Vegas, Baby

For thirteen years, 1993-2006, I lived in Las Vegas, Nevada...and basically hated every moment of it. I went through high school in said town, and graduated college from UNLV, but walked away with no ties other than my sister and her family.

Vegas is a strange place.

I know I am...weird...but I never quite found my niche in Nevada; never really felt as though I fit in. Yes, I spent ample time at Redrock hiking the miles of trails that zig-zag the basin and went to dozens of concerts at The Hard Rock, The Thomas and Mack and The Sanctuary....

...but Vegas is a hard place to figure out. It's a tough place to meet people who are 'real', honest and trustworthy. Job requirements include knowing the right person and having more plastic than fleshy body parts, while the 'hot spots' to hang out involve loud, obnoxious and sweat-smelling nightclubs that have never interested me in the least.

It's little more than a fantasy land. Tourists flock in droves to 'The Strip' to gawk and awe at the Bellagio, New York-New York and the Venetian. After walking through the Luxor people feel as though they have actually stepped foot in the ancient valleys of Egypt...that they are adventurous world-travelers.

But it's all phony. Don't people get that?

"I came out ahead" is a favorite line of all Vegas tourists. Sure, buddy. That is why Steve Wynn was able to spend several BILLION dollars on the Bellagio's construction....cause you won big in the casinos. Yup. Idiocy at its finest.

The cars, the clothes, the bodies, the money. Nothing is real in Vegas. It's all for show.

But in some strange way I almost miss it.

Is it the 24-hour possibilites? The thrill of driving through wacko-laden traffic? The weirdos? The stories? The opportunities?

I really don't know. But Vegas has a way of sucking one in...and keeping a hold on that individual...

...perhaps the reason why I leave, swear I will never return, and then do.....over and over again, each time experiencing the same negative yet exciting feelings.

It's Vegas, baby. What happens there, forever stays there.....and lives on and on.....