A shock in Indianapolis

It was hot and muggy and then it rained. That's the Midwest for you. I spent a long weeekend getting indoctrinated into the ways of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ good! Must recruit.) at the University Place Hotel in Indianapolis. Two things that are universal about journalists: they can talk about the biz until people's ears bleed and they love to eat. To the credit of SPJ, they fed us copious amounts of delicious food and provided ample opportunity for chatting about the biz.

Before the start of the conference, and operating on virtually no sleep, I took a tour of downtown Indy. It was charming, if disturbingly empty. I particularly liked the canals between downtown and the UIPIU, which is the university my hotel's name makes reference to.

My visit to the state house was the subject of this week's column.