The behemoth sight of The Sphere, taken from my ride on The High Roller.
After my last visit to Vegas back in 2018, I thought the city had everything and the kitchen sink. Sprawling buffets, 24-hour weed dispensaries, replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Brooklyn Bridge, fountain shows at the Bellagio, light shows at Fremont Street, and “Elvis” posing with families on the Strip sidewalks while trucks advertising near-nude escorts drive past. I guess I underestimated Vegas and its penchant for excess for they added more things since my last visit, namely The High Roller and The Sphere. Sooooo many more things to see, and yet…
…with a view like this from my room, it was kind of tough getting out. (That’s how much of a slut I am for pretty views from my home.)
By the way, after seeing more Trump ads on those digital billboards and on every other street corner, I think the next time I visit Vegas, it will be on a non-Presidental election year. It’s bad enough the convicted felon’s hotel is there, although it was also easy to miss since other buildings caught my eye. (In fairness, there were more Kamala ads around, including one on that big-ass Sphere.)
This was taken from observation deck at The Strat (more on this later), and I found out earlier that day that her ads would be featured on that Sphere. So glorious! 🥹
Not so glorious but amusing is seeing a gold-plated eyesore pull up to the Dollar Tree, of all places. Only in Vegas. I’d say people who voluntarily buy those abominations on wheels (after all the batshit crazy things its creator has said and done) have Dollar Tree morals, but that would be insulting to Dollar Tree.
A month ago, I was in Las Vegas, a few days fresh into my forties. Life seemed to be good; I was having fun and feeling some actual hope for the future. I wish I could say the same thing today, but that’s a rant for another day.
I didn’t plan nor expect to enter my forties in Vegas. With the budget I had at the time, I thought I’d take another LA trip (and risk my well-being being potentially rattled due to that blue team being in the World Series) or just celebrate my birthday close to home (I thought about staying at an upscale hotel in SF for a couple nights). Four days before my birthday, with still no place to go, I checked out Airbnb on a whim and saw an offering I couldn’t refuse: a high-rise suite at Palms Place with strip-facing views, going for under $700 for a week’s stay during my exact travel dates. The lone catch was that the reservation was “non-refundable” and, to save all my coins, I’d have to drive what would end up being over 1200 miles for a round trip. And I had only two days to prepare for my trip. They were small prices to pay to enjoy myself, however.
I guess the things/people I can be thankful for this year are…
–Kylie Minogue, for existing and Tension II
–Megan Thee Stallion, for existing and the run she’s had this year
–Christina Aguilera, for existing and showing the world that she still has it
–getting the chance to see all three perform live this year
–owning the entire Married With Children series on DVD as I’ve been binge-watching the show yet again and that I don’t have to stream it (their crass yet self-deprecating humor soothes me)
–being super-duper fully vaccinated (got all my Covid shots and boosters and they do work because I’m still here and feeling fine after catching Covid for the first time this past summer)
–And not living with guilt when it came to this year’s elections. I voted Biden in the Primaries, voted early for Kamala, and not once did I tell others that “both sides are bAd” or to “not vote” this year, nor admitted that it was “my first time voting” while being in my late 30s because I’d been voting since I turned 18! (Some things weren’t meant to admit to the world, no matter how many internet Likes you’d get.)
There’s something about the term “good girl” that never sat right with me. It’s what old male geezers say to young women in the workplace when the woman does something good at her job. It’s so 1950s, when Stepford wives and Doris Day-esque nice girls defined femininity while men got to be rebels without a cause with their leather jackets and cigarettes. It’s smack of submissiveness to the patriarchy and reeks of gender stereotypes; boys get to be “bad” and be rulers, fighters, and bed-hoppers, while girls can only be “good” and be rescued by the man for the sake of love and happiness. It’s something I wouldn’t say to my female pet if I had one. And it’s definitely why you’ll never catch me going near that Good Girl perfume. (I’m that petty to where I don’t even touch their sample vials in my Sephora perfume sets.)
It was not Marilyn Monroe or Eleanor Roosevelt, but a University of New Hampshire student named Laurel Thatcher Ulrich who, in 1976, said “well-behaved women seldom make history…” And in the early 1980s, then-Cosmopolitan Editor-In-Chief Helen Gurley Brown was attributed with that quote in the header pic (though she actually never said those words). Over four decades later after those quotes were made and I still see some women who’d rather “go to heaven” and be “well-behaved”. They’re now the Trad Wives, the ones who smile to look pretty for the guys, and the ones who vote like their man even if their vote takes away their rights. To be a “good girl” these days, in a landscape that witnessed a male convicted felon/rapist/all-around POS steal take the highest office in the country (again) and her abortion rights gutted, is to blindly dance in a field of landmines. Meanwhile, the “bad boys” have morphed into Douche Bro Incels, with control over women being their modus operandi. They’re no longer the good-looking rebel smelling nice and charming the skirts off the nice girls; they’re now the ugly try-hard looking older than his age who reeks of Sauvage and wants to rape the skirts off the nice girls. Why should women still play nice with the “your body my choice” assholes? And even when women do good, there’s always going to be a guy or ten thinking she’s “bad” because she supported Kamala and pro-abortion rights.
And it’s why I have no problem being a Bad Girl. If being strong, assertive, and doing things your way makes me “bad” to some “men,” so be it. Guess you can say I’ve been in my Bad Girl era for a while now. I haven’t nor will I do actual bad things like rob or murder anyone or support Nazis. But I’ll go against stupid patriarchal values, vote to support women’s rights, and enjoy consensual sex for fun when I want to. I’ll never smile to look pretty for the guys and I’m definitely not a man’s incubator. I don’t need men for love, sex, and money as I’m also attracted to other genders and I make good money on my own. I don’t want to get married and not only am I childfree, but childfree AND sterilized. Some vile conservatives took my reproductive rights away, and my Bisalp from last year is my lick back. (I also don’t want kids in this life, so suck on that, Elon!) So call me a Bad Girl. Besides, it’s more fun to go everywhere instead of just heaven.
And to the White Broligarchy that wants us women to play nice and make babies for them, this Bad Girl dedicates these songs to you!
(Yes, I’m aware I posted the last song in my last entry. Works for this entry, too!)
Starting December 27, 2024, my eBook The Playgirl will return to Wide Distribution! It will still be sold on Amazon, but it will also be available on other platforms such as Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble for those who choose to no longer buy anything through Amazon and Amazon-related sites, which I completely understand! (I’d take my book out sooner, but I’m still enrolled in KDP Select through 12/26/24.) I’ll also be looking into how I can sell my work directly through me so I can get all of the coins.
It’s the result of having grown up in a fairly large family, living with roommates for years, realizing I was more comfy being on my own since my preteens, and dealing with many coworkers and clients for my job. To be on my own and doing my own thing without having to worry about anybody else is just zen. This current Vegas birthday trip that I’m on is no exception. Sure, I could’ve had my friends with me on this milestone occasion, but they have their commitments, and I got mine. (It’s also hard to pass up a Vegas Airbnb with panoramic views of the Strip from the property that went for half-off its original rate, and I also needed another vacay.) So here I am, writing this from my Vegas rental home, with the only sounds coming from keyboard typing and an NBA game on the TV. (I ain’t watching that wretched World Series.) It’s like I’m back home but my amenities are more high-end and the view from my place is hotter, and it’s all for me. 🥳
Hope you enjoyed this countdown! I doubt I’ll be posting stuff here for 40 days straight for a long time, unless if I quit Twitter (or Twitter quits me). If I do another list like this again for my 50th, it will likely be the same things plus ten new faves. I got a feeling neck fans for the hot flashes I’ll eventually be getting will be one of them.
**Update 9/21/25 (a year after I started this list): yeah I quit that fascist bitch site
I saved this fave specially for National Cat Day today. I’ve always been a cat person, but it’s been years since I held Cat Mom duties. Strict apartment rules on pets and my day job (which requires lots of traveling) have kept me from owning a cat at the moment. If and when I don’t have to travel much for work and I live in a place that allows pets, I would definitely like to have another cat. I miss being a Cat Mom and I would enjoy being JD Vance’s ultimate nightmare: a Childess Cat Lady. (Although me being both childfree and a lady (of color!) is enough nightmare fuel for Mr. Eyeliner.)
I also sorely miss that cat you see in the header pic. That is Friskie, my adorable oddball of a Tabby, taken back in 2014 (IIRC). I had him when I used to live with roommates. He joined his ancestors over five years ago.
Images from two of my past road trips, from 2022 (in the Central Valley), and from this past summer (at Lancaster).
Whether it’s for a day trip or as part of a week-long getaway, I just enjoy traveling by car. I have a slight fear of flying and while I don’t mind train travels, I just prefer being behind the wheel instead of someone else. Yes, I’d have to do all the work and spend the money and worry over shit like flat tires and gas. But I get full control of my itinerary, I don’t have to worry about strangers sitting next to me, and that’s all that matters.
All my road trips I’ve taken so far have been within my state borders. I’m hoping to take a road trip up and down the West Coast, as well as through the Southwest one day!
Lex Writes On 