The first Monday after the power came back at work, my phone rang. I answered.

“John Pickard.” “Hi, John. This is Vic Blackstar from CNN.”, a familiar voice said on the other end. (His name isn’t Vic Blackstar, but I don’t want to blow the man’s cover for reasons which will be obvious.) “Oh. Uh–Hi, Vic.” I said, more than a little confused. It’s funny what your brain does when the person on the other end says they’re from CNN. Adrenaline shoots through your gut and your head feel like it’s packed with paper towels soaked with espresso. I assumed he wanted to talk about the magazine. The magazine is the only thing in my life worth noting, really. (And even that tidbit is notable to only three or four thousand egghead literati.) As the thrumming in my ears began to subside, Vic asked “This is the John Pickard that writes Round is Funny, right?” Turns out, Vic’s a fan of the blog. Who knew?

A couple of things about Vic: He’s not Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs, or that lovable crank, Jack Cafferty. Vic knows where the hidden spare key to the Situation Room is, though. He even fills in for Wolf when Wolf needs to spend time at his Arctic fortress of bearditude. I am not being coy or capricious about the man’s name. Frankly, given the amount of left-wing jaw-flapping I do on the blog, I wouldn’t want the poor guy to be publicly associated with it. The last thing I’d want is for some unhinged Freeper to discover Vic’s name and immediately assume Vic agrees with my politics. In fact, Vic never mentioned a thing about politics, nor any of my political posts in our conversation.

We had a very nice chat. He was extremely encouraging and left me with a profound sense of gratitude for his having taken the time out to call. I’ve got his numbers and plan to speak to him again. Next time, I’ll ask him if CNN needs any bloggers or if I can get press credentials for Obama’s victory speech in Chicago. (After all, I am going to be in Chicago on election night.) Maybe he can get James Earl Jones to record a jingle for the site: “This–is RIF. Also, I am your FAH-THAH!”

So, Vic, if you’re reading this, hook a brother up!

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