So, I moved across the country, from the big mother swamp to the desert. I have a few friends here, (one very good friend) and I�ve been visiting Vegas for a couple of years now. The strip is crazy; such an odd assortment of architecture, but there�s a lot of energy in the economy and that�s a good change after the po-folks atmosphere of New Orleans. The desert has been calling to me for a while now; I had forgotten about this side of the country. I like driving in the wide open spaces and I like seeing mountains on the horizon. Where I live in Henderson is on the south rim of the valley, there are lots of views of the valley and the crazy sky line of the strip and as I drive to work, there are the snow topped peaks of Mt. Charleston; an Alpine forest is only about 45 minutes away. And I love the desert parks like Red Rock.



And L.A. and the Pacific Ocean are four and a half hours away by car, and hour by plane� S.F a short flight. It�s a big change, but I needed a big change.



Reading: Ann Patchett, Bel Canto, which was amazing; and The Magician�s Assistant, also amazing. Her character development is astonishing, especially in the latter book. You just know that she had some very close gay friends in her life, but she writes about men and woman with equal skill, I think. I am also on the fourth book of George R.R. Martin�s series. I like fantasy writing, especially when someone can keep it up for 800 pages. Hehe. I am also reading Alan Hollinghurst�s The Line of Beauty. No one in his books ever seems to be very happy, lots of detail about the inner life and insecurity, but you are certainly very much there with them as you read. I like and respect his work; I�ve just never wanted to read any of his stuff all the way through twice. I read something about The March by E.L. Doctorow, so I think I�ll pick that up.



I am always amazed by other people�s enjoyment of reality shows; but I got totally into the runway show on Bravo! At first it was all about the dresses, but then started to get into the people. I actually watched for three hours in a row! I watch a lot of movies now, from Netflix and most recently the HBO series, Carnivale, which I really like. I also watch a lot of Home and Garden TV; they should call it HGGTV. The extra G is for gay! I guess it should come as no surprise that any network devoted to home decoration shows would have a large gay presence; I mean it�s always �Gary and his partner Wendell had no idea what they were getting into when the started this renovation on this house!� It�s great.



The only thing I paid a lot of attention to during the Winter Olympics was that very gay skater, last name was Wier, I think. The press coverage was so odd. It�s like they stayed up all night, every night trying to think of ways to say gay without actually saying the word. Most amusing for all concerned!

I have taken some pictures and I will get them up soon, I promise.