Happy Holidays from Vegas!

Poker
Originally uploaded by ian of leam.

In case you didn't get a card in the mail, I'll sum up the year's events here and send out my greetings for happy holidays!

Hello from Sin City. It is month eight in Las Vegas, Nevada. The holidays are gonna be rough this year with no family near by and no snow to frolic in. The library is going to be closed so we may head up the road towards Colorado or we may take a trip to Death Valley (doesn't sound too merry does it?) and camp out for a few days. We also found a new yoga studio so it is possible we might just go on a week-long yoga binge during the week I have off. This is a slow time for the casinos, but I hear things pick up for Christmas Day and through New Year's.

I am still enjoying the job. By the end of the year I will have launched my first digital project at UNLV (Showgirls) and that is exciting. Aaron is keeping busy and he has been assiduously studying the world of homeowners associations. Here is his current reading material: Privatopia
There may be a lawyer in him, yet.

Pocky loves the exploring around here and has made lots of friends at the Desert Breeze dog park. We take him into the desert quite often and he loves to boot around in the wide open spaces. There is supposed to be about 6 inches of snow up on Mt. Charleston this weekend, so we will have to arrange a pilgimage up to roll around in the white stuff and dream of Colorado and Wisconsin.

We have been looking into the real estate market and planning our next move in April. We will either rent a house in order to get access to an actual yard and area to grill in, or we may explore the housing market. Since, I still can't imagine actually becoming a real resident here it has been hard to look at houses. Plus it means agreeing to life "behind the walls" in a gated community which makes me sad to contemplate. Downtown Vegas is more arsty and hip, but there are still too many shootings down there for me to be completely convinced about becoming an urban pioneer.

We've made friends with lots of folks from the library and their families and it is great to have others around who understand the culture shock we are going through. We have taken some camping trips, hikes, and hit a few of the local bars. Check out the Freakin' Frog : it is the closest Vegas comes to a beer lover's oasis.

Hope you are well and that the holidays bring out the best in everyone. We miss our friends and family, we remind you to got o your local library, and keep in touch!

Papa Was a Rodeo

Rodeo Guys Support Rodeo Gals
Originally uploaded by amiev.

The Kelly Hogan and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts reference is to a great song written by Stephen Merritt (Magnetic Fields) that I highly recommend and before you get bored with the name-dropping, self-referential nonsense--I declare that I do have a point!

For the first time in seven months, for the first time since I moved to Las Vegas...I finally feel at home. And this is all due to the fact that it is Rodeo Time. Most Las Vegans dread this time of year as a mess of parking snafus and aromatic odors. But not me! The National Finals Rodeo takes place right on the UNLV campus, literally in the athletic fields across from the library and I LOVE it. There are cowboy hats spotted all over the place, the billboards advertise Jack Daniels, and there are horses and cows within in spitting distance of my parking spot. It is great.

Maybe it was growing up in Denver with the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo every winter, or having horses as a teenager, or maybe it is just that the best and most interesting musical acts since Vegoose are here in town, but I am totally digging it. Last Friday I went and saw Shooter Jennings at the Hard Rock and Jack Ingram did two nights at Mandalay Bay's House of Blues.Even more exciting: there is cheap beer in every casino and the dress codes include jeans. So, I thought I would share my joy and say: "Long live the Rodeo!" I can't wait until next year, I am going to get front row tickets!