Viva Las Vegas

So I haven't posted this week. Sorry all... Life seems to get busier with every passing week.

I signed a lease on an apartment in Oakland for July 1st. Yes Oakland. Stop hissing all of you crazy queens. It's a short bridge crossing away and it will put me much closer to work in Fremont. On my days off, I'm sure I will be spending much time in the city. Driving an hour each day to and from Fremont has become tiresome and I figure I will save bridge tolls and gas by moving. I found a terrific urban apartment with cement floors, modern appliances, and it's built over a grocery store. Can anyone say convenience? The apartment is on the border between Oakland and San Leandro, so it will cut my commute by more than 50%. I hesitated a bit as the neighborhood is slightly ghetto, but no worse than anywhere else and the apartment is what I've dreamed about for years. It's also pet friendly, so I can get a dog if I want later on in the year. I'm stoked to be on my own again. Much as I have loved living in Noe Valley, I have way too much stuff for the small room that I have rented for the past two years. I'm looking forward to having a decent amount of space to call my own. Decorating will be a blast too, so on all fronts, it is going to be a lot of fun.

I took off to Vegas on Tuesday of this week for two short days. My old friend Angie from Hawaii got married and I had the time off from work, so I made the trip. I was based in Las Vegas for six months about two years ago. My parents lived there at the time, so it was a great opportunity to catch up with them. On the flip side, I really don't like Vegas culture. I'm whiter than white, so I'm cooked after fifteen minutes in the sun. Cooked or uncooked, my two settings. I don't enjoy gambling. The obese tourists lining up at the buffets in their wheelchairs and gorging themselves to death is always a nice site to eat by. The cigarette smoke, the trashy people, the heat, Celine Dion, it's all way too much.

That being said, I ended up having as good a time as I have had in Vegas. We stayed at the Golden Nugget which is located in downtown Las Vegas. This was my first time visiting the older casinos and it's a very cute scene. It reminded me of Reno, only cleaner. I think the slots were looser too because I won $30 on top of the $10 the Golden Nugget gave you to gamble with if you signed up for their frequent player club. I have never walked away from Vegas having won anything, so the $40 I won was a huge achievement for me. The hotel itself has been recently remodeled and was an excellent value for the price.


The wedding was a lot of fun. They brought over leis from Hawaii and tried to do as close a traditional Hawaiian wedding as is possible in Vegas. They had a hula troupe come in and dance during dinner. It was a nice touch and very Hawaiian except that we were in Vegas. The food was buffet style and very good. The worst part about the whole wedding was the DJ package that the hotel provided. The DJ did stupid game after stupid game after stupid dance contest. He kept Angie and her new husband Norm hopping. They were so busy trying to do all of his stupid special dances and such that I don't think they truly could enjoy their wedding. My friend Angie works as a television anchor, so she wanted everything to go off without a hitch and it did for the most part. I haven't been to a wedding in a long time, so it was fun to see. It made me wish I could get married one of these days. I assure you, if and when I do get married, it will not be in Vegas.


So I flew home this morning and went straight to work. Needless to say, I'm a bit beat. I also met someone earlier this week that is very cute and very sweet. We shall see where things go from here, but thus far, I'm liking my flavor of the month.

Cuidate all.