I got the part!

Okay, so I knew that I would, but that doesn't negate the glee that I felt when I was actually cast as Pereza, one of the Diablos in the Pastorela that my theatre group is performing next month. The slightly disconcerting thing is that Pereza turns out to be a much larger part than I had previously thought it would be, which means that very likely my Spanish is about to get a whole lot better, out of necessity. It's sink or swim time, and I'm not going to sink.

I also play the part of Valtazar, one of the kings. But with a name like that he should be a sci-fi supervillain. He has one line at the end, after the diablos have been thwarted by the angel Gabriel. Well, I guess it's a kind of divide and conquer thing. The head devil works us lesser devils too hard, and so we start demanding workers' rights, and then it's an easy thing for Gabriel to finally get rid of us once and for all. Oh man, am I nervous though. It's gonna be hard work.

In other news, I'm still working on getting the book club together. I visited three houses today. One guy wasn't there. One guy's address didn't exist. And I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Ramona, who I have successfully gotten in touch with!! Yay! Something's happened! And Ms. Swenson, the head teacher at Dugan, has another guy she wants me to try to find. So we'll see how that goes.

My existentialist/soon-to-be-Socialist is working on a HUGE paper about Nietzsche and the pointlessness of pain, and has come to me for help. And you know, I guess it has been since high school since I actually read Nietzche. Since then I've discussed his philosophies, but it's really quite fascinating to read the man's essays again now that I've grown up a bit. Nietzsche has got a really dry wit about him. He's also an arrogant bastard, and I don't think he'd mind me calling him that.

There was a shooting a block over from work yesterday. I didn't hear it, but soon after Sonia was yelling for me and I ran over to see what had happened. The Kings came into the neighborhood looking for someone--I think anyone, really. Some Saints noticed and started throwing rocks at the cars, and then the Kings started shooting. But then they crashed both their cars. The van into a fire hydrant, and the car into a corner. Three people are in the hospital, no one died, and none of MY boys were hurt.

What really got me is that it was report card day for the elementary schools, which means that there were hundreds of little kids on the streets since school was out. And plus, it happened right outside the food pantry where there was a long line of people waiting to get their groceries for the week. And then the news media comes out. It was sickening. I was standing with Sr. Angie and Ms. Swenson and we started saying how nice it was that the media was here to report about report card day--you know, really show off the good things in the neighborhood, the progress that our kids are making.

During art class last night, my students were talking about it, and, surprising me, asked, "So who won?" And they were pleased that it was a clear victory for the Saints. That snippit of conversation was incongruous since other parts of their conversation focused on the retaliations that are sure to happen, and how the violence is only going to cause more violence. Others of my students couldn't come to art because their parents wouldn't let them leave the house so soon after a gang shooting.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Voter Fraud

Okay, go read some of this stuff:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/2004votefraud.html

Or if you don't have time to read and just want to look at a graph that sums it up, go here:
http://www.supportthetruth.com/voteFraud.php

The thing is, there WERE massive amounts of voter fraud, and it pisses me off that people don't care. Because even if the election would have turned out the same, it still means that nobody is trying to fix things so that next time all our votes are counted.

I mean, call me young and naive, but I WAS kind of raised to believe that the American people were Free, and had these things called Civil Liberties, and that the foundation of our country was that whole No Taxation Without Representation thing, and that Our Votes Are Supposed To Matter! People are always going on about how America is still this Revolutionary country and that we stand up for our rights, etc. But, come on people, I'm losing my faith here that we even have the *potential* to stand for the ideals of our forefathers.

-Kati
disgruntled citizen who will return to her regularly scheduled updates about life in Chicago as soon as she stops being so pissed off at everybody's apathy

Still in the country...

So I've been approached about starting a book club that will last through December. The point of the book club seems to be less about reading and more about using the book to tie in a series of outings, which I get to come up with. This should be interesting, because here is the cast: one gangbanger who has already missed a meeting with me, two gangbangers who were referred by their parole officers, one guy who is on the list "just in case he drops out of school in the next week or so", and one girl with a learning disability of inspecific type. One outing that was suggested to me was the Mexican Museum of Fine Arts in Pilsen (the neighborhood I live in), because the Museum is right off the busstop so we don't have to walk very far in a competing gang area. I write this down and I can't help but think that I should be thinking 'what the hell am I getting myself into?' but instead, I"m actually really excited about it. Groups like this are always the most challenging and therefore the most fun.

In other news, in theatre we did casting for the Guadalupe play on Friday, and we start rehearsing tonight. On Wednesday, I'm going to let my art class experiment on me with papier mache to see if we can make masks for the Pastorela. Oh-- a Pastorela is a play performed during the Christmas season, generally about devils trying to keep the wisemen and kings from getting to see the baby Jesus. They're funny and insightful and full of good-versus-evil altercations. We're casting that this coming Friday. The Wednesday night experiment should be really messy, but will hopefully prove fruitful. Cross your fingers for me.

In other news, the election kind of shook me up. Especially since there have been reports for weeks (and continue to be reports) of massive amounts of voter fraud and no one seems to care. WAKE UP, AMERICA!!! What's your problem?!!!

At any rate, I have given myself until the end of the month to come up with a viable plan to save the world, which I will begin to enact in the new year. Suggestions are welcome, but realistic cynicism of the "you can't do that" variety are not. It may take awhile, but it will happen. I've just realized I can't do it flying by the seat of my pants anymore. I've got to figure it out beforehand, and dedicate myself to getting it done.

But first, I'm getting a voodoo doll that looks like W. He may be President for the next four years, but that doesn't mean he gets to enjoy it... Just kidding. I'll just insult him on my blog, which insiders assure me he reads every day. So now I'll get him with psychological warfare-- make him feel bad about himself whenever I feel bad about him. Because I've decided I can be petty here if I want. Because it's my blog. And because I doubt my blog will wind up being a part of my plan to save the world. And if it does become part of that plan, I can always go back and edit the entries so that I never declared my right to be petty.

That's it!

I'm fleeing the country.