TO ALL THE PEONS I'VE LOVED BEFORE

I just returned from visiting the City of Brotherly Love with some truly amazing former CNN Peons. Not only did we visit the Betsy Ross House, play several games of "Never Have I Ever" over several glasses of wine, climb the Rocky steps, straddle a weird orange creature while drinking more wine, rub Brewster's belly, drink even more wine while dancing in the hotel room, read insane amounts of gossip rags, bypass the Liberty Bell and Philly Cheesesteaks...but we proved something I have known all along:

For all its faults and low salaries, crappy shifts and esteem-crushing ways, CNN gave me some of the coolest people in my life. It has been almost a year since I started this blog, and it has become exactly what I hoped it would be: a way for us to connect. Getting e-mails and stories from some of you that I haven't heard from in years has been fantastic. Seeing comments from you, and recognizing someone's sense humor behind the anonymous label always gives me a giggle. I guess I'm feeling sentimental this morning, but for the record, I wouldn't trade my stint in Peonhood for anything...

Okay, that's a lie. Maybe for a three-book contract with Simon and Schuster. Or a staff gig at The New Yorker.

But this is no time for literary fantasy--this is a salute to the former Peons in my life. I'm sticking with you like Tacky Finger. Lingering like the after-effects of Hard News Brunswick stew. Holding on like Lou Waters' Vavoom hairspray...

Lots of love to all of you.

CONFIDENTIAL TO THE PHILLY FOUR:
It was Ohio.

UPDATE:
(For the Inquiring Mind commenter, see the recently posted photo above. He's not the real Brewster, but a close approximation.)