“Thinking is done in language, and, understanding, a result of thinking, is expressed in language, but when we simply adopt and recite what has been expressed, we have committed neither thinking nor understanding.
Richard Mitchell, The Graves of Academe-pg. 28
“I hate Wednesdays,” Astrid used to say, or think, repeatedly on the dreaded day’s eve, or morning. But little mantras, especially negative ones, tend, as Richard Mitchell wrote, to omit thought, reason and understanding, and increase negative attitudes. Knowing this, Astrid tried to articulate exactly why Wednesdays were so uncomfortable to her, and has come to understand that Wednesdays, because of their slightly shifted schedule and interruption of routine, made for a challenging day. But these were challenges she could handle.
When Bjorn revealed that the plans for Spring Break included flying into and staying in Las Vegas for about two days, she couldn’t help it, it just came out, “I hate Las Vegas.”
But she knew that anytime “I hate –” crossed her thoughts in an unthinking automatic way, it was a sign that she must dig deeper, articulate the reasons why she felt that way–in a sense, she must “show her work, give her reasons.”
In the fall of 2006 the family, Astrid, Bjorn and Olaf (who was nine at the time), explored the area, staying in Las Vegas for a day. Astrid learned some good lessons: do not walk around the city with a child at or after sundown if you are not ready to have a candid “birds and bees” discussion and the industry Nevada allows related to it. Also, be prepared to discuss gambling, statistics, prudent alcohol consumption, and the importance of making good choices in life. See “Beautiful Nothing,” her very first travel blog, inspired by that trip.
To Astrid, Las Vegas contained and celebrated everything superficial, harmful and potentially destructive about human nature, for sale, advertised and pushed upon all eyes that travel the roads and highways around the city. It was all so gilded and fake. Driving through the city, a person will see a fake pyramid, a fake statue of liberty, a fake sphinx. The horizon is gilded with gold-leafed skyscrapers.
But, again, she was willing to “show her work,” articulate the reasons for her sentiment, and weigh the negatives and positives.
When they landed, the family navigated through the hustle, bustle and miasma of the airport and car rental stations, then checked into their chain hotel on the outskirts of the city–an almost-residential area. After resting, they ventured out along the wide, smooth roads, through housing districts with school kids walking home, over bridges spanning “washes” (dry river beds) to a burger place.
The landscape may have been “magnificent desolation” at one time, but now is covered with paved streets and housing developments with rocks for lawns and palm trees brought in from who-knows-where.
The next morning started with a drive through Las Vegas, past billboards no human should ever have to lay eyes on, to Meow Wolf, Area 15 (not Area 51 … get it?), an interactive art display with a mission “To inspire creativity through art, exploration, and play so that imagination will transform the world.”
It started with a mini-mart-like area full of Andy Warhol-esque products with freakish twists, like a corn drill. (In real life, the term “corn drill” means a machine that plants corn seed.) As the family delved deeper into the art/sci-fi experience, they were immersed in fluorescent lights, glowing paints, artful black lighting. It was an interesting and fascinating experience, kinda like being in someone’s giant diorama.
To Astrid, the experience felt a lot like City Museum, in Saint Louis, Missouri, except a little more … space-aged.
Micro Review: Meow Wolf, Las Vegas (and other cities) vs City Museum, St. Louis, Missouri (Industrial Recycled Art). Meow Wolf: Digital, fluorescence, projections, science fiction story line. City Museum: Analog, metallic, mirrors, reclaimed architectural and industrial elements, creative playgrounds, any story line you want.
Meow Wolf fit well in Las Vegas. So much of the attraction is florescent, gaudy and contrived, of an imaginary alien future, where City Museum is derived from spent pieces of actual architectural and industrial elements of the past. Both places are well worth a visit when a traveler is in the vicinity, but if given a choice, Astrid would choose City Museum.
After Meow Wolf the family drove to Mandalay Place Shops for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, then strolled through the mall. It would be some time until the Blue Man Group show started, so they sat in the car, resting from jet lag and watching people come and go.
Las Vegas attracts a diverse mix of tourists. The sampling Astrid saw consisted of: families there for young girls’ soccer tournaments; older people donning fanny packs, over-sized sunglasses and fedoras; gamblers mesmerized by and unthinkingly plinking money into a slot machine; probably tipsy, over-enthused concert goers; unwell people speaking to inanimate sign-posts; adult families taking pot-smoking breaks in the back of their mini-van in the parking structure. Whether you have just a few bucks and over-worn clothes, or plan to drop thousands of dollars, there is a place for you. You will fit in.
Show time drew near, so the family filed into the The Luxor Hotel Auditorium for a performance of The Blue Man Group. Earplugs in place, Astrid actually enjoyed the music, less the clever (sometimes ridiculous) antics of the odd cerulean men, but appreciated the entertainment.
After the performance, they filed out of the hotel/convention center/fake pyramid, to their car and drove out of the city. Astrid was glad to get away from the cheap glitz, empty glamor and bad habits for sale, to head out to the countryside, however parched and bare it looked.
To one who has been long in city pent,
‘Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with heart’s content,
Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
Of wavy grass…
John Keats, One Who Has Been Long in City Pent
They drove to Kingman, AZ through what looked to her like a lifeless desert, which put fear and anxiety of a different kind in her mind if she thought too much, but it was preferable to the shiny, gilded deceptions of Las Vegas. She still disliked being in LasVegas, but now she could pinpoint why.
Not I 