Lonely nights in Redmondland

Freud and his ilk have long delighted in the identity of primordial opposites. The good doctor's unpacking of how heimlich and unheimlich came to mean roughly the same thing is perhaps the most famous instance of this parlor game.

But one that slipped past him is the likening of blessing and curse, which springs most readily to mind in relation to our faithful and constant companion, Microsoft Office. There are few things which we have seen flourish and blossom in the last two decades, sprouting new features like so much pubic hair, but much more useful. And yet, there are equally few things that make us cuss so often, almost daily, which frustrate us to the verge of pathology. Especially Office 2007.

But somehow we soldier through together because, after all, Microsoft has a lock on proprietary file formats that everybody uses. Really that's all there is to it. We do it because we have to.