Today was very exciting for several reasons, although I have determined that 70% of the goodness is unpublishable after listening to an NPR discussion on youth, internet, and privacy. I don’t feel particularly young per se but I do feel I should wise up and publish the more juicy content on a podcast or anonymous message board.

I cannot however resist sharing with the entire world that I got cable television today. And it was a bigger hassle than I anticipated. The drama started even before I hit power on my remote yo. My landlord, who just so happens to live next door to me, verbally attacked the cable guy and threatened him with physical or legal action (not sure which – both of them have mucked up English) when she saw him treading around the back yard looking at a nearby phone pole.

I was positively amazed at how intensely she felt the need to assert her authority over the cable technician. Even after I explained to her that I had requested cable television and everything that the installation entailed, she followed us around and stepped into my place and furiously pointed at a limp 8 ft coil of used cable that has been poking out of my living room baseboard since I moved in, “You aren’t going to be using THAT are you? It isn’t your property.” I have no idea whatsoever the purpose of having a cut and frayed cable wire in my house will serve but there is no way I’m back-talking to a landlord of a rent-controlled apartment in this up and coming area (and I mean up-and-coming – I just saw that cute tall guy from “The Office” at my local bar) even if it means suffering through a few mildly uncomfortable moments. I mean it was only as uncomfortable as watching a date belittle a waitress or taxi driver. No biggie. Its not like IM the cable guy that had to crawl under the house because the landlord didn’t want him to staple a cable anywhere near the roof.

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A couple days ago I was packing up a pair of earrings I picked out for one of my fave friends. At the last minute I threw in a ‘used’ photocopy of a story from an anthology that I got on the first day of a fiction workshop I am taking. I spoke with her today and she told me how much she dug getting a photocopied short story in the mail. It makes you feel like you should be making notes or highlighting stuff or just reading a whole story in one sitting (that’s Poe’s definition of a short story BTW). I have been inspired to start a photocopied short story chainmail type thing. I suppose I need to make more friends that read to get started. Holler at me if you want to be a part of this.