(Swimming in Vegas)
We arrived and went swimming over at our friends' house, twice. It is that hot here. The boy and I went over during the heat of the day, which was about 110 degrees. It is supposed to get just as hot today, also. I have underwater pictures of the boy and I being fools, but they are still on the camera and I am in no mood for extra activity.
(Okay - I caved and dug the camera out).
Tonight we will go into Vegas - the Strip. We may only drive in and show the boy all of the ostentatious structures, the other hotels that are all themed-to-succeed.
Vegas is one of the few places I have been in which the architecture appears to be a perfect match to the intellect of the viewer. If you find yourself on the Las Vegas Strip you will be treated to the precise visual delights that you are most capable of consuming and understanding. This is the result of the commonest minds hardly being able to make the distinction between fascination and contemplation. Or the shorter version: most people seem perpetually unsure of what they are looking at, but they know when it exceeds their expectations. Never quite knowing what to expect plays an important role in this visual and intellectual process, etc.
Having too many expectations might ruin experiences in Vegas, the French Quarter of New Orleans, and of course the red light district of Amsterdam. Or, that is what I have discovered in my research.
I may have even more to say about Vegas tomorrow. I will be attempting to see it through the eyes of an eight year old, which seems just about ideal to the experience itself. A child's mind is precisely the right tool for the job. In the car on the ride home I will try to remember to ask him how he thinks Vegas compares with Disney World. That should be good for a useful understanding of what Vegas really means.
I have never understood it - the allure of Vegas - though some have tried to explain it to me before. I used to be a performance artist - or rather: a DJ. I would travel quite a bit, so I have been to Vegas many times. I used to have a residency here, so I would play once a month. After one very long set - probably 4 hours or more - I stepped outside the nightclub to try to give me ears a break, they were ringing. A guy recognized me and desperately wanted to talk, to tell me how much he enjoyed my set and that he had seen me play before. As always, I expressed appreciation for his appreciation. We chatted. He then went on to offer me his insights about Vegas. He asserted that this is the realest place on earth, because you either have money or you don't.
I pointed out that money is a symbolic system of currency, that it might not be the most sound basis for an understanding of human meaning.
He then wanted to know if I thought the girl that had been standing near us for the time that we were talking was hot? I agreed, she was. She was dressed up to go out nightclubbing in Vegas. She looked fun. She could hear our conversation. He then asked me if wanted to hire her for a date and made sure I then understood that she was an eager and happy, working girl.
She'll do everything. You want her for an hour or all night?
(Charlie, the playful pool sentinel)
(Charlie got dosed...)
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