A power cut across two innings

It’s eleven o’clock​ and the power cut has arrived​ for its second innings​ after the break it granted me for dinner.​ ​ I had hung on through the first,​ moving candles​ and emergency lights​ till I found the optimum position​ for both​ so I could be seen​ on a Zoom call.​ ​ This second innings …

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Power Tussles

The screen is split into several squares, hangouts migrate to virtual spaces, awkward silences first, then nervous stares, you scan the screen for familiar faces. You see eyes squint, you hear breaking voices, some soft, some needle-like piercing your ears. It’s survival of the loudest noises, an arena for the alpha to emerge. And when …

Slices

We send slices of our lives in packets over the internet. How much data does a smile contain? Is it more than a hug? More than a touch? For now, this much is enough, a video, a picture, or a voice, even if it’s cracking. We send fragments of this life from one screen to …