For the past week I've been completely alone in my apartment. My girlfriend is away on a trip with the band of the school at which she teaches, I rarely see my parents, and my friends have all had long hours at their places of work. I've been cut off from all human interaction, save for via the internet. Since I work from home I get to keep whatever hours I want. Lately that has involved waking up in the early afternoon, and staying up until 4 or 5 in the morning. Even chat online dies late at night, so I usually spend my last few hours awake reading quietly in the dim light of my last good lamp. My apartment lacks overhead lighting for its main room, and recently my bulbs have been burning out on me violently with brilliant blue flashes when I flick a switch. I've used up all the spares that I have, and the heavy rain has kept me from wanting to drive out to a store for replacements.