What happened in Vegas

Here's a quick rundown of our amazing Vegas trip (in no particular order):

1) Dinners:
Top of the World at the Stratosphere: food was OK, but the view was totally worth the price
Wing Lei at the Wynn: upscale Asian...very good and decor was so cool
Postrio and Canaletto at the Venetian: both had great food and were in St. Mark's square, where there is live entertainment, which made for a cool fake-outdoor feeling.

2) Shows:
Zumanity: pretty cool. Not quite our cup of tea, but it's hard to go wrong with cirque du soleil.
Le Reve: best show I have ever seen. If you ever have a chance to see this, do it. We still haven't figured out how to describe it except to say that it is the most amazing thing we have ever seen.
Penn & Teller: very entertaining. I still can't figure out how they did any of their magic.
Lake of Dreams (Wynn): Made me feel like a awe-filled kid again. definitely see this, too, if you can.
Sirens of TI: a little too pussycat-dollish for me.
Bellagio Fountains: must-see water/light show. This was the last thing we saw in Vegas, and it was a perfect way to end the trip.

3) Sat through a timeshare pitch on Thursday for $100 cash. 3 hours wasted, but the extra money was nice.

4) We stayed at the Venetian, which was definitely the nicest hotel I have ever been to. Our suite overlooked the pool garden, which was just beautiful at night. Though pricey, I am definitely glad that we stayed here.

5) The Grand Canal Shoppes were awesome. Shopping is one of my favorite things to do (though I rarely buy anything). Inside the Venetian, there are just tons of shops surrounding the indoor canal where you can ride in a gondola (which we did...pics hopefully will be posted later). I found a painting I desperately wanted to buy (see it here; looks much better in person). I told Minal that if I won the jackpot, I was going to buy it.

6) Our last night in Vegas, I won the jackpot. :o) It would be imprudent to disclose, but let's just say it was enough to pay for our whole trip, with some left over. It is always a good feeling to leave Vegas with more money than you showed up with.

7) No, I didn't buy the painting. It was just nice knowing that I could have.

8) Leaving was, of course, sad, but we timed it just right. Entering Vegas on Tuesday was perfect b/c the crowds were small. By Saturday morning when we left, the place was a madhouse. Since we aren't the madhouse type anymore, it was good to get out before things got even more crazy.

9) All in all, I can't imagine the trip being any better. The shows, the food, the casinos, the timing, the shopping...all great. The only lag time was the super-long timeshare pitch, but I like to think that it was their money that won me the jackpot. It makes the whole thing a little less annoying.

shanti,
mjh

revisiting obsession, part 1

I used to be obsessed with music; I miss those days. I now listen to at least 8 hours of talk radio a day, with minor musical breaks sprinkled in (usually preferring my own playlist...bottom of this page). I miss listening to the same song hundreds of times in a row and loving every single play. My buddy Wallace will remember the cassettes we used to have with "When the Children Cry" playing over and over for the full 90-minute tape. Yes, I miss those days.

So I am revisiting some of my old obsessions, and they are surfacing and becoming important once again.

Today's obsession comes from grad school:

"Homesick" by Kings of Convenience
(listen to it here, scroll down about 2/3 of the page)

"I'll lose some sales and my boss won't be happy,
But I can't stop listening to the sound
Of two soft voices
Blended in perfection
From the reels of this record that I've found.

Every day there's a boy in the mirror asking me...
What are you doing here?
Finding all my previous motives
Growing increasingly unclear.

I've traveled far and I've burned all the bridges
I believed as soon as I hit land
All the other options held before me,
Would wither in the light of my plan.

So I'll lose some sales and my boss won't be happy,
But there's only one thing on my mind
Searching boxes underneath the counter,
On a chance that on a tape I'd find...
A song for someone who needs somewhere to long for.

Homesick.
Because I no longer know where home is."

shanti,
mjh

Vegas is coming

Here's the Vegas itinerary:
4 nights at the Venetian;
3 shows: Zumanity, Penn & Teller, le Reve;
2 must-do water attractions: Bellagio fountains, Venetian gondola;
1 big wager on Roulette (Minal says red, I say black).

equals

hopefully one amazing 5th anniversary trip.

Less than a week until take-off; I have never been to Vegas before, so I'm open to any and all suggestions, comments, etc.

shanti,
mjh

congrats to the wife

for those following along at home, my wife just found out that she PASSED her oral boards! On the first try, too, which is uber-huge. So, after almost 9 years of training, she is finally "official". Time to relax a litte (until she has to recertify in 10 years).

Just wanted to world to know that she rocks.

shanti,
mjh

grammar points up for grabs

I was horrified last night by my earlier blog post. I was staring at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep, singing the monkey song in my head (yes, I am trying to find a middle ground between the numbers and the words), and I was struck by the realization that I have been party to bad grammar. Shame, shame on me.

10 points for the first person to point out the embarrassing grammar mistake in my interpretation of the monkey song:

"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's three."

shanti,
mjh

123s vs. ABCs

My wife and I often sing to our daughter; nothing special there. We often disagree on the lyrics to ye olde childrens' songs; again, no big news. And more often than not, we simply make up lyrics as we go along. All was fine...until two nights ago, when we discovered the base-line difference between us two. Who knew that, after 9+ years of dating and almost 5 years of marriage, it would take "Five Little Monkeys" to truly bring to light the different colored glasses through which we see the world.

Here's the scene:
I am drying off and dressing the little one, and my wife launches into "Five Little Monkeys." I'll let you play along. Finish the lyric:

"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's _____."

My very intelligent wife who aced college (honor's program, no less), medical school, and four years of medical residency calmly completes the line: "four".

What!?! I couldn't believe it. Four? Let's try it in a sing-song style:

"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's four."

I can appreciate off-rhyme; I can live with breaks in schemes for attention-grabs and importance. But it's a kid's song, right? Don't we usually stick to the rules for a kid's song?

My version:

"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's three."

See how nicely the rhyme completes itself. It's nothing to write home about, but there's some parallel there. What happened to the other monkey? Well, that's the imagination part of the song. In fact, to really get the little one's mind going, I think it should actually be:

"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's twenty-three."

But then the rhythm is all off. Again...it's a kid's song. Let's keep the rhythm in order, right?

My wife and I have survived differences in race, religion, culture, study habits, shopping techniques, priorities, TV viewing habits, average temperature, etc., but when it comes right down to it...she sides with the numbers, I side with the words.

and on with life.

shanti,
mjh

Nothing to say but Vegas

So: work is crazy, Lily is getting smarter every day, it's teacher appreciation week at Lily's school, and Minal and I are planning a fifth-anniversary trip to Vegas.

**(Note to my past students: that's a good example of why you hyphenate a compound adjective. Read: trip for our fifth anniversary, not our fifth trip to Vegas to celebrate our anniversary.)**

Nothing more to say b/c of the reasons stated above (especially the foremost). Any Vegas hints/tips/warnings/etc.? Let me know.

shanti,
mjh