big happy letters

the three big happy letters in front of cnn's own center - not only the headquarters of the news giant but also a sight for tourists to check out and a public place for locals to spend time in...and you'll see why.
2 towers, each 14 stories high, accessible by at least 10 elevators bringing you to uncountable cubibles and offices labeled with 6 digit numbers and furnishd with the highest accumulation of screens i've ever seen. the inside though is only to see for the vast number of diligent cnn bees swarming in and out of the building recognizable by their batches. in order to obtain a batch i had to give my id including my passport, visa, and social security number, then a picture was taken - in short it felt like being at the airport.

the public gathers in the center of the center to enjoy the variety of foods lined up neatly around the foodcourt while starring at the big tv screens flashing out the headlines of the day from around the world (recently: uk canoe men, paris bomb, german infaticides, romney's mormon speech, saudi arabia rape victim, teddy bear teacher in sudan, omaha mall shooting...)

the foodcourt offers pretty much all american fast food has to offer besides the classics like wendy's, arby's, taco bell, and dunkin' donuts there are some more american style international cuisines to choose from

and with a nod to typical southern american food, a chicken sandwich store can't be missing. besides the ubiquitous wings, also mashed potatoes, corn, and all sorts of fried food are part of a typical meal in the region.

and of course cnn needs its own little mermaid for all overnight shift heroes (i'll join them on monday for the coming to weeks) to survive.

once the physical hunger and thirst subsides there's still more to do here, browse through some good reads at the bookstore, send a last-minute christmas card at the post office (sheila is real friendly), visit the cnn center police station or fitness club...of course only after you've taken cnn's own behind the scenes tour ending in one of the four gift shops.



this is the north pole of my atlantan life. the other one lies southwest of downtown in a 98% black neighborhood according to my roommate.