Vegas: People and pets on the Promenade

Winners and losers love Las Vegas, though for their own entirely different reasons. Those lucky few winners are able to amass gargantuan piles of cash, obscene quantities of paper power filling their happy hands eagerly, while the losers...well, what is life without hope? Without the glimmering of hope at the end of the tunnel life becomes meaningless, but dangle the proverbial carrot a sufficiently tantalizing distance away and that optimism will power a horse (or person) through otherwise insurmountable challenges. The homeless population of Las Vegas has plenty to hope for, in the city of Sin, after all one of our biggest sales points is the fact that you can go from zero to hero with one fortuitous spin of the slot's reels, all it takes is luck! While I, personally, would never wish (or wish for my enemies) to be homeless in this unforgiving desert climate, there are benefits to the near endless parade of sunny days to be sure, namely the constant flow of tourist's foot traffic that means crafty buskers can make a fairly decent chunk of untaxed income, especially when they have an outstanding talent or deformity. There's one fellow you can regularly find in front of the Bellagio's fountains who draws portraits with his mouth, due to his lack of hands. 

It's not just the homeless that are likely to gather in these large public arenas, of course. You will invariably encounter several superheroes in varying stages of accuracy, decency, and dress. These hopefuls will pose with their eager fans for an exchange of currency, so don't try to take their photos without their permission (unless their backs are turned), as you're likely to find yourself in an awkward confrontation with a pissed off Defintely-NOT-Ryan-Reynolds-Deadpool. Like it wasn't bad enough it wasn't the real Ryan Reynolds, but to get hostile too?! Not very X-Force, man. But when you're dealing with money-hungry imposters like this, instead of the anti-heroes themselves, what can you expect?   

But the people watching is something else, that's for sure. 

All photos in this post were kindly provided by Antho Jay, who has been my faithful photographer!

Vegas: People of the night

As the illumination of the sun wanes and fades away into the dimly lit blinking of neon tubes, the freaks, geeks, and weirdos come out to play, crowding the boulevard and streets in a staggering array of shapes, sizes, and styles in various stages of dress and inebriation. Well, to really be fair, night time is primetime when almost everyone in Vegas comes out to play, at least during the summer when the unrelenting sunshine is more of a curse than a blessing, baking all the pleasure out of the daylight hours. Like most things in life, though, the heat is only a transient discomfort, loosening it's grip and allowing a cooler, more reasonable temperature to settle into the shadows of the valley at night. Take advantage of the drop in temperature and hit the pavement, like all the rest of us strange people here, and enjoy the splashy display of humanity. 

After all, there are few places quite like Las Vegas in terms of the sheer diversity of human beings it brings together in the name of making poor decisions for fun. Practically any language spoken in the world could almost certainly be found being spoken by someone, somewhere, here in the valley. People are constantly coming and going, a near ceaseless flood of potential customers and friends, depending on your approach and goals. While there are invariably tourist-friendly locations to be found the whole world over, few revels in the sheer excess and hedonism that Vegas has to offer, with copious quantities of alcohol flowing through the veins of most visitors to liven up the proceedings. Naturally, there's plenty of drama unfolding at almost any given time, and ample cops profligating around the periphery to try to account for any issues that arise... Suffice to say, after what happened at Mandalay Bay last year the city is taking as many precautions as they realistically can. #VegasStrong and all that. And there's something unifying in weathering the storms, being among the few to remain steadfast and standing against torrents of short-term visitors, weekenders, transients. When you're wandering the street with the rest, it's hard to tell which is which, and in the end, does it matter? We're all just visitors to this planet for a short stint, anyway. 

So have fun! Enjoy it. Eat that pizza. Do that shot. This is Vegas, baby!

Photos in this post were provided by Antho Jay~

Until next time~

💖

XOXO,

NAU