Three times a lady

It's the third day of the new CNN show the Situation Room, and we are here to report on the reporters. Specifically, one "internet reporter." He name is Abbi Tatton - have I ever said how I have always liked the name Abbi? It's so pretty; I think it's the "ee" sound at the end, which makes it seem like the familiar form, such as Jimmy or Billy, but it's not, so it combines both formal and informal at once. Sort of like Ms. Tatton herself, who manages to combine a mature feminine professionalism with a girlish joy and brightness, for a positively intoxicating effect. And no, I do not exaggerate in the slightest.

Ms. Tatton participates as a co-host for the Inside the Blogs segment on the show (which initially was called the Situation Online). She and her compatriot Jacki stand by video screens and explain the goings-on in cyberspace. The screens, formerly gigantic, have now been replaced with large but appropiate size versions. Actually, with the two gesticulating towards them, it is vaguely reminiscent of the Barker Beauties from the Price Is Right (although Ms. Tatton is leagues ahead of the lovely Diane et. al.).

One other thing I notice: how to put it? I bet the phrase "What do I do with my hands?" crosses the minds of our erstwhile hosts, as they wait for their respective turns and present their material. There's the "hand by the side" pose, which actually looks fine as long as the entire body isn't wooden - Ronald Reagan was good at it. Then there's the "talk with your hands" or the "hold something" approach. Ms. Tatton seems to favor the former while waiting, and the latter while talking - I guess everyone would for that. And the two have differing approaches to their stance while waiting for their turn, which are emblematic of their personalities. Jacki, who reminds me of a person I know (and gets ascribed her attributes because of it), seems like she'd be more experienced in the affairs of the heart, and chooses a confident forward point of the foot. Ms. Tatton, whose charm is partly derived from the aura she has of being a sweet, innocent type who probably is less lucky in love and just waiting to be swept away, adopts a slightly awkward and therefore endearing lean-on-one-leg-while-the-other-is-slightly-bent pose.

Getting to the important stuff, after a long turn by Jacki, Ms. Tatton switched to the topic of a conservative interest group opposing Roberts. She cited The Blue State, which noted how rare it is for some interest groups to be on the same side, and then displayed her finely-honed sense of symmetry by going to RedState.org, which wondered just who this conservative group was. Ms. Tatton then changed gears, noting how there were lots of stories out there, and, addressing host Wolf Blitzer, said, "I know, Wolf, that you're very interested in how we're finding these stories." Imagine the unadulterated joy of having Ms. Tatton suddenly address you personally. I wonder: "I know, iluvabbitatton, that you're very weird in how you write endlessly about how great I supposedly am." I bet even Ms. Tatton has days when she cuts loose like that to people, and that's fine. Anyway, she let us in on the secret by showing us Patrick Ruffini and his compendium of Roberts stories, with the more popular ones higher up the page. While demonstrating this site, they had a great close-up of her leaning over to press the screen, then straightening and speaking right into the camera. This allowed a view of her necklace (the quest continues). This time, I saw the flat round ornaments, which seemed to be deliberately without pattern, and also the fish-like link I described in an earlier post. The almost-clutter of the necklace is very appealing; such a design conveys a carefree spirit while the material - a very shiny gold, apparently - balances it with an undeniable class, for an overall effect of an cool, arty elegance. In truth I can't find the right words.

Ms. Tatton got to pass it back to Wolf for the first segment. For the second (around 5:40 p.m.), Ms. Tatton was in an exceptionally happy mood, judging by her happy-go-lucky smile. She reported that Microsoft had to pay several million to settle a suit involving spam, and she showed a page from an online auction that AOL was conducting of a spammer's seized assets. It was a nice bit of general internet reporting, not necessarily blog stuff. I expect we'll be seeing more of that.

So it was a pretty good day. I guess they will be doing their reports in the second and third hours; hopefully they'll get to a regular schedule so we'll know when to raise our heads from our desks, gaze off into space wistfully, and sigh at the knowledge that somewhere, people are being cheered by a vision named Ms. Tatton.