Vegas, baby!
Mar. 12th, 2007 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kageygirlBlanket *hugs* for everyone who gave me hugs on my whiny emo post. It really did help enormously, and y'all are such good people. (I mean, unless you don't want to be thought of as a good person, in which case, you're a bad person whose Machiavellian scheme to appear good was a masterful success. *applauds genteelly*)
So, it's the post-Spring-Forward Monday, after a whirlwind weekend of fabulous fangirly fun (and Muskrat madness) with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
brooklinegirl and mrsronweasley and misspamela. (Um, it is occasionally clear that I've read too many comic books, isn't it, True Believers?) I should be wicked bummed, right?
Wrong. I am wicked bouncy, and I will tell you why.
Vegas, baby!
As is theoretically a yearly tradition, The Boy and I are leaving for Vegas on Wednesday, and coming back the following Tuesday. It's the first weekend of March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament, and friends of ours from around the country meet up in Vegas to sit in one sports book or another, gambling and drinking (your drinks get comped if you're gambling, generally).
Three years ago, this gathering was our friend Matt's bachelor party. Two years ago was the reunion, and was my first trip ever to Vegas. Last year, we were instead in Ft. Lauderdale for our friend Mike's wedding (The Boy and I are totally reliable wedding invitees. We dress nice, we charm the relatives, we give money, and we'll show up damn near anywhere--we've also flown to Baltimore, Orlando, and Paris for weddings). So this is only my second trip there, and I am so very excited.
So, I currently live and work in Boston, which is very big on American history and lingering oppressive Puritanicality. I grew up in Miami, which is big on tourism and tropical drinks and spring break attitude. (And international banking, which most people don't know. International banking is the second biggest industry in Miami, behind tourism. I wouldn't be surprised if liquor importing was the third. *g*)
And I am so, so very much a stranger in a strange land here, like, always, all the time. And I manage to repress that, a lot, until I go somewhere else and it just totally feels like home to me. Hawaii feels like that, with the tropical climate and the island flavor, even despite the volcanoes and other, y'know, mountainy features that do not exist in Florida. Salem, MA feels like that, believe it or not, because it's still New England, but it's right on the water, and it is totally KITSCHY and touristy and it just amuses the hell out of me. It's kind of like one of the Florida Keys got scooped up and plopped down a thousand miles north. Complete with pirates.
The first time I went to Vegas? Vegas felt like home.
Even though it's the desert, and thus dry (I like humid), it's dry and warm, and god almighty, I miss being warm. I miss it so fiercely. Anyone who's been to my apartment in winter knows that we keep it warm, and yet, I still have to go outside, and I just--I hate being cold, I hate ice on the ground, I hate having to wear layers and layers of clothing and getting windburn and, just--it BLOWS, okay?
But Vegas is warm. And has palm trees, just like Florida. And Vegas is covered in LIGHTS and ATTRACTIONS and SHOWS and STORES, and god, I just miss things being BIG. Boston? Is made up of a lot of very dark, old buildings, very traditional, and sometimes I just find it--oppressive. I grew up in the land of Art Deco and pastels and pina coladas! This is not my place!
And--seriously, gambling does nothing for me. I am that one freak in a million who goes to Vegas and does not gamble, because 1) I am not good at it, and 2) I get no intrinsic pleasure from trying. *shrug* But Vegas has all kind of stuff to look at, and tons of SHOPS...
Okay, here's the thing. I don't spend a ton of money shopping, but I love looking at things. I love malls. When I was little, my mom was the personnel manager at the JCPenney's in the busiest mall in the southeastern United States. And since my parents were divorced, when I'd spend time with my mom at the office, I would roam around the store, and then, when I got older, I'd wander the mall. ("They're not there to shop. They're not there to work. They're just there.") And every one of the casinos on the Strip has a little mall inside. And it makes me happy.
And I can be as dorky as I want, because it's Vegas. I can watch the the pirate show ("The Sirens of TI") at our hotel, and I can go geek out at Star Trek: The Experience at the Hilton (and it's not like the staff can judge me--I am not actually the one dressed as a Klingon), and I can go to the Luxor and think SG-1 thoughts (Daniel would be appalled, Vala would be enthralled, Mitchell would just be trying to keep the two of them in check). I can go to the MGM Grand and check out the teevee swag. Caesar's Palace? Rome. I can have a fangirl-themed vacation in my head.
Not to mention "Bite," at the Stratosphere. The topless vampire rock opera. That there is some fine quality entertainment, and I'm so glad Leah wrote about it, all those many moons ago. Topless transgendered vampire rock opera, I should say, and how is that not an awesome phrase?
And yet I do not have to do anything. If I want to, I can sit next to the pool for five days straight, playing on my laptop and having pina coladas brought to me. (Or frighteningly blue drinks. Vegas is not ashamed to serve up the blue drinks! And green, and pink, and day-glo orange...)
And y'know what? I am perfectly happy to be the person who is made happy by all that. I like me and my low-maintenance tastes. *g*
This is exactly what I need right now, and I'm glad I didn't try to talk The Boy out of it this year, even though we're 18 days away from the Jamboree. Rest up, recharge, then set-'em-up-and-knock-'em-down: Jamboree, apartment, job. I am brimming with confidence. I believe in me! Hoowah!
*is dork*
So, it's the post-Spring-Forward Monday, after a whirlwind weekend of fabulous fangirly fun (and Muskrat madness) with
brooklinegirl and mrsronweasley and misspamela. (Um, it is occasionally clear that I've read too many comic books, isn't it, True Believers?) I should be wicked bummed, right?Wrong. I am wicked bouncy, and I will tell you why.
Vegas, baby!
As is theoretically a yearly tradition, The Boy and I are leaving for Vegas on Wednesday, and coming back the following Tuesday. It's the first weekend of March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament, and friends of ours from around the country meet up in Vegas to sit in one sports book or another, gambling and drinking (your drinks get comped if you're gambling, generally).
Three years ago, this gathering was our friend Matt's bachelor party. Two years ago was the reunion, and was my first trip ever to Vegas. Last year, we were instead in Ft. Lauderdale for our friend Mike's wedding (The Boy and I are totally reliable wedding invitees. We dress nice, we charm the relatives, we give money, and we'll show up damn near anywhere--we've also flown to Baltimore, Orlando, and Paris for weddings). So this is only my second trip there, and I am so very excited.
So, I currently live and work in Boston, which is very big on American history and lingering oppressive Puritanicality. I grew up in Miami, which is big on tourism and tropical drinks and spring break attitude. (And international banking, which most people don't know. International banking is the second biggest industry in Miami, behind tourism. I wouldn't be surprised if liquor importing was the third. *g*)
And I am so, so very much a stranger in a strange land here, like, always, all the time. And I manage to repress that, a lot, until I go somewhere else and it just totally feels like home to me. Hawaii feels like that, with the tropical climate and the island flavor, even despite the volcanoes and other, y'know, mountainy features that do not exist in Florida. Salem, MA feels like that, believe it or not, because it's still New England, but it's right on the water, and it is totally KITSCHY and touristy and it just amuses the hell out of me. It's kind of like one of the Florida Keys got scooped up and plopped down a thousand miles north. Complete with pirates.
The first time I went to Vegas? Vegas felt like home.
Even though it's the desert, and thus dry (I like humid), it's dry and warm, and god almighty, I miss being warm. I miss it so fiercely. Anyone who's been to my apartment in winter knows that we keep it warm, and yet, I still have to go outside, and I just--I hate being cold, I hate ice on the ground, I hate having to wear layers and layers of clothing and getting windburn and, just--it BLOWS, okay?
But Vegas is warm. And has palm trees, just like Florida. And Vegas is covered in LIGHTS and ATTRACTIONS and SHOWS and STORES, and god, I just miss things being BIG. Boston? Is made up of a lot of very dark, old buildings, very traditional, and sometimes I just find it--oppressive. I grew up in the land of Art Deco and pastels and pina coladas! This is not my place!
And--seriously, gambling does nothing for me. I am that one freak in a million who goes to Vegas and does not gamble, because 1) I am not good at it, and 2) I get no intrinsic pleasure from trying. *shrug* But Vegas has all kind of stuff to look at, and tons of SHOPS...
Okay, here's the thing. I don't spend a ton of money shopping, but I love looking at things. I love malls. When I was little, my mom was the personnel manager at the JCPenney's in the busiest mall in the southeastern United States. And since my parents were divorced, when I'd spend time with my mom at the office, I would roam around the store, and then, when I got older, I'd wander the mall. ("They're not there to shop. They're not there to work. They're just there.") And every one of the casinos on the Strip has a little mall inside. And it makes me happy.
And I can be as dorky as I want, because it's Vegas. I can watch the the pirate show ("The Sirens of TI") at our hotel, and I can go geek out at Star Trek: The Experience at the Hilton (and it's not like the staff can judge me--I am not actually the one dressed as a Klingon), and I can go to the Luxor and think SG-1 thoughts (Daniel would be appalled, Vala would be enthralled, Mitchell would just be trying to keep the two of them in check). I can go to the MGM Grand and check out the teevee swag. Caesar's Palace? Rome. I can have a fangirl-themed vacation in my head.
Not to mention "Bite," at the Stratosphere. The topless vampire rock opera. That there is some fine quality entertainment, and I'm so glad Leah wrote about it, all those many moons ago. Topless transgendered vampire rock opera, I should say, and how is that not an awesome phrase?
And yet I do not have to do anything. If I want to, I can sit next to the pool for five days straight, playing on my laptop and having pina coladas brought to me. (Or frighteningly blue drinks. Vegas is not ashamed to serve up the blue drinks! And green, and pink, and day-glo orange...)
And y'know what? I am perfectly happy to be the person who is made happy by all that. I like me and my low-maintenance tastes. *g*
This is exactly what I need right now, and I'm glad I didn't try to talk The Boy out of it this year, even though we're 18 days away from the Jamboree. Rest up, recharge, then set-'em-up-and-knock-'em-down: Jamboree, apartment, job. I am brimming with confidence. I believe in me! Hoowah!
*is dork*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 07:21 pm (UTC)WP
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 07:58 pm (UTC)You make it sound very nice. Umbrella drinks by the pool (as long as I'm in the shade) with a laptop sounds like paradise. Someday, maybe. DH already knows we'd be going to the Star Trek thing, but I think I'd end up having to go to the topless transgender vampire rock opera by myself, which would suck because I'd have no one to giggle with.
Enjoy yourself, you need more happy.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 08:01 pm (UTC)(And I am all about the heat. God, I hate the cold. So much.)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 09:27 pm (UTC)I completely agree with this.
Also, now I want there to be fic where Vala convinces Daniel and Cameron to take her to Vegas.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 10:09 pm (UTC)HAVE FUN! It sounds like exactly what you need, and I'm all excited for you! YAY! :D
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 10:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-14 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 04:03 pm (UTC)