The City Of Angels

Good morning everyone.  I wanted to begin this ramble by mentioning right off the bat that if you're looking for other blogs to read in addition to mine, you should really check out my reading list by clicking on my profile.  In case you haven't noticed, 'Bikini Hill' isn't fancy in terms of things like photos, graphics, links, etc... (because I'm uneducated and lazy when it comes to these things, and I write my blog for fun, not to become a chore).  If you view my reading list, or even the profiles of a lot of the people who make comments on my blog entries, you will find links to their blogs.  I also wanted to say thank you for stopping by as 'Bikini Hill' blew by the 7,500 view mark this weekend.  I'm now within ten weeks of my lease ending and being able to move back the desert (for those of you keeping score at home), and I even started "mock-packing" my vehicle last week to see how many containers of what size(s) I would be able to cram into a limited space to determine what will be going back to Las Vegas with me.  The one good thing for me about the once overinflated Vegas housing market is that it appears I will be able to find a place to live relatively cheaply.  There are multiple studio and one-bedroom apartments listed in the 300-400 dollar range, in addition to rooms for rent existing in that range also.  I'll just need to find one job, just one...  :)  I believe that I mentioned in a previous post that one of my regrets about living in the desert before was NEVER visiting Los Angeles, or Venice Beach, or seeing the Pacific Ocean at all, etc..., because I was informed by NUMEROUS visitors that L.A. is only a 4 1/2 hour drive from Vegas (I normally drive 20 HOURS STRAIGHT from central Texas to  Las Vegas, and vice-versa...).  Anyway, that is something that I need to make sure to do this time around.  I was watching numerous sporting events on t.v. today (SHOCKING, I know), and during the Kings/Coyotes playoff game at the Staples Center, they showed an aerial view of the arena.  Normally when overhead views of arenas are shown from various cities, the arena stands out as THE LANDMARK in the immediate vicinity, but Los Angeles is SO BIG that the area surrounding Staples seemed to ENGULF the arena, causing it to blend in like it was of no consequence...  I found that to be truly impressive...  Tonight at Staples, my San Antonio Spurs withstood a number of bounces and shots going the Clippers way, and still managed to pull out a hard-fought win and a sweep of their second-round series.  Beware of the Spurs, they are looking very tough right now...  If the Lakers can extend their series with the Thunder, causing both teams to expend more energy, it would make the Spurs almost deadly.  The Thunder have been squeaking by opponents in the first two rounds of the playoffs as it is.  "Sometimes I feel, like my only friend, is the city I live in, the city of angels, lonely as I am, together we cry..." -Under The Bridge- (Red Hot Chili Peppers)  I just wanted to toss those lyrics in there randomly as I have managed to mention the Kings, Clippers, and Lakers all in the same post (which will probably never happen again)...  :)  Tonight I also saw a Dodgers pinch-hitter crack a three-run homer to give L.A. a lead over the Cardinals as I was flipping through the channels if that makes anyone feel any better.  The thing that you have to like as you read my rambles is that you would think I was drunk, but I'm really not...  My fantasy baseball team still sits in ninth place in my league, but I'm within a hair of passing up the current eighth-place team.  Looking ahead to football season, I'm already checking the local bookstore on a weekly basis now for the college and NFL preview magazines if I haven't mentioned that already.  I'm just very ready to see how successful I can become at sports betting if I put my energy into it.  My current residence of San Marcos, America has slowed down since we are in the period between the end of the spring semester and the start of summer school for my alma mater.  I believe I have mentioned this here once already, but it has been confirmed that good ole Texas State will be a member of the Western Athletic Conference for ONE season before moving on to the Sun Belt Conference.  I happened to mention to a loyal reader of 'Bikini Hill' last night that I omitted a 'pro' about living in Las Vegas that I had intended to include in that blog entry:  a lot of people visit Vegas for the weekend, but when you live in Las Vegas, you are ALWAYS in Vegas for the weekend! (if you choose to stay in the city)...  ;)  As I prepare to depart until Wednesday, I just realized the irony of 'The City of Angels' being located a 4 1/2 hour drive from 'Sin City'...  :)  Anyway, I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again on Wednesday for another poker story.