Hot Desert Trip

8:46pm, Las Vegas

I just finished shaving and didn't bother drying my face. It's so warm here in Las Vegas that the wet skin is a small heaven. I'm enjoying it as I type because after the next sentence I'm sure it will be nearly dry. This is the kind of heat that no matter how much deodorant you put on, you're always a little damp all over. Mini-beads on the brow and back of neck that cool as a wind hits them; absorbed perspiration from the chest and lower back that soaks into an undershirt. There is that body scent of one's natural smell and deodorant that mixes in warmth like this. Body humidity smell. In its own way it is sexy and that's how I feel knowing the venture that is about to be undertaken in a couple of hours.

Nathan is in the shower. My outfit for the evening is laid out on the chair next to this bed. My phone rings. I don't know the number so I send it to voice mail. I wonder if whoever it is will leave a message. I don't know if I want to take another shower before going out, but as I hear the voice mail beeping, I realize that I definitely do want to shower again. (pause to listen to msg) It's an invite to go to a club back home, but seeing as I'm not there, it would be difficult to be in two places at the same time. Hmm, I think, "Not hard with a video cam projecting my image." Burp.

I bought a pair of shoes--because one seldom buys just a single shoe--at this store, Elitan, at the Irvine Spectrum about a month ago. They're royal blue, yellow around the sole's showing side and back. The shoelaces are yellow and there's a red design on the sides and on the back near one's achilles tendon. I think of them as "toy" shoes. They are the only pair of shoes I brought with me to Vegas, but I've been wearing my orange flip flops since I've been here. Summer and bare feet are my childhood memory. It's comfortable being barefoot. Sunscape [Alucard Remix] by Amtthew Adams/Stratosphere Soundsystem.

I played Blackjack at The Fortune casino here in Henderson. Steve & Barbara were great company as we watched our money get sucked into the house. Nate was the dealer of choice throughout the day. He made losing seem fun, or maybe we were all doing that. I learned that Barbara has been married 44 years and now enjoys going on cruises and that Steve is probably gay. (Though there was no confirmation) I had nothing to drink at the table and am not in the mood to drink tonight when we go out.

It looks like there has been a shift in tonight's plans so I'll abandon typing to figure out how to make the best of the news I've been given. (9:14pm)