I've an interview this afternoon for a job that would really keep me going while I write my dissertation. Any job-ma floating spare would be very much appreciated.

I need to get an article from the Wall Street Journal website. Anyone have a password I can use? Email me at the profile address if you are feeling generous...

I went from gray to black without really meaning to. I've been busy with the new job and trying to resist the temptation of netting during work. It's so daunting trying to catch up with all the posts when I get home that I haven't been doing it. Hope to be more active again in a while. (Didja miss me?)

Anyway, my biggest gig yet (from a venue perspective) is tonight. I'm part of Uke-y Stardust and we're playing the Fillmore Lounge during The Fiery Furnaces show tonight. We go on at 8pm and play for an hour before Man Man hit the main stage. Then we play for 45 min. between Man Man and The Fiery Furnaces. If you happen to be at the show, say hi. I'll be wearing my Wonder Woman corset so I won't be hard to spot.

I'll be dark for a few days as I attend Concertino.

Could I get some of the good Buffista health~ma for my little stepbrother (well, not so little, since he's six feet tall and 35 years old, but I always think of him as the 7-year-old scrawny kid who couldn't lift his bowling ball without dropping his arm)? He's been in the hospital since Wednesday, and right now there are two possible diagnoses--either Lyme Disease or MS. They'll most likely know which by early next week, but in the meantime, much ~ma needed!!

A bit of ease-out vibes toward one of the best cats ever, please. Our 18-year-old black cat, Gadabout, is close to the edge. My daughter brought him home in her coat pocket when she was in grade school. He isn't sick - this is just age, and time passing.

If he's going, easy would be a good thing.

eta: he seems to have weathered last night's breathing problems and shakiness. I suspect this is the beginning of his four-legged slouch toward Bethlehem, and that there will be more nights like last night. So if it's okay, I'll store up the ease-ma for him, and let him know it's there. Thanks.

~ma for my family would be appreciated. Mom's memory and function are fading away fast. She barely knows who I am anymore. And my sister, who does the lion's share of her care, is majorly stressed out and depressed. We don't have any idea what happens next.

Er. So I just threw up a little in my mouth at the realisation that being in denial about the whole leaving Cairo thing doesn't actually make it any less real. And, specifically, I have shit to sort out that I've been putting off and putting off and is now, as is the nature of piles of shit you ignore, all Big and Scary and stuff.

So I come here, quite undeserving, to entreat your generalized get-your-arse-into-gear - ma, and specific -ma with regard to the following:

Flatmate and I need to get police checks issued, to confirm that we have been good and law-abiding citizens while here in Egypt.

Apparently it took our neighbour six weeks to get hers.

I have a week. Flatmate - well, flatmate leaves tomorrow, so she essentially has a week too, assuming that I can collect her completed form at the same time as my own.

Please pray for us to whatever you hold dear. Could be a deal-breaker, jobwise.

Help!

I'm flying home to CT tonight to tie up some difficult loose ends with my divorce and was really kind of dreading the trip already.

My mom called this morning to tell me that my 93-year-old grandmother, who lives in what was my house until the separation, was admitted to the hospital last night with a severe infection from a tick bite. As we live in East Lyme (note the "Lyme") this is not a good thing. They think she's going to be okay, but her age makes everything very iffy.

I'm requesting health-ma for my Gram and get-through-the-week-ma for me, please. I don't think I've ever been so scared to get on a plane.

I don't know how much I'll be able to be online between now and then. Email or my cell are probably the best routes if you want to reach me.