sin city

i'm in vegas, and it is insanity.
i've only been here once before.

back in '98, i went on one of those i-just-graduated-from-college-and-now-my-friends-and-i-go-out-west-to-reflect-like-ethan-hawke-might trips (tm). it was great - it was with high school pals, and we had been camping for three weeks prior to hitting vegas, a place we knew we'd spoil ourselves in after living off the land for a long while. because we had been camping, this place seemed even more uber-gluttinous. for instance, my friend tara was really concerned with aquafers in the desert. i remember by that point, talking about aquafers (or really, anything) after 3 weeks in a suburban full of gear made me wanna punch someone in the face - but she totally had a point, plus she went on to be an ecological researcher. so, that's something. i remember thinking that this city was wasteful and awesome.

now i'm here for a bunch of workshops at the rio (just bought by harrah's). it's sheer gluttony, camping preceeding it or no. i can't help being caught up in it, though. i walked into my hotel and was given a seizure by all the dinging machines and blinking lights... and keep in mind, i've been in more than my share of casinos in the past few months. all that manmade machinery is artificially beautiful. shiny. pretts.

really psyched i'm here because i get to see great-fri/ex-roomie abd out here while i'm here, and catch all my pals in the second city vegas show. abd and i went to dinner and caroused around slot machines and club f-face last night, all within the bounds of the hotel, then we fell into slumber-p mode. more on second city peops later if you know them - it's going to be tight, but i'm going to run from my workshops directly to their show and see what i can.

p.s., the pool rules. i haven't been able to swim in it yet, but i'm about to head down there in just a few just prior to my first workshops. it's a 100 degrees today. i guess people just sweat out all the free alcohol they drink in the daytime hours.

p.p.s. when i walked in here, the song "night in my veins" was on. remember that song? it seemed crazy approp. wait, is that song about drugs? or sex? bad sex? probably still approp. i also called my brother nick and right when i hung up, his wedding song -"here and now" - came on (rip, luther).

i like soundtracks to life. keep it up, world!