Month: May 2017

Vegas Mermaid at Silverton Casino. Photo by M.C.

 

One of Renaissance Man’s cousins died so off we went to Las Vegas for the funeral. If you want a lot of people to show at your funeral have it in Vegas. It was a chance to see family I hadn’t seen in a while and family I had only heard about. His cousin, KDawg, (I’ll call him by his nickname.) was my age and was a funny Samoan guy. Many people spoke about how he gave them courage to do things they wouldn’t normally do or to face something scary. Sometimes he was the bodyguard for the little guy at school. Sometimes he encouraged his friend to cut someone off on the road. “Be that person,” he’d say to her. Then his friend said she was going to end her speech by singing Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All.” She paused then said, “Nah, just kidding.” I don’t think I’ve laughed so much at a funeral. There were a lot of stories that had to be censored. Of course, KDawg loved to eat. And once a friend asked if he’d share some fries with him. “Heck no!” he said.

Some family said they read my book. My niece read Superfreak three times! So I came home and returned to editing book two titled Superflop. It’s in the editor’s hands. I’ll publish in June 2017. Sign up for my author newsletter where I’ll publish a free story once in a while https://melissacrismon.com/about-author/ .

After, we swung by one of the houses I grew up in. The neighborhood has gotten dumpy. So strange to see. Vegas has changed, but then it kinda hasn’t. The Strip didn’t seem that big to me even though it’s grown. It did seem strange to force large buildings so close when there is so much desert. It’s an easy small city to drive and has so much to love about it. But it was great crossing the state line back into California. (That was a jab at my friend R, who always takes digs at CA and says he does a “Yahoo!” when he crosses the state line back into Nevada.)

My old friend R suggested we meet at Silverton Casino. I’m not sure if he chose it for me because of the mermaid. I’m pretty sure he just wanted to shop at the Bass Pro Shops connected to the casino. Only in Vegas.

The mermaid slipped in from the top of the tank in her white and red tail with a bikini top. She engaged the audience and made a water heart for me then posed. She did twists and somersaults. I want her job! At least for a day. They should charge people to do a ten minute mermaid performance. There is also mermaid art by www.wilcormier.com. It was tempting to buy The Proposal. A pirate pulls out gold from his tooth with his hook, giving it to a mermaid on his lap. Cute.

Then I saw R and didn’t recognize him. He had to wave at me. It’s been years and we’ve gotten older, but he sounded like the same immature guy. He has a sweet, patient wife now. So since we were only making a pit stop we walked around Bass Pro where they had tons of taxidermy. I wanted to touch the giraffe, but the sign said not to feed or touch the animals. R said, “Touch it.” R and KDawg would have liked each other. Actually, I should have touched the lion because I wrote a Cecil the Lion story. Oh well. R said people take their dogs into Bass Pro to get used to wild animals.

Yes R hunts. We are complete opposites. He kills coyotes because he can. I lecture him not to kill what he’s not going to eat. Don’t we all have friends like that?

I see KDawg and R in my future books. ‘Cause I’m gonna be that person.

And now an update on my blog. For the summer, I am headed to my usual places in Laguna Beach and San Diego. Pageant of the Masters theme is The Grand Tour, inspired by pilgrimages to Europe’s cultural centers. And the Shakespeare Festival at the Old Globe is producing Hamlet and King Richard II. I am itching to see Gustavo Dudamel conduct the LA Philharmonic and an opera. I’m keeping my eye on the little theatres too.

Turn off your TV and head to the theatre. The arts are suffering because of budget cuts. Live theatre is a great way to create a special memory.