Kate Plus 8 Minus Jon?

So I have to just put something out there about this.  I watched the season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night on TLC and I have to say the sextuplets birthday party looked like a lot of fun with all those bouncy castles.  It was too bad they really only utilized one of them (at least from what it looked like) for the 30 kids and six parents that showed up.  They should have somehow trapped the stalking paparazzi in one of the extra castles.  I would like to see them try to ruin lives while bouncing in a jail of the inflatable variety. 

The real reason I mention this, is the semi-recent rumors surrounding Jon & Kate's relationship.  Almost half of the one hour premiere was focused on the failing relationship between the two.  Kate was practically in tears as Jon admitted he was only there for his kids.  I don't know if I'm more mad at Jon, TLC, or the magazines that perpetuated the rumors (be they true or not). Isn't it enough that they're having marital problems?  Must we relish in their sadness during primetime? Jon says he's overwhelmed that he was married at 22, and by 27 had eight kids.  That is pretty overwhelming, but shouldn't he lie in the bed he made?  You can't just walk away from a commitment like eight kids, especially on national TV.  

Com'on Jon, get it together. 

An Update On Why I Haven't Been Updating

Here we are again, readers. Hopefully your thirst for my pointless ramblings has been quenched by my unwavering twitter obsession, if you've been following me. And I know that there are 85 people somewhere that clicked that little grey button by my user name (@shazmgee).

Anywho. I'm preparing for Summer Camp Music Festival as we speak. Or rather, I'm procrastinating preparing for it. One minute it was still winter and I couldn't go outside, and now I'm leaving for the first music event of the summer (or second, if you count The Dead). At any rate, I'm hurrying around trying to make sure my tent isn't missing any pieces, my sleeping bag is aired out and clean, and deciding what season mother nature will choose for Chillicothe, IL this weekend and how that will affect my wardrobe choices. And then there's the footwear decisions, the snack/sustenenence preparation, and all those other things I just know will come in handy. I've been making a lot of lists.

This past weekend, Tally Hall came to town! They played a great show (of mostly new material!) at the Subterranean, which is a small but homey venue. It also has a pretty cool downstairs bar making it possible to stay even after the show has ended. The best part was when they paused the tunes to sing me their version of happy birthday! What started off as an awesome show soon turned to bloodshed, however, when yellow tied guitarist, Rob Cantor was punched in the face on the street. Rest assured the attacker was reprimanded by local officials only minutes later. Chicago is a rough city.

I acquired a copy of the new Wilco album, Wilco (The Album), this weekend. It's pretty good. It really reminds me of the Sky Blue Sky feel and I love the Feist appearance, but I find myself thirsting for more. Sorry Jeff Tweedy, I still dig you (and the new album) way hard though. Everlasting, You and I, and Sunny Feeling are among my favorites.

I'll have lots of new music chit-chat for you coming soon, after Summer Camp, where I'll be seeing the musical stylings of Toubab Krewe, Lotus, Keller Williams, Willie Nelson, Girl Talk and many more. Now it's officially time to end the procrastination by wandering around the Bucktown Target checking items off my many lists. Huzzah!

I Never Promised Anything About Regular Updates

Well it's been a few days since my last post and I'm guessing that very few of you are probably wondering what the hell is going on. There is also a chance you probably haven't even had time to notice. I will explain the situation anyways. So much has been going on that I haven't had a spare moment to kick back and share with you my irrelevant thoughts.

I saw The Dead! The lot was just as I thought it would be and I met so many crazy characters including one man who carried his parakeet-like bird around inside the collar of his shirt. I also ate delicious traditional Deadhead-made grilled cheese and danced like a fool. The party bus responsible for transporting us wasn't too bad either. All in all, it was the beginning of a music-filled summer that I cannot wait for. Summer Camp Music Festival is a week from Thursday!! The schedule is up and I'm excited, mostly because it's my first Summer Camp!

I also had the opportunity to peek into the world of medical insurance claims billing. It was intense. I'm beginning to really develop my reception skills. My ability to skim a directory of names for an inaudible jumble of letters is really picking up. It's really quite an accomplishment.

Further into recently I spent some time at the Village with my grandma and went to the first Michigan appearance of Mr. F at The Loving Touch in Ferndale. There was a pretty good turnout, considering it was a pool hall and typically uses the musical stylings of a digital jukebox.

Now I'm back in Chicago and starting the transition from socks to flip-flops and penniless to moneybags. What I mean by that is it's finally warm out and I'm gonna find a job. More actual substance will be coming later, but remember- without the sour, the sweet isn't as sweet.

Tempventures on Cinco De Mayo Eve

When my phone rang this morning at 8:39AM I tried really hard not to sound like I'd just woken up. I always feel bad when I get professional phone calls and I'm asked if I just woke up. Anyways, thanks to the Opportunities Group, another opportunity was knocking on my door. And this time, it was a law firm that needed my secretarial skills. I was to answer phones, riverside. In the loop, on S Riverside Plaza that is, at Rusin, Macoirowski and Friedman.

Anyways, everyone was friendly and patient as I casually asked callers to repeat themselves while furiously searching the staff directory for a name that sounded like the mumbled breath-speech I'd just heard. Answering the phone was kind of fun. I started the day of confident I was pronouncing 'Macoiorowski' correctly, but by the end of the day I was pretty sure I'd played some weird game of telephone with myself and was pronouncing it a little differently with each call.

Usually the fun ends when I fax in my time sheet, but not today. Public transportation never fails me in Chicago! The ride home was weird, considering I was poked, pretty aggressively, in the foot by a blind, (and seemingly) homeless man. Tonight is the first of the Chicago Dead Reunion shows. Wish I was going both nights, but decided to just do it big one night, instead of holding back at both. See you there!! Here's a bit from the book I'm reading--Peter Conner's, 'Growing Up Dead--The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead;' "The arena security know as well as any Deadhead there-- you have taken over the arena and the usual rules don't apply. The best arenas instruct their staff that Deadheads may be strange and even scary, but they're really harmless, peace-loving people." I can't wait for my first Dead show!