Sin City

This past week I went to a conference in Las Vegas where I gave a presentation on my thesis topic. The presentation didn't go very well but things balanced out since I won $200 at the $.25 slots. LV is definitely a city of sin, which is oozing from every crack in the sidewalk: booze , boobs, gluttony, and money. It's a bit much if you stay past your limit, which I found out is three days for me. Despite the earnings the trip wasn't all that great (see the previous two sentences). I flew out last Saturday afternoon with my advisor, who then rented a car and drove us north of town to Overton (near Lake Meade). Sunday we went to the Valley of Fire SP, which was pretty cool (see pictures). Then we went to the conference. I had my presentation on Tuesday which I followed with winning at the slots (God's way of consoling me?). I don't mind, in all I'll be ahead $100 with what the school won't cover. Came back yesterday morning.


Valley of Fire SP (note the red rocks- hence the name and plus desert=hot as in fire)



Petroglyphs (Native American graffitti- from the looks of it they had been smoking paiute)


Near Lake Meade



The Strip




Never stay here- I'm serious, avoid this at all costs.

I have returned!

Sorry to those of you I may have worried or got guessing reasons for my disappearance. Patrick had me locked in a closet and I finally escaped, unharmed, so no need for any further concern or speculation. :)

Actually, that isn't too far off. I might as well have spent the last few months in a closet for all that I've really been up to! Usually we write on this thing when we do something out of the ordinary, but since life has been pretty normal, we've lacked subject matter to post.

Not to make it sound that we (more like Patrick, in particular) haven't been busy though. Patrick is getting stressed in anticipation of a presentation he's giving at the Association of American Geographers' (AAG) annual meeting on the 24th in Las Vegas. Pair that with periodic work trips lasting several days that dig into time he could spend preparing, add in thesis and school work, and that equals a pretty full plate.

Other than work, I've just been experimenting with new recipes for dinner, trying to keep the house clean (our landlord recently began bringing in people to tour the apartment, giving me extra incentive), and staying caught up with my favorite TV shows. I also bought tickets for the midnight showing of Watchmen on opening day, in the new downtown theater. Patrick and I went to dinner with our friend Kat at a favorite Mexican restaurant near the theater, then the three of us got in line behind about 30 other people 2 hours before the movie began. Going to bed at 4 in the morning and waking up for work the next day made me feel young and crazy again! (Really, it made us feel old and tired, but you get what I'm saying!)

So, that's all for now. At least with this conference of Patrick's there will be some 'out of ordinary' subject matter to post again soon. But in spite of that, I apologize again for abandoning the blog for so long! Shame on me! :)