Today, for the first time ever, I quoted a Tweet in a scholarly work. The Tweet was by one author I’m analyzing about another author I’m analyzing, and it’s just too priceless not to be mentioned.

I don’t know if this will be a good book but I’m enjoying the process of writing it immensely.

Today is Friday, the 13th. Some people say this makes the day unlucky but I disagree. N and I got married on Friday the 13th, and the marriage has been absolutely blissful. All of the problems we had in the relationship just ended on the day we got married. I know it sounds weird but it’s the truth.

This means we totally need to celebrate Friday the 13th this weekend. I’m going to make a really special dinner tomorrow. Pictures to follow.

I never thought I’d have a good word to say about Harper but I guess miracles do happen:

Stephen Harper doubled down Tuesday on his aversion to face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women, calling them the product of a culture that is “anti-women.”

In Canada – and especially in Quebec with its immigration policy tilted heavily towards French-speakers – this is a real problem.

So I decided to find out what the news were on Putin’s disappearance and turned on the Russian TV. The images I saw were weirdly familiar but it was hard to place them because they were not what I expected.

Soon it became clear that these were, indeed, images of the protests in Ferguson. For the next 10 minutes I stared at the images of Ferguson on Russian TV. There was no commentary to accompany the footage. 

The Russians are working hard to maintain the myth of the mysterious Russian soul.

Putin hasn’t been seen in public for a week and suspicions, explanations and possibilities -from hopeful to tragic – are flying.

The hopeful explanations are centered around Putin being dead. The tragic suggest that he’s busy planning a change of course towards an openly Stalinist model or possibly a nuclear war.

And I just suspect that he’s getting yet another plastic surgery. He did look like a person who’s had a stroke right before disappearing from view but people do tend to look that way after Botoxing like crazy for a decade.

I also think this is all a ploy to distract attention from an approaching Russian offensive on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. A huge number of troops has been gathered near the border and right in front of Mariupol.

So here is a photo from the notorious “Russian March”, a yearly manifestation that takes place in Moscow and other major cities of Russia every November:

For almost a year, Russian news channels were showing this photo and accompanying it with statements like, “There is a growing neo-Nazi movement in Ukraine that has control of Ukraine’s government.” The newscasters are not saying that these pictures are of Ukrainian neo-Nazis but this is a conclusion everybody who sees the images immediately draws.

This is pure genius, my friends. Film your own neo-Nazi movement, accuse somebody else of being a neo-Nazi, and show the footage to prove your claims.

In order to feel better and get a dose of optimism, I went to the Ukrainian blogosphere / Twitter. There I discovered that the IMF has given a big chunk of cash to Ukraine (♡♡♡ IMF) and that Putin has disappeared. According to official reports, he’s ill. (♡♡♡ illness). Of course, every Ukrainian and every normal Russian blogger started publishing and Tweeting hilarious jokes about Putin ‘ s demise (♡♡♡ blogging and totally ♡♡♡ Putin ‘ s demise).

I’ve laughed so hard that my stomach hurts. Thank you, Ukrainians and ♡♡♡ Ukraine.

It’s warm, and when I open the bedroom window I can hear the splashing of the water in the creek.

The knowledge that I will probably have to let it go – one more thing to let go, one more, and more, and more – makes the sound pleasantly painful.

In more light-hearted news, have you, folks, heard about the Ecotricity scandal?

Back in 1992, a guy in the UK got divorced from his wife. Three years after the divorce, he created a wind-power company. The Green energy enthusiast ended up making millions  (as he rightfully should with such a great business idea.)

And now the wife sues him for a massive payout. Because she believes herself to be entitled to the money this guy made years after dumping her useless ass.

But the UK’s Supreme Court disagreed and ruled that once you get married, nothing – not even divorce – can terminate the ex-spouse’s entitlement to your property. So the useless ass will get paid for having once found herself in the vicinity of somebody who much later managed to make some money. Yes, I know, I’m confused, too. I guess one has to be British to figure it out.

I don’t even know what to say about this instance of extreme bizarredom.

We are cutting 100 courses across our College of Arts and Sciences, increasing the enrollment in language sections from 25 to 35, getting rid of part-timers, and increasing the teaching load of faculty members to 4:4. And this is just the beginning.

This was a good university with a great future but now it’s being dismantled because Mr. Rauner needs bigger handouts for a bigger bunch of “talented” bureaucrats. And no “I’m against the Big Government” warrior has dared as much as to offer a squeak against it.