VM II

Words to live by:

"Of course not. Put her someplace that'll give her what she needs - care and companionship. Not what you need. Not a rehab center that's going to bankrupt you... My point? It's that if there's something you know you're meant to do in life, that has to take priority over everything else. Get a job with Cirque Fantastique. Or another show. But you have to move on."

The Vanished Man

Las Vegas is a mirror surrounded by glaring lights; stare at it for hours but all you'll ever truly see is yourself, with your pocks, squinty wrinkles, vanity, greed, desperation. It's a dusty, hard place where the cheery illumination of the Strip fades fast just a block or two from the neon and doesn't penetrate to the rest of the city: the trailers, sagging bungalows, sandy strip malls, pawnshops selling engagement rings, suit jackets, prosthetic arms - whatever can be transformed into quarters or silver dollars.

And, everywhere, the dusty, endless, beige desert.