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| Saturday I worked the little gig in Chicago. Child support has to be maintained, even above my own interests. So I worked it. Good thing, too, because later that night there was going to be a little shindig for one of my former Lobster co-workers. Li’l Kat...my kitten...my adopted sister...is turning 30. Of course, I pointed out all the new wrinkles, exaggerated or not. Ain’t I a good big bro? *snicker* Yeah, it was nice to see the old crew. Most are still at RL, some are not. It was doubly good to see the ones that left before I did. It was a blast, I tell ya. Then again, it always is when partying with that crew. It was an 80's theme, which was odd...because...most of these folks were still aged in their single digits during that decade. SOME were either toddlers, babies, or not yet even thought about yet. It was very strange seeing the younger Gen X and newer Gen Y types trying to be sooooooo 80's. The hosts of the evening were Russ and Pam <last name omitted>. I worked with Pam and never before met her hubby. Saturday was my first dig of the guy. My first impression was his costume. It was immediately apparent who he was: Dee Snyder of the hard rock act Twisted Sister. Almost a dead ringer, too, complete with (I kid you not) yellow and black striped hot shirt with open mesh in the front. Easily the best costume of the whole group. Classic... Even outdid the birthday girl herself. So, we had the old RL crew together again, some relatives, AND Russ’ pals. Took awhile of joking a bit with his friends (all of whom I immediately liked) before I realized - THEY’RE COPS!! Yeah. Chicago city cops. Wow, they can party - almost as much as the RL crew. That pretty much explained why no one called the police for our party’s rather raucous behavior and loud tunes (yes, outside as well as in). That ROCKS! So there ya go, folks. If you wanna party, get loud enough to keep an otherwise quiet, peaceful neighborhood awake all dang night - invite a group of well-known active duty coppers. I ended up leaving around 3:30 AM, because I had an initial interview the next day. It really was hard to tear myself away. It’ll likely be awhile before I get to party with the crew again. Now I did do something productive while there. I took a tiny break from all the fun and loudness to verbally finalize a deal with one of my old crew members. Celeste...good kid. I worked with her for MONTHS before it came out that she had a degree inn English Literature and Composition. Not creative...per se...but precisely the kind of formalized education that has her tailor made for the editing process on a professional level. In fact, she did that for our fellow workmates from time to time for their school papers. She agreed to give my book a professional beating. She’s back in school for yet ANOTHER degree (daaaaaaaannnnnng) plus she works two jobs (double daaaaannnnnng), but once classes are out this term she says she’ll get right into it. The original agreement didn;t mention any kind of compensation other than “Oh, don’t worry about that. I love doing that. I know, I’m weird.” But I can’t ask someoen to undertake a major project on my behalf without SOME kind of payback. Right? So, I talked her into a 50-50 split. I thought it out enough to have a good quickie proposal ready to go. I write, rewrite, and whatnot...she does whatever pro editors do. We formalize the arrangement as a business partnership when it’s ready to market for sale. When it sells, she gets half. Period. That’s only fair, after all - in my view she’s doing the hard work. I did get her to understand that I was NOT being overly nice and to understand that I have no problems waiting on her timetable. I worked with both Celeste and her mother, and I know them well enough to know that when they make a promise they find ways to keep it. With Celeste’s kind of talent AND education, it’s easy to be patient. I had fun and did some business. Li’l sis Kat had a great ushering into real adulthood, and I was reminded that law enforcement types can party as hard or harder than we hospitality types. Yes, it was a good night. One to remember for awhile. Now, I just gotta remember how to get a hold of the pictures I somehow ended up being a part of. Maybe I need to call Da Boysssss.... |
| That’s right! He’s back...just when Blogville’s property values had begun to rise. We can’t have THAT happen, nowcan we? *eeeee-vil laughter* How long has it been anyway? A year? Must be. I think the last time I reported that I was working on a full album of music for Cameron. I finished that, by the way. Total of 8 months of work. Just in time for the planned Christmas unveiling. Of course, I had to wait until he returned from Tennessee. That felt odd - Christmas without Cam. But hey! He had a good time, and I got to spend it with some great folks up north...so why not? He enjoyed the gift. Actually carried it with him everywhere for the day. He might have listened to it later, I have no idea. *grin* A lot has happen in the past year. I ended up leaving Red Lobster. Suddenly, too. No, I didn’t get fired. If they wanted to do that, they would have done it long before my final day. Besides, they well knew I was too darn good with the customers with my rather unique way of abusing them. I’m constantly amazed how much crap people WANT to take - anything for a laugh, eh? It works, so I was successful. Well, anyway...the point is I ended up walking out. I saw no choice. The new management they hire is just...sub-par. I swear, all one needs to manage a restaurant is a piece of paper from a third rate school. Knowing the job as well as the ones that’ll be run - obviously not necessary. Surreal... I will miss it. I do miss it. The crew was outstanding, and I still maintain contact with some of them. Heck, I even used my Facebook page to put out a “hit” on one of them. A successful hit. “Someone slap Laird on the back of the head and say it was from me,” I wrote. Lo and behold...someone did. Great people. Well, anyway... I spent some time unemployed...mainly. I had that tiny gig in Chicago, but it wasn’t enough to do more than pat child support. My savings is gone, as a result. Far longer than expected between gigs. But... Things worked out. I’ll start one job this coming week and probably a second one a week or two later. Balancing two new jobs will be a happy happy joy joy experience, I’m sure. *sarcasm more than implied* But...*sigh*...it’s necessary for now. I’ll be fine. Grumpy, tired, maybe a little wired on yucky coffee but fine nonetheless. Welcome to the 21st Century US of A!! Cam’s doing fine. He’s a bit spoiled with some of the extra time I spent with him. Now he’s starting to whine that I’ll be working again. Can’t win with that one, so he’ll just have to learn to deal. He had his picture in the local paper...again. That’s the fourth time some photog has walked up and asked to do that. Three times for the local paper, once for the Chicago Tribune. For sure, he’s staying far away from LA and New York. The little guy is also kind of a snob, eh? After the latest picture was snapped, I asked him for an autograph. He asked why. I said this was enough to mean he was going to be famous, so I wanted the first signature. Ya know what he did? REFUSED!! He really did. But he did offer his mother one. Little crud... Donnell and Barb will be moving into the house sometime this Spring. They had to raise it due tot he new flood zone rules. I call it the tree house now. I might start calling them the Robinsons. That’s still under consideration. Cam now has a new baby brother. Briley - I think that’s the spelling. Ah, who knows? As I think all babies are, Bri-guy’s a cutie. So now Cam has someone to boss around. Eventually... Right now the little guy makes ALL the demands. *snicker* I sure don’t miss that. I’ve gone on long enough for now. I’ll try to stop by later...maybe. We’ll see what happens. |
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