Hello all. I am back from Vegas. Vegas is one bizarre place -- a big random burst of wholly contrived environment in the middle of a desert, compounded by the fact that my upbringing has been so thorougly un-desert, un-city, un-sin. I know I am not the first to have this opinion, but I thoroughly confirm all previous intimations of how bizarre Vegas is. And all previous intimations of how fun it is. It IS fun. ;) Especially "old" Vegas, you know, the famous Vegas strip with the winking, waving neon cowboy and the high-kicking neon cowgirl, the Golden Nugget and the Horseshoe and all that -- more lights than the sky has stars, and that's just INdoors! There were elderly playing slots, young playing craps, cheap drinks, cover bands, one of my friends counted 12 brides just ambling along bedecked in white -- a lot of honest kitsch and history that just isn't there in "new" Vegas, though that was spectacular in its own right, of course. The Luxor, for example, is cavernous and vertigo-inducing, a black jewel of a pyramid with a beacon at its top than can be seen from space; and then there are the city casinos -- the Paris, the NY NY, the Venetian -- with the outdoors indoors in scale, every detail characatured to perfection, the essence plucked at its most pure of each real place. (Most of the other casinos, though thoroughly thematic, had facades more impressive than interiors.)

Activities? We lounged at Mandalay Bay's wave pool and "lazy [tube] river" each day, Mandalay Bay being home base for us; then evenings led to all sorts of things: walking the strip; (me) trying the nickel slots (won back half of what I put in, most of the time); (me) watching (the boys play) several rounds of craps and poker; eating at a buffet and a steakhouse; counting brides; dancing at RA! -- the Luxor's night club -- where giant, golden, ancient egyptian god statues presided over the mayhem, and Rum Jungle -- the M.B.'s night club -- where women in any shade optimal for black-lighting danced in cages, on trapezes of all sizes and shapes, ropes; we did not, however, take in any shows -- perhaps next time. The key moment, though, not surprisingly, was the Bellagio's fountains -- set to opera arias and underlit, waving like graceful ballerinas at one moment and then soaring sky-high with a sound like a jet charging past at another -- gorgeous, beyond gorgeous, past past.

I write this on 2 hours of sleep (on the plane) in the last 31 hours, but Vegas does a good job of keeping you energized enough to pour out your money and awe for cascades of hours. Cheers to Vegas, and thanks to my friends for helping me celebrate the big 24 (I've been awake for every last hour of it!!) today, and for sponsoring me on this trip.

2 days 'til the E of the East become the E of the West, and counting...