"Anyone else think the Kanye sunglasses are kinda stupid? If I see any more hipster 12-year-olds with them I'm going to step on them."-Rex Chekal

Lollapalooza weekend, one of my favorite added bonuses of living in Chicago is the cost effective opportunity to see a lot of the bands I enjoy hearing right in the comfort of my backyard. Unfortunately the cold hard truth of being 25 hit me like a ton of bricks this weekend as I walked through a crowd hating on every day glow teeshirt, american apparel flashy tub top, and frat dog teeshirts wanting to take each person out preferably with the ability to snap my fingers and make them disappear or at least mute. Knowing I didn't want to drink and be hungover and hot for three days also proved as Helen E. would say "we are too old for this shit" but also provided an opportunity for me to better study great new bands out there.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate all hipsters and Kanye West lovers/ neon enthusiast, I just hate every trend done to an extreme. (Ehhmmm Girlicious Blayne from Project Runway anyone) I do hate annoying teens that mosh during Wilco or disregard basic festival etiquette. If you want to come hang with the big kids, do some research. Know the type of crowd that hits up certain shows, know that when you and your 5 best girlfriends plow through the crowd of people who have been waiting for hours to see a show (all the while screeching at the top of the lungs) know that I will want to trip you up for your complete lack of respect.

Now I am not some grinch who doesn't respect the fact that I was once an annoying teen out of my league. But I would have had to save for months to come to this sort of event (and still do). I also wouldn't waste the experience by getting so wasted in 90* heat that I have to be carried out of a crowd.

Ok stepping off the soap box to give you my highlights for the weekend:

* Gogol Bordello, Yeasayer, Jamie Lidell, Wilco and Radiohead had some of the top shows in my opinion.
* I saw a teeshirt that read "Too fat to be a hipster", I immediately wanted to barter for the shirt of the kids back.
* The porta-potties weren't unbearable and the lines weren't ridiculous.
* I was impressed with the recycling efforts and the fair priced food, drinks, and water.
*Fireworks during "Fake Plastic Trees" incredible.
* All the parents that brought their little ones, what an awesome experience and kuddos to putting up with kids in the heat to educate your children about great music.
* Rage Against the Machine's Zack de la Rocha telling people to chill the f' out because it was completely unnecessary to tear shit up, in fact its just meat-head of you to do.
* Bands thanking Radiohead for the big crowds, hilarious, slightly sarcastic and yet genuinely respectful.
*Bloc Party's lead singer wearing a Obama teeshirt.
* And finally Perry for putting this whole concept in motion and having it in Chicago, gives all us midwest folk a chance to hear some great music in a great venue.

and its going to be a long long time...

Opps, forgot I had this wonderful blog. Sorry for the delay in posting.... hmmm where to begin, where to begin. Ahh, lets begin with the great news that today is a summer Friday. What is a summer Friday you might ask... well its the greatest thing to happen to working America ever, thats right ever. Summer Fridays are the prize among prizes for working America, if you are lucky enough you receive Fridays off, if you are fairly lucky you get a half day, if you work for jp morgan you don't get squat (I kid I kid, to all my corporate pals).

I am part of the fairly lucky. Those who get the half day on Fridays and I will take it. And as I enjoy these half days of freedom, I pledge to do something great with them. Like going to a museum for an example, riding a bike outside, going to the grocery store when no one else is there, who knows maybe even fit in a day drink or two. Speaking of day drinks I need to grab a Bellini form Quarntinos soon. If you live in Chicago you gotta try those suckers, sooo good.

As summer has arrived I am thoroughly excited to live in this great city. Street festivals and live music every weekend, farmers markets, beach parties, you name it. It is the reward for all chicagoans that make it through the bitter winter.

So as I embark on my first summer Friday and long weekend, I promise at least one tale of hilarity upon my return. Needless to say this adventure:
http://www.galoscaves.com/_en/strona_opisowa.php will ensure at least 9 or 10 tales from the weekend.

Until next time, don't you go changin.

eeeek

that is the sound of me freaking out! with 1 month to my deadline to raise 1,200.00 more dollars than the 600.00 I have raised for the Avon Walk, I am in a bit of trouble, I need to raise 400.00 a week in the next three weeks. Ahhh...

On another note, I moved in to my new place and might I say laundry is my new best friend, yay free laundry!

Beth

Laughing out loud in my cubicle and more Monday morning thoughts.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

This has made my entire Monday morning. Even though I had to wake up an hour earlier this morning (damn you daylight savings), this website has redeemed my reason for getting out of bed this morning. A couple of highlights that particularly made me laugh and then look around to make sure no one in my cubicle area saw me looking at a non-work related website.

From the website:
# 47 Art Degrees:

"White people can also take that degree and go to graduate school (future post) and eventually become a professor or adjunct professor where they will still require parental support.

If they are REALLY ambitious and need to make money, they can take that degree and go to Law School.

But the real reason white people need these degrees is so that they can sound smart at parties. Of course it trickles down to making connections, getting hired, knowing rich people, and so forth. But ultimately it all begins by saying “reading Henry James was the most rewarding part of undergrad.”"

# 38 Arrested Development (funny after my last post eh)

"If you are ever a white person’s house, and you see an orange box in their DVD collection, you should say “oh, you have Arrested Development, I love that show!” To which you will be offered a glass of wine, and perhaps an invitation to 80s night."

As a Chicagoan # 30 Wrigley Field is quite hilarious

"Liking the Cubs right now is trendy. They haven’t won a World Series since 1908, they are located on the North Side and celebrities like them. Bill Murray, John Cusak, and Hillary Clinton (although she flip flops between them and the Yankees) are all Cubs fans. One should keep up to date on things that are trendy in order to befriend more white people. ie) eating expensive Indian food, shopping Organic, or going on a wild rose detox. So for the upcoming season, try to know at least one player on the Chicago Cubs and defend Mark Prior at all costs."

and lastly but certainly one of the best picks:

#72 Study Abroad:

"It is also important that you understand the study abroad ranking system. Europe/Australia form the base level, then Asia, then South America, and finally the trump card of studying abroad in Tibet. Then there is the conversation killer of studying abroad in Africa. If you studied in Africa, it is usually a good idea to keep it quiet, it will remind white people that they were too scared to go and they will feel bad. Use this only in emergencies."

Check out the website for the full list. Seriously I highly recommend the read, incredibly entertaining. Although I am slightly upset they only featured Dave Eggers burried in a post about David Sedaris.

It's an illusion Michael, tricks are what hookers do... -Gob

So I am writing today with great excitement. Not only do I have a new apartment that is $200.00 less than the one I currently reside in, but it looks like one of the great sitcom apartments. You know like in Friends, the girls apartment, that there is no way in hell they could afford in real life and was clearly decorated by some hipster set designer. Yup, I am living that dream.

Also thanks to good old Helen E. I have discovered a new love during the writers strike, Arrested Development. No I wasn't cool enough to watch it way back when it was actually popular but at least the wrong has been righted and I can now enjoy the Bluth Family hi-jinks (is that how you spell hi-jinks anyways, oh well). Everyone already knows I have seriously mad crush on Michael Cera and Jason Bateman so this was bound to be gold. Needless to say I love Momma Bluth and her signature wink (see above) because it reminds me of my own mother dear old peg leg.

Back to the amazing apartment. I was going to attach some pictures but my work computer hates all forms of creative expression including music and photographs. (I blame it on the fact it is a PC). So pictures will come shortly when I can get back to my house and actually upload them to this here blog-thing. Needless to say it is pretty darn spectacular for the price and the location. Be very jealous of me. That's all for now, until next time remember "There is always money in the banana stand!"

Craigslist + Apartment Brokers = lies, lies, lies.

Apartment Search number 7. Yes 7 count em'. I have lived in this lovely city of Chicago and in those 7 years have lived in 7 different places. Include twice moving in a year time frame. I am soooo sick of scanning lying craigslist adds about apartments. When they say vintage they mean old p.o.s., when they say modern, they mean modern in the sense it was redone when dynasty was on tv and my all time favorite "loft like" because they knocked out one wall and your bedroom doesn't have a closet. How the hell does no closet and taking away a wall make it loft like. I've been in plenty of lofts with closets.

I lived on my own for 6 months, and although I thoroughly enjoy it, apparently making a good salary in Chicago doesn't mean you will live like you make a good salary. 1,000+ for a 1 bedroom is painstakingly impossible for me at this point in my life, and that excludes utilities. Yes I live in a nicer neighborhood, closer to public transportation and work, but honestly that is ridiculous. My brother advised me to buy a place. I told him that he was crazy, he just bought a 4 bedroom gorgeous restored 100+ year old home for what I would buy a shoe box, perhaps with my kitchen in another room, no guarantees.

Don't get me wrong even in the dead of hell winters in Chicago, I love this city, and the people in it. So I pay the price to live here. Which means having a roommate, who lucky for me is pretty cool, and realizing that I will never have a washer and dryer anywhere close to me. It's like that Sex and the City episode (sorry for the overtly girly reference) when Aiden says to Carrie: "Tomorrow the appliance guy comes to put in the washer/dryer." To which Carrie responds: "Oh, that's been my dream my whole New York life!" I don't think I will be living that dream anytime soon.

So instead of dreaming of a sweet loft in the south loop with my washer and dryer and heck lets throw in AC and a dishwasher, I am going to go search through the lies on craigslist and try to find a decent place. Hopefully one where you have a door between your shower and your bedroom.

New Year, New Job, New Apartment... oh the newness of it all!

So I quit my job. Realized I can't afford living alone. But hey it's the New Year so why not try things a little different. I am now into my second week at my 3rd job in three years. They say its a new trend in people of my generation to seek out better jobs, more competitive salary, and not to be as concerned about loyalty to one company or employer. My dad thinks this is horse shit, no really thats what he said, that's horse shit.

He is from the old school of thought were everyone needs to put in their time, do the entry level job, slowly work their way up to the top, knowing full well that it will take the 10 + years to get to a position in which respect comes naturally. I myself am not of that generation. I see opportunity and I take a chance. If I am not being respected for the hard work and intelligence I exhibit at work, well then it's not worth my effort and time to be there. Plus these companies that want you to be "loyal" to them, or not so loyal in return. We are in a time of layoffs, forced retirement, down-sizing and all different forms of cost cutting. Why would I be dumb enough to trust that I will always have a job with one singular company when the news makes it abundantly clear that it may not really be the case.

Anymore in the working world you can be screwed over, even in what I thought would be the nice world of non profit orgs where people play nice with each other. The same b.s. going on in corporate America is going on in the non profit world. Jealousy and money win over honesty and teamwork.The non profit world is slowly falling victim to corporate influence. I remember the day I sat down in my female boss's office and she handed me a book about how female executives can work together to build fortune 500 companies. What? I worked at a University, I was 24 and certainly not an executive.

A funny realization came to me this weekend while lying on my couch with a bad case of bronchitis and watching the 80s hit "Working Girl", my boss was the character played by Sigorny Weaver. Terribly threatened by other women working their way up, but want to play the "let's be the best girlfriends ever" card to make you think you are going to help each other out. I left that job because I was sick and tired of the generation of women and men that are in leadership roles that would rather sink their entire team than let anyone know they are vulnerable.

I now work for a new boss, also a woman, but from a different generation. A generation that recognizes hard work and integrity as a ideal characteristic in their subordinates and not as a threat. She looks up to me as much as I look up to her. She encourages me to run with ideas, and doesn't turn around and steal the credit for them. It is refreshing to say the least, to find out that there is still some people working in this world that see individual with potential and want them as part of their team, not to squash them but to inspire them. This is the kind of team I can see myself being loyal to. One that I can see sticking with long term.

So this is the new year... and I don't feel any different.

Oh to be truly emo... Then my title would be the greatest. The truth is that the title is a load of crap. No really, I feel very different. I feel like 2007 was the year of panic mode, I was in a panic about anything and everything. I didn't breath for the months of May or December. The rest of the months, I was half breathing, like when you have a cold and its not really working.

It's amazing the power of unsubstantiated fear. Fear that you are for sure, without a doubt, on the chopping block at work, although it hasn't been said. Fear that you will die alone because thats what happens to women once they hit 25 and are single (according to the general public and your grandmother). Fear that you are on your own with out the training wheels for the first time and that if you fall, you will undoubtedly fall hard. What people forget about is that sometimes when you fall you get back up, dust yourself off, or maybe if you are lucky you might have someone unexpected who catches you.

I have some great friends and a terrific family. Yet I, like many, was consumed by the fear of failure and reluctant to take chances. Yesterday that changed. I completed a phone interview for a job that would send me to a different country, a country that I am familiar with and love, but still far away from my great friends and terrific family. The job is one I may be under-qualified for but I applied anyways. As I sat on the call, I felt like for once, I was doing something that could change my life. The last time I felt that way is when I left 4 years ago to embark interestingly enough on a study abroad program in the very country I was currently calling.

This country has been for most a land of poverty, starvation, and completely lacking opportunity. However, since the 1990s that has changed and those that left due to the hardships they faced are starting to come back. Not necessarily those same people, but their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren etc. Now I look at this country and I see nothing but opportunities. It is in some strange way the perfect metaphor for my life in transition from the old year to the new one.

This change in my outlook, is thanks predominantly to my good friend Kelli, who simply reached over and turned off the panic button. She did this through patient listening, a positive outlook, and a good example. She is one of the friends I have met in the last six years of my life that has truly made an impact. Not one that is obvious, she is anything but obvious, but the behind the scenes friend who scrapes you off the floor after a fall, dusts you off and then tells you to get back on the f'ing bike and keep rolling with the bumps. I don't think I have thanked her enough or for that matter, been the best friend I could be to her. Something I plan to change in the year ahead.

With 2007 out the door and 2008 starting off with a blank page, I hope that by the time I hit that quarter century of life mark in June, I can honestly say I have made a change for the better. Resolutions are meant to be broken, I do not plan on making any of those. I plan on opening my ears listening for once... Really listening, not the kind of listening you do when your boss is critiquing you or your parents are lecturing you. However, I do plan to listen to my critics more openly, the only way to truly know yourself is through how others see you.

P.S. Anyone catch Obama's victory speech from Iowa? Everyone is feeling the change...