Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

The glitz and the glamour, the bright lights and the paparazzi, no, I am not talking about memories from Senior Prom…I am talking about the elusive world of celebrities. As the clock struck 12:01AM last night and the calendar turned from June to July a flood of rumors, gossip, and maybe a fact or two began to swirl. For those of you who don’t know (and possibly don’t particularly care), LeBron James, aka “The King,” “The Chosen One,” or simply “LBJ” entered the NBA market as a free agent, leaving sports fanatics around the world to ponder, postulate, and predict what jersey the greatest player in basketball will be adorned in next season.

As a Cleveland native and a Cavs fan, I am hoping of course that James remains here in Cleveland but at the same time, I am starting to wonder if he is really worth all the hype. While he is clearly a phenomenal basketball player, who has brought excitement, energy, and hope to Cleveland, it has certainly not been unrecompensed. As the ringleader in this circus, LeBron has got the entire Cavs franchise and indeed even the city of Cleveland, wrapped around his finger. Every move the Cavs make rests upon the approval of The King and frankly it’s getting a little old. He is a 24-year old basketball player, who has the NBA world at his beck and call, making some $30 million a year. But now he wants to expand his kingdom, thus suitors are lining up left and right to offer up their thrones to The King. We have Russian Billionaires, Hollywood Rappers, and Billboards galore all vying for Lebron.

Seriously NY, is that the best you've got?

Chi-Town, in order to have "unfinished business" LBJ has to start business there first!

So as we all wait with baited breath for this three-ring circus to kick off, ready to toast our home-town hero or drown our sorrows at yet another Cleveland loss, I hope we are all able to remember that it’s just a show and at the end of the day there are more important things to focus on…like the divorce settlement between Tiger and Elin!

I mean seriously people, a $750 million dollar divorce settlement? What can you possibly do with that MUCH money? That is more than entire nations GDP. Obviously wealth is measured on a different scale in Hollywood than the one us common folk use to measure wealth but really, $750 million dollars?? That is an astronomical amount of money, and all because she was married to a “sex addict.” Now maybe Elin will use it for philanthropic acts and help lead the way in solving world hunger, the AIDS epidemic, and maybe bring about world peace as an afterthought, but I kind of doubt it. Instead she will probably jet off to Switzerland (which she may actually own at this point), in her private jet, to nurse her wounds after being betrayed by Tiger…one could almost say she is better off now than she was before…

While I am clearly a bit bitter about all the hoopla surrounding the lifestyles of the rich and the famous, I can’t help but be a little jealous. I’m not asking for NBA franchises, doting fans, or $750 million, I will settle for a good job, a boyfriend, and maybe just one vacation home—is that too much to ask??!!?