Real Homes

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.

INTO THE NIGHT

Last night, a cricket was in the house. He made his high-pitched song and I listened from bed. He trilled and he chirped. He was calling...

SLEEP WATCHING

VERB. When you think you’re watching a show, but you’re actually asleep.

NOCTURNE

All day I wait for night -- the cricket whir, the moonlight, the hush. If daylight belongs to all creatures, night is possessive; it...

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...

COUNTING SLEEP

It has been one month since I kicked my cellphone out of the bedroom. And since that first evening, I've slept an average of...

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....

SLEEP TRAINING

One evening before bed, I get up all my strength and kick my phone out of the bedroom. Night, night, I tell my phone, as I place her on a...

DREAM LIGHT

Daylight, back-of-eyelid light, bath light, kitchen light, fridge light, desk light, screen light, sunlight, daylight,...

THE DRUG CALLED SLEEP

A lot of people use it. Some people, lots of women in particular, have a hard time finding it. You have to creep in the darkness to get...

HATCH A PLAN

I hatch a plan to get my phone out of the bed. I have not slept more than 5 hours in months. I am grumpy and my brain no longer seems to...

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...

GOOD IN BED

My phone is really good in bed. The lights are off, but she’s all lit up. Oh god, I love her in bed. I really do. I want her. She’s there...

IT'S NOT LIKE I WAS DRINKING

This time in bed with my cellphone at night is time I’ve earned working and serving others all day. It’s my me time. I deserve this. It...

I NO LONGER LOOK AT PEOPLE

I no longer look at people. I glance at people. Then I glance at my phone. I glance back up at them. Interactions have become snapshots....