Death and Taxes

Nobody really likes paying taxes. I get that. But, after living in Illinois, I really, really don't like paying taxes. We all pay three sets of taxes - Federal, city, and state taxes. Last week, the state of Illinois decided to raise income taxes by 67%! Sixty. Seven. Percent. WTF!! It comes out to an additional $500 a year in taxes for every $25,000 a year in income. This just really irritates me because the tax clearly affects the poor a lot worse than the wealthy. $500 a year to the guy making 25k a year is a lot bigger deal than 2k to the guy who makes 100k a year. Plus, the state of Illinois raised the corporate tax by about 30%. All that means is that several companies will leave the state to other states and there will be less local jobs, and the other places will raise the cost of products to off-set what they have to pay in state taxes. I just really feel that the state is becoming unbearably expensive. Keep in mind that last week, Chicago officially has the most expensive gas in the country according to the Sun-Times. More than Manhattan, more than San Francisco, more than Miami, nobody pays more for gas than Chicagoans.

1. Those who know me know that I love little hole in the wall restaurants. I think I have a new favorite. My co-worker took me to a little Korean chicken restaurant called Crisp on Broadway and Wellington. It was one of the best meals in my life. Total cost was $10. Unfortunately there goes my January diet...

2. Joe Lieberman announced he was retiring. Best news of the day. Lieberman is my least favorite "Democrat" of all-time. Good riddance!

3. You know what I haven't done in a while? Rip Republicans. Well, yesterday Alabama governor Robert Bentley gave this quote to the Birmingham News. "I was elected as a Republican candidate. But once I became governor, I became governor of all the people. I intend to live up to that. I intend to be color blind. Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother." Wow! Don't hold back Governor Bentley. Tell us what you really think of the non-Christians. It's a different world in 'bama... very different.

Only you can break the spelll

I apologize for the long delay. My laptop has been under construction. Note to all of you out there... never buy a Dell computer. I had terrible customer service. Although I could check emails at work, I have not really been able to go on facebook, blog, et cetera unless I was borrowing a friend's computer. Anyway, obviously a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Hopefully everyone had a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I'm still kind of reviewing what I want my New Year's resolutions to be. I do think that the year 2010 was a big year for growth for me. Professionally, a year ago at this time I was working for a terrible company making sweat shop type wages. Although I would hardly say I am "rolling", I am certainly making enough to cover my expenses. Personally, life is great. Allie and I are doing fantastic and my relationship with my friends has continued to positively grow. Sure 2010 had ups and downs, but compared to 2009, it was a major, major improvement. I hope this time a year from now I can write the same thing.

Of course I have kept myself busy reading and watching movies. I don't want to go through all of them but I will highlight the best book I have read in the past two months and the best movie. About a month ago I finished Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. I really enjoyed the book. At times I found the novel a bit confusing, at the end of the day it is clear why the book is considered a modern day classic. Movie wise, the best movie I saw was The King's Speech. The writing was fantastic, the acting was great, and not only did I learn a lot, the movie kept me entertained the whole way through with its non-stop wit. I give the movie an A.

1. I hope everyone had a great weekend. After going out late with co-workers on Thursday night and a 6:00am walk-up call on Saturday morning, I stayed in and watched a movie on Friday night (side note: watched The Kids are All Right... C+). Saturday morning, I drove Allie to the South Side and hung out for five hours as she took the basic skills tests that all teachers have to take. Saturday night, a few friends and I all went to the Gold Coast for a little karaoke before getting a few hours of sleep and getting ready for work on Sunday. It was a whirlwind weekend but a good weekend.

2. Yes I get it, I'm a hypocrite. I am referring to Stanford junior quarterback Andrew Luck coming back to his senior year instead of leaving for the NFL. He would have been basically guaranteed the number one pick. Last year's top pick, Sam Bradford got a contract for six years, 68 million dollars. Of that, 50 million is absolutely guaranteed. What is Luck thinking? What if he has an injury? He could cost himself millions?! You can always go back to college. You can't always be a number one pick. The majority of people who leave for the NFL or NBA early I think are making a mistake. If you're a running back and you know the best you will be will be a 5th or 6th round pick, then come back to college. But if you're a top ten pick, then go, take the money, and laugh all the way to the bank. If you really miss taking classwork, then go back to college after you retire. At least this way you will be always be able to take care of your family.

3. Have you seen the preview for Cowboys Vs. Aliens? It looks awesome!

4. I'm ready for new tv episodes to start again. Don't judge me. Whenever I ask someone what are some of their favorite tv shows and they say, "Oh, I don't really watch tv." I reply, "Oh, so you're a liar."