Word has it that Iowa and Vermont have legalized gay marriage, and the District of Columbia is close to legalizing it. Iowa did it via a court decision similar to California's, while Vermont did it by a legislative override of the governor's veto. As I look back to the freeways of Southern California, where Latin American and Asian theocracy rules supreme, I am more reminded than ever that despite the talk about all the evils that the white people and their imperialism spread throughout the world (including Christian theocracy itself), the whites do have one good trick up their sleeve - respect for individual happiness, which they discovered during the Renaissance (their own way of overthrowing theocracy). I am also reminded more than ever that California, which is fast approaching Hispanic majority, will not be re-legalizing gay marriage anytime soon, unless the whites can somehow translate their individualist mindset into conceptual terms that the immigrant cultures can understand.
I found myself so fed up with Southern California and its theocratic culture, in fact, that I had to make a last-minute getaway to Las Vegas last weekend. Nevada, despite the Las Vegas anything-goes attitude, can still get theocratic at times, due to significant Mormon influence; nevertheless, I found Vegas to be far more to my liking than Southern California. Despite California's reputation as the "vanity plate capital of the world," I found that Nevada actually had more vanity plates - and more fun-loving ones at that too (compared to the theocratic crap that usually qualifies for vanity plates in California). Even when it came to my own vanity plates, I felt that they fit right into the Vegas landscape; at least, my plates were referring to a non-theocratic goddess, though Kwan Yin isn't exactly a sex symbol, unlike someone like Aphrodite.
More on driving around Vegas, indeed there were tons of obscenely expensive cars around (try renting a Ferrari convertible for a nighttime cruise on the Strip). The most obnoxious ones, however, were huge SUVs (not limos, but private vehicles) splattered with Christian theocratic messages. And needless to say, they always came with California plates. More reminder that California is a far-right theocracy, plain and simple, despite the ridiculously liberal makeup of the state government. I was glad that even though I was driving a "lowly" Hyundai, it was the one Hyundai that fit right into the vain Strip streetscape, with more attitude than even the Crapsler 300, the favorite of many rap stars.
I went to Vegas for the Mystere show, one of the numerous Cirque du Soleil productions now on the Strip; the show itself was a dud IMO. However, I did fairly well at the blackjack table, and also managed to do a bit of shopping. I ended up with an American Apparel shirtdress that's really tailored like a nice men's dress shirt; it's also quite short, and it'd indeed be a mere shirt if it were any shorter. I guess people will now start asking me when I suddenly turned heterosexual, as it really does look like I just got out of a boyfriend's bed and borrowed his shirt. (Of course, I wear the shirtdress with my favorite double-female-symbol necklace, to put the questions to rest once and for all. I'm still a notoriously hardcore dyke.)
Hoping that my own life picks up sooner than later. I do think going away to a saner place more often will really help. In addition to my great car, I also need to remind myself that I am an elite customer at United Airlines, and that I must take advantage of the perks while they last. I'll certainly be frequenting the United website quite often to price some itineraries, once I have some schedule worked out. (I'd love Europe, especially!)
