Year end and such things

Happy New Year. I'm not too sure why but its one says at this time of year. I've never been all that partial to new year's looking upon it as just another day. People would say that is because I was unpopular and never got invited to parties. In the end it is just another day.

Well, I've been blogging for little more than one year now. I began this meandering adventure blindly in December of 2004 and now find myself 56 posts later in January of 2006. I think I've done well so far with my blog (count wise), averaging a post a week. Not too bad.

I hope that everyone had a good holiday in whichever manner they chose to spend it. I did so with family and a trip to Las Vegas for my younger sister's wedding. Here are some musing from the trip ...

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We flew into Vegas on a bright sunny morning from the southeast. That was my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. The pilot banked the plane north and as I looked out the window I was looking directly down into its gaping maw. It was huge. It was inspiring.

I spent the fourth day of my trip driving out to see the Grand Canyon. I got a lot of pictures which I will share a later time. Seeing the GC first hand was amazing. It is so vast and old. I couldn't help but think of Indians who had witnessed it for millenia or of the first European settlers to encounter it. What they must have thought. It made me feel small, not in size but in spirit.

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On my second day in Vegas I spent a few hours during the afternoon walking the strip and taking pictures of the different hotels and attractions. I was struck by two seperate incidents. The first was outside the Luxor hotel. A family was walking north along the strip. A mother and father walking and talking, their daughters hand in her fathers. Their young son, maybe 8 or 9 years old was walking a few paces behind. As the family was coming to a corner there were some newspaper boxes on the edge of the sidewalk advertising strippers and prostitutes. The parents pay these boxes no mind but the boy slows and looks at them with a weird and puzzled expression. I can only imagine what he was thinking.

A few minutes later I was outside the MGM Grand as a mother and her young daughter were walking south. The young girl, maybe 4 or 5 was dancing down the street hand in hand with her mother. All the while her feet trampled upon the discarded stripper ad cards that were strewn across the sidewalk. It was a weird moment watching one so innocent trampling upon those who had lost theirs. I told my friend about this and he commented upon its poetic imagery. I agree, I only wish I were a poet.

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I smoked hash for the first time. The groom's younger sister and I ended up spending the nights taking in the Vegas night life together. I had a lot of fun. The hash was good. I think I'd like to try it again.

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I made a point of watching the fountain display in front of the Bellagio hotel while I was there. The songs which they are synced to changes from time to time, on this day the second song was Time to Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. The music captured me and made the moment magical. It was a beautiful, personal moment.

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I'm currently reading the book Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. I'm only about a quarter of the way through but I was reading this particular passage concerning hunter gatherer societies and their transition towards farming societies when I happened to look out the plane window and see some unknown American city aglow in the night. I found it striking, this encounter with the primitive and modern at the same moment.

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I came home and somehow the mundaneness of my life seemed very acute. I was only away for five days but it has seemingly thrown my daily existence into stark contrast. I fear and crave change, something to shake up this boring drudgery that is my life. I've been on vacations before, Florida, Jamaica, Chicago but none of those affected me this way.

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I stood up for my sister at her wedding. I found it amazing how many people would automatically ask if Elvis was involved when I would tell them my sister was getting married in Vegas. They got married at the Tropicana on a beautiful evening. It was nice and intimate. All told there was ten of there to witness their ceremony. It was clear that they loved each other.

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I hate the waiting.