vegas...we're staying at the stratosphere. we didn't plan to be taking this trip. we're the substitute hitters. our friend nopalita was going to vegas for the weekend. she was sharing the room with some people who bailed out on her. we said we'd step in. during the drive last night (which was crowded and hot), nopalita and her friend drove the whole way. i don't think i've ever taken a road trip with friends and not driven. it was nice to just sit back and do nothing. this morning, we drove to get vegan donuts. yes, you read that right, vegan donuts. it's a regular donut shop that happens to serve many donuts that are vegan. there are no signs that they are vegan, you just have to ask. the patrons look like regular donut patrons, but not as fat, hehehee. i read about this place online. it's called ronald's donuts. 18 out of 24 trays were vegan. that's 75% for the non-asians. that's plenty of donuts to choose from. and we're talking real donuts. twists, claws, holes, turnovers, jam filled, chocolate coated, you name it. i just don't think there was anything vegan with sprinkles. that's ok, i hate sprinkles. we bought a liter of soy milk to go with our dozen donuts and enjoyed the yum yums.

decapitated lenin statue at red square at mandalay bay (dreamy)

then went to the casinos. first luxor, then mandalay bay. it wasn't even noon folks and the girls were drinking. i vowed that i'd go the whole weekend in vegas without a single drink and without a single gamble. i'm just getting more straight edge by the day i suppose. then i took over the driving duties and we went to paris, had a late lunch at aladdin's at a place called cheeseburger. damn, that was the greatest tofu burger! i asked for guacamole on it. it didn't seem that big but just i couldn't finish it all. the fries were awesome too. big fat steak fries. nopalita's friend isn't vegetarian and isn't the slightest bit daring when it comes to food so she probably thought we were all weirdos.

we went back to the room and took a nap. by this point, nopalita's car had become my own. after the nap, we went record shopping at zia record exchange. i picked up a local rag in the donut shop and came across a small ad for the record store in it. it had good vibes so i went. they have a decent selection of new/used cds. they have records but they're all crap. i bought some cds and gay gum. then we went to tower records because the local rag had a $5 off coupon. after that, we went to the palms, the rio (walked in and heard "jane says"), the hard rock (saw a jane's signed guitar in one of the small convenience shops then heard "stop" so the night was good), and then to then to bed! we did return in the am so this is backdated but it's all good.