Ill-inois

So, for the third year running, Illinois legislators have failed to pass a budget and, as a result, the state has lost both the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games. (You have to be in it to win it and since we can't pay our bills due to the lack of a budget, we're out of it!) More important than the loss of two popular lottery games are the lack of funds needed for construction projects, social services, and educational programs. The government legislators across both parties and the governor are both pathetic and ridiculous. They'd rather jeopardize the financial status of the state and its citizens rather than work together to find a way to deal with the mess before them. Now I know decades of corruption and foolishness have led to the current problems, but the only path moving forward is to make some hard decisions and try to get this state back on track. I believe the state is headed for "junk" status per the financial ratings systems. That's sad, but the truth hurts. Perhaps Illinois needs to hit rock bottom before it can start to climb out of the hole.

In other news, I visited Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and the campus of the University of Chicago yesterday. Great architecture.

No Winners Here Yet Again

As much as I hate to admit it, I've been watching and reading about Donny T.'s latest Twitter feud, this time with Morning Joe hosts Joe and Mika. While the whole thing is pathetic and Donny really needs to man up and stop acting like a crying baby every time someone says something about him that he doesn't like, Joe and Mika are full of it also. They, along with many others in the media, helped to create the monster that is Donny T. They liked him until they didn't, so I have little sympathy for either of them. I catch some of Morning Joe before I go to work and I remember watching the hosts kiss Donny's behind and practically crawl up his snatch (yes, I'm saying he has a snatch) on a weekly basis. And now that they've had an apparent change of heart about the man they propped up during the election, I can't totally get on board with their outrage. When you dance with the devil, expect to have your feet stepped on. Again, there are no winners here. (By the way, are we winning yet? No? I didn't think so.)

Boz Scaggs/Michael McDonald

I went to see Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald in concert last night at Ravinia Park in Highland Park, IL last night and the show was good. I thought Boz did a better job than MM, but both guys put on a good show. Boz performed many of his hits (Jojo, Look What You've Done to Me, Lowdown) and some tunes I wasn't familiar with. (My only complaint was that he didn't perform Miss Sun, one of my favorite Boz Scaggs songs, but that's okay.) Michael McDonald did a lot of new stuff, some good, some just okay, and a few oldies also (Sweet Freedom, Minute by Minute, What a Fool Believes). His voice was not great on all of the tunes, particularly some of the oldies, but I commend him and Boz for getting out and touring at their age.

Ravinia is a great place to see an outside show (weather permitting) and the weather was great last night for the concert. Of the few shows I've seen there, I've been fortunate to have good weather while I sat on the lawn. My pictures from the show came out poorly, so I'm not posting any. I've posted a nice photo of the trees from the lawn instead.

Yesterday Once More

I'm the kind of person who has to listen to music during the day when I'm working or writing. Since I'm sick of a lot of the downloaded music I have on my phone and I've taken a needed break from Pandora, I've been listening to music on You Tube. There are a lot of good musical combinations created by You Tubers and I came across a few great 70s compilations that included some excellent songs from my past. Songs like "Yesterday Once More" by the Carpenters, "Knock Three Times" by Tony Orlando and Dawn, and "Love Is in the Air" by Tom Paul Jones are just a few of the oldies I recently came across via You Tube. A lot of people knock 1970s music or only see that decade as the decade of disco, but they dismiss a lot of really great music. Hearing Karen Carpenter singing "Every sha la la la" in the chorus of "Yesterday Once More" is so calming to me. It's a shame she died so early, but fortunately the music she and her brother Richard put into the universe lives on.

I went to a reading with author Colson Whitehead a few months ago and during his talk he mentioned Donna Summer's song "MacArthur Park" which resulted in a sing-a-long with the audience. I was pleasantly surprised to hear my fellow Evanstonians in attendance belting out the chorus. Clearly there are a lot of 70s music fans in and around Evanston and folks who, like myself, know the words to "MacArthur Park."

Step Gently

Like many other people, I have a stepmother and step-siblings. Often times when stepparents are mentioned, they're referred to negatively. The evil stepmother is a real and present thing. I consider myself thankful that my own stepmother isn't evil or vindictive and we get along fine. But it's worth noting that I was in my 20s when my father remarried and my mother and father had been divorced for quite a while, so I wasn't a child when my stepmother became my stepmother. I also never lived with my father and stepmother. I also didn't grow up with my stepbrothers and sisters. We were all adults and living in separate states when the marriage between our parents occurred. Now fast forward to the present and my stepmother and her kids have a long weekend vacation planned for later next month. I, personally, would have preferred to skip this family outing for a few reasons. First, I don't really know my step siblings nor do I have much of a relationship with them. We see each other rarely (again, we live in different states). I don't dislike them, but I'm not keen on spending my vacation time with them either. Second, my father married into my stepmother's family. I did not. Therefore, if someone should spend time with her family, it should be my father, not me. The onus is on HIM to establish and maintain a relationship with his stepchildren.

As someone with limited vacation time from her day job, I resent having to spend any of my vacation days going somewhere I don't want to go and/or doing something I don't want to do. However, had I declined to go on this "family" trip, I would have faced criticism from my father. So I decided it was better to just suck it up and go along to get along. Sometimes you have to step gently when dealing with stepparents and real parents alike.

Weezer (and Some Other Stuff)

I've been listening to Weezer lately (old Weezer, not the newer stuff). When Weezer was having hit records in the 90s, I wasn't really into them. They seemed like a white frat guy kind of band. "Dude, put on some the Sweater Song while I get the keg ready!" However, I've come to like and appreciate their music from the 90s and I'm certainly not a white frat guy. My stereotyping of the band wasn't fair and I, of all people, shouldn't be stereotyping anyone.

In other news, I've also been watching a lot of the Seth Meyers "A Closer Look" segments from his late night show via You Tube. He's great. I'm late coming to the Seth Meyers party, but now that I'm here, I'm ready to put on some Weezer and get the keg going. I've also been watching some clips from his shows that feature his family. They're quite funny also. Meyers, in my opinion, is really providing some good commentary on the current political situation in a non-annoying way. I can't even watch Colbert anymore and I used to be a huge fan. I just don't care for his late night show and his whole shtick. I had stopped watching The Colbert Report also before it went off the air because I'd just had enough, but I was willing to give his CBS show a chance. I've seen some funny clips, but overall it's no bueno. (Sorry, Stephen!)

And last, but not least, I've picked up another clown. (It's also a music box.)

Silencing the Noise

It's hard these days to get away from the constant drumbeat of bad news. Everything now is "breaking" news or something to drive the general public into a frenzy. Try as I might to tune this noise out, it's hard to do. I also find myself checking various websites throughout the day and watching the news (local and cable) to find out what Donny T. and the Funky Bunch have been up to. But I've got to work harder to break those bad habits. For every minute that I waste on Politico or MSNBC is a minute I could be using doing something constructive like writing, reading, or taking a freaking walk. Silencing the noise of the media can and needs to be done from time to time. I'm not advocating for a total media blackout, just a decrease in the amount of "breaking news" that's spoon fed to the public daily.