Here's a new image that didn't quite live up to the potential of its terrain. I may have to change the sky completely.

One of the neat things about my childhood was that my Mom's birthday often fell on Father's day.

That happened again this year, but with both of my parents gone it's just not as cool as it used to be.

My mom died in 1988, and my dad died 10 years later, both at way too early of an age.

Last Fall, on the 5th anniversary of my dad's death, I wrote a pretty lengthy entry about it.

I was planning to do the same thing this year, on June 20th, to say some nice things about my mom.

It's just too much.

I'll get to it eventually, but the thought of digging through memories that are over 15 years old just doesn't appeal to me right now.

I know Mom would understand. The last thing she'd want would be to have me sitting here at my computer getting sadder and sadder while dredging up all those old memories.

Thanks for understanding, Mom. And Happy Birthday.

Owah Tagee Kiyam.

Last week I was in Las Vegas for an IT storage conference. I attended the same conference at the same time last year.

During last year's trip I also did something that I thought was so cool I just had to share it.

The problem was that none of my friends or family would think it was cool at all.

They would think I was a geek.

So instead of telling people in person what I'd done I decided to start a weblog, and make my account of that experience the first entry.

Well one thing led to another and that entry never got made. My 'blog didn't get started until the Fall.

I will correct this injustice now, for that cool thing I did last year, I did it again last Thursday.

The cool thing I did was to shell out $29.95 for the main attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton - The Star Trek Experience.

Yes that's right. The Star Trek Experience.

Actually this year they'd added a second experience so I got to see something new as well as relive what I'd done the year before.

There's only one problem. Besides, I mean, the obvious social conclusions one might draw from reading about a person attending anything with "Star Trek" in the title.

Aside from that 900-pound gorilla named "Nerd" that everyone notices but pretends isn't there.

I was bored. What had been to exciting and new a year ago, this year for me at least, revealed itself to be what I should have known all along.

A geek festival.

The simulated motion parts of the attractions were very cool indeed, but they were so wrapped up in cheesy sets and wooden lines that even the actors couldn't take it seriously.

And forget about us tourists. We all seemed, for those 18 minutes or so, to finally understand how the rest of the world views us Star Trek fans.

Just about the way we ourselves view the Buffy fans.

Actually, "The Buffy Experience" sounds intriguing.

Mmmmm, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

But I ramble.

One of the questions always asked about a trip to Las Vegas is "Did you do any gambling?"

I got asked this question several times, and I answered in the affirmative.

Last Wednesday I arrived at Treasure Island a couple of hours before Mystere was scheduled to start, so after picking up my ticket I sat at a blackjack table.

In about 45 minutes I won $500 dollars, playing mostly $25 per hand.

Once a rowdy crowd took over my blackjack table I moved over to a $25 pai gow poker table and, while I didn't win at the same pace, I did win.

I ended up leaving TI with $640 more than I'd started with.

That was the only gambling I did all week. There was no way I was going to gamble at the Rio.

They'd given me room number 13013. If that's not a bad omen I don't know what is.

Regular readers may notice that I've added a new beer to my list of favorites. Obsessed readers will also notice that I've placed it first, before even my beloved Alaskan Amber.

Yes, I have a new favorite. The Pyramid Tilted Kilt ale I enjoyed so much in Las Vegas has unseated my favorite of over a decade.

Put an Alaskan Amber and a Tilted Kilt in front of me right now, and I'm going for the Alaskan. Put the same to beers in front of me in six months, however, and I'm pretty sure the Tilted Kilt is the one I'll be drinking first.

That's why I've ordered them the way I have.

It seems that every time I go back and re-read some of my 'blog entries I catch at least one - and sometimes several - spelling and grammar errors.

I go and correct these errors, knowing all along that I'll just find more in the future.

I'm not really this horrible at writing. I blame the fact that my brain often outpaces my fingers, and also that the spellchecker on my 'blog software is apparently for decoration only.

I didn't expect much to happen tonight.

I went to Rich O's after my family reunion, and ran into ElPresidente and his wife. We spent a couple of hours talking about the recent storms and just passing the time.

After a while LaptopGirl surprised me by coming in. I'd seen InfatuatedGuy earlier but LaptopGirl had indicated that she wouldn't be in on Saturday.

Anyway, while talking with the FirstCouple I had an NABC Beak's Best and a 2003 Alaskan Smoked Porter. Once they left I moved to the living room with NotGeorge and sat with LaptopGirl and InfatuatedGuy.

Though I had been planning to leave after my smoked porter, LaptopGirl's appearance changed all that. I ended up having a couple half-pint's of Rogue's Dead Guy Ale. I really liked this stuff, which was weird because Rogue's beers are usually too over-the-top for me. This was a mild ale that tasted quite good and didn't seem too high in alcohol.

To close out the night I had one of the Sprecher Cream Sodas.

For the second night in a row I closed out Rich O's with LaptopGirl. Tonight we didn't go to the other bar. This was probably a good thing, as my blood-alcolol content was undoubtedly eating away at my sense of restraint.

Today marked my annual family reunion, celebrated in June each year, at least since 2001 or so, and held at my sister Dina's house.

I wish I could sit here and write about how fantastic these get-togethers are, but I can't.

For the most part we all just sat around talking about various fluff. We also played a couple of games of horseshoes.

I'm glad that Dina has started holding these things. I just wish people would take them more seriously. Several of our cousins didn't make it, again, and I can't help but wonder what happend to the old days when family - even extended ones - were important to everyone.

Not that I'm perfect when it comes to family appreciation. Far from it. The annual reunion of my mother's side of the family has become more of a nuisance than an event I look forward to.

Anyway, I'm rambling here, so I'll stop.

Tonight marked the seventh night in a row that I went out drinking.

This is rare for me, but being in Las Vegas is also rare, so everything works out.

Tonight, back home in Indiana, I of course went to Rich O's. I went even though I was still hungover from the previous night. I went even though the last thing my body needed was more alcohol. I went because it's what I do on the weekends. To stay home would have been to surrender to the forces of boringness that I've been fighting for a decade.

So I went.

And I'm glad I did.

My beer selection last night remained pretty tame. I had a couple of pints of NABC's Community Dark, an ale that's only good when I'm hungover and when it's the first beer of the night.

Near the end of the evening I had one of NABC's Beaks Best ESBs.

The story of last night was not, however, about the beer I had. It was about getting back into my groove and leaving the Las Vegas mindset behind.

It was also about getting to see LaptopGirl, who was a real sight for sore eyes after spending a week in Silicon Valley.

I spent most of the night talking with LaptopGirl and ExBartender about nothing in particular. ExBartender can be a little abrasive when he's been drinking, but LaptopGirl didn't object so I just minded my own business.

Once Rich O's closed LaptopGirl and I went to Jack's where, for the first time ever, I did not become invisible. Hard to believe, but for one night I was the most interesting person around.

As I write this I'm back home from my week in Las Vegas.

I could probably write a pretty long entry about the week - and I may still write about a couple of the smaller touristy things I did - but I can sum up the week with two main topics:

1: Pyramid Tilted Kilt Ale. This beer continued to surprise me all week long. Every night I went into The Tilted Kilt bar at the Rio, intending to sample something from their array of a dozen or so good beers, yet most nights I ended up just drinking one Tilted Kilt Ale after another.

Just fantastic. So good, in fact, that on Tuesday the bartender accidentally gave me a Newcastle and I could immediately tell the difference and I could immediately tell that the Tilted Kilt was a better brew.

2: I missed LaptopGirl. It started during the long drive to Death Valley, and continued through every show and event I attended, and every attraction I visited. I thought about how much more enjoyable things would be if there were someone to experience them with, and my thoughts invariably went to LaptopGirl.