery-powered electric bass with his marching band.

Following lunch, Jim packed up, confirmed directions to Starbucks (one for the road) and headed west, to parts unknown. You'll have to look for clues on Serotoninrain to try to guess where he's going. Jimmy thinks he's headed for the Grand Canyon, but only time will tell.

Anyway, as I said at the beginning, it was fun to meet yet another blogger from many miles away. Jim's a great guy and I'm looking forward to his return trip with his family as they come back to visit Big Bend National Park. You are returning, right, Jim?