I'm doing a bit of political theatre that I think is worth seeing. It's Remy Bumppo's thinkTank, a project in which a variety of theatre companies perform short plays based on a central theme. This year's show is The inSecurity Blanket with a theme of National Security vs. Individual Freedom.

If you're in the Chicago area give it a try. I'd especially recommend seeing it on a night when slam poet Usman Ally is performing.

X-posted in F2F:

For everyone in Chicagoland who would like to get up (relatively) early and join Maria for breakfast on (this) Sunday morning, we're getting together at Podhalanka for potato pancakes and pierogies (and other Polish yummies) at 10:00 a.m. at 1549 W. Division, at the corner of Division and Milwaukee.

I'm going to call in the morning and let them we'll have a minimum of five, with possibly a few more, and then check here before leaving my apartment around 8:00 to see if I need to anymore. If I don't hear from anyone here (or at my profile addy), I look forward to seeing you at 10:00!!

Requesting that powerful ~ma, once again.

There's a very high chance, and in the doctor's words, "it's more than likely" that my sister has thyroid cancer. Looks to be early stages, but still. Some health~ma to my sister. And peace~ma for my mom.

Safe surgery ~ma requested for my kitty Byron today.

Popping by from work access to ask for ma for my niece. She is in the hospital with major heart damage, sedated on a respirator and it is touch-and-go as to whether she will make it through the day. They don't know what caused the heart damage--it may be bulimia or residual damage from her former drug use. She is only 20 and seemed in the last few months to have been turning her life around.

Upadate on niece--she is still on the respirator and in ICU, but appears to be stabilizing. They are going to move her to another hospital with a better cardiac facility. Remember how I said we thought she was doing much better in her sobriety? Not so much--the heart attack was brought on by alcohol poisoning.

Scrappy, so sorry to hear about your niece. I hope she recovers and gets sober.

Hi! Small but urgent request - I had been supposed to meet up w/ Calli down here in NOLA but phone is dead and I don't think it's going to work out anyway. Could someone please call her cell and tell her that, and then maybe post here so everyone doesn't call her?

Many many thanks.

Niece update. She is still in the coma caused by lack of oxygen during one if her heart episodes. The neurologist recommends two weeks of wait and see (and hope), but says recovery is "unlikely."

Last update: Niece is being taken off life support late tonight. Please send vibes to my Brother and his family around midnight Eastern time.

The one good thing is that her organs are all being donated, so some positive will come out of this sadness.

Health~ma requested for my aunt. She just found out she has a tumor on her ovary.