The area stricken by intense forest fires in Russia has grown fivefold. Fires now rage on 120,000 acres of territory.

Nobody in Russia is doing anything about this tragedy. An ecological catastrophe of enormous proportions is happening but nobody gives a damn.

The fires are raging to the East of the Urals, and this is a region in Russia nobody cares much about. For all of their anti-Western bluster, Russians only have interest in what lies to the West of Moscow, and the more Western it is, the better.

While I’m getting ready for a party, please read this optimistic article about the sadness and desperation of religious fanatics.

I’m glad they are realizing how irrelevant they have become.

The organizers of the Oxford conference want to make it as laid-back, relaxed, and informal as possible. With that goal, they are sending us endless emails with lists of rules that are supposed to keep the whole thing laid-back. Not a single thing remains unscripted and uncontrolled in this search for relaxation.

A second place for the talentless Russian singer?

Pathetic suck ups. It is absolutely ridiculous that Russia was even allowed to participate. Now, of course, Putinoid propaganda is making a huge meal of it, saying that this means Europeans support Russia.

I’m very disgusted with stupid Europeans. These people have no historical memory, no self-respect, no principles. They deserve everything they get after kissing Putin’s ass this way.

After an insane amount of time spent dithering, I finally bought my ticket.

From July 10 to July 14, I will be staying in Oxford, and then from July 14 to July 16, I will be in London at a yet undecided location.

I’m very dedicated to the goal of enjoying the UK this time around. A visit to the Globe theater that somebody suggested on the blog sounds like a brilliant idea. I checked the website, and it seems like Richard II will be on. Of course, I’d have preferred a different Richard but still.

And now everybody will know it.

This soldier was the leader of the defenders of the Donetsk Airport. His was captured back in February and held prisoner for months. The Russians hated the defenders of the airport for holding onto it for so long, so they treated the POWs horribly. But now this hero has been liberated!

This is fantastic news. I was so afraid for this guy. Of course, we will never know what had to be done to bring him back.

If I am paying for this insanely expensive ticket to the UK (with no guarantee of being reimbursed for the ticket), doesn’t it make sense to stay in London for a couple extra days before heading back? 

I think this is what I should do.

The Russian special ops officers captured in Ukraine are now being abandoned by their government. Putin is saying they had quit their jobs and wandered into Ukraine of their own free will. The officers are swearing they were “just following orders” and that they never quit the special ops.

The whole thing has gotten very bizarre and jokes proliferate. Here is one:

“Russians are filming their own version of “Saving Private Ryan.” It is called “Shitting on Captain Alexandrov.”

Alexandrov’s wife gave an interview saying that her husband was not a member of the Russian armed forces. Alexandrov is shattered by the betrayal.

But this has been a regular occurrence in this war: relatives of the Russian POWs or fallen soldiers sell out their relatives for a modest handout.

I’ve been on sabbatical for less than 2 weeks but I’ve already derived tons of enjoyment out of it. I’ve settled on a schedule where the Dr Phil Show at 3 pm serves as a demarcation line between the first half of the day that is dedicated to writing and the second part that goes to reading.

It’s a regular work day that is invested 100% into research. And just in under two weeks I have already achieved a lot: finished and submitted the Oxford talk, finished and submitted my chapter to a collection on masculinity, and have gone back to the book.

This is enjoyable on almost a physiological level. I sit surrounded by mountains of books and notebooks and achieve the state of grace. Every week I return a suitcase filled with books to the library and get a new suitcase – full back. This is all good, people.