Sitting inside the impressive (seriously, it’s a damn beautiful space–amazing how you can bring a vision to life when Tony Hsieh is helping to bankroll it) Inspire Theater on its opening night for the return of The Three Wise Guys (+1), surrounded by people I’ve known for as long as 20 years—including many who have toiled for decades so that someday downtown Vegas would have a venue like this—it stirred something inside me. Maybe it was pride. Perhaps joy? I’m not sure.

What I do know is that I stuck it out here in Las Vegas for more years than I expected to, and now, here we are with an entertainment district that’s finally living up to its name, an Arts District that’s more than just one building or one night of programming, a burgeoning and diverse community (sorry I used that untrustworthy word, Dayvid) that is equally fueled by the passion of newcomers and the long-term investment of us old-timers.

I don’t know how much longer i’ll be here—fate is fickle and this desert living can be harsh and isolating—but for the time, I’m happy to be living in my adopted hometown, living and working in its most culturally dense area, able to  explore exciting new territory while still enjoying the relations of the familiar. May that feeling last at least as long as my tenure here.