[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-2%||-1%||false|false”]<\/p>\n
Las Vegas holds a special place in my heart, somewhere between skipping a beat and bleeding out.<\/strong> Vegas is the girl who hid in the back of the class unnoticed in high school; running into her at Costco years later, you see pock marks under scoops of sparkling makeup, framed by\u00a0 clanging bangles and cotton-candy hair to distract from the girl she once was. Forever the tease, Vegas promises your nervous caress (of a rabbit\u2019s foot) will bring a big score. She pretends the marquees and bright lights will make you forget that real people call her \u201cHome.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”54%” max_width=”1428px” custom_margin=”-1%||||false|false” custom_padding=”|9%|||false|false” border_color_all=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Thea-and-JackattheNugget.jpg” title_text=”Thea and JackattheNugget” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(226,102,0,0.5)” custom_margin=”-15%|-1%||-25%|false|false” border_width_all=”4px”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#351900″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”#2988d1″ background_color_gradient_end=”#0f0e03″ custom_margin=”-2%|-65%|4%|-13%|false|false” custom_padding=”9%|12%|9%|12%|false|true” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_spread=”8px”]<\/p>\n My relationship with Las Vegas began when my late husband and I attended a time-share presentation for a trip to Mexico. After three tries to cash in the cruise that was always \u201cfull,\u201d they offered us a free trip to Vegas instead.<\/p>\n \u201cLas Vegas???!!! Why would we want to go to Las Vegas<\/em>?\u201d Jack asked. I nodded in agreement. No. Interest. Whatsoever. A minute later: \u201cBut we\u2019ll probably never go otherwise<\/em> . . .\u201d he said, hand on bearded chin.<\/p>\n I nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|9%||5%|false|false”]<\/p>\n And so after that intro-dabble into Texas Hold\u2019Em in Nevada, we began a life-changing endgame to \u201csee the world by poker room.\u201d We became serious students of the game and \u00a0played in L.A., Barcelona, Connecticut, Slovenia, Oklahoma, Prague…<\/p>\n A few short months before my husband died, he wanted to take one final trip. I suggested San Francisco, once his favorite city EVER, Paris, New York\u2026 But no. Vegas.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” height=”602px” max_height=”281px” custom_margin=”2%||1%||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon=”off” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” author_font=”Arizonia|700|||||||” author_font_size=”29px” background_color=”rgba(178,163,24,0.54)” custom_margin=”|-10%|||false|false” custom_padding=”|15%|||false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset6″ box_shadow_blur=”36px”]<\/p>\n Years later, I met my now domestic partner in Sin City.<\/strong> I was attending a \u201cWPT Boot Camp\u201d with Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patton. Bob flew in to meet me for the first time. We\u2019d begun emailing through Match.com and then moved on to talking nightly on the phone. Our weekend whirl led to dinner at Vic and Anthony\u2019s Steakhouse followed by O <\/em>at the Bellagio, ice cream, breakfast, magic.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/las-vegas-4893574_1280.jpg” title_text=”las-vegas-4893574_1280″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-8%||||false|false” border_width_all=”12px” box_shadow_style=”preset2″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” custom_margin=”-2%|5%|-2%|3%|false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”3%|9%|3%|5%|false|false”]<\/p>\n No getting away from Las Vegas now. I head there at least once a year, usually twice, to play in various poker series. I have my favorite casinos, favorite pools, favorite hotels, favorite cheap tournaments, favorite restaurants. My poker coach lives there. Friends have moved there. Whenever my plane lands, and I see the Strip\u2019s iconic skyline in the distance, my blood pulses as if ionized, like a neon sign.<\/p>\n One thing: unlike most travel destinations, I never rent a car in Vegas. Taxis, Ubers, Lyfts are plentiful and cheap. I always enjoy when they ask if I\u2019m meeting my husband or if my game is Bingo or slots. When I say \u201cpoker,\u201d almost without fail drivers seem surprised, having prided themselves on their accuracy at reading their customers. One driver said to me, \u201cSeriously? You are the last person I would ever imagine at a poker table.\u201d This is what I long to hear. I count on disarming others in the game by them not knowing what to make of me.<\/p>\n Over the years, I\u2019ve learned about the other<\/em> Las Vegas\u2014the one behind the bangles and glitter, flowing dollars, and hoards hoping to \u201cget lucky\u201d– from taxi drivers. Like hair dressers and bored waiters, they love to tell their stories and listen to yours.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”584.6px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial portrait_url=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/taxipexels-skitterphoto-1448598.jpg” quote_icon_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” quote_icon_background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” portrait_width=”135px” portrait_height=”140px” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”1px” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.26)” custom_margin=”|1%||2%|false|false” custom_padding=”|8%|||false|false” border_width_all=”4px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″]<\/p>\n Luis<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Probably in his late 40s, Luis was a large and jovial man with dense black hair swept over his forehead. \u00a0He talked about being raised with five sisters and one brother, the proverbial \u201cCatholic Family,\u201d although he corrected me with “Hispanic” when I said \u201cLatino.\u201d<\/p>\n Growing up with female-sibling overload gave him an almost intuitive understanding of women that astounded me, except for one point: he kept insisting women were smarter than men; I kept insisting we were just wired differently.<\/p>\n Luis shared home-life anecdotes and insights into traveling with a family of stragglers and the value of his wife’s way of thinking. His voice rose in his throat full-bodied whenever he mentioned her\u2014a peacock spreading bold feathers, proud. He believed in her. He believed in his life with her. Her sense of humor. The way she tilted her head before asking a question as simple as, \u201cWhich drawer did you put the bottle opener in?\u201d<\/p>\n I was awed by his kindness and generous spirit and how much he appreciated and admired the women in his life. He was self-confident enough that their strength in no way threatened his own. He was candid the way people can be when they’ve been well-loved.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.26)” background_image=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/las-vegas-1381728_640.png” width=”88%” min_height=”140.4px” custom_margin=”4%||4%|10%|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][cwp_facebook_gallery _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/cwp_facebook_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”584.6px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial portrait_url=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/taxipexels-skitterphoto-1448598.jpg” quote_icon_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” quote_icon_background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” portrait_width=”135px” portrait_height=”140px” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”1px” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(178,163,24,0.54)” custom_margin=”|4%||11%|false|false” custom_padding=”|8%|||false|false” border_width_all=”4px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″]<\/p>\n Marco<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n He and his wife had followed his parents and siblings to Orlando from Brazil. Superhero-handsome, intelligent, and in his late 20s, Marco was still in graduate studies, but his wife was a working criminal analyst, who moved between local police and intelligence agencies, well-respected and in demand for her skills.<\/p>\n They had moved to Vegas to follow her career, but they weren’t happy. They found the city beyond the Strip ugly and depressing. The homelessness and poverty reminded him of San Paolo and Rio de Janeiro without the beauty. And he missed his family in Orlando. Those still in Brazil.<\/p>\n Marco had worried overall about Trump and his authoritarianism, but also felt the same thing with Bolsonaro, still in power, and worried about the state of the world. His wife believed that Trump fit several criminal profiles in addition to being a dictatorial threat with his cult-like followers.<\/p>\n They felt stuck. In, but out. Financially comfortable, the promise of a successful future\u2014for both of them\u2014looming. But happiness. No. Not here.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.26)” background_image=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/hiking-3057266_640.jpg” width=”88%” min_height=”140.4px” custom_margin=”4%|8%|4%|10%|false|false” border_width_all=”3px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][cwp_facebook_gallery _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/cwp_facebook_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”584.6px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial portrait_url=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/taxipexels-skitterphoto-1448598.jpg” quote_icon_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” quote_icon_background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” portrait_width=”135px” portrait_height=”140px” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”1px” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.26)” custom_margin=”|4%||5%|false|false” custom_padding=”|8%|||false|false” border_width_all=”4px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″]<\/p>\n Jared<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Can someone reek of Bible Seminary like fresh Ivory soap? Thin, pale, well-scrubbed, with a softly twanging voice, Jared had too-short of hair, oddly coifed.<\/p>\n Turned out Jared did, in fact, start out in College Bible study with friends in Tennessee, but then he read several novels and books of poetry, which led to even more, that took him “beyond” what he’d been taught.<\/p>\n I kept thinking of how my late husband, the college poetry professor, would warn his discontented, but wealthy, housewife students to “Turn back” unless they were ready to change their lives: “Poetry is a dangerous elixir once decanted.” More than one of his students ended up divorced, in graduate school, sequestered in a mansion, writing poetry.<\/p>\n Jared laughed at how he was now in “Sin City” and reading James Baldwin. If you’d told him this three years ago, he’d never have believed you. Told him that I was a big fan of the “Prodigal Son” method to finding faith by exploring the universe inside, that the best path to true spirituality is self-discovery. Let\u2019s face it. Self-knowledge is a deeply humbling thing. We both admired how the Amish turned their young people loose into the world to see if the Amish lifestyle was what they truly wanted.<\/p>\n We then talked about Hesse and Steppenwolf<\/em> and Siddhartha<\/em>, and before we said goodbye, he decided to order them both on Amazon that very afternoon to read after Baldwin.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” custom_margin=”-2%|5%|-2%|3%|false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][cwp_image_collage num_image=”4″ four_style=”two” cwp_gw=”-2%” st_src_one=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/las-vegas-5774097_1280.jpg” st_src_two=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/acrobats-1934621_640.jpg” st_src_three=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/hoover-dam-994273_640.jpg” st_src_four=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/casino-1030852_640.jpg” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”4%||||false|false” border_width_all=”4px”][\/cwp_image_collage][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”584.6px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial portrait_url=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/taxipexels-skitterphoto-1448598.jpg” quote_icon_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” quote_icon_background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” portrait_width=”135px” portrait_height=”140px” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”1px” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.26)” custom_margin=”4%|0%||5%|false|false” custom_padding=”|8%|||false|false” border_width_all=”4px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″]<\/p>\n Hector<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n We started out talking about weather as soon as I answered that I lived in Alaska.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yes,\u201d he said. “I know that latitude. I lived nearby, in Russia. Not too close\u2026 St. Petersburg. Tiny little snowflakes that packed hard into snow like boulders. The wind went right to the bone\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo the bone\u201d was always one of my favorite phrases. We would enjoy this ride.<\/p>\n Cuban and full of machismo<\/em>, Hector expressed himself in masterful English. He\u2019d lived in the U.S. for maybe 20 years, brought over by relatives who hated Castro and the entire revolution.<\/p>\n Decidedly anti-Socialist, he could sense my liberalism and took it on himself to school me as thoroughly as he could in 20 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know where Socialism started?\u201d<\/p>\n I shrugged. Had my ideas, but much more interested in where he took us, both in the cab and in the conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cFrance. And the American Transcendalists took it up as their own. The Utopians.\u201d<\/p>\n Aaah\u2014a well-read man.<\/p>\n He bragged about the \u201cimmigrant spirit\u201d and how Trump was wrong about that. \u201cImmigrants are zealots\u2014almost fanatically patriotic. If we stayed a country of first-year immigrants, we\u2019d have the hardest working, most patriotic citizenship in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you see Hamilton<\/em>?\u201d he asked, seemingly free-floating, but not.<\/p>\n I nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was outside the box. Hamilton could see objectively what a new country needed. The American forefathers\u2014what collective brainpower!\u201d<\/p>\n There–right there–<\/em>that zealous pride, that immigrant adoption \/ adaptation of superior patriotism.<\/p>\n Then Hector told me about the failures of South America, of Cuban health care (\u201cDon\u2019t believe for one minute that it\u2019s better than here.\u201d), of American capitalism going back to Teddy Roosevelt and the creation of the National Park system (\u201cIt was an enticement for Americans and foreigners to travel and spend money across the U.S. It spends fuel, fills hotels, connects states, sets up dynamic exchange.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t believe anything you hear. Venezuela\u2026 such a mess.\u201d I asked about the country’s political corruption. \u201cWell, sure\u2026 but Venezuela\u2026 its socialism led to the collapse. What a mess.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n I asked about American socialist programs like highways, education, fire departments. He insisted we have none. Our \u201csocialist\u201d programs invest our taxes, he said, to pay for services, that then pay the government back in other ways, even directly in many places.<\/p>\n I actually don\u2019t know the market investments of government well enough to agree or disagree. My contrary nature wanted to argue, but Hector had me charmed with his immigrant enthusiasm.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.26)” background_image=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/las-vegas-1846684_640.jpg” max_height=”132%” custom_margin=”4%|3%|5%|10%|false|false” border_width_all=”4px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”5%||||false|false” custom_padding=”5%||||false|false”][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial portrait_url=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/taxipexels-skitterphoto-1448598.jpg” quote_icon_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” quote_icon_background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” portrait_width=”135px” portrait_height=”140px” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”1px” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(178,163,24,0.54)” custom_margin=”|4%||5%|false|false” custom_padding=”|8%|||false|false” border_width_all=”4px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″]<\/p>\n Marcellus<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Born in Romania, Marcellus was a large man who barely fit into his car. Gentle-toned and kind, he talked about his wife and two children and living in the south of Spain before settling in Vegas, and how now they felt inundated by the frenetic pace and tourist greed of the town. Ironically, he did like the money, but felt they\u2019d lose their hearts if they stayed much longer.<\/p>\n He and his family were in preparation to move to Utah, as they had many, many friends there, and, as Mormons, longed for deeper community and peace. He put himself in my place and chuckled over the thought of a Romanian Mormon. He\u2019d make a good writer, I thought, anticipating the questions and amusements of his audience.<\/p>\n Marcellus, like Luis, spoke with reverence about his wife, who he felt managed to stay grounded no matter where she was or who she was with.<\/p>\n We spoke about the beauty of Alaska, of Utah, of the world, and about his fears over Trump’s attacks on preserved lands. He hoped the new administration would overturn Trump’s many executive orders favoring corporations over nature. He worried that reversing Trump’s damage might get lost in a sweep of reforms. He loved Utah, its ruggedness, its soulfulness. He imagined setting up a charitable agency with his friends, his wife, something reflecting a love of God\u2019s landscape.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”7%|9%||5%|false|false”]<\/p>\n In each of these trips, I was almost sorry to arrive at my destinations, as getting to know these previous strangers felt like the true purpose, the real journey. As I left each of them I felt oddly blessed and happy to have come to these intersections of life experience, brief as they were.<\/p>\n I’m not usually a “travel journal” kind of person, but so much happened in a very short space that I wanted to capture and share. Even places we’ve been many times can become fertile ground for learning how to become a better human.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/replica-3241471_640.jpg” width=”88%” custom_margin=”0px|-2%||9%|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#ffffff” background_color=”rgba(3,0,10,0.44)” custom_margin=”10%|0px|20%|45%|false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”70%||0%|10%|false|false” custom_margin_phone=”15%||0%|0%|false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”3%|6%|3%|6%|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Hector, the Cuban-turned-patriotic-American-Capitalist, maybe said it best, turning to me as we paused at a red light, \u201cDo you know what’s the best thing about America?\u201d<\/p>\n I got out of his way, nodding, so he could answer himself.<\/p>\n He pointed to me and then to himself. \u201cWe can agree or disagree and have real conversations outside of the State. Us. You and me. Isn\u2019t that great?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Las Vegas holds a special place in my heart, somewhere between skipping a beat and bleeding out. Vegas is the girl who hid in the back of the class unnoticed in high school; running into her at Costco years later, you see pock marks under scoops of sparkling makeup, framed by\u00a0 clanging bangles and cotton-candy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":238001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,9,10,12],"tags":[43,293,266],"class_list":["post-237998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-expanding-beyond","category-for-the-sake-of-argument","category-let-there-be-light","category-stranger-than-fiction","category-theme-park","tag-las-vegas","tag-personal-stories","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersatlarge.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Yes. That\u2019s exactly the best thing about America.<\/span><\/h4>\n