So I'm a little ambivilent about blogging. I can't help but think of some cultures -- the Hmong, definitely, and I think some Eastern European and/or Jewish cultures -- who think it's bad luck to be complimentary about anything. One of the worst things you can say to a mother is "What a pretty child," because that will attract the attention of evil spirits, who might think, "Hey, yeah, that is a pretty kid. I think I want it." *Swoop* So to protect your kid, you denigrate it -- "Oh, no, very disobedient and ugly. Good-for-nothing-child." Just to keep the kid safe, you know?

(As a side note, if I'm right about that being the custom in Eastern/Middle Europe, it goes a long way toward explaining why psychotherapy originated in Vienna and thereabouts. Can you imagine the complexes you'd get as a kid?)

Anyway, I'm feeling that way about a shipment I just got from the insurance company -- good-for-nothing consumer electronics. Not worth shit. Really. Nothing to see here -- move along.....

So I've had these crappy pieces of consumer electronic gear sitting around my office, because UPS was delivering them and I'm not at home during the day. (Hence, the robberies. All of them.) Some of said gear is quite heavy (but crap, I tell you, crap!), so I couldn't get it home by myself. Enter Angie and Jordan, who graciously assisted Wendy and me schlepp all this stuff back home. Jordan did most of the heavy lifting, and Angie... well, Angie held doors and stuff. She *claims* she helped me with the distraction plan that I'd come up with -- see, I didn't want anyone to see that I was moving any new electronics, woeful though they might be, into the house. So I figured I'd station Wendy and Angie at opposite ends of the block, and on my signal, they'd light fireworks, strip naked and start throwing $10 bills into the air. The both nodded and smiled and seemed amenable to the plan, but they both remained clothed. Some help they were. I chose Angie and Wendy for this task because (1) they were there, and (2) they both have bad backs/knees/whatever that exempt them from heavy lifting. I thought at least they'd want to help out in a way that wasn't damaging to the body -- although it is kinda cold, and I imagine frostbite would be a danger -- but they seemed to think that providing the large car and the strong husband was enough. I can't really argue with that.

So I got my not-at-all-exciting consumer electronics upstairs and hooked everything up again. Not everything fits they way it used to -- see, stuff worth stealing is small, not big -- so I need to do some juggling. Sigh.

I hope my electronic goods aren't going to need therapy (or wouldn't, were they sentient and not inanimate oobjects....)

I was reminded again why Angie and I get along so well -- we're both Digression Girl. I talked about what I'd write in the blog tonight, and I was trying to explain about the first bit -- the "Ugly child!" bit -- but to do that, the path went something like this:

(1) I'm trying to figure out what to blog tonight
(2) You know in some cultures, like the Hmong
(3) Oh, I was reading this great book -- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, about a clash of cultures -- Hmong refugees and the American medical establishment
(4) Did you ever have any classes with Dwight Conquergood at Northwestern?
(5) He was in this book, because he worked in Hmong refugee camps in Thailand
(6) They were trying to get the dogs vaccinated for rabies, and the refugee-camp doctors told everyone to bring their dogs in, and the Hmong basically ignored them.
(7) So Dwight Conquergood organizied this parade with the tiger and the chicken and all this stuff to get people to bring their dogs to be vaccinated -- characters talking about the vaccinations, that is -- and after that, everyone did.
(8) Anyway, the Hmong feel like you shouldn't compliment a child, or a bad spirit will decide he wants the kid and will take them
(9) And that's how I feel about my new electronics
(10) So I don't know if I should blog about it.

And Wendy and Jordan were sitting there, getting whiplash, wondering how the hell I was going to get back to my original thought, while Angie just sat there saying "Yup, I''m with you." Thank you, Angie. You're so cool.

So are you, Jordan, for being the sherpa, and you, Wendy, for providing the transport.

I also dealt with (Boo! Hiss!) AT&T Broadband today, to get a new cable box, which was also stolen (it was, after all, attached to my old, infinitely superior TV). First they said "Make an appointment to get a technician out -- and by the way, the new box will coast $250." Gahh! I called again, and they said "No, you need to bring your police report to one of our offices" -- one of which wasn't that far from work. So I schlepped over there today, just as it started snowing, only to find, upon reaching the office, that no, since I live where I do and my cable is provided by someone they just bought out, I needed to go to another office -- at 4501 W. Irving Park Rd -- pratically out to O'Hare. This is NOT near anything -- not my home, certainly not the office. I schlepped out there anyway, stood in a huge long line, and finally got a new cable box and the means to attach it. Also, the guy behind the counter said I needed to pay just (just!) $100 for the new box. I guess that's an improvement.

Anyway. Now that I have a TV again, I'll probably be much less productive. It is an evil thing, but I'm a slave to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. It's tragic, I know.