As I stare..

At the monstrocity that is the city center, one of las vegas' newest structures/hotel/condo/casinos , I am awestruck by the growth I have seen in 5 short years... Every time I leave town, there's a new building, a new shopping center, a new skyscraper that wasn't there before... City center has to be one of the most amazing.. I can't believe how fast its taking shape and materializing.. Seems like just yesterday the holiday inn and seven nightclub was still there.. I'm just saying, lol...

Someone didn't give me the memo...

I'm sitting in a bar in big bear, ca listening to 80s music... Its our 3rd bar of the evening (I know what you're thinking, how crackin' can a bar in big bear be?) And its the busiest one. I'm ready to call it a night and drive to San Jose early in the am, but we've walked into a time warp of sort where 10 of the 20 people partying in this bar are dressed in 80s outfits.. One big girl has a head band around her ponytail on the side of her head, with a cut off the shoulder shirt. The dance floor has about 2 people on it at any given moment, and right now its a guy with tight, knee length jean shorts, a blazer, and a white tie. And white socks in loafers. Yes, loafers.

I sit here amused as I watch jeremy may play beer pong and dance to poison by BBD.. (That's bell biv devoe for those of you too young to remember)... The music moves me and I get up and start to dance at the table I'm sharing with chris reilly... I stop my typing to sing, "you'll fall in love and you'll be screaming, demon!" And back to it once again...

I'm really ready to call it a night... I have a lot of work to get done, and although I know this scene well, I'm over and been over it for quite some time... Oh well...

PS: there's a nagel on the wall..

Dusty...

Is how I would describe the fading colors of the sun in the sky as I make my way across the barren desert between los angeles and las vegas.. The sun has already tucked itself behind the horizon and the remaining rays light up the sky in ambers, pinks and coppers. Above my head the indigo color is not marred by a single cloud.

A car passes to my left with a swiftness I equate to 100 miles an hour. In the time its taken to write that sentence, its already disappeared over the ridge ahead.. I'm driving with my knee and a yawn engulfs my face as I try to enjoy natures beauty all the while trying to stay awake..

Gummy bears...

Are not all alike as one may think.. Yes, they have the same general shape, flavor and consistancy to the average consumer. But to a gummy bear connoisseur such as myself, there are so many different variables that make a bear appealing..

Take these sugar free bears for example. I just picked up 3 bags for 99 cents. At first glance, that's pretty on par for a bag from a drug store. But this bag has 50% product than most.. After sampling one, its a tough, chewy consistancy. It's sweet, but not too sweet as many gummy bears often are..

Some gummy bears are softer, some are chewier. Some are much sweeter and some are sour. There are ones that have fun on them and others that are smooth. Some are long and skinny; some chubby and short.

From all this, you can gather 2 things. That I'm a nutcase, and that I need to go to the dentist... :)

Its raining...

I luck out and experiece beautiful weather almost everywhere I go... And its awesome and amazing that I do.. What many people don't know is that I enjoy inclement weather and sometimes home for its soothing effect on my sometimes overworked body..

The weekend has been long and I reflect on it as I hear the pitter patter of the rain drops on the thin roof above my head.. My backpack weighs on my shoulders and I turn my head as I hear the *whoompf* of a green and white striped umbrella open near by.. Across from me I see a father and son look hopefully at the train coming down the track with their baseball gloves in hand and cubs jerseys on.

The redline pulls into the station going both north and south on the track and I step on and choose my seat. The train is pretty full and I look around at the diversity of the people on it from the guy across from me with complete tattoo sleeves and a glint of gold on his wedding finger, to the russian grandmother with her bun high on her head sitting close to her granddaughter who nervously bites her fingernails. Tattoo guy can't sit still and he hops each leg up and down; the nervous energy is not reflected in his face- perhaps he doesn't even realize he's doing it.

I check the map to see where my transfer point is. I realize that the nervous granddaughter is no such person indeed as she disembarks from the train with a huge backpacking style bag over her shoulders neither saying goodbye to grandma, nor bestowing a kiss upon her cheek. She doesn't look back as she exits out into the weather..

Damn.. I should have gotten off at the last stop.. Looks like the orange line follows the loop in the same direction that the train that I am on does. I stay on patiently as I head out towards the airport. At every station we stop at I see ads and billboards advertising cool new items at mcdonalds and movies like mike myer's newest comedy. I wonder if that marketing works and if they have a way to track its ROI.

Some guy ina red jersey and matching red shorts walks by muttering something as he stares blatantly at my boobs.. He continues on down the train, still talking out loud, but not saying anything decipherable.

I step off the train at roosevelt and find a bench to sit on. I pass the cutest kid stepping onto the train with his father. As I'm waiting patiently for my transfer, I look out over my view of chicago to see that the skies are clearing up nicely and that in spite of the stormy weather reports for the weekend, that its going to be a beautiful day, perfect for the cubs game that father and son were on a train going the opposite direction to.

The orange line finally arrives and I board towards midway to catch my flight..

Flying....

Just passed over a mountain range. Its red rocks reminded me closely of something I had seen before. I looked at the surrounding city with its intricate patterns and the direction its freeways ran and began to realize it was the place I call home.

I had never seen Las Vegas from this high up before. Normally I'm taking off or landing from it, not flying high above it. It was interesting to see what was on the otherside (nothing) of the mountains face that I've seen from the east all these years.

I never expected to call such a dusty, barren place my home, but it, and its intrinsic beauty have grown on me.

We're flying over utah now. I think I see Mt zion. I've never seen it before, so I can't be for certain but my educated (or noneducated) guess is that I'm correct. I definitely want to take a trip there some time later this year..

3 more hours till our destination... Time to get some work done!!