I, my husband, sister, friends, etc all go to find solace, calmness and strength in the public appearances and social media of Ukrainians who are in the war zone right now. It’s kind of embarrassing. N was getting really depressed but then I caught him huddled in a corner, listening to a Zelensky speech. After that, he rallied.

I don’t even know how to describe it to people who don’t speak Ukrainian. Remember the COVID drama of spring-summer of 2020? Remember what the MSM were like? Now imagine the polar opposite of that.

Klara told me that every morning at school they pray for Ukraine and asked whether it’s helping. I said it’s definitely helping. Ukrainian soldiers report that they feel the presence of divine power that’s on their side and ask everybody to keep praying. I’m not inventing this for my kid’s benefit. They do say it.

This is my university in Kharkiv:

I mean this was my university. It’s been destroyed by the Russians.

More views:

In 2014, Russians thought that conquering the completely Russian-speaking Kharkiv would be a breeze. There was no Ukrainian army, the city is 20 minutes from the Russian border, it seemed like an easy win.

Back then, Russia was afraid to bomb and send troops openly because Russians thought that the public opinion in the West wouldn’t tolerate an open slaughter of civilians in Europe (ha ha, right?). The troops Russians sent in 2014 were instructed to pretend they were participating in training maneuvers and got lost. When they came to Kharkiv, regular citizens, civilians banded together and repulsed the Russian assault on Kharkiv. The main confrontation happened right in front of the university that you see in the pictures.

The very first air strike that Russians delivered on Kharkiv in February of 2022 was on the exact spot where Russian invaders were repulsed in 2014.

Ukrainian people are undefeated as always. After the initial shock, they regrouped and have now resumed the spring semester classes. Online, of course.

People are joking, “it’s all good, at least now our professors will have to learn a few new teaching methods.” And, “how come I’m getting a semester off because I joined the army? I’m sitting in the bushes, waiting to shoot at a Russian tank. Those bastards are so slow, I could get in 20-30 algebra equations and a 100 pages on the history of ancient Rome between the shots.”

I hope that together with the fashion for Ukrainian flags and portraits of Zelensky we adopt a fashion for resilience. It wouldn’t hurt at all if mental issues and extreme fragility were no longer a badge of honor.

Well, since gas prices are record low, the world is at peace, and there’s no inflation or other serious problems, we can clown around with this type of inane posing. Oh, wait.

These people are so getting clobbered in November.

I’m so busy that yesterday during the Zoom panel where I was one of the speakers I graded papers while other panelists spoke. It also helped me not to get too annoyed when they said unnecessary things.

One speaker, for instance, thought that our panel on Ukraine was a great moment for him to air his grievances against Trump. He literally mentioned Trump more times than he did Ukraine. I didn’t have time for Trump obsessions before and I definitely have none now.