Okay, so, various stuff:

• Dar Williams has a new CD coming out on Feb. 18. This completely blindsided me… good thing I'm subscribed to her e-mail list. ;) And she'll be touring St. Louis on April 29…
• Charter Communications is on my shit list right now (and probably forever after). When I went to pick up the kit to install our cable modem, they gave me an empty box. When I brought the empty box back they accused me of stealing the cable modem (because, you know, I have nothing better to do than rip Charter off for a $99 cable modem…) and said they'd have to "investigate" it. The lady at the front desk actually had the audacity to tell me a bold-faced lie, claiming she'd checked to make sure the modem was in the box before she gave it to me. I said, "No, you didn't. I watched you take it out of the cabinet, copy down the number on the outside of the box, and give me the paper to sign. At no time did you open the box." She didn't have much to say to that. So now their warehouse is looking for the cable modem. I have zero confidence that they will actually look for it, or that if they find it, they will tell us so. The kicker is that our last bill included a $250 charge for a cable modem we're supposed to be leasing for $5/mo and which would only have cost us $99 had we bought the fucker outright. We are so going back to DSL when we get a chance. I hear Speakeasy is really great.
• Breakups really suck, even when they're not yours. They're hard enough when you only like one of the people; when you like both of them, it's really unpleasant. I have had this driven home to me twice recently. The worst part is that getting involved is a bad idea, so you can't even act on your feelings really.
• Finally, the museum exhibit William Gibson mentions at the bottom of this post sounds very cool. Too bad we haven't the cash for a jaunt to Barcelona (for oh so many reasons).