No, I didn’t do one and never have, but I’ve found the effect of alcohol as a creative catalyst interesting. Not so much while drinking, but the next day. It seems the addition of chemical cobwebs affects the old (and now fewer) neurons in a way that realigns thought. It changes perspective like when a batter is really dug in on a pitcher, comfortably zoned in for a good look, then gets head buzzed by a 95 MPH fastball that was audible. That gets you thinking. I guess mildly traumatizing events just change your perspective. Maybe that’s why drunks like Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson were such titillating texters. Of course they would have been good without the booze, but different and maybe not epic. Acid does the same thing, but I’ll save that fractal post for another time.

I love words. Yesterday I went truant on low-calorie 4:30 break outs to visit the Bellagio Gallery of Art. Experiencing art is another way to squeeze creative mojito and delivers without the hangover. The current exhibit is around the new “City Center” development on the strip. There were many sketches and models on display, but also less functional art at scale that will adorn the hotel. One was a shiny chrome representation of the Colorado River snaking like liquid mercury 7 feet up a white wall. In the new hotel it will flow inflexibly skyward some 80 feet. What stopped me cold though was a Times Square style neon messaging piece in hues of soft blue. The words… They were rapidly streaming across and I couldn’t stop reading. They were the work and words of Jenny Holtzer and brilliant as the LED’s forming them.

Speaking of words, I just heard Jeff Tweedy sing, “A sonic shoulder for you to cry…” That dude can turn ‘em.