Two words that I find interesting this week are: "Sidekick and "stand-up". Think about those a little bit, and what they might mean.

So, what do you really need in order to be happy? Well, more to the point, what do you require to have a fun time. I don't need much in either case. I was sitting around thinking about a fall/winter vacation, and it occurred to me that in an interesting locale, I can literally just sit on the side of the road with my best gal and watch stuff happen and have a perfectly good time. This, in part, is why I enjoy going to Las Vegas so much. There are so many interesting people walking around that provide a good source of mind stimulation. There's also lots of cars and lights and general bustle, so I hardly ever feel bored, even when I am doing nothing. Also, in Las Vegas, public intoxication is legal. So I can grab some whiskey or a bunch of beers, and just go sit on a bench on the strip, and watch the world go by for hours on end. This is also relatively inexpensive.

I recently went to Bossier City on a mini vacation. I kinda figured it would be like a smaller shittier version of Las Vegas, and while it is in many respects, it does lack a few elements. I had a great time there, but I realized that I was not necessarily having a good time because I was in Bossier City, I was having a good time because I was hanging out with my best gal and my friends. To some extent, I had a better time sitting doing nothing than I did in the glitter of the casino. Now, granted, I did not go exploring the city as much as I perhaps should have, but there did not seem to be a place to just sorta hang around and do nothing, other than in our hotel rooms, especially at night. There was plenty of debaucherous drinking, gambling, and chain smoking, and it was a hoot, but it generally took place sitting at a gambling table or in front of a line slot machines, which meant that it was costing money to perform the same activities that could be performed in the street in Las Vegas for free. Also, for some reason, there was no place to just go buy a beer there, which is very strange. The cocktail waitresses would give you free beers or mixed drinks, but if they didn't come around at a decent interval, you were just fucked. This is easy enough to rectify, because it is easy to bring your own, but at the time, we didn't know this was a necessity.

Ok, so when I began this post, it was going to be a philosophical analysis of what it really means to be happy, and the apparent dichotomy between having fun and being somewhere foreign, but I think now I like it better as a real quick assessment of my first run at Bossier City. I had an excellent time, but I am not 100% certain that the backdrop of Bossier had anything to do with it. Maybe it did, but I think it will require more research. I will likely return to Bossier City between now and whatever fall/winter vacation I make plans for, to see if i can figure it out. This time I'll bring some liquor and some burritos.

The whole thing reminds me of a fitting song from the Cheech and Chong movie "Things Are Tough All Over"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNoF7nJb6X4

Me and my old lady,
we like we like like like like
to get outside.

Sometimes people space us out,
so we just make like a bakery truck
and haul buns out of there.

Sometimes we are so much in love,
that we go on a picnic
and don't even take any beer.

We just like to cruise around,
and try to find the main drag in town.
Then after we go try to find,
a 7 eleven and try to get some beef jerky.

Me and my old lady,
we like we like like like
to get outside.

Sometimes people space us out,
so we just make like a bakery truck
and haul buns out of there.

I think so far I have spent only 1 weekend sitting at home doing nothing so far this summer, and that is primarily because I am on call at work, so I am doing well on my goal of making it a really kick ass season.

Twat magnets!