xtcian

there are no clocks in there

3/18/04

I'm driving to Aspen to meet some college friends for a trip we planned months ago, long before we knew we'd even be in California. As fate would have it, Tessa is stuck back in LA doing the re-writes and casting for her play, so I pulled into Las Vegas last night as a very unlikely solo aging fratboy.

The only rooms left were at the Tropicana, probably the last of the Old Guard hotels left on the strip, and let's just say the place is showing its age. Downstairs, arthritic old grannies in green visors were gambling away their kids' inheritance one quarter at a time, and up in my room – well, the bamboo-lined ceiling-mirrored bed has to be seen to be believed:

I woke up this morning to a sight I'd never seen before: myself. I don't know if this picture does it justice, but if you ask me, I'm having trouble seeing the sexual possibilities in this. It reminds me of old porn that my elder family members used to hide in the piano seat.

The reason for the paltry vacancy is that today was the best day to be in Vegas: the opening rounds of the men's NCAA tournament. Apparently people flock here from all corners of this great nation and spend the next three weeks drinking bourbons in front of thirty giant TV screens. If you think the screams of rabid fans are peculiar, wait until you hear the scrotum-clenching huzzahs of grown men who have just won $10,000 because Southern Illinois University missed their last shot.

I put $20 into a poker machine and within two minutes had four Queens, and left happy. With that money, I happened to make my first bet on a college basketball game, and let's just say that a certain team beat another certain team by 11 points, meaning that they covered the 8.5 point spread, and that I might have done pretty well. It was a nice recovery from yesterday's rant, and now it's on to bigger and better things. I promise not to waver again. I will probably wager again, however.

I was enthralled with the gorgeous college betting scoreboard at Caesar's Palace, but I forgot to take my camera - so I stopped in Mesquite, NV at a shitty casino and took this picture of a really crappy one. Those guys in the picture told me to get the fuck out of there with my camera and I told them to eat me, so they chased me out. Yay!