Records & Real Estate Podcast
Steaming Radiators and Synced Rhythms with Mary Beth Brennan
Ever wondered how the grit of Chicago's music scene mingles with the bricks and mortar of its real estate? Let me introduce you to Mary Beth Brennan from The Baby Magic, who's not only rocking the stage with her solo project Baggy Time but also mastering the quirks of condo management in Humboldt Park. She's our guest this week, and oh boy, does she have stories to tell—from harmonizing steam radiators to syncing security cameras, she's living the ultimate double life.
It's not all about the grind though; Mary Beth gets real personal, too. She takes us on her journey from tenant to homeowner, unveiling the profound sense of place and purpose that comes with laying down roots. But it's not just homes and tunes; we also get philosophical about the people and things we depend on, drawing a surprising connection between a steadfast Toyota Corolla and the dependable pals who stick with us through thick and thin. It's a heartwarming reminder that some of the best parts of our lives are the ones that never let us down.
Wrapping up, we don't just stop at music and home life—Mary Beth gives us the lowdown on the local lore of Humboldt Park, where community still reigns supreme amongst the rising cookie-cutter mansions. And for a fun spin, we envision what it's like to dream big, touching on those life goals that stretch from wanting a simple, stable place to live all the way to the indulgence of an indoor pool. Tune in for laughs, lessons, and a little slice of life from Chicago's very own Mary Beth Brennan.
Have someone you think should be a guest on this podcast? Let us know! Email your suggestions over to: karen.sandvoss@berealtygroup.com, andrew.wendt@berealtygroup.com
Connect with Karen and Andrew at Be Realty: Be Realty Group
Email the Show: karen.sandvoss@berealtygroup.com
Guest: Mary Beth Brennan
Link: That's What They Say - The Baby Magic
Link: Band Camp - The Baby Magic
Link: Poetry Foundation - Charles Bukowski
Link: Humboldt Park
Link: Humboldt (Alexander Von) Park
Link: Humboldt Park (Choose Chicago)
Link: Logan Arcade
Ever wondered how the grit of Chicago's music scene mingles with the bricks and mortar of its real estate? Let me introduce you to Mary Beth Brennan from The Baby Magic, who's not only rocking the stage with her solo project Baggy Time but also mastering the quirks of condo management in Humboldt Park. She's our guest this week, and oh boy, does she have stories to tell—from harmonizing steam radiators to syncing security cameras, she's living the ultimate double life.
It's not all about the grind though; Mary Beth gets real personal, too. She takes us on her journey from tenant to homeowner, unveiling the profound sense of place and purpose that comes with laying down roots. But it's not just homes and tunes; we also get philosophical about the people and things we depend on, drawing a surprising connection between a steadfast Toyota Corolla and the dependable pals who stick with us through thick and thin. It's a heartwarming reminder that some of the best parts of our lives are the ones that never let us down.
Wrapping up, we don't just stop at music and home life—Mary Beth gives us the lowdown on the local lore of Humboldt Park, where community still reigns supreme amongst the rising cookie-cutter mansions. And for a fun spin, we envision what it's like to dream big, touching on those life goals that stretch from wanting a simple, stable place to live all the way to the indulgence of an indoor pool. Tune in for laughs, lessons, and a little slice of life from Chicago's very own Mary Beth Brennan.
Have someone you think should be a guest on this podcast? Let us know! Email your suggestions over to: karen.sandvoss@berealtygroup.com, andrew.wendt@berealtygroup.com
Connect with Karen and Andrew at Be Realty: Be Realty Group
Email the Show: karen.sandvoss@berealtygroup.com
Guest: Mary Beth Brennan
Link: That's What They Say - The Baby Magic
Link: Band Camp - The Baby Magic
Link: Poetry Foundation - Charles Bukowski
Link: Humboldt Park
Link: Humboldt (Alexander Von) Park
Link: Humboldt Park (Choose Chicago)
Link: Logan Arcade
Welcome to Records in Real Estate, a podcast about well records and real estates. You'll be entertained and informed as we explore the intersection of these two worlds through interviews with Chicago's most interesting and successful people from both industries.
Speaker 2:That was Andrew Wendt and I'm Karen Sanvoss. We are Chicago Real Estate Brokers, property Managers, avid Music Lovers and your hosts of Records in Real Estate. Andrew yes, karen, hi, hi. Guess who we had on today, who? Mary Beth Brennan.
Speaker 1:Mary Beth Brennan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, from the Baby.
Speaker 1:Magic From the Baby Magic and good friends with our friends Grant and Jennifer Mm-hmm From Bucket of Blood, bucket of Blood Record Store and yeah, it was a lively conversation. Yeah, it was a hoot, a hoot and a half so funny. Yeah, lots of good talk about music, mm-hmm, and horror stories about her condo or slash apartment building.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was interesting because you could tell that she just loved the whole thing of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Even though it was horror stories about all the things that go wrong when you own your own property.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Or can go wrong. That can go wrong when you're in a small condo building that's self-managed, I mean that's challenging.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot to it.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's challenging if you're in a high rise, as you well know. Yeah, you know, you even have people on, you have an official board and all of that. It's hard to get things done. But yeah. Yeah, it was a fun conversation and we're excited for you guys to hear them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you want to just jump in, I think, so let's do it.
Speaker 1:Well, we're here today with Mary Beth Brennan.
Speaker 3:Yeah, got it Very good.
Speaker 2:Nailed it.
Speaker 1:Mary Beth has been a Chicagoan for 20 plus years. She's had a band that is well and around Chicago for that much time as well. It's currently called the Baby Magic.
Speaker 2:Very good.
Speaker 1:What else can I say about you? You have some dealings with real estate, sort of on the property management side. You also have a longstanding relationship with your kind of Minium Association and Humboldt Park.
Speaker 2:I drum for fun with my buddy Jeff.
Speaker 1:You drum for fun.
Speaker 2:I drum for fun. Okay, I hate drumming at gigs, but you know what I'm not going to leave a closed door in that. I love drums, nice, I love electric drums, I love all types of drums.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 2:I'm not into bongos, but I just cause they hurt. That is the only drum I don't like to play. I love drums.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you'll do a jembe but not a bongo. No, I'll do anything. I'll do anything, I'll just hurt after a while, whereas drumming with sticks it's a different kind of paying. But I love drums, nice, I love them, and I also have had, and continue for the rest of my life will always be baggy time as my solo project.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Which I haven't played in a year. But doesn't mean it's not going to make comeback and it's going to have a really dumb format. It's called baggy time Baggy time.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:I do a lot of open mics, so some people know me as baggy time.
Speaker 1:Is that a comedy gig or is it like a it?
Speaker 2:could be comedy. Sometimes, if people are talking to me, it's baggy time, might just yell at you, so it's like yeah. Sometimes, baggy time will take off all their clothes, get some trouble.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Are we going to talk to baggy time tonight? Well, baggy time jumps in and out. Okay, you can tell by the attitude. But yeah, so I haven't done a lot of open mics, but I definitely want to hit back the open mics.
Speaker 1:How does your partner feel about baggy time? Because I know about how my wife feels about my alter egos.
Speaker 2:It's still a part of me. It's just like you know. You got a baggy time just doesn't deal with your shit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, right.
Speaker 2:But that's okay because Marybeth has a self respect problem, whereas baggy time is very in charge there you go.
Speaker 1:That's what alter egos usually are really good at is, like you know, putting aside any of your sort of fears or, you know, your insecurities, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Did you used to live in New York? Is that what you told me earlier?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was born in Brooklyn, moved to Long Island when I was seven. Okay, but Long Island's long. For anyone that knows. It's based of two counties. Nassau County is the one right next to Queens, where I'm from and then that's. Suffolk County is just that long distance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's out there. Yeah, I have cousins that live in Long Island, in Seville.
Speaker 2:Seville, yes you know Seville. I know of Seville. All right, it's out there.
Speaker 1:Listen, you were like a center cut guest for us, because you kind of hit the real estate world and the music world and we're delighted to have you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1:Finally.
Speaker 2:I've been listening to the podcast. I was like, oh, I can't wait, this is amazing.
Speaker 1:I've done both, I think, but I'm not successful either.
Speaker 2:So I want to, you know, inspire some people to hopefully buy a dumb property that don't know anything. Yeah, because I've learned so much about something I never thought I learned about. So, don't be too scared.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tell us about that. Is this your condo you're talking about?
Speaker 2:I love the way you call it a condo. It is an apartment with one bathroom. It's 660 square feet and God say I've had every problem roof boiler everything enemies mean people. I've been attacked. We just got security cameras. That's nice. I could talk about steam radiators. Oh my God, steam teeth.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Nobody knows a thing about it.
Speaker 3:I might be one of your biggest experts and I still don't know a thing about it.
Speaker 2:You really got to play with those things. And boy, they give you heat. Yeah, they do, and they take forever to turn on and off and I drain the boiler every week.
Speaker 3:Nice Good for you, yes.
Speaker 1:So, are you?
Speaker 2:Because I don't trust anyone else to do it.
Speaker 1:So you have two neighbors, is it a?
Speaker 2:No, I got it's a six unit building. I'm the treasurer. I was also the treasurer in high school. I don't know if he was as trust me.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's just, I just.
Speaker 1:Is it because your alter ego comes out?
Speaker 2:No, no, there's no real alter ego here. I used to be so scared and now I'm not scared.
Speaker 1:I think you've seen it all.
Speaker 3:Oh my.
Speaker 2:God, my roof is leaking. Oh my God, there's a hole in the roof. And now I'm like, all right, let's just move forward.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's all about moving forward. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:There's six unit building. Yeah, let's talk about music first.
Speaker 3:Okay, can.
Speaker 2:I even talk about something else first. Yeah, I was also the treasurer in high school. Oh nice yeah yeah. Nice.
Speaker 3:Wow yeah we're on a roll.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great Nice. Yeah, let's talk about. I like getting involved.
Speaker 2:I wasn't a very good student, but I knew I would get involved with sports, music and everything else.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Did you, did you play music in high school?
Speaker 2:Yes, I played the alto sax and then I switched to the tuba. Okay, because I needed tuba players and I love brass.
Speaker 1:Nice and is that kind of where you sort of started cutting your musical chops.
Speaker 2:With music. I sucked at the alto sax forever. And then there was this guy, this music director, and he just knew I'll pump you up Sometimes you want to play any music. I just thought it was really cool. He just knew how to recruit people for the marching band high school, but he played the alto sax, Okay. And then I went to high school and all of a sudden, this guy. I wanted to impress him. So I like really started practicing.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I got to be a really good. I went from last chair to second chair, but sometimes first. The only reason is cause. The first one was a prodigy and he went to this like Manhattan every day, to like go to a special music school. So like when he came in, he was first chair.
Speaker 1:I see, I see.
Speaker 2:So he pumped me up and then I was like, okay, I'm kind of bored of, I want to, like, learn another instrument. So I switched to tuba, which is super easy to learn compared to the saxophone Really. Oh well, saxophone, you know, it gets really hard.
Speaker 2:We did tower of power, which is like you know like lay and stuff like that and you have to memorize everything too. Yeah, tubas, you're playing the bass kind of like. It's not easy once you get the breathing down. But it was hard to transfer the notes, cause once you already know the notes and one, it's hard to reread it. So I just would write down one, three, one, two. You see the fingers like a trumpet.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then if it was high, you breathe tighter. It was low, very looser, and I was like this will probably give me a college scholarship, right. Was it a different clef that you were reading in yeah, very good word, yeah. That's the word I was supposed to use.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Was it a nice or was it a different? It's just, it's just different, like it just all looks different. Yes, people know how to do that. To transpose Took me a while to learn how to read. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know it's not. It's not, I wasn't going to adjust again.
Speaker 2:I got so good at the alto sax, Like you know, I was like, oh, this part of the journey, yeah. But I'm very good at cheating. I'm very good at even like when I play the baby magic. You look at my sense, You'll see some cheat notes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, all right, tell us about that. How do you, how do you cheat when you're?
Speaker 2:playing with the baby magic. If I feel insecure in any way, I'll write it down. If I have it there. I'll know it's there. I'm like A, d, g, c.
Speaker 3:That's my chorus.
Speaker 2:let's say and that will, and then I come in with G and A and then I go back to the other one and then I finish with F, c and B. Boom, that's the song written down.
Speaker 1:That's, I think, a bass synth.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't need. We don't have room for a bass player.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:We don't have any room at all in the car for a bass player.
Speaker 3:Right, right, being a three piece was hard enough, yeah.
Speaker 2:Two pieces way easier. I'm like I don't want a third piece again. That was somewhat comfortable.
Speaker 1:Right, you kind of have spots for your gear.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't know how these big bands do it. It's hard enough scheduling.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So when do you guys play?
Speaker 2:Where do we practice?
Speaker 1:I mean like, where do you play gigs in Chicago?
Speaker 2:Our last gig was at the empty bottle, Nice, which they dig their sound. I mean we played almost anywhere. I mean we're whores and we've been in the city for a long time. Sometimes we play a lot, sometimes we don't.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Where didn't we play? We never played Park West, we never played the Metro.
Speaker 1:Okay, we never played the beat kitchen. Yes, many times Karen and I went to a show it was called a doom gaze show at the Doom gaze.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a genre we hadn't heard of before.
Speaker 1:Amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was really good. What do you have on a venue that you aspire to play Anywhere that will have me, that will have good sound and a good crowd? I don't really care where I play. Yeah, I really don't. It's nice to see the name lights, but sometimes you play I mean, some people play in a big venue I just it's the people being there in the right crowd. Great, that's all that really matters. Yeah, and I love when I go to a show. My favorite show has like maybe 30 people Like some of those shows like I love going like hardcore show and like just having the best time stuff I don't actually listen to, but the shows I like going to are people.
Speaker 2:You know, real feisty, but still have the love, still have the respect. You know, you just respect that you're ah yeah, but yeah, I would aspire it. There's no limit. You know I'm not like hey, there's 500 people that I'm too scared to play. No, I don't have that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Like let's go. Let's do that.
Speaker 2:I just want the band I want to play with, like if I'm an opener, to have their crowd not hate me for not being their favorite band, or whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's all.
Speaker 2:I just want people to have fun.
Speaker 1:You have a bandmate. What's their name?
Speaker 2:Beck and Nisbett.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned when we were chatting before that she now lives in Arkansas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's from Arkansas. Real fun. When we first started our meeting we found out we both have head injuries. We're head injury buddies. We're like same age, we both fractured our skull around the same age.
Speaker 1:Wow, what age was that? What difference is I got?
Speaker 2:money for it. She didn't. What age was that? Um, that age was five. Hmm, five and a half, you know how you count your halves.
Speaker 3:Of course, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, she's a bit younger, but I think it happened around those same years and she's from there and she moved back during COVID and she's like I understand, if you want to replace me, I was like no, we just recorded an album. Like you're, she's a go getter, like she can drive, that's what? Oh, that's a good thing.
Speaker 3:Someone who's like a car to drive a long time.
Speaker 2:She's a truck driver and a graphic designer. Yeah, I love her.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 2:And she's gay too, so we're like total bros.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like. We're not like gay and into each other.
Speaker 1:We're gay and like not into each other, right, right, and you're starting to play a little bit then, yeah, we play, um, we don't.
Speaker 2:We went on a tour and you know I go down there. We work on some songs and it's great cause she has had a house in Roscoe village. Property taxes were too high. Ooh, getting into the real estate and uh teaser, and then uh, yeah, and then we uh, and then she was in Arkansas another beautiful house. I mean, she is so talented, Like she's like I want to learn everything.
Speaker 2:She doesn't hire a plumber, she is the plumber. She just uses YouTube. She's just such a great bandmate, like on her last tour. Oh, we're in Minneapolis and the battery's just out. Yeah, what do we do? Luckily, we're across the street from the Nards. Real shady hotel and uh, but she just totally did it. I was like wow, Wow, I, that's the person you want. I didn't know how great being a fem in the band felt. You know, like she's got.
Speaker 2:She's like totally anammo, Like, do you need a drink? You know like I'm so glad you're doing that. Thank you, but you know, I just I just I just never knew somebody like her existed. She's like the dream I never knew.
Speaker 1:Nice, how long you guys have been playing together.
Speaker 2:We've been playing together a while now. Hmm, hmm, I'm just getting a whole different members and I'm just. Timing is a big curse of mine. Everything's like always been rough. I've always had a restart. It's like I become the president after a really bad president every time, cause you gotta like you get a new drummer and you gotta like work at it again.
Speaker 3:And then.
Speaker 2:So this album we recorded. It was like already pretty much done. But then two of the people quit in the band and I was lost. But I knew I needed to say in the baby magic, no matter what it took. I was asking people around the city it was like hey, you want to be a fill in sometime.
Speaker 3:You know it was.
Speaker 2:It was real pathetic, it was really. It was really sad. I felt like a mood chair or something. But so it's been like five years. Okay, I would say that's great. Where did the name come from? My old guitarist, patrick? We were coming up with names, cause at first we were the Fox, then we were Firecotch, and then I moved to LA for a little bit and then I came back and I'm like I want to really work on this project.
Speaker 2:So then we got a drummer and it used to be just a acoustic guitar and me like like it's anywhere I want we're not going to practice and there's great job. But and then I was like let's take this seriously. So I went and he was working at Pop Alley at the time. I dressed up in the suit, I had the band name and I walked. I was like no, I'm not taking, I'm walking to Pop Alley in this suit. And I went to his work and I go, I got the name and he's like what is it? And I was like please don't hate us. And then he just thought it was too apologetic. I still like it, cause I am definitely. You know people, pleaser.
Speaker 3:I want to feel like.
Speaker 2:I am apologetic all the time. I'm sorry. You know like it's that whole woman thing. It's real and he came up with the baby magic.
Speaker 2:And it was baby magic at first, but it was too close to other things, obviously, and the dove really sets it apart and gotta say it works, Cause this is like a rebirth we're going through right now. It's fun. I've never truly grown up and it's. It's works with a lot of art and it makes you think it's happy. Yeah, it is upbeat. I hate taking myself seriously, so love it. It's a good label for the band. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I watched your music video of your your most recent music video. What's the name of the song?
Speaker 2:That's what they say, that's what they say.
Speaker 1:It was very, very uplifting, it seemed, and didn't take itself too seriously.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, I just thought it'd be funny if, like, we were a bunch of mimes. Yeah, cause mimes can't talk.
Speaker 1:But they can sing.
Speaker 2:Everything's. That's what they say to them. That actually, if you notice in the, the rule to the music videos never to get us talking.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:So if you notice, if you want to look at it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll look at it again with the fresh, fresh eyes.
Speaker 2:You won't see anyone move in their mouth too much, all right, unless they're going you know, like a, like a mind. Yeah, yeah, as mimes do, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like who else do you need to get involved, or did you need anybody else involved to shoot the music video?
Speaker 2:That one was all on my iPhone and I just I had time with Becca and Arkansas, so it's half filmed in Little Rock and her house and then half with me up here. I just like had my fiance, like how old the camera. I'm going to do this so I get credit out there. She's a great cinematographer, so that's great, that's good. And then so I just had the idea and I just did it over, cause I like a lot of locations.
Speaker 3:So I'm like, ooh, there's an elevator, let's go.
Speaker 2:So I like using everything. And then I'm on a pinball team called the bad news babes, and someone on it is actually a professional editor. I mean like she's one of Emmy, like she does it for a living.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:So, so, uh, yeah, she did that and also our last video for it called perfect girlfriend, which is like a lyric video, and she did that whole thing there. So Wow, yeah. And then before that I used to use my buddy from Columbia college, derek Quinn. He does a lot. He's done all of our other music videos before Nice. All for free, wow, all all so much fun, yeah, and mostly his ideas. But that's what they say. I have to say I think it's my director. That's all me Like. That was Nice. Is that your directorial debut?
Speaker 1:That's a tough 40-second. Yeah, I wouldn't say debut.
Speaker 2:I make a lot of crap that's fun to watch, that no one cares about, but so it's all good. It's all good, it really is.
Speaker 1:Please don't hate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, please don't hate it. Nice. Yeah, I'm just not good at being an internet whore in which I really need to start doing. I'm just. I mean, I love podcasts and this type of self-promotion, but I have trouble typing in self-promotion. It's hard, I really do. Jenny used to do it from Bucket of Blood Sure. I used to pay her something like can you make a post? I can't do it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:She's good at it.
Speaker 2:Oh, she's really good.
Speaker 1:They have a good social media presence.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's my. I'm a failure at that and I think it's a problem.
Speaker 1:Well, I found the video and it was really easy to find. It was just a couple of clicks from your Instagram page.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it wasn't in your face immediately, Like you didn't already know. You looked for it though. You looked yeah, yeah, but yeah whatever, I don't need to get down on myself. Am I your?
Speaker 1:target audience, you know, for the baby magic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Why not? Because I'm an audience.
Speaker 2:I never thought I mean, my target audience is a bunch of woman, a bizarre. But yeah, I would love for you to join See.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when's your next?
Speaker 2:Chicago gig. We're not whoring out too much, but hopefully we'll play at least twice a year in Chicago, maybe three times, maybe more.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:But where can they find you? We got an Instagram and a Facebook and other than that, I'll try to whore it out in other ways. You know I still hand out flyers.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:People were like you know, like whoa, I miss flyers. I was like why you miss flyers? It's bad, not paper goes back into the earth. I don't know one that spends the money at Cancun. That's right and it's a great. I believe in the flyer. I love the flyer. It's a great way to put your art in Love it.
Speaker 2:Do you have a full page flyer or a half a quarter page? I do 11 by 18, usually, and then I cut them up for the flyers I have in print and then I bother the person that's like, oh, you can do it yourself. I was like I'm going to need your help again. But, yeah, I never go. I'm not going to go to the Kinkos Saturday at 4 PM. I promise them, Like, go at weird times where they spend some time with you Because it's. Fedex Kinkos now.
Speaker 3:Yeah they got more stuff to do.
Speaker 1:They do have more stuff to do. It always seems like they have people standing around doing nothing, though, so yeah, that would be a great job, though that's the goal mine.
Speaker 2:If I'm standing around doing nothing, no printing whatever you want for free.
Speaker 3:Oh nice.
Speaker 2:Like working the graveyard shift at.
Speaker 3:Kinkos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can print your own books. That could happen, man, you can make that happen. No, not that they're joined with FedEx. I won't touch it.
Speaker 1:You're a UPS gal.
Speaker 2:No, no, my partner actually works for FedEx, but I know how hard the job is.
Speaker 1:It's a very hard job. God, it's your only one, I'll let her do it. Yeah Well, maybe she can print your book.
Speaker 2:No, no, she hasn't worked in the, she works out. You know, she works in the really Gotcha, the big places that you, the facility, the facility. You know the words I got good words.
Speaker 1:Hey, we're in real estate. Yes, that's me. We know real estate words.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I knew Clef too. I'm two for two, you're two for two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, where do you like to watch music? Like, do you have a specific place where you're like you know, like you know the amped up music you were talking about before, oh, I mean yeah.
Speaker 2:And I haven't been out in a bit, but I love a good house show.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think you have the best time. Sometimes it's a little intimidating playing a house show like because everyone's just so cool, but then I don't know, I feel like you become like a fun little family at the end, like a really good house show.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna. I've been to so many in Chicago and I played a lot and I gotta say what a great idea.
Speaker 1:You mean like literally a band that plays at a house, in a house. Yeah, yeah, oh my God. Basement show.
Speaker 2:I love a good basement show. I don't care how old I get.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'll be that person.
Speaker 1:Do people still do that? I mean, I'm just probably so out of touch that I don't know that. Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 2:I haven't been to one in a while.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But maybe I haven't been invited. See, I come off very preppy because I am a prep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they don't think it.
Speaker 2:But, I am very punk rock.
Speaker 1:And do you have that kind of? Fissureman sweater going on yeah, well, I like preps.
Speaker 2:I like preps Preppy's fun. I love buttons and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah. So you're a prep on the outside and a punk rock gal at heart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I depends. You know I can't be too punk rock because if somebody like I feel like I'm not, like if you use a straw and you crumple up into a ball and you leave it on the table, I'll just stare at it because it'll gross me out, because it'll remind me of a spit ball on a bus or something Like I have, like, very, I guess I have punk rock moments. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When are you drawn to write songs? Like you know, I always used to write when I was sad and then I was like I'm gonna write a happy song and it never happened. Do you have times and places or things that trigger you to be? Yeah, it can happen at any moment, but I used to wait tables forever or I wrote, you know, if I'm bartending it, so not at my current job, but other jobs that receipt paper Pss.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm, pss, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Start writing, and I've written a lot of songs.
Speaker 3:On the actual paper of receipts On the receipt paper.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's expensive paper.
Speaker 3:So let's not Mm-hmm, I hope this podcast doesn't get too big. You know I might owe some people some money.
Speaker 2:But yeah, a lot of just something hits and then sometimes, yeah, a song, I'll be on my catch, I'll be anywhere and a whole song will be written. Sometimes the ones, the best ones, I just write in one sitting, yeah, and have no edits.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then some songs I have to wait on, like I'll have one part and then I'll have another part, yeah. And then sometimes you know a bandmate will be like, ah, not too much, and then I'll sell it to them in a different way three months later.
Speaker 1:And I like that.
Speaker 2:I was like heh Heh. So you write all the parts for them, and then they come in and play your parts.
Speaker 1:No no.
Speaker 2:I write all the lyrics and sometimes, when I present the lyric in my rhythm in my head, like sometimes I'll for instance, I was with my ex-girlfriend. I was she was getting her hair cut at Goldenbrade this is a long time ago and I was like sure, I'll wait in the chair while you get, and I'm all, like you know, hung over and there's a bunch of kids around and I was like, please excuse my breath, I'm off today, you know, and I'm doing it like that, acting like an outsider, like everyone's getting fresh, and I just want a drink and I don't care if I smell like it. Yeah, it's my day off. And I called that song Frank Sinatra. Don't worry, I hate Frank Sinatra, but I was singing like Frank Sinatra, you know. Boom, blah, blah, blah, you know. And then so I called it Frank so I could remember that, yeah, but then I just sped it up. It kind of sounded like a prom song almost, so it becomes something.
Speaker 2:So sometimes I'll write in the rhythm of a song I heard and sometimes it'll just come to me and I'll write it and I'll label it with the rhythm I heard it to. But usually when the song's made like, everything gets lost, you know, but sometimes it helps me, like keep it, yeah, but usually any song I wrote with rhythm has completely changed, like the birth of a song to the end, yeah, the final version. But the version of sometimes a baggy time song becomes a baby magic song. So on our last album, rough Dance, the girl the boys practice on is a total baggy time song. But I was like I don't know, I think it's pretty good and Becca's like I've always wanted to play it for the baby magic but like no, it's not really. And Becca's like we're playing that song, yeah, and then I recorded it. She's like I'm playing it just like you played it. So that's completely kind of written by me, except she does a killer song. Seattle guitar song.
Speaker 1:I'm rhythm, I can't, that's hard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, impressive Good thing she can yeah. The perfect bandmate yeah but no, I have time. I have books. So, like my the brain, I'll write anytime. I always usually carry something. I have notes on my phone. Although I do like pen and paper the best.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I like writing it down. My old server books are full of stupid songs. Nice, Some are gold, some aren't.
Speaker 1:but yeah, do you ever go back and look at some of the things that are written in the book?
Speaker 2:Sometimes. But yeah, I do write a lot, it's not. It's something like if I never come up with a good idea again or an idea. Let's say I got tons of old brain. Yeah, all over the file I have books and some of them I think I'm like oh my God, this poor girl, what the hell.
Speaker 1:What was she thinking?
Speaker 2:Oh, my God, she's so wasted. Look at this handwriting what were you drinking? I could tell. I could almost tell like ooh, I'm coked up or a crystal mat.
Speaker 1:This is some neat handwriting.
Speaker 2:And then sometimes I'm like oh, I was smoking some weed.
Speaker 3:That's crazy.
Speaker 2:I like writing on planes a lot too.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:Like being, I still go to New York all the time with my family still there. So I'm on the plane a lot and it puts me in a place because everyone feels alone on a plane.
Speaker 3:Right, right right.
Speaker 2:But also there's something very together about it and it really. And then if you buy the window seat and you're like, who lives there, who lives in that square looking spot, yeah, it gets you thinking.
Speaker 1:I wrote a poem. I used to write poems in college and I wrote a poem called the plane was called Big Ed and I was on my way to Las Vegas. And I wrote a poem called a seat near the wing on Big Ed.
Speaker 2:So like I've looked out that window, why did you name the plane Big Ed?
Speaker 1:I didn't name the plane Big Ed. The name was like on the plane itself. What kind of plane?
Speaker 2:were you.
Speaker 1:It was a passenger plane.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I mean, does American Airlines have a little name? Do they name, you know?
Speaker 1:I've never seen that, ever again.
Speaker 2:But this plane when you're getting on the plane we can hold World War II?
Speaker 1:No Boeing 787, whatever the fuck. It was Big Ed. But it had right by the door the entrance and the plane. It had Big Ed in quotations. I love that. I assume that was the name of the plane.
Speaker 2:It inspired. You yeah. I love that yeah, they should bring that back Probably some executive was like you know what. We need to stop putting the names on. Can't name your plane in your art.
Speaker 1:Or maybe that particular plane was named for an executive.
Speaker 2:Oh, maybe he was Big Ed. He passed away and they named him. Yep, okay, I like that You're such a silver lining guy.
Speaker 1:I love riding on planes. I often, you know, if my life had gone differently, I would definitely aspire to be, you know, like Charles Bukowski, just a barfly riding poetry on napkins.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean Charles Bukowski. I didn't get angry like why'd that woman turn me down?
Speaker 3:That bitch.
Speaker 2:There's some fucking wrong with her. All these woman fuck bitches. I can't believe they can fucking drink in a bar. You know what I'll do? Okay, I'll put it right here. I'll put it right here. I'll tell you how much I hate this person. Kurt walking in like he deserves some fucker. I did Baggy Time, did open for Charles Bukowski play. It was really fun, oh wow. Yeah, I acted like a retired cop and like it was. It was really. It was really, really fun and that's basically what I gathered from the play, but it was really good Is that he's a great writer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that he was. He was an angry sort of master.
Speaker 2:Drinking can put you in a place. I mean, we can all hate what we love sometimes. Maybe, you know, he didn't want to be better, but he wanted the best from someone else. Yeah, I don't know. I don't read them. I just opened for Charles. Bukowski plays and I know, the guys in college like, oh, I love Bukowski. And I was like then I started looking out for guys that like really love Bukowski and take him seriously Like what's not to take seriously but I kind of want to be like him.
Speaker 1:Not that you're one of these guys, no, no definitely not but I was like huh something about it. He just came to mind because he sits in bars and writes on napkins, that's all.
Speaker 2:I've sat in bars and I'm good at school supplies. There you go, I bring my own. You know that's annoying about phones, though Everything's on the phone. I miss because I used to always have a book and sometimes, if I'm on the plane, of course, have a book, but I used to always carry a notebook. It's more fun to write in a notebook than it is, yeah you look like a secret agent. Sometimes yeah Like oh is she?
Speaker 2:a reviewer of the bar. Maybe we should be extra nights. So you're an egg foam drink. Now we're all reviewers of bars and no one really cares.
Speaker 1:That's so many reviews of bars.
Speaker 2:Keep on reviewing. Oh, musical influences. I wanted to ask you about that, listening to the album that you dropped off, I got the CD version and you've got only because, I listened to the podcast and you said you didn't have a record. It's so great because I don't, and now I can actually listen to. So I don't want people thinking I wasn't going to give you some vinyl. I asked Andrew earlier today if you had a CD player.
Speaker 1:Where the fuck is my vinyl.
Speaker 2:What about me? I don't get vinyl. Well, he says you got a record player at work and you got a, and he's got a record player at home. So it's beautiful out of the two of you you got you don't need to get vinyl. It's an expensive habit.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, that's why I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it.
Speaker 2:I'm not going there, but I will be on a podcast called Records and Real Estate. Well, you know shame.
Speaker 2:I thought that was awesome. Yeah, don't be ashamed of it, I was. I just wanted to drop off some merch for you. I loved it so well. So that particular album and some of your other songs, I had my own thoughts about what might be influencing you and I would love to hear, like artists that you, you know, have loved and admired and and maybe they leak into your creativity, oh, absolutely, yeah, um, artists that really spiked me. I was late to love. I don't really understand it. Like, yeah, a lot of love out there and break up songs, even even with the hippest bands around, but they might be giants, hit my soul.
Speaker 2:Because I was like wait, I can write about anything. Yeah like maybe I can on the street.
Speaker 3:Sure yeah.
Speaker 2:Let me know that music is for everyone and you do whatever you want to do, yeah. And so that like kind of got me going. That's nice, yeah. And then modest mouse, like oh my God, late 90s, or like 2000, modest mouse, such one of the best lyricists ever Sure, and I was obsessed with them because you drive and this is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about. It's one of the best album titles ever.
Speaker 2:And and he's just, he's a good. He's a good rambler, he knows, he knows how to open up your mind and he's really great guitarist and easy to listen to. So those were definitely two very different, but also letting you know to do whatever you want. Yeah, I like that. What about? Because when I listened to some of it it immediately invokes, like an 80s synth pop, especially Gary Newman. Are you really, do you know Gary Newman? I know he is, but no, I now I got a list. Oh my God.
Speaker 1:Oh my.
Speaker 2:God, it just like it oozed that sort of cool dark, dark wave vibe to me. Yeah, I love synthesizer. Yeah, I love like Madonna, I love Madonna, I also a lot of. It is actually very four seasons. You might not see it, but if I dance a lot, ok, I'm a big party animal, just I could, I could see that. And oh, it's starting to show.
Speaker 3:Oh no, it's coming through. It's coming through.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but like I, like you know other pops and the locks and their discipline and control, and I love the synthesizer is just so awesome Because I I am an entertainer, I'm not really a musician. I look at it like that. So I say, by an expensive synthesizer, put on a credit card, press a note, it's going to sound good. You press too many notes on the synthesizer, it sounds a little clunky, yep, but like you know, borderline, listen to that, it's great, it's fantastic.
Speaker 3:And she's.
Speaker 2:We have similar ranges.
Speaker 3:So that's interesting, you know.
Speaker 2:I'll have to. I love 80s, 90s. You know it's hard to find out what I don't love. Ok, yeah, well, give a give another go around to Gary Newman, because it just that's what stuck to me. But sometimes you just got to do what you're good at. Yeah, that's why I like to play guitar, just in case I won't have a guitarist, like in case everyone something happens.
Speaker 3:Right, but when like I'm here.
Speaker 2:I'll show. Are you always playing guitar and singing? Are you the front person? What are you? I'm the front woman. Ok, I'm the front person. Front woman, I'm front and, but I'm not as center, because I started playing the synth and actually kind of like it, but I also don't like to play it all the time, so I like to strict you if you really want to get around on stage, true, but also there's not always a lot of room to dance, a lot of venues and do what I really want to do.
Speaker 2:Also, if I play a big song and I'm dancing, I'm jumping around, oh great, the synth is my next song. So like you, know it does give you a little break. I try to like if I know I'm going to go on tour, I try to like run in place and sing my whole set. I want to make sure I can do it, oh wow.
Speaker 2:I like to be athletic on stage, I like to like really bring it. But also playing the synth, let you be a part of the music of it and it does feel good. If I do it a lot, I actually really enjoy doing it. I am so confident I'm not even looking at my cheat sheet by the end of anything. If I'm well practiced, yeah, but I definitely want to make sure I I don't always do it. And let's say, if we did take off World Tour, I'm getting a synth player.
Speaker 3:Right yeah, if I, if I had enough room in the band. Yep.
Speaker 2:And somebody really wanted to, and you find the right personalities and someone that wants to and has the time, because time is more expensive than money you know whatever. Right, and so it's. It's hard to find commitment on levels, and I don't constantly want to replace people. I fall in love with people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's stuff.
Speaker 2:It's a breakup when someone's like I can't do the band.
Speaker 3:I get sad. Yeah, it is sad.
Speaker 2:And kicking people out. Oh my God, I don't like to do that. Yeah, but I'll do it if I got it.
Speaker 1:Do you have any like present hopes for the band?
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, Honestly, I really like having it. Like some people like he's sure it's never gonna mount anything. You know people like don't put too much into this band. I was like, okay, let's say, if poker was my hobby and I did it all the time you want to frown upon that?
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:It's like why can't I do something like this? Don't get too attached to cards, yeah, yeah. It's just like I don't understand, Like it could be a hobby that takes off if I got to put everything into it and everyone else could.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:But I accept that it's a very strong hobby that I need to tour. I would love to like world tour, of course, europe. I'd love to play in Japan, that's the ultimate. If I played in Japan and I had a good show couple shows I could be like.
Speaker 1:You know what I went to the highest of this. I went to it.
Speaker 2:That's it. Maybe I might be passing, but I'm not passing yet I will know if. I'm ever passing. But, it's also too much fun, I like it. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3:It's a big party, shows are fun.
Speaker 2:It's cool to hear you say that why not? What's it hurt? What's it hurt? Well, I think a lot of people get to that point where, I don't know, they have these dreams and aspirations of other things, and then life gets in the way. But music, if you really have a passion for it, it can morph into anything. And it's just that. I mean, you were a tuba player, now you're a lead singer in a band. Who knows what's next?
Speaker 3:It's like through lines If.
Speaker 2:I was let's say, an actor and things weren't working out. But that was my goal in life and I was like you know what, I'm not going to be romantically. I'm going to give up on that Because I wanted to be romantically and Leo did all that and all these other actors do it. Now I'm getting too old or something that would make sense. But music is just so endless and I don't see the reason to quit, unless I just didn't want to do it, because I never thought in the first place I'd be successful in music. I just thought it would be really fun to play a show.
Speaker 2:And it is and it always is, so I don't if. That's why I was always in it. I think it's really cool to make a music video and see it. I think it's really cool to talk on a podcast about yourself. Come on, if I was just doing all those regular things, you wouldn't have me in here today, right? Probably not, exactly. I just I think it's a lot of fun when people dance to your music. Oh my God, everyone knows a song and they sing it back. Yeah, I think I'm a bigger fan than them of them.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm like what's your name? Oh my God, thank you so much. I just I just don't see what the problem is because I never got into it thinking I, I never thought. My mom always don't sing. You're horrible. I was a horrible singer. I learned how to sing. I learned it. I was. There was no way in hell. I was not a natural. Yeah, the only thing I was a natural at was going crazy at a party.
Speaker 3:So it's a good foundation yeah.
Speaker 2:If you turn that to being on stage, people have no problem with you being a party animal.
Speaker 3:Right, right.
Speaker 2:And I think that's something that you really can't learn Like if you're just naturally just exuberant on stage, that's something that's not a lot of people are able to do. You can always learn an instrument.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you can't learn that you can go to a general workout. Why not just work out on stage in front of everyone? Yeah, because I have so much energy sometimes and I don't know where to put it and I'm such an intense person that it works out perfectly that you could do this stuff at a show. That's exactly what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to give them everything, and it's the one place I can really give everything I am, and it's totally where it's supposed to be. So it just lines up, it just works out for me. It's healthy in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I love it. That's great. It's a great place to take a little bit of break and we'll come back and talk real estate in Chicago.
Speaker 2:Love it Rock in real estate. Let's go Woo Yo, Andrew.
Speaker 1:Hey Karen.
Speaker 2:Hey, do you have something that you want to share with the group?
Speaker 1:Yeah, are you talking about a?
Speaker 3:record of the week. A record of the week, a record of the week. A record of the week, a record of the week I have a band.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do you got?
Speaker 1:It's called Water From your Eyes, okay, and the album is. Their new album is called Everyone's Crushed.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:They are. I guess you would call them a pop duo. I'm looking I did, you know, google search for them today just to get a little bit of you know background, but I don't know. I found this band because I did sort of an enhanced playlist off of Spotify and they recommended this band and they're really, really talented. They're Brooklyn Duo, and the preamble to this review, pitchfork review, is really amazing. So I'll just read it the Brooklyn Duo's Logic Define new album Threads, anti-capitalist Critique, stoner Humor and a hazy undercurrent of fatalism into art pop.
Speaker 1:So mesmerizing. It'll give you a contact tie and Kat Zhang wrote that for pitchfork, you know, as a preamble to the review of their new album called Everyone's Crushed, and it just, I don't know how to describe it. It's just like it's really different. It's different, more different than anything I've really ever listened to. Wow, it just has this like kind of like baseline and then it, you know what's really interesting is, you know, in our conversation with Mary Beth she talks about how music can just be anything and this really, I think, just defines that, you know, in such a fun way that music can be anything. It just kind of has these baselines that are sort of driving and sort of just really in the background and then from there just really has both of just a lot of fun, both from a vocalist standpoint and other instruments that are playing. So I didn't really do a great job of describing it, but you gotta listen to it.
Speaker 2:You intrigued me enough with your description to be like wow, I mean, just yeah, I want to check it out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'll check it out, yeah.
Speaker 2:All right, great Well, thank you yeah.
Speaker 1:And we're back with Mary Beth Brennan.
Speaker 2:Yes, hello, hello. And so we're gonna go real estate side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's talk about some real estate stuff.
Speaker 2:Talking about the places in not-duster mind spaces.
Speaker 1:Is that an actual song? No, oh.
Speaker 2:It is not. It is not yeah.
Speaker 1:Let's see where should we start. So you have lived in Humboldt Park for a good long time.
Speaker 2:Compared to most 2009.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I moved back from LA.
Speaker 2:I was like you know, you really have to stop renting. You're just giving your money to people. And my boss at the time in Logan Square I worked at Fat Boys Ribshack. Her husband was a realtor, okay, and he's like I've got a spot for you. And then, I don't know, I was just so excited. I was like sure, I looked at it. I was like yeah, I'll take it. I didn't know like they could have like searched and maybe I was just like I don't want to put anyone out of their way, you know, and like I didn't know, like it just seemed like like, oh, this is the spot we found. I could have been like hey, can I see some other spaces?
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:But I just want to done. Yeah, well, honestly I gotta say I really there's a lot of problems and I've been through a lot of crap. Yeah and a lot of awful people. But there's something about this place I love it's on the top floor you know, and it's. This isn't an apartment people, this is just an apartment building, but it's west. My windows all face west and there's no building like higher for a while. It's all houses.
Speaker 2:So, I get a sunset, yeah, and that means the world to me. I have a back porch and we just redid our porch which is a war to get done, by the way but you own this place. I. Technically, the bank owns it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you're paying the mortgage though.
Speaker 2:Technically, my dad lives with me, okay, but I paid for it. I paid for it the whole time and I had to deal with a really rude developer. You know the type of guy that just calls you woman. Oh, wow, oh yeah, yeah like intact and everything, but it's all been bought out. He has no part of it.
Speaker 1:Did he for a while like longer than you anticipated.
Speaker 2:Cause I didn't know what to anticipate. I went in here blind.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I just heard my mom saying you gotta stop renting Right. Do you own the whole building or do you own your own? Condo Please please Thank you. No, your own unit. No, the tips weren't that good.
Speaker 1:Fat Willy looks like that and my head fracture.
Speaker 2:The money went to mostly a Toyota Corolla and like spending it on school and a couple good birthdays from it.
Speaker 1:Can I interject here?
Speaker 2:I also own a Toyota Corolla. I did Mine's wrecked, but Toyota Corolla three, you're smart because that's such a good car, yeah, yeah. So another thing.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying Another thing, that's the third thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my parents were just like you're buying our car from us with your suing money. I was like, okay, like another non. It's like, all right, let's go Sure, let's take your reliable car and spend money. I don't want to spend on it, but you know your parents are good parents will talk you into buying a sensible car.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Rather than the stupid car I probably would have bought, yeah, and then so you bought this place. I bought the place and I went into every single problem. You know, you name it. I've had fight. What am I? When I was a kid I saw this news story. Yeah, and they're like, oh, neighbors who hate each other and what they'll do. I was like that's the worst thing. I would hate to live next someone, next with people. I hate, oh boy Right.
Speaker 3:And then you did that. Did I know that'd?
Speaker 2:be my life. Wow, things die out. You know nothing. I mean, I have been like sort of assaulted and blocked in my left drive from not going to work because they had questions and someone memorized my schedule and knew when I left the house and totally interrogated me and just wouldn't let me leave and trap me. Sure, these things happened.
Speaker 1:This was a neighbor, yeah yeah, or in your building, in my building.
Speaker 2:yes, I don't know I won't name names, but also you know that's just one out of thousands of stories. I mean knocking on my door, just being like I've saved this person's life from killing themselves in the garage, and no thanks at all, because they probably don't remember. Um, ha, ha, ha, ha ha ha. But you know it's hard to prove mental illness Like. Some people are just like, yeah, a real Conti bitch asshole who says they want to punch you in the face because they're really tough from the South Side, yeah, um. And if someone says, oh, I know this, it just knows everything, it's just really frustrating.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But what I realized?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what have you learned?
Speaker 2:I learned that I love this person more than almost anyone.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because nobody made me read dumb documents and work so hard than this person. I have learned so much from this person's hate. I knew right away they hated gay people and they also hated women, like that internal woman that hates women Right. Like, oh, can you just have him do it in the building? I'm like, what are you talking about? Like he doesn't want to do it. He's like it's just. It's just like a woman can't do anything and like, but I've never. I've never learned so much. I like you don't really learn from people you love Learn from people you hate All the legalese
Speaker 3:of how to deal with and the shitty neighbors.
Speaker 2:I never thought I know about real estate law.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I never thought I'd read anything that had to do with it. I'm a kid for life no, not when it comes to this person. This person I am on top Cause they you know they people will throw things at you and say you're doing something wrong.
Speaker 2:Or like oh, that's tuck pointing you needed to get a permit. Oh, by the way, this is his person's voice in my head. Hmm, um, they probably sound exactly like that, but then I look, they'll look it up and like no, if the job's only under 50 square feet, you actually don't need to get a permit. That's a lie.
Speaker 2:You know, you look up things you just want to look up Like someone, and that's what I learned and I definitely think and I've dealt with weaking, I've dealt with horrible things I never thought I could handle and I used to be so scared all the time Like I don't know. They said this, and now there's a lawyer and they said that people just throw fire.
Speaker 1:Oh, all the time, but it's not hot All the time you know they don't got everything.
Speaker 2:They just want to scare you Cause they haven't read those things, they don't know what the hell they're talking about most of the time. And yeah, and don't listen to someone that just says, no, don't do that, because I did that once and it didn't really work out. Well find it out for yourself. Also, get so many estimates. Everyone gives you free estimates.
Speaker 3:Right and.
Speaker 2:I got to say 80% of the people I talked to during estimates. Some of them I've learned a lot from. Some people see things that other people don't see. Oh, the leak isn't coming from this brick, this window up here. You see, you just shut that. You need to get the window fixed. Oh my God.
Speaker 3:You just saved me.
Speaker 2:There's so many things you learn from different people all the time. Now I know about property Just by getting tons of estimates, dealing with a bunch of garbage people that will scare you and guess what, If I'm not in the entertainment world, if I can make money by entertainment, I will do it. That's the dream Any type of entertainment. But I love real estate because sometimes I show off property. What I love is showing off an apartment because I get to be a game show host. So I do have dreams of maybe being a realtor or maybe showing apartments. That's my. I would love to do that all day. Get in your game show host gear and this is your new living room. What would your game show host gear?
Speaker 2:Well, you get well, if you saw, I came in with a really nice coat that is like a blazer.
Speaker 2:I did Probably winter turtle necks, stuff like that. Oh, it's all preppy, don't come up with the whole tie. And I love this Leasy Carsman sales look. But you can't do too much. You got to be sensible. And I notice a lot of real estate people. They always look shiny and clean, too shiny, sometimes Too shiny, that's fine. I love trying too hard. Oh, you do, I love trying too hard. I think I'd make a great salesperson. I think it's the only thing outside like my big fun, money making, entertainment dreams. I just I think it's just a really fun showing someone an apartment and then we're like I'd love to live here. It's like you win you have to pay for it.
Speaker 2:Everybody would, but like I just think it's really fun to show people a life they want. You know I've dealt with. There is one apartment in the building that is my ex's unit that she bought after she bought another unit and I've helped people every single time someone went through a breakup. I call it the heartbreak hotel and this is the easiest unit to sell, because a lot of friends are like do you have a place to live? I'm like, yeah, I just have this unit available. It's not always available, but it's available today. And they're like I'll take it.
Speaker 2:Cause breakups you got. I did that. Yeah, I broke up with a long-term boyfriend and I had to move very quickly. Yeah, and I got a little tiny apartment for me and my two cats. Yes, you need a sensible, good cause. I'm not about I hate people that gouge people for rent. Yeah, I, you got a good renter. You don't raise that rent you keep that person right there.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And also people that overcharge can kiss my ass. Chicago is so cool because it has a very good bid section. Like you can make a reasonable amount of money, still get an appetizer and a dinner. Sometimes you have some drinks and you can live a good life. I think places like San Francisco I'm like good you. You should go down the way you gouged everyone Now everyone's homeless or everyone's rich. Your middle class is where where a good city comes in.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Chicago has that in spades. And that's and that's what I love. And I think people who overcharge tenants and raise rent every year, she really think about. You know if they're I'm not really scared of attorney, but sometimes being raised Catholic, I am think about it. There is one of my albums called Rent a Place in Hell. You might want to think about renting yourself, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a, it's, it's all. It's always a balance.
Speaker 2:Do you think about ever like purchasing more property so that you can be cause you have so much in institutional knowledge now you have so much knowledge about what it means to be a landlord and an owner and fixing all these crazy things that happen.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you seem to be kind of into it. Well, my partner, we're getting married in March.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so our next deal. Nice.
Speaker 2:Oh no, not partner fiance. It's such a cool term, Might as well use it while I can.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we want to definitely buy a house in the city. I don't, sorry, I'll wait it out. I'm not going to the suburbs, I am a city. No, yeah, I'm going to. Yeah, so we'll hopefully find something and maybe I'll go to Be Kind Realty or some other place. But yeah, I'm definitely looking, cause I hopefully don't need to rent a practice space anymore. I've been doing that forever. Oh yeah, shout out to Ryden Carroll, which is also a Franco Lloyd Wright building, believe it or not.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's the point. If you go outside you can see it, but I've been there forever. George never raises his rent. That's why everyone loves him. He's nice. And he has 24 hour security. But I would love to be able to play a drum set in my house, yeah. That is one of my goals and if I can get an indoor pool and hot tub, well, let's say I'm staying, Cause I went to the. I love going to the Sibiris and the indoor pool.
Speaker 1:That is just like. This is my new life now. This is my new goal.
Speaker 2:My new goal is indoor pool with the TV hot tub on the side and I get to play as much music in the house. Oh my God.
Speaker 1:You want to house with an indoor pool.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, if I'm going to live in Chicago, I mean I gotta be indoors. I love water aerobics. I think it's great and you drink some beer and you watch some.
Speaker 3:Get it all done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my wife likes water aerobics. She does handstands. She has really good handstands in the pool.
Speaker 2:Congratulations. Yeah, that's her big thing.
Speaker 1:She aspires for our children to be synchronized swimmers.
Speaker 2:That's no joke. Is it going to swim in this heart?
Speaker 1:They're not going to be.
Speaker 2:Oh, you, never. Now they will cause they're going to hear this podcast and be like fuck you.
Speaker 1:I am going to show you Would you keep your, your, your it is a condo.
Speaker 2:It is a trust. It's a condo. It's a condo, it's a condo. It technically is.
Speaker 1:I know you're apologizing for it, but it's a condo.
Speaker 2:No, I just want people to know that apartments, cause I remember people at Fat Willys who like oh so what's the apartment number? It's a condo, yeah, Okay. What is it Tubi? Yeah, it's like it's like okay.
Speaker 3:Like.
Speaker 2:I cause sometimes when you think condo and you're delivering, you're looking for a certain style of buildings that like have that streamline where it's just like yeah, yeah, it's apartment, yeah, it's technically a non-for-profit condo association. Right right right, it's the big stress wall that I never thought I'd learn from, and maybe I might rent it out. You should rent it out.
Speaker 3:She keeps on going. Yeah, I know, I should keep it.
Speaker 1:You've already been through the shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've already been through the shit I've already. You know I had to replace the back porch. I did no-transcript.
Speaker 3:Why did you have to do so much on?
Speaker 2:one condo when you live in a building, usually the association has people that handle that, no no, because you were on the board. No, we're self-managed. Oh you're self-managed. Got it Like let's say, if there is a big dead cat that's my downstairs neighbor, he's the dude that does that.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:I mean, I had a squirrel living inside my wall because he decides to feed squirrels one. So I was like, hey, let's not feed squirrels anymore. Guess what it was living in my wall. And they're like, no, not unless it's in your apartment. Can we do anything? You call these people. They're just going to use the trust. But if there's dead animals or animals that's someone else's.
Speaker 2:If there's a bunch of stupid crap to do, that's me, my ex-girlfriend. She's the president, she's very good at typing stuff. She does basically all the wording for everything, which is a big job, and I hate emails. But I'm calling people. Yeah, they don't know what I look like. I can act as sexy as I want. Hi, I'm looking for an estimate and they're like be right over here, I love playing the girl card.
Speaker 3:And then they come over.
Speaker 2:They see me like damn it, bounce will be nice Well you know whatever. It's, just the phone voice is fun. But I don't know anything. But I'd love if you could come by and give me an estimate and I pay you for what you're going to do for someone else, but it was my. My aluminum sign was a huge problem because we had a big hole in our. It was awful from a squirrel coming. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:Anyway, I had every problem, like it's, but you could. You could still do it, people. So I called Felco. I was like, oh, and they came out and they're like hey, listen, we can take care of this and we're going to do this, this and that. Months and months go by. Guys, stop talking to me. I already gave the down payment. They hide from me. They're like we can't do it, your building's too high. I was like, but I had people measure twice and blah, blah, blah, blah. And I, you know, I was like this is ridiculous, like we know it's ridiculous. I was like you suck. And then I look at the better business bureau. They're not on there. I thought Felco, just because the way they talked in the commercials they're huge yeah.
Speaker 2:Nope, they're not very good, they're good for, like, a smaller project. And then I called another company. Well, one's really good, one's really bad. So I can't really say and then they're like we can totally do it.
Speaker 3:No problem.
Speaker 2:And then they, they even drop off the supplies. I'm like it's happening. They're like can't do it, it's too high. I'm like someone measured and like we fired the guy that measured. I was like, and then like we need to pick up our equipment. I was like, well, I won't be home, I won't be. I wait for the equipment to get really rained on before they come back. And boy, they were rude. Some kid was blasting some stupid music. I was like, don't do that. And they picked up the equipment and I made sure that the guy. I was like, why can't you do it? It's like man, man, you're being a little rude. I go excuse me, miss. And he was like, oh, I was like, yeah, oh, man, me the death.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 3:I'm crazy Use my name.
Speaker 2:You know my name. It's probably written down on a screen. Look at it. It's hard for me to remember your name, but yeah, I talked to everyone from that company. And then, finally, some real, real superheroes came, and they did it in the middle of winter, on these things hopping and they did it. So that was annoying and I had to have people believe in like no, we still need to do the sighting. And I had to go through the failures and telling everybody, hey, whoops, sorry, that was the wrong company again.
Speaker 2:But, I had to get the sighting done.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I had to, and it's not 100% cosmetic, like some people say. It actually protects you? No, it's very poor the house wrap is not enough, and yes, I know that word. Trust me, little me would never think I'm talking about sighting.
Speaker 1:That's what my parents thought of that, tyvex.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I love it. Humble Park you have been there a long time. You've seen some changes.
Speaker 2:You know what I one change I haven't seen. I'm very glad I haven't seen it. Kids playing outside oh, they do. All the time I've seen kids playing outside I like it's still like I always play on the streets growing up and like in the no, kids still play outside Nice.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 2:It's so great and people they know you, my next-door neighbor is one of my heroes and he takes all my cans and he recycles them. He brings them and it gets money from him and sometimes he brings me Miller light to thank me for the kids.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's nice, that's community.
Speaker 2:That's, really that's everyone working together to recycle and train.
Speaker 1:Yeah, come on.
Speaker 3:That's a circular economy.
Speaker 1:That's a buzzword right, that's right.
Speaker 2:But I did notice. You know, you got your dumb Humble Park McMansions coming up, which is like, hey, not so dumb, I live there in a heartbeat, but it's also, I don't like the same floor plan. I see all the time, which is a little frustrating, but I'm sure hey, I'm sure it's great to live in. I've seen not too many changes, but I do notice that if you live somewhere long enough, people, people know, know who you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the community kind of grows around you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was being too nice at first. I was like, yeah, sure, I was like I'm going to play football with you and everything. And then all of a sudden, kids started ringing my bell. I was like listen. I love kids, I can't be that adults I don't. You know like I can't like just play with you, can't call like sorry.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And then I'm like can I get a beer? I was like no. No, some kids are like give me a dollar. No.
Speaker 1:No no.
Speaker 2:He's like you, better vote for Obama. I was like, of course I voted for Obama. Calm down. Like the kids are feisty, I love them. There's nothing like kids. I think they're so hilarious. I it's. It's a great neighborhood. It's a food desert.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But sometimes that dumb church, church for the hurting Guess who's hurting, I don't know. We need a jewel Oscar there, like no tomorrow. And then, because it has too many churches, and to build another big church, a tax exempt church.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I. I'm sure it's great to have a graduation there because it's so big, yeah, but the parking lot is huge and mostly empty. It takes up a lot of space and it's just a huge corner that is tax exempt and if I'm ever the president of the United States, I will tax churches Not all churches the same. Yeah, it will go on an income level. Some churches I probably won't tax if they do certain things for their, yeah, whatever. But I'm like no wonder why things don't always get taken care of. There's so much beautiful churches already there.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Like gorgeous church churches. I mean then the park is amazing. We don't need a new church that doesn't look as gorgeous as the other churches. Right, and the other churches do lots of work in there, Like have marches, like really care, have music outside.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So yeah, um, that was a change.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I didn't like it yeah.
Speaker 2:I was in a neighborhood in Oak Park that just on the street and they haven't paid taxes in like 10 years because there used to be like a pastor or something that lived in the house and it's zoned or coded in some way. Wow, that they just it's a tax exempt something or another. But since then people have, like another person has bought the place, it's just a regular person.
Speaker 1:Wow, you know, affiliated with any church Hasn't changed. The records have not changed.
Speaker 2:It's just, they're just like well, we're not getting taxed, so we're not going to pay taxes, oh boy.
Speaker 1:Can't blame them for that, absolutely.
Speaker 2:They can't complain about the plows being slowly there, that's right, but there's nothing a lot more than seeing a church converted into a nice condo association that pays money to go to go into where you live, the neighborhood.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you think a church would be like no, let's, please, let's pay taxes so we can help the schools and everything. You would think it's just weird. Sure, maybe I'm angry at my church upbringing. Maybe, I'm angry about the anti-gay, but everyone who's telling you not to be gay is gay themselves and hiding. Maybe I got some issues, but I just think, hey, church is, unless you're, if you're, a soup kitchen right no taxes. No taxes. In fact let's drop some food off Right From the money we get from the church.
Speaker 1:But you need a. You need a grocery store.
Speaker 2:We need. We have, I think, sir Max. Amazing, but the parking lot's full. The produce is awesome, but I think we also need some like another one. Don't all the other neighbors could get two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sometimes three, yeah, sometimes four.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we had we had a CVS and when I first moved there, huge parking lot right off division and grant.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You could buy beer there, oh my God. Then they decided out, this area shouldn't be drinking beer, so they cut it off.
Speaker 3:Not kidding, just the beer, just the liquor.
Speaker 2:They're like, no, shouldn't have it here, and then now we don't have it at all. But apparently the grocery store across the street which is also a really fun, good grocery store, but still so small, like you have your products you want. You want to be able to buy the mayonnaise of not just one brand. You want to choose between 10 brands and, god damn right, you should. In America I think they are kind of yeah, absolutely yeah, land of the free home with a brave and choice, but I think they started their face to be to expand to the new CVS. Okay, yeah, so that was cool, all right, and we had a blast. It says now something else. So things are moving and shaking, but the park is priceless.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It is so beautiful.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's such a nice walk, everybody wants to go to the park, except they built these batting cages and they're always locked up and I don't know how to use them. And whenever I talk to somebody in the department about using them, nobody knows how to get into these batting cages located off a Kedzie between division and a gust of spooky music.
Speaker 1:Maybe I thought you were being an owl.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's an owl. I was on a good spooky music, so I'm throwing it out there. If anyone knows how to use those batting cages, I am. I love batting cages.
Speaker 3:I love.
Speaker 2:Okay, shout out to anyone who knows how to open up the batting cages.
Speaker 1:Yeah, call us on our hotline 1-800-RecordsTheRealEstatecom. Marybeth, yes, thank you very much for being here today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, had a great time.
Speaker 1:It was a lot of fun conversations and yeah, well, you know you're hired. Whenever you want to get into real estate, Just let us know.
Speaker 2:In a couple of years I want to go head on into real estate. Yeah, we'll be here, Get your leasing agent license. Man that's easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we need some help with that.
Speaker 2:Just some showings Heard.
Speaker 1:You can bring your, you can wear your blazer.
Speaker 2:You could wear a chicken suit for all I care.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was like, of course you want a blazer, just get it rented. That's like the best thing for anyone in real estate, don't they give you a blazer? Yeah, just start you have a blazer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, yeah, we should get some blazers. Be realty green, just like that, that's fine. Thanks again, Marybeth.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you, thanks for the future job. Yeah, karen, thank you.
Speaker 1:We talked with Marybeth about Toyota Corollas.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Why is dependability so important?
Speaker 2:Oh my God, have you ever broke down when you really just can't afford to have a breakdown?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, are we talking about cars?
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, when have you broken down on a human level, crying, or however that is?
Speaker 1:When you could afford to break down.
Speaker 2:No, when you couldn't afford to break down.
Speaker 1:Oh, when can you afford to break down on a human level?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, actually you know what I'm going to have a little tangent here, but it's related. You were talking to me the other day. No, Dan was talking. Our co-worker Dan was talking to me the other day and you could tell he was kind of having a down day a little bit and this guy is like rosy sunshine, always seeing the positive, always just gung-ho, Really cool guy and you could tell he was having a little bit of a rough time and he said that he talked to you and he was talking to you about the fact that as human beings we try so hard to just maintain all the time, to keep everything on track, to keep our lives together, our families together, our whatever our jobs on track. Just, we're trying, trying all the time. And he's like sometimes things go off track and it wrecks your fucking world. It rocks you.
Speaker 2:And then you try desperately to how am I getting this train back on track? And he said he talked to you and you said something to the effect of like well, why not just let it go off the track and see what happens? And it really like it was a moment for him and he thought it was. It was kind of a lightning bolt or a light bulb went off and he was like wow, because when he thought about it, when you let your life go off track, that is really a glimmer when you let, when your life goes off track because life there's very little you can control- in your life as a human.
Speaker 2:That those are the times when you're tested the most, that you learn the most, that you realize who your friends are, you realize what you can rely on, what you can't you, you, you tap into your own inner reserves, your inner strength. There's all these things that come out of those things of derailing the train, being derailed, whether you're doing it on purpose or you're just letting it happen, or that you can't help it.
Speaker 3:And it just does.
Speaker 2:And so I've been thinking about that a lot. Oh nice, yeah, so Toyota Corollas are very dependable. I have mine, and it is from 2001, and I drove it across the country, from California, over the mountains, through deserts, you know, when it had 150, some thousand miles on it, and it got me here.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now I love that. Yeah, I have my own backup cards at my parents' house, right?
Speaker 3:now.
Speaker 2:And I get in there and I talk to it. It's called Baby. That's funny and.
Speaker 1:I'm like how are you doing baby? Because we just interviewed Mary Beth from the Baby Magic.
Speaker 2:From the Baby Magic. I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 1:It's all going together.
Speaker 2:Anyway. So that's why Toyota Corolla.
Speaker 1:Nice. Well, I do think that you need those elements of dependability in your life because, as you said, inevitably your life's going to go off track and it's nice to have something to rely on, like a good Toyota Corolla.
Speaker 2:What are your dependabilities in your life? What do you feel like? Are your rocks?
Speaker 1:Well.
Speaker 1:I think, the people in my life are my dependabilities. You know, my wife and you and my family, my wife's family, I think you know our company has sort of become a dependability. I mean, it's certainly weathered some storms and seen ups and downs in real estate and yet here we are, and I think you know kind of bringing this full circle. I mean, mary Beth talks about her band and it's been around since 2003. And I don't know if she actually said this when we're interviewing her on air, but you know it's been through several iterations and it's obviously super important for her and, you know, becomes an outlet and she's full of creativity and passion and you know, so we do have to have those Toyota Corollas in our life in order to you know, get through.
Speaker 2:That's right, all right Thanks.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:This has been an episode of Records in Real Estate. Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed it. Today's episode was brought to you by Be Realty. Be where you want to be. Be Realty.