Siberia With A View

March 26, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is nine hours, twenty-seven minutes.

I close the box.

The Covid situation continues to weigh heavy on Kathy and me.

We’re old, flawed, and fearful; though we’ve been vaccinated, we remain isolated. This promotes frequent exchanges of obscenities, heightened neuroses, and greater nonsense each new day.

I haven’t changed my socks in two weeks. If I recall correctly, I brushed my teeth a while back. I have hair sprouting in new places on my increasingly tubby body. I’ve begun to communicate with the birds that visit our deck. Continue reading →

March 12, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is nine hours, three minutes.

I close the box.

I avoided exposure to Denver television news broadcasts for nearly nine months, beginning last July.

The Denver news shows caused me great discomfort, provoked frequent fits of rage. The ongoing quarantine was problem enough; I’m old and delicate, increasingly dysfunctional, and I couldn’t bear additional stress. So, no Denver TV. Continue reading →

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is eight hours, fifty-six minutes.

I close the box.

Algo orders the digi-gerbil to tug one of Tina’s videos through the Intertube, and it flashes on my screen.

I’m transfixed.

I’m a fan. Continue reading →

February 1, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is 8 hours, 6 minutes.

I close the box.

Location: a screened-off section in a large “multipurpose room.”

The room is part of the Siberia With a View Community Center and serves as a gymnasium for local youth programs, complete with basketball backboards and hoops, and small portable bleachers. Continue reading →