Not nearly as funny but for many years my mother told people that my job is to write mystery novels in Spanish.

On Russian TV yesterday one propagandist said in a trembling voice, “At the beginning of the war we were told that the only danger our troops faced if they took Odessa was that the residents would hug them too tight out of joy. But now… it looks like… that might not be true? Ukrainians don’t seem to want to hug us?”

It took six months of war for one person in Russia to figure this out. These people are deeply hopeless.

We are experiencing a huge spam attack here on the blog. It’s the biggest one I remember in the past 10 years. Somebody is aggressively trying to publish pornographic content here. Obviously, they will fail but how boring.

Things that we come across exist to further our personal growth in the areas where we need it. Take, for example, my translation work. The kind of translation orders I get almost never seek to engage my creativity and deep knowledge of languages. I already have these qualities in abundance, and there’s no personal growth in doing what you are already great at and feeling good about it.

Instead, I get translation work that targets my weakest spots: attention to detail, meticulousness, and orderliness. I’m creative chaos personified but this work doesn’t reward anybody who is not in love with order and tiny little details.

There is a reason why I ended up doing this kind of work at this stage of my life. I might not know yet what it is but it has to do with becoming more careful and organized.

I have no energy myself for such a heroic feat but here’s a link to an excellent article that patiently explains all the ways in which Tucker Carlson is being a simpleton with no insight on Ukraine. If you ever need to conduct a brain detox on a confused old uncle or a pouty libertarian, please use the linked article as a guide. Most of the people in the pro-Russia cult are too far out of the reach of reason but some can still be salvaged if you talk to them carefully and make no sudden movements.

There will be no spoilers, don’t worry. But I have to say that I finally understand why JK Rowling has been spending so much time on Twitter. One could hardly post anything without being liked or retweeted by JK Rowling. Now it’s clear, though, that she was simply doing research for her new book.

The Ink-Black Heart is the best novel in the series. I say this about each novel because her mastery grows with each one. The book is 1,200 pages long with five million characters, all of whom have online avatars but JK Rowling manages to make them really easy to remember. My only complaint about the novel is that it’s only 1,200 pages. I could easily go for a couple thousand more. It’s definitely not one of those books where you keep thinking that a few hundred pages could have been edited out. It’s all good, highly enjoyable, extraordinary fun.

All I want to know now is when is the next one coming out?

It’s very symbolic that Ukraine clocked up such massive wins precisely on the anniversary of the day when the Western civilization was severely injured 21 years ago.

Today that terrible trauma reached the age of maturity. Because of this wound, our civilization lost its sense of rightness and its belief in its own goodness. It lost the certainty that it deserves to survive. It forgot about its incredible achievements and concentrated on picking endlessly on the scab of its mistakes. It tried to shut down its own economy, castrate itself, and glue its mouth shut.

But the Western civilization is bigger and stronger than even the worst trauma. Today it has begun its rebirth. That rebirth comes accompanied by solidarity, the knowledge of what matters, and the need to achieve, create, and overcome.

Things are getting better. We live in the time of amazement. Let’s remember that because if we don’t, that won’t honor those who died before they could see this day.

In the liberated city of Kupyansk, a concert of an elderly Russian singer was scheduled to take place today under the name “Russia Is Here Forever.”

These are very stupid, useless people.

Can people who prefer to pout instead of celebrating the victory of good over evil, nation-state over neoliberalism, intelligence over stupidity, and the Western civilization over barbarity go engage in these pursuits someplace else? If you are so lost in your snowflaking grievances against your own civilization, it’s your problem.

For the rest of us, it’s a great moment in history. We are all winning here. The victory belongs to us all.

At least I now know it’s not just me: