V|va...Las Vega$!

I'm really going to Vega$! I can't quite believe it. I've been thinking about this for many months. Hesitating to do it because of the expense and thinking work would come up. Fortunately work for this month has fallen around the dates I'll be gone. And I'm really trying to focus on thinking of the expense as a business expense that I can write-off and something that will allow me to make more money in the future.

I booked my flight, registered for the convention, booked a seat to C|rque du So1eil's show "O", and booked my hotel (got a nice discount thanks to another photographer I met online). In that order. I'm going to stop over in Ph0enix on the way (there are no direct flights to Vega$ from here) and visit with my friend F. I know him from eNYC and visited him when he was in grad school in NM; he's also visited me down here. He's one of my role models because he also gave up a well-paying career (lawyer) in eNYC to pursue a more fulfilling life (living in AZ and working as a teacher).

I was able to split the cost of the convention registration with another photographer who uses the company I use for prints. So I'm using that money saved plus about $50, to finally see a C|rque du So1eil show. I've chosen "O" because it takes place in water so I think it will be really up my alley. And I've scheduled it for my first night in Vega$, before the convention really gets underway. I'm looking at it as further motivation and to pump me up to really get a lot out of this convention. The main objective is to view all the albums offered by the vendors who will be there. And there will be speakers every day discussing all aspects of the business. I hope to come up with creative inspiration and marketing ideas too.

All of that is reason enough to be excited. But then there's the fact that it's in La$ Vega$! I've never been and have really been wanting to go. I cannot wait to see the place. I want to see the tackiness and glitz. I want to see the people who go there, the hotels, the casinos, the neon lights...darn, I almost forgot about the showgirls; I'd better look into a show to see some of them! And of course, the quickie wedding chapels.

But I'm also looking forward to being in the US...who would have thought? I can't wait to be in a country where everything is a no-brainer. Where I fully understand the people, the culture, and the language. (Well, I don't really understand the people with the "English Only" mentality, who get more worked up over immigrants without papers who do crappy jobs Americans don't want and less worked up over big corporations screwing their workers and the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer...but I digress...) I want to bask in how much easier that makes life for just a few days. And maybe shop at TJ Maxx and/or Target, eat Indian food, and buy some graham crackers to bring back.