RISE
I have been trying to smile when I wake up in the morning. Not the big, toothy, glad-to-meet-you smile, but a quiet smile, an...
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stories
for the information age
These bite-sized stories chronicle my efforts, both pitiful and successful,
to navigate the rapidly-changing world.
My hope is that they help you do the same.
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Nov 1, 20201 min read
SOME WITH BLUE BOXES
I sent my son, who is away at college, his ballot. He researched all the propositions, weighed their intentions, thought through the...
Oct 22, 20201 min read
DISTRACTED?
Often, something in the book I am reading reminds me of something I ought to do on my phone. I read the word meteorologist, which prompts...
Oct 15, 20201 min read
SCRAWL
I keep two notebooks on my desk. The first notebook is over-sized – I bought it at an extravagant home store and thought, this will...
Oct 1, 20201 min read
THE HOLLOW
Nowadays, around 6pm, I begin to prepare for bed. I cook, I eat what I have cooked, I clean the mess from the cooking and eating. My mind...
Sep 10, 20201 min read
REAL LIVE PEOPLE
I have been trying to look at real live people. It is a particular challenge right now - what with face masks and the general...
Sep 3, 20202 min read
THREE BEDS
1. In Beaulieu, bright, white light came in through the iron-paned hotel window each morning. The view was of the sea, impossibly blue....
Aug 27, 20201 min read
TETHERED TO THE HOUSE
No one came to my father’s funeral. Well, that’s not exactly true; a few people did. What I mean to say, is that it was surprising who...
Jun 12, 20201 min read
GRADUATION
Last night I looked at all the photographs. Two decades of life in a night. I don’t know how I felt after seeing so much of our past –...
May 21, 20201 min read
MEANING
I am in an unspoken competition with my husband for the affection of the dog. I pretend not to notice when the dog follows me upstairs...
May 15, 20201 min read
SOMETIMES MY SON
Sometimes my son comes into my office and sits down. He sits on the spare chair at my desk and looks at me. I stop what I am doing and...
May 9, 20201 min read
WAITING FOR BIRDS
I sit on the threshold watching the sparrows. My own kids are on the edge of this nest and I cannot help but see them in these birds. I...
Apr 22, 20201 min read
ROLE REVERSAL
Every day my husband Facetimes with his 92 year-old father, who is alone in an apartment in New York City. My father-in-law grew up in...
Apr 10, 20201 min read
BOGGLE
I have begun to play Boggle online up to ten times a day. I am getting pretty good and now routinely beat the computer and earn over 300...
Apr 10, 20201 min read
THE OWL AND THE DUCKLING
I click on a news story about an owl who is raising a baby duck. There is an image of a round-faced screech owl smushed into a nest with...
Dec 30, 20191 min read
THE RABBIT HOLE
I intend to accomplish one small thing, check the weather, for example, but I am waylaid by a text notification from my sister. The text...
Dec 10, 20191 min read
SOMETHING IS EATING ME ALIVE
Sleep deprivation was, allegedly, one of the tactics employed to torture detainees at Guantanamo Bay. To get them to squeal. We can do...
Nov 26, 20191 min read
WHAT IS SOAP?
Sometimes my husband, smartphone in hand, will turn to me in bed and say something like, what is soap? I will look at him. The book I am...
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