No. No, You Can't Have a Pony.

I was planning on taking advantage of the weather to go down to the beach today, but since it's approximately "the surface of the sun" hot today, I think I might take in a movie instead. Why buy an air con when I can rent a cold room for a couple hours? My roommate is fretting over what the heat is doing to her cats--I'm not really fussed, since the little jerks are stretched out in the living room while she's left her air con on in her room for them.

I'm having a bit of an existential crisis today. Yesterday, after work, I took the blue line closer to the theatre, but I still had to walk about six blocks to get there. On the way, I passed by an obviously very old, homeless and possibly sick man...and I just kept on walking, even though he was stretched out on the sidewalk and I had to divert my path to go around him. I felt so ashamed, but I didn't know what to do. Should I stop and ask if he needs help? Give him money? Give him food? I kept thinking about the story of the Good Samaritan, and how we used to ask ourselves in Bible class what we would do. Guess I failed that test. I kept thinking "what made me so lucky? that I ended up with my good education and my middle-class priviledges and, all right I'll say it, my white skin, and my relatively normal bill of mental health?" And further to that--what is wrong with this world that it allows its citizens to wallow in such abject poverty and yet other citizens walk right on by? One of my bosses at work is from India, and he has photographs that his daughter has taken of children and families living in the slums of Bombay hanging in his office. There they are art, but the truth is right here in Chicago, and it's upsetting and disturbing. I don't know what to do, but I have to do something.

Very sad also because today is closing night for our show. All of the people I know in Chicago (aside from old friends) are involved in this show, and I'm afraid that once I don't see them every day they'll drift away, and I won't know anyone in this city. And it's hot and I'm tired (not hungover--just tired), and apparently my allergies (when did that happen?!) are acting up again...I think I'm going to go to that movie now. Yeah. Undead pirates--good for what ails ya.