I love kitsch, I love the Americanness of garishly optimitically architecture. The first time I went to Walt Disney World, I wandered around with my mouth open because of how over-the-top everything was. So I’ve wanted to go to Las Vegas ever since I read Robert Venturi, Steven Izenour, and Denise Scott Brown’s Leaving Las Vegas. I want to see the Duck and the decorated shed.
But there’s a lot of different places I’d like to visit, and Las Vegas didn’t top the list for a long time. First, I don’t gamble. I’m not sure I’m interested in the shows, at least now that Vegas doesn’t have the Rat Pack. And ever since Las Vegas went family-friendly, my ardor has cooled.
But now Vegas is back, baby. The new ad campaigns-the ones where things “stay in Vegas”-promises a return to the city’s heyday. Better yet, I live in a place that recently added cheap, direct-to-Vegas flights. So I’m thinking that I do a little freelance work now and again that provides me with a few hundred extra bucks. Maybe I’ll be able to do a quickie weekend soon, without the marriage or divorce.
