It Makes You Wish There Were More Than 24 Hours In The Day

So here we are in Sin City. I was here for a work conference and GMiller was able to join me for a few days. We stayed at the Venetian, which was great. I recommend it highly.



There are very few remaining traces of old Las Vegas. I bet this store is one of them. It looks pretty old school. We didn't go in.



After a short walk on the Strip, we take the covered bridge back to the hotel. You can see over GMiller's shoulder that Wayne Brady is playing at our hotel. You know, white people like Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcom X. The only show we saw in Vegas was Blue Man Group. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Really interesting.



At the LV Natural History museum, we get to experience what life is like for the people of the African Cardboard Hut tribe. I think the goatskins are probably real. They also had a stuffed lynx in the children's area. Not a toy lynx, a real taxidermied lynx. Most of the fur and skin had been rubbed off one of its hind feet and you could see the wooden beetle that made up the underlying structure. That was unsettling.



Dale Chihuly is one of my favorite artists. He did the ceiling at the Bellagio and has several other installations in the hotel. We were hoping to see the Ansel Adams exhibit there, but it was closed due to another exhibit being installed. It was interesting to see the hotel public spaces and compare to where we were staying. As I said, the Venetian was definitely better.



This picture is a shout out to my friend Heather B. Even the mermaids in Vegas have plastic racks! Amazing.



This picture represents the only gambling I did. I spent $8 on the Star Wars slots, and when betting on Obi Wan to win in a fight against Darth Vader, won $107. I'm a happy miser!

12 of 12 May 07

9:23 AM - Back from exercise class with some tide me over for the weekend groceries. I did not buy an entire bag of honey. I've decided to adopt the posture of the caring suburbanite by buying reusable bags from my local organic food conglomerate. I like the idea of giving my tea the royal treatment.



10:15 AM - I have just enough time to get out of workout clothes and into a shower, then into clean clothes before Himself arrives at noon. I think the workouts are working!



11:38 AM - Sitting in my bedroom waiting for Slowpoke to put on her shoes. Buckles still confound me and I'm in my mid-thirties! God bless the people who thought of Velcro. They make shoe time fun time!



11:57 AM - I get kisses and we're nowhere NEAR a fort. Well, we probably are, but the kisses are the part you should take away from this picture. And we're driving to look at a potential house to buy together. SHAZAM!



12:15 PM - My Realtor opens the gate on the potential house. It turned out not to be our cup of tea, but I think it's important to get those forward momentum vibes out into the universe. Whatever you send out comes back to you X3. I heard that in THE CRAFT. Normally, I don't believe what I see in the movies, but that coven of teen witches taught me a lesson. I can't wait to try "light as a feather, stiff as a board" at my next slumber party. Do NOT read something smutty into that remark when you get to the thirteenth picture! Gutter-brains.



1:03 PM - I've left my plug in Treo charger at work, which won't help me on the business trip I'm taking on Monday. Best Buy is the answer. It didn't take very long to look at that house. From that you could infer that it was a) small or b)not so hot. It was both.



1:40 PM - We're still in a house hunting mood, so we swing by the National Park Seminary. We got a list of prices, with units that already have deposits. It was discouraging, and as I feared, well beyond our means. Even if people with deposits drop out, the Realtor there said that they would most likely revise the prices UP. Good grief. We're going to end up living in a van down by the river.



3:30 PM - At the Uptown theatre to see Spider-man 3. They showed a preview for the new Harry Potter movie, and I cried my eyes out. We all know that movie will end in tears. We've all read the book. I don't think I can bear it. Oh, and the movie was good. If you don't care about character development, or plot authenticity. I won't give any spoilers. I'm just saying to see the movie as "inspired by" Spider-man comics as opposed to a faithful rendering.



6:54 PM - In answer to your question, Mr. Jesus Fish Van, NO. I will be driving AS FAST AS I CAN out of that crazy site of Armageddon. You are assuming that I am going to ascend. Ha! Joke's on you, pal.



7:29 PM - I was too lazy to cook dinner, so we go out for Japanese. Udon with pickled veg for me, sushi dinner for him and cold sake for us both. Yum! Almost as soon as we sign the check, a huge thunderstorm starts. Crazy rain, wind and lightning make leaving difficult. GMiller runs for the car and swings by to pick me up.



9:10 PM - Back home we try to watch the Aqua Teen Hunger Force "Broodwich" episode. Is anyone else noticing this diabolical theme in my 12 of 12? It was so not planned. The weather is having its way with the cable and the system is kaput.



9:11 - Ever the optimist, Himself believes by mashing the control harder, the machine will be inspired to work. Alas, we don't find out whether Shake is delivered from the clutches of the demonic sandwich. Off goes the TV and off we go to bed.



BONUS PICTURE: DREAMSCAPE While this is not a fanciful picture, it is a representation of one of my dreams realized. I love this man with my whole heart, and he loves me right back.

If you are new to 12 of 12 - here are the basics:1) ALL PHOTOS MUST BE TAKEN ON THE 12TH OF EACH MONTH.2) After you post your pictures onto a webpage of your choice (Livejournal, typepad, MySpace, Flickr, etc...) please post the TIME, LOCATION, and A SMALL COMMENT in the pic.3) You own the rights to all of your pictures. The idea "12 of 12" is Chad Darnell's. While credit is not necessary, please don't credit someone else with the idea.4) The original concept was at least one body part in the picture. That idea was slowly faded away. The important part is that it is 12 pics.5) The monthly Bonus pic is a 13th picture and is optional.6) When referring to the project, please refer to it as "12 OF 12" - not "12 ON 12."7) Once completed, please e-mail or post the PERMALINK of the post AND the city and state or city and country of WHERE THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN. (If you are on vacation, it's where the pics were taken.)(The permalink is the link to the ENTRY of your page. If you just send me your website, I have to track it down. By listing the permalink, it helps for people to go back and view your previous 12 of 12 entries from previous months.)ANYONE is welcome to join in, even if you've never done it before! I hope you will.

SUCH a liar!

My office mate is trying to cancel his AMEX and is telling the operator that he's never charged on the card, and that he's been trying to cancel since July 06. "$26 on the account? I've never charged!"

Fool. AMEX charges just for having the card. You KNOW he's trying to get out of paying. Now he's blabbing about how he spends a lot of time in Afghanistan, and always comes home to all these bills from AMEX. If by Afghanistan, he means the chair in his office opposite me, then yes, he spends a lot of time in Afghanistan.

AMEX is worse than the devil. I think they run Hell. If you cross them they will ruin your credit forever.

The Quality of One's Company

I went to one of the restaurants in my frequent lunch rotation today. This restaurant is part of a well run partnership in Virginia with several other interests in the area, and recently acquired a noted chef from another establishment. The chef has made many changes to the menu and tried to raise the profile of the joint by doing "pairings" with beer and apps, etc.

Since he took over, I'm not so excited about the food. It's okay, but not on a par with the meals I was having before he took over, yet I eat at the restaurant about two or three times a month. Mediocre food; why would I put up with that? The bartender. He is so warm, so affable that he makes lunch at the bar a real pleasure. Today, he wasn't there and I read the newspaper while eating a pasta dish that would have tasted better from my own kitchen. I thought as I ate that the quality of one's company can make all the difference between a good meal and a great one.