When we first moved to Vegas, I was walking down Freemont Street when I saw a very tall, beautiful Marilyn Monroe look-alike. She looked like she had stepped out of the pages of some high school kid's fantasy from a long time ago. She was waving at everyone, but she was flirting and throwing kisses to all the men. She would stop and take pictures with the tourists for five dollars, many of whom were happy to pay for a photo with the closest thing to an American Pop icon that they would ever see.

She walked by me and that's when I realized just how tall she was. She was wearing four inch heeled, silver shoes that sparkled with the neon lights, but even without the shoes she would have stood a good six inches taller than me. She kind of ran one hand down the side of her body as she put her other arm around me, messed up my hair, looked down at me and said, "Hey big boy wanna take a picture?" She giggled as she ran her fingers through my hair.

The whole thing seemed kind of funny and surreal to me, but it was Vegas and that’s what Vegas is all about. There I was looking up at this beautiful woman with eyelashes that fluttered as she spoke in a little-girl innocent voice - how could I pass up a picture with a giant, long legged, beautiful American Pop Icon? I smiled and stood there while Marilyn's assistant took a Polaroid picture of us. I think I still have the picture somewhere. It shows me standing on Freemont Street with a goofy look on my face while a giant Marilyn Monroe bends down until she's eye level with me, both her hands on my shoulders, pretending she's about to kiss my right cheek.

I've lived in Vegas long enough to know that everything in Vegas is not as it seems and I know there is more to it than just the lights and glitter, but at that time I had just moved here and everything seemed magical - including a giant Marilyn Monroe look-alike pretending to kiss me in front of all the famous Las Vegas neon signs.

Later that night I went to the restroom of the one the casinos and when I went to wash my hands there she was standing at the sink. Marilyn Monroe had thrown off her four inch silver sparkly shoes, taken her wig off. I watched with a strange fascination as she slowly pulled away her fake eyelashes, pulled out her fake boobs and slowly turned from a beautiful American Pop icon into a tall, skinny, young man. She looked up at me when she finished washing her face and snapped, "What are you looking at punk?" I didn't know what to say so I just stood there and watched as he left taking some of the Vegas magic with him.