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Frequent travelers either disappear inward to find inner peace, or turn their attention outward to observe humanity thrown together. I tend to prefer the latter…perhaps an unintended result of the need for pithy stories for this blog?

Take for example the odd young woman (pictured) who approached me at the rear of an orderly line to board my flight home to SF. She asked me politely whether I knew which zone was boarding, I said I did not, so she proceeded to walk four passengers ahead and cut into the line. Not that anyone cares, but it was an odd action, wouldn’t you agree?

I’m most fascinated how people lose all sense of their surroundings in airports. In Charlotte, I overheard a man standing across the terminal speaking loudly regarding a medication prescription. I could clearly hear him shout that HE could hear just fine on his end.

But my favorite overheard conversation was from the man who stood in the middle of a crowded Charlotte gate area and held an animated 10+ minute argument with his daughter regarding whether it was fair for him to ask the daughter’s boyfriend to move out and get a job. As I neared the end of the boarding ramp, I could still make out “Life is tough…” as the conversation continued unabated.

People are strange…but they do fill space nicely 🙂

Yesterday afternoon, I joined my family in Chapel Hill, NC to celebrate the life of my dear Uncle Penn. The weather was warm, the crowd was moving, and conversations were full with stirring memories from Penn’s family, coworkers, and lifelong West Point friends. It was a touching tribute to a great man, and a reminder of the true measure of a successful life–the people you touch along the way. Our grief from Penn’s all-to-young death from lung cancer was eased by memories of his long marriage to his high school sweetheart, his successful battle with Hodgkin’s disease, and the raising of my two amazing cousins.

I spent three days this week in Las Vegas at a side conference associated with the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show. Fortunately for my wallet, meetings and dinners kept me very busy, such that I left Vegas fairly unscathed–my only loss was $40 gobbled up by an uncooperative Lucky Larry Lobster slot machine.

Rooms are hard to come by during CES, so I stayed at the aging Flamingo hotel for the first time. The helpful woman at the front desk took great pride in giving me an upgraded room on the ‘executive floor’, since ‘more and more of the other rooms are just shabby’. So, it was with great excitement that I inserted my room key–several times before the lock disengaged–and entered my palace.

Even after housekeeping responded to my dismayed call to clean out the last guest’s toothbrush, rumpled bed linens, and used water glasses, the room still looked much like a brown-hued Motel 6 room…for $450 my first night. (And wait till you see the flashing neon sign hanging directly outside my 27th floor window.)

Nevertheless, I compensated for a disappointing room with a few truly spectacular meals. Tuesday night, my coworkers and I ate at the amazing Mesa Grill in Caesar’s Palace. I had the most fantastic ribeye steak that I have ever tasted.

Wednesday evening, we returned to Caesar’s Palace for drinks at the Seahorse Lounge and dinner at the Vegas outlet of Spago. My truffle-encrusted salmon was delicious…even if it couldn’t top the previous night’s steak.

Thursday night, it was down to just my dear friend Ellis and me for dinner, so we wandered a bit further down the Strip to the classic Mirage–which is still popular and glamorous after all the years. We ate a rich meal at Stack–one of their steakhouses. My steak was very nice, and was accompanied by the indulgently named Adult Tater Tots (potatoes with bacon and brie).

We finished off the evening at the new Revolution lounge–themed after the Beatles and created by Cirque du Soleil to accompany the new Beatles/Cirque show ‘Love’. Revolution was a feast of psychedelic color, retro styles, modern decor, and of course amazing music. One drink turned into a few–assisted by inviting bean bag seats. (Note to Kim, Cheryl, and Kellie: it is your duty as card-carrying Beatles fans to come see this extravaganza!)

As I packed up and left this morning, I noted just how quickly CES wound down from the barely-controlled chaos when I arrived. Technology and gadgets were seamlessly being replaced by leather and lace as the Adult Entertainment Awards and Expo rolled into town. In Vegas they never miss a beat.

Its been a slow week, really. Jeff caught a cold in our waning days in Michigan, so we spent most of our week back quietly recuperating. This weekend, we ran some short errands here and there. Not really the stuff of riveting blogs.

Nevertheless, I’ve had my new camera out. Testing the zoom and the composition. Getting familiar with the auto focus. Really trying to get comfortable for my first big outing of the year…a work trip to Las Vegas this week, followed by a family visit in North Carolina.

Sooooo, I broke down before Christmas and picked up a new digital SLR that I had been eyeing. Frankly, its a bit intimidating, because I haven’t shot with an SLR in over three years. I’ve been enjoying the spontaneity of my little sub-compact camera, which I am in the habit of carrying EVERYWHERE. Nevertheless, I am trying to improve my people photography skills, and for that, I really want the power and speed of an SLR. (Of course, I will still continue to carry the small camera as well.)

I took shot #1 in Michigan on Christmas Eve. And, of course, it was out of focus. Sigh. But overall, I’m pleased with the nimbleness of the camera. Now I have to learn what all those buttons do 🙂 Keep in mind that my last SLR was a manual Nikon that I bought in college…it served me well, but boy was it simple!