Going Buggy

The flies. They're everywhere.

I hear them in the distance. Always buzzing. Always taunting. So smug.

They stay just out of range. Daring me to swat them before flying off. Even if I kill one, two more take its place. They circle my head at night, keeping me awake. They don't just seek to defeat me. They intend to drive me insane. But I won't let them. I'm too strong for that. I'll find a way.

What's that, mother?

Burn the house, you say?

Yes. That will stop them.

Uninvited Guests

Last week I discovered that I had a new house guest squatting on my front porch.


With a little prodding, I was able to get the little buggers ID.


I initially left him/her/it alone but then realized that it probably wasn't a good idea leaving a poisonous spider on my doorstep, and gave it the boot.

It's funny, but it's little things like that that really make me realize that I'm not in Kansas (or Canada) anymore. The heat, the humidity? Annoying, but they don't really stand out, for some reason (I notice them, of course. They just don't scream to me: "Hey! You're in Arkansas!") Ditto for the accents. The wildlife, however, is another matter. The other night I also found this lovely specimen in my backyard.


The strange part is that I was more disturbed by the katydid than the black widow. Bugs of all type (spiders especially) creep me out, but I was all "Kewl! A black widow in MY house!" .

Also saw a flock of vultures on the side of the road, something else that I'd never seen live before. Huge birds. Honestly though, I don't know how armadillos aren't an endangered species yet. You can practically measure you driving distance by counting the dead ones on the road.

Leaving Las Vegas (And Getting There, And Staying There)

Day 1

Due to a combination of excitement about seeing my buds and paranoia about sleeping through my alarm and missing my flight I didn’t sleep at all the night before my flight.

Body: “Wanna sleep.”

Brain: “Shut up. We’re not going to miss the flight because you oversleep.”

Body: “But I’m really tired. Just a few minutes please?”

Brain: I said shut up. Now have another coffee before I really give you something to cry about.”

I managed to drag my butt to the airport and make it to Vegas (via Memphis) with minimal trouble. Arriving in Vegas I very quickly realized how much I’ve become accustomed to the humidity in Arkansas.

It’s strange, really. I might have grown up in a relatively large city, but in the last few months I’ve gotten really used to the solitude and quiet of a small town. Compared to that, Vegas felt both incredibly real and surreal both at the same time. Still, I was impressed at how the city managed to incorporate walkways everywhere so that pedestrian and automotive traffic have as little effect as possible on each other. I was also impressed/surprised/stunned by the amount of construction going on. Buildings going up all over the place, and each one with an army of construction workers and equipment.

One thing that did disappoint me was the real lack of patios to just sit and drink at in the afternoon on the Strip. Plenty of places indoors to drink or grab drinks to go, but almost nothing that allowed me to take a load off of my rapidly aching feet and relax with a drink. Still, I eventually found a place to grab lunch and beer before continuing my exploring.

And so I wandered up and down the strip for a couple of hours. Looked around the casinos, checked out what was showing where and generally tried to get my bearings. I was rapidly feeling the effect of my lack of sleep, combined with the heat and the alcohol. I was also discovering that I’m not used to walking for long periods of time, as my blisters were starting to attest.

I eventually headed back to the hotel and amused myself for the rest of the day by gambling and checking out the casino and restaurants. I only dropped $100 at the blackjack table. The dealer was actually very nice about it. After watching me make some stupid bets she looked at me and asked if this was my first time playing blackjack (it wasn’t, but the last time was a few years back and I had some coworkers at the table helping me out). She then proceeded to explain what a decent strategy was and point out when I was about to make a stupid bet. I still lost money, but it took longer.

Finally, my buds arrived. Siochain knocked me off my feet with a big hug, which is only fair since I do the same so often. We grabbed something to eat and then headed back to the hotel where I discovered that my blisters had blisters. I crashed immediately, and managed to keep them awake all night with my snoring.

Day 2

Up with the dawn, and feeling much more awake, we all moseyed on down to a café in the casino for breakfast and enjoyed some incredibly good coffee (remember Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction? Yeah. That good).

We then, much to the protest of my feet, began exploring. Just up and down the strip. Siochain got her picture taken with the surliest Elvis impersonator ever. We hit the shops in Planet Hollywood and the Venetian, where M picked up a very stylin’ hat. I also discovered that somewhere along the way Siochain apparently became part lizard. Seriously, the girl was freezing in the air conditioned casinos and it took here about 10 minutes in the sun to warm up. That’s just not right.

I loved the paint scheme inside the Miracle Mile at PH. If you haven’t seen, they’ve done the ceiling up like the sky, which doesn’t sound too impressive until you’ve actually seen it with the lighting and realized how realistic it looks. It’s also rather confusing when you spend a couple hours in there, thinking that it’s around sunset and then walk outside and find that it’s still noon.

I imagine that to most people, going to Vegas and not gambling or seeing a lot of shows or exhibits seems nearly heretical. For me, though, I really couldn’t care about most of that (There’s a few shows that I want to see there, but that’s about it). I’m just happy that I was able to hang out with my friends and not have to worry about being at X place at time Y.

The water show at the Bellagio is pretty impressive. I’ve seen it in videos but they really don’t do it justice. The scope of it is pretty massive. I also find it very humorous that, in a city in the middle of the desert that so many of the casinos have massive water shows.

Unbeknownst to Siochain, her beloved Treasure Island show had changed since she was last in Vegas. No longer is it a swashbuckling adventure with pirates fighting each other and falling into the water. Now it’s been replaced by “The Sirens of Treasure Island”. A more adult themed show, chock full of scantily clad women and single entendres (“I’ve lured many a salty seaman into my cove” – brilliant!). And the songs? Pure poetry. With lines like “You take a little bit of sugar and a little bit of honey and you shake it… Shake it!” Shakespeare had better watch out. The expression on Siochain’s face was better than the show itself.

Day 3

Hit the Bodies exhibit at the Tropicana. Not exactly my cup of tea, being as squeamish as I am, but still fascinating from a medical perspective. M & Siochain really liked it though, which is the important part. If I haven’t mentioned it already, I really couldn’t give a crap where I was, as long as I was with my friends.

Did some more wandering. The nerve endings on my feet were pretty much fried by that point, so my feet weren’t doing to bad. Fortunately, the rest of my legs were burning by then so I didn’t get too comfortable.

The highlight of the day was definitely O. It was the first and so far only Cirque de Soleil show that I’ve seen, and was a hell of an introduction. I’ve seen clips of Cirque here and there but, like the water show at the Bellagio, the videos don’t do Cirque justice. Of course, the Bellagio show doesn’t even come close to comparing to O. Seriously, go see it and for the love of god spend the extra money and get good tickets – something in the first few rows. I would quite happily go back down to Vegas just to see the show again. Each act in it blew me away more than the last one and left me thinking “there’s no way that they’ll be able to top that”. Of course, they did manage to top it. I find it amusing to note that there were parts of the show that could be considered boring due to the fact that they were merely incredible, as opposed to mind-bogglingly stunning like the rest of the show. It’s not unlike what M was saying while leaving the show – It made Vegas seem mundane by comparison. Watching O was actually an emotional experience. If you see it and aren’t moved, I declare that you are not human.

Day 4

The last day was a pretty big blur. We basically just fit a few last minute things into the trip – nothing special – and then went to the airport. Saying goodbye this time, though, was infinitely harder than a few months ago. I think that the last time I left I was too distracted by work and my impending house purchase to really appreciate how much I missed these two. I’ve known them for twenty years now and they’re more than family to me, they are a part of me. Fortunately, I guess, I was giving a temporary reprieve from my depression while I discovered that my place was going to be an hour and a half late, forcing me to miss my connection in Dallas. After much frustration, I decided to head to Dallas on my flight and get the first plane from there to Little Rock in the morning rather than overnight in Vegas. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t sleep much in Dallas either and I’m still trying to get my body back on time.

And that’s pretty much it. I had a blast with my friends, but I’ve got to be the only person on the planet that can go to Vegas, not lose loads of cash, and still manage to be depressed when I leave.

I miss 'em already.

My Feet Hurt... With Destiny!

Back. Very tired. Vegas was interesting. "O" was indescribable. Seeing my buds was phenomenal. Flight home was not so good. Plane was delayed and I missed my connection and overnighted in Dallas. Very tired right now and busy getting stuff ready for work tomorrow. Will write a more in depth review soon.