Author: Clarissa

Achieving the Opposite

~ Clarissa ~ 11 Comments

The Russian writer Dmitry Bykov, who is the only significant literary talent Russia produced since Solzhenitsyn, says that Putin is famous for achieving the exact opposite of what he planned.

He wanted Russia to be one of the world leaders but it’s now more despised than ever.

He wanted to dominate Chechnya, and as a result Chechnya dominates Russia. The notorious videos of Chechens whipping and raping Russian soldiers at the front with complete impunity are only one of the many manifestations of this phenomenon.

Putin wanted Ukrainians to like and respect Russians again but instead he awakened such a wave of hatred and contempt for everything Russian that not even the most radical among Ukrainian nationalists ever wanted.

He’s an old, bumbling loser, and seeing him as anything else can only stem from ignorance.

Horseshoe Sulk

~ Clarissa ~ 5 Comments

Without the word “students”, it’s impossible to guess if they are left- or right-wing pouters.  Weak, sulky, infantile and self-pitying, they are the mirror image of each other.

Good Comments

~ Clarissa ~ Leave a comment

The most unexpected thing with my show is that all the comments are mega complimentary and sweet. Usually, with a large anonymous viewership, one should prepare for mega-tons of abuse. I saw things that viewers write to the host, and they are often not pretty. All I got, though, is “brilliant, talented, where can I buy the book by this amazing intellectual?”

The War on Traffic Signs

~ Clarissa ~ 10 Comments

The war on homophobic traffic signs is proceeding apace in LA:

When people ask me if Ukrainians can go woke, I always say that no, they can’t because they have a sense of humor.

A sense of humor is urgently needed here in the US.

Intelligence Loves Quiet

~ Clarissa ~ 9 Comments

I don’t know about rich people, but mental health and intelligence both love quiet. People who are all right in their heads don’t need to drown out with din the unbearable affects that gush out of them like geysers. And if they have interesting thoughts they want to concentrate on, they’ll have no need of filling an inner vacuum with noise.

Brilliant Strategy

~ Clarissa ~ 16 Comments

That is, indeed, an excellent ad. And an absolutely brilliant political strategy to take away and appropriate the American flag at a time when the opponents are increasingly embracing Berkeley-style pouting about “evil America”.

Puzzled

~ Clarissa ~ 1 Comment

My aunt watched the show and wrote to congratulate me on my amazing command of the Ukrainian language. Of course, the show was in Russian, so I’m not sure what she meant.

This particular aunt is not known for sarcasm so I’m quite puzzled.

Post-show Update

~ Clarissa ~ 8 Comments

I haven’t even been able to watch my show yet because I had another appearance scheduled for 15 minutes after. And I haven’t had anything to eat in 24 hours because nothing would go in. Now that it’s all done, I’m very ready for a gigantic burger. Wow, I’ve really been Americanized.

N is happy. It was the dream of his life that I appear on the show. He cultivated the host for months to prepare ground for me to be invited.

He first established contact before the book even appeared in print. Started a conversation with the host, saying, “Great show today! Interesting discussion topic! Here’s what I think…”

Then, after a while, he started saying, “What’s lacking is a discussion of topics XYZ. It would be great if there were somebody you could invite to talk about them.”

After a few weeks, he came back with, “Lookihere, there’s a new book that was just published and it’s all about these topics you and I were saying would be cool to discuss.”

And then, “Hey, do you want me to send you a copy of the book? Maybe invite the author. That would be interesting to watch.”

N never initiates contact with other humans, so it’s huge of him to do this. I’m touched beyond words.

Show Must Go On

~ Clarissa ~ 12 Comments

Please join us in 46 minutes. Yes, you won’t understand what I’m saying but who cares? You already heard it all a million times.

I pray to God there’s no lawn mowing or construction outside. And I don’t sweat too much because I can’t turn on my table fan, and it gets too hot inside.

Also, it turns out that the journalist and I attended the same university in Kharkiv at the exact same time. I was in foreign languages (English and German) and he was in history. And now we meet.

Politician Clothes

~ Clarissa ~ 10 Comments

Is there even a politician who dresses worse than Rishi Sunak? Everything he wears is 3 sizes too small. He looks preposterous. The dude has everything to look distinguished and serious but he chooses not to. I don’t get it.

Giorgia Meloni, on the other hand, appeared in a powder pink number today that left me breathless. Are these politicians enacting stereotypes about their countries through the clothes they wear?