viva las vegas

where to fucking begin.  what can i say that hasn't been said, or thought, or done, since las vegas was built in the desert as the decadent city of sin.  but i'm not religious so there's really no sinning.  just adult human beings allowing themselves the kind of pleasures that they may deprive themselves at home.  sex, gaming, drugs, drinking, & a catchall of party bonhomie.  why the fuck not.  where else, at least in the u.s., will you need to dodge dudes & dudettes handing out cards of naked ladies advertising their 'services' as you walk The Strip.

that's right.  this was my first time in sin city.  i was told what to expect.  i even seen a few movies & read a few books based in vegas & about vegas.  i am approaching my 6th decade on this blue sphere spinning around the sun but i've not been to vegas until now.  vegas is a fever dream.  a hallucination of capitalism amok.  the city might be, at least on The Strip, the most manufactured place in all of our human civilization.  a bold claim, for sure.  but man!  this place dazzled, awed, & scared me.  i have seen some shit but i've never seen anything quite like vegas.  (there are poems in the streets of vegas!)

of course, las vegas is a real city with real people living in it.  for example, i left The Strip to visit the Punk Rock Museum, founded by fat mike of the punk band NOFX, in 2023.  situated four miles away from The Strip the museum is located right next door to a strip club in a light industrial section of town.  i'll post pics of the museum & a few thoughts later (i had a blast!).  but the museum, plus its location in the city, is a reminder that las vegas is a working town too.  

still, i walked miles on The Strip & had a ball  i'll post pics of vegas when my traveler's fatigue & ennui subsides.  today was one of travel & not eating very well.  or drinking enough agua.  that's entirely my fault.  but what the hell.  as i said, i had a blast.  i walked up & down the strip.  i saw showgirls on The Strip, trying to rope men, they worked in pairs & one always had a lai she would wrap around a dude, single &/or with their wives/girlfriends, but when it came to me these showgirls gave me a wide berth!  perhaps because i'm old!  who cares!  but i am a poet who notices things!  

will i return to vegas?  fuck no!  but is that a definitive fuck no?  uh um hmm...let's leave it there.  below is a pic taken by anna after we watched the famous Fountains of Bellagio.  it was raining too!  hot & wet, oh my!