We went into the 2021 Holidays (last year) feeling the earth was finally at peace. Even with the contrived election challenge in the USA, we, the majority, knew that cooler, more intelligent heads would prevail. It seems long ago, juxtaposed against world events in Eurasia (as I call it).
Every so often, an event, or series of events takes place to remind you of just how fragile our way of life is existence is and you just hope and pray that it isn’t you or yours it happens to next! Today’s world is , unfortunately weird and you never know…until you know and even then, keep your head on the swivel to think twice…
Just when I thought we had reached the “IGY” Donald Fagan (Steely Dan) described in his 1982 often-played on-air song of the same name, here, in early 2022, came a brain-damaged, diminutive despot from Russia named like a bowel movement gas, “Putin”, who has, for the past ten months decided to conduct a cold-war-style invasion of a peaceful neighboring country! A sudden seventy year throwback! What the hell is goin’ on with his mentally-ill brain and how can the rest of the countries of the world stop him immediately? Why is it so one-sided where Russian can disrupt Ukraine infrastructure and they cannot strike back similarly?? “Stop The War, NOW!”
If it means calling Stupin’s “nuclear” threat bluff, them we must DO IT as soon as possible because the longer this drags on in Ukraine, the later more than sooner it will happen anyway! Why are the nations of the world letting him rule the roost via bullshit threats when the only language he understands is a punch in his mouth, military defeat?!
Those of you who’ve read this place for the past decade, must know that I have courted a pen-pal in Ukraine and visited another in Kyiv in 2013. This is what my friend, who I’ll call “T” for protection’s sake and who I’ve communicated with virtually for almost three (3) years, wrote me today, November 25, 2022, the day after our USA Thanksgiving holiday, “Hi!
Happy Thanksgiving day! Great that you have your turkey and can enjoy celebration…for me I am 4 days with no electricity and have no water and no food…life is horrible right now for me…
Very sad…no internet connection most of the places in Odessa. I was lucky to find one, pay for it and write to you and sent you my warmest greetings!
Enjoy baby!
Kisses, T. “
I can hardly believe that she is going through this, here in these “modern” times! In the back of my mind and even prior to knowing her communications, I never took our way of life in the USA for-granted, as so many of my fellow countrymen seem to do; yet even now, this is imperative thinking! I implore our United States government not to turn a blind-eye to these events; to speak to the populace about them and possible ramifications and to unite with Europe and other countries to throttle Putin and his regime as we did Sadaam Hussein for much less, as soon as possible. Why is it so one-sided that only Russian can shoot missiles into Kyiv and Ukraine cannot return fire the same into Putin’s lair – or Moscow; whichever is closer?
And to you, Putin, we now know who Satin is among us it is YOU; and as President Ronald Reagan said to your country’s Mr. Gorbachev, back in 1987, I now say, “Mister Putin, Lay Down Your Inhumane Weapons!”
I welcome your positive ideas or fund-raising to get my friend over here to the USA, out of harm’s way ASAP in the comments, please… Peace.
It seems to me, that ever since I learned about the news and politics, that the Russian government has been this paranoid, threatening, pain in our collective asses.
Do you remember when Nikita Khrushchev took his shoe off in the United Nations meeting and pounded it on the desk? Do you recall when he uttered, “We will bury you!” at ambassadors from other countries? Or his actions in positioning nuclear missiles in Cuba, ninety miles from Florida, aimed at the USA in response to our adept President Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis? https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/nikita-sergeyevich-khrushchev That is, by the way, why I am in-favor of requiring all of those who run for President of the United States to have some military experience. I digress.
What is it with the Russian people, who cannot seem to get out of their own way when it comes to electing moderate leaders of their great land, who will play nicely with their neighbor countries here in the “future”? I don’t recall that Yeltsin or Gorbachev made any threats against the world and it was under their watch that the U.S.S.R let those countries who wanted to be independent be free! Gorbachev must have said or done something to get the attention of President Reagan which led to the famous, “tear down that wall…” speech.
It was Mr. Yeltsin who made the now infamously asinine choice of Prime Minister in 1999.
Because of that mistake, we have this latest reincarnation of Stalin’s Holodomor https://www.britannica.com/event/Holodomor in the crooked, wicked and slimy flesh of Putin, our latest Russian despot having a Hitler-Hissy-fit at a time when the world is just recovering from the two-year Covid-19 plague. A being incapable of remorse, empathy, contrition, compromise or any kind of human feeling; a demonic beast of which my generation has not seen! I have watched him, lo since he forcefully re-inserted himself into their Presidency and forced the more moderate guy to step aside in 2008. I never trusted this “former KGB spy” guy; Russian people, rise UP! You must do better in choosing your leaders! Or…are you guys still closet Commies or something like that?
Here is when I wish my World War II-experienced farther would have been more forthcoming with the kind of stories and experiences which might assuage the heartbreak feel for my kindred spirits; the friends I met over the past ten (10) years in the beautiful, independent country of Ukraine. I wish my Korean War-experienced uncle’s voice was still alive to tell me again, “Putin’s time shall come…” OK, how about the” time” is NOW.
How did they live through the threat of Hitler’s mass-murders of the Jewish people thousands of miles away? How do we continue when we see Putin’s ordered indiscriminate slaughter of the people, culture and heritage of Ukraine now? Who is HE to say they cannot determine their own destiny?!
All of which is to introduce this video sent to me by a friend in Ukraine, who I met online at LinkedIN prior to me traveling to Kyiv nine years ago, where we hung out in-person. At 00:21 you’ll briefly see a mirror-glass skyscraper on a main Boulevard (I think its called) Kikvdze, which I think I walked by a couple of times during my stay – now recently scarred by Russia’s indiscriminate bombing campaign.
My eyes well with tears because this is all sooo needless, my friends are under siege and hurting; it is heartbreaking for all of us and ultra-threatening to our general peace on Earth since World War II. Please help any way you can. Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s video was spot on, Great! Need more similar. This is when Muhammad Ali, Dennis Rodman or someone from the entertainment world, who the despot admired, would make a trip behind the iron curtain to gain an audience with him and maybe talk some sense into the senseless or gain insights. Surely there is some such person these days? I’ve read where actor Steven Segal is admired by Mr. Egomaniac; so when is the high-profile athlete/thespian/sports celebrity like может быть. Maria Sharopova, going to step forward and use their voice and influence and make this needed sojourn?
Shortly after being elected President of the United States, the word came out that ahead of a summit with Russia’s mercurial bete noire Vladimir Putin, he thought he was “a killer”.
Well, that analysis proved correct a few days ago, when the little bastard attacked the peaceful land of Ukraine for no reason other than his Napoleon-complex-sized ego and demented attempt to re-write world history. If you retrace what paranoid Putin has uttered during the years since he forcibly took over Crimea, a Ukraine territory granted back to Ukraine by Russian President and Communist Party leader Nikita Krushchev in 1954, you can hear that he is a pathological liar, much in the ilk of his buddy, the former occupant of the United States White House, #BenedictDonald.
As I watch the videos of this unnecessary carnage and damage to the infrastructure of my beloved Ukraine, my heart bleeds for my friends of the past dozen years, and in-particular, I think of all of the lovely ladies I have communicated with, including “my” Inna, who disappeared six years ago, supposedly to Sochi, Russian with her mental “doctor”. I digress, and yet feel so helpless and wish I could strike paranoid Putin, the new modern Hitler, down myself!
Putinitler
I pray my friends in Ukraine stay strong, have assets and resources to thwart and defeat him. I also fear that should an accident of war happen and one of his stupid missiles go awry and hit a NATO state, then this will become the full-on battle for the earth and, in other words, “World War III – The Nuclear version”.
Therefore, with one selfish act, this thug threatens to undo all peace on Earth of the past seventy-five years. And for what? His freakin’ EGO, that’s what. This unprovoked madness #paranoidPutin has wrought upon these peaceful people is truly unbelievable. If you do not believe me, then please go to the library and take out some books to read about World History since 1900, at least!
Putin must be sought out as they sought Saddam Hussein (who was not even as internationally menacing, btw) and Osama bin Laden, and similarly dealt with.
Hell has a hot, erternally burning cubbyhole waiting for Putinitler.
Zaporizhzhya volunteers have launched an action event for St. Valentine’s Day. Volunteers of the NGO
“Chesne Zaporizhzhya” (Honest Zaporizhzhya) address their appeal on FB: – We call on all our wonderful and beautiful girls and women! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner… So we decided to launch an action event called “Give a Soldier your Gift of Love” (for Valentines Day).
Zaporizhzhya volunteers have launched an action event for St. Valentine’s Day. Volunteers of the NGO “Chesne Zaporizhzhya” (Honest Zaporizhzhya) address their appeal on FB:
– We call on all our wonderful and beautiful girls and women! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner… So we decided to launch an action event called “Give a Soldier your Gift of Love”. Please write letters and declarations of love to our defenders, make a handmade gift, or prepare snacks and treats… It could be anything. Let’s give them the warmth and love that they need and deserve. For there, at the front, it’s important for our soldiers to know that lovely warm hearts are waiting for them at home.
Your gifts and sweets can be delivered every business day to our warehouse located at 152V Lenina Prospect, Room 21. Please call before visiting us: +0505393006, +0938729270 or +0966124412). If you arrive and no one is in the office, please leave your gift with the watchman.
Suggested snacks, treats and sweets:
– candies, chocolate, cookies, cakes and waffles;
– salo (lard), sausages, canned meat and fish, meat pâté;
– tea, coffee, cocoa;
– sugar, sugar, and more sugar;
– flour (for baking needs; our patriotic girls bake pies, pastry, cakes and buns and bread; the flour disappears in the blink of an eye!)
– you may add shaving supplies, socks (never enough!), flashlights with extra batteries, lighters and anything that pops into your mind.
The volunteers plan to travel to the front on February 16.
Pickhitt: This is very special because it is where my Ukrainian friend and other half of the “Cafe` Skype” story lives – or lived last time I heard from her. Bravo.
I was trying to raise, via crowdfunding on Crowdrise.com, or whatever means available, $20,000 to help Ukraine while exporting my fiancee, Nina and her ailing, elderly mama to the USA for better elder health care. Her Mama has passed away (June, 2015).
Things were on a fast track after our “Mind Your Heads” rendezvous (see other posts on this blog about that) recently in London, UK, and just when it looked like we could solidify our wedding plans and get Nina her USA visa, two new hurdles appeared: the Maiden revolution in Kiev, Ukraine and her elderly mama’s health taking a turn for the worse! If you have followed this blog for any time, then undoubtedly you know of our “Cafe` Skype” story…
Naphtali and Nina. If you are a newbie, welcome to our world!
her (Nina, my fiancee`) elderly mama was diagnosed with cancer, hemoglobin issues and a tumor. Nina is the only offspring. Her daddy passed away last year (2012) and I would like to be able to get her to the USA for better health care while assisting Ukraine freedom fighters and government in their struggle to fend-off Russia’s President Putin and his Hitleresque designs to deny Ukraine’s sovereignty. We need as much money as we can raise!
NOW…Due to recent events in Kiev and then Russia’s disrespect of the sovereignty of Crimea, things have changed… the crisis in her country deepened and I knew that I had to try to take some kind of action! First of all, their military defense needs financial help and we will donate part of what we raise here to them! Then on to those hospitalized and gunned-down during the Maidan protests in Kiev. Next, we will do a short documentary video (I am good at that, lol) to show the world why Ukraine matters (they used to have all the nuke missiles aimed at the USA, for-example).
Will the “west” stand-up to the latest “Hitler”-type, Putin, for Ukraine’s integrity or let Russian break it up like this?
So, What are you waiting for? You can donate online right now by going to our link and clicking the orange “DONATE to this fundraiser” button! It is easy and when you do, if you are not “anonymous”, you and your business will appear in the donor roll as a do-gooder, which is great publicity for you! Here is the NEW link https://www.crowdrise.com/adoptawar-affectedukrainianfamily/fundraiser/imijproduckshunz/setup_success/personal
You can also join our team to help me promote this fundraiser right on the Crowdrise page! It doesn’t get better than this to assist!
If you have questions, doubts or suggestions, then please use “comments” here to voice them or ask privately using the email address in the sidebar to the upper right. You can also contact us via our Crowdrise.com platform page (link above).
Peace.
~ Naphtali
Pickhitt: How can we get this project in-front of those who actually have the money and desire to donate to it?
And now…I will unleash my over three decades as a radio broadcaster upon a review of a radio station that is the only one I currently like to listen to…, “Rooshkie Radio, WSNR”, Jersey City.
The first time I ever heard of Russians, “Boris and Natasha” were cartooned Russian agent caricatures I used to watch on “Rocky, The Flying Squirrel” show as a boy. On the nightly news back then, Chet Hutley, David Brinkley or Walter Cronkite would talk about the “cold war threat” from them and quote the newspaper, “Pravda”. Simultaneously, the movie, “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming!” premiered to my young consciousness and then, linguistically via the Cuban Missile Crisis during President Kennedy’s administration in the early 1960s, when then, First secretary of The Soviet Communist Party and Prime Minister, Nikita Khrushchev performed his shoe-pounding rant at the United Nations’ General Assembly.
Then came the dancers at club “NV” Nashville and my meeting my fiancee`Inna via our “Cafe Skype”.
All of which obviously begat these days when I listen daily in the car on my commute to work and my laptop to “Rooshkie Davidzon Radio”, WSNR 640. The AM radio station’s music has a wide variety and very cool, often hip playlist; the Russian talk is helpful to my learning the language of my fiancee` who lives in Ukraine, but is part of the Russian speaking population there (there are two linguistic factions in Ukraine). I bet the old communist establishment of the Soviet Union is turning in it’s grave at the sound of this American-style, non propagandist radio station’s format!
Listening to this station daily (and appreciating their radio elements) augments my Pimsleur Approach Russian CD lesson learning that I began in April of 2012. They have a full spot (commercials) load and the many telephone numbers of the advertisers, spoken in Russian, has helped me learn to count from zero (“нулевой” or “nul”) to twenty (“двадцать” or “dvadtsat'”) in Russkiy!
Their production is entertaining; the image elements enlightening and even when the automation fucks-up, it doesn’t take away from this very American-style terrestrial “Rooshkie” radio station. They have a featured traffic reporter girl, Natalia Bystritskaya, who is bubbly, humorous and in a “good mood” always!
The all-important morning show is anchored by a man who I call “the Russian Frankie Crocker” because of the jazzy background music bed that he does his talk over, Vadim Yarmolinetska.
His laugh and self-deprecating way of handling caller and topics makes him easy to listen to even if you cannot translate or understand every word. I always get the “flavor” of what they are discussing!
Another notable listenable is Alexander Grant who, I determined a “sleuth” journalist personality without the benefit of understanding all of the words in Russian. It is awesome how with the power of just a few linguistics and a background in radio formatics I can decipher subject of their talk shows.
I love their production, the spontaneity of how they handle callers and even when the automation burps. Their image liners and fill bumpers are really the creative “radio” that I learned to love when bitten by the bug back in 1972 at Adelphi University’s WALI/WBAU.
When not talking, WSNR is eclectic;(boring) especially after seven o’clock U.S. eastern time and on weekends. Weekdays, the live over-the-air broadcast ends at 7p.m. but can still pick up the stream of music online. Sundays they are over-the-air all day until seven p.m., including a sports talk show Sunday evenings. The music mix is eclectic where you’ll hear everything from traditional Slavic folk and acoustic tunes to Barbara Streisand, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Abba, Tina Turner and any electronica club jams that slip-in, (much less than when I first found this station, by-the-way) remind me of the hot Russian chicks I played for at club NV in Nashville, TN, circa 2004! I do not have to understand every single word in order to know what is going on due to my radio intuition and knowledge of the radio clock and vocal inflections! I notice a dearth of male American R&B or dance vocalist artist on WSNR’s musical playlist, however. How about some Sylvester from the disco days?!
** My advice to Mr. Gregory Devidzon, President of “Davidzon Radio” is do not sell-out to any U.S. radio corporations like Clear Channel! Please! пожалуйста!! Also, Advice:Please install and use the “cough switch” more! I hear too much coughing over the air! WTF? It is needlessly rude and unprofessional.
If you do, you will lose your radio station’s unique identity, political posture and entertainment values. Take it from someone whose radio career was abruptly discontinued by the corporatization, deregulation and automation which hit us beginning back in the early 1990s.
This is their website url, http://www.davidzonradio.com/index.htm and you can also dial them up streaming on any number of sites like tunein.com/radio/
As one of my LinkedIN.com comrades, Yuri Neshitov put it regarding my Russian learning methods, “You are at better position with learning Russian because love is the best teacher, tutor and assistant in this job… you a lucky man!”
Pickhitt: I give WSNR Four stars **** out of a possible five for live radio content in this day and time as a former radio personality. This is likely a brokered deal with WSNR.
One thing I recommend is that they add a PLAYLIST or “now playing” to their website so that we what tunes we are listening to after talk hours on line and so we can support the artists whose music they play! As a former radio junkie, I love that I cannot understand all of the bad news of the day and commercials! Otherwise they would be just another cookie-cutter station I would not listen to as a professional. lol I dig their hourly station ID production and choice of filler music also!
I pay particular attention to understanding the words that I can make-out when I hear the word “Ukraine” mentioned during their hour or half-hour news updates these days, knowing that my Inna, is in Kiev and political turmoil is spreading via a corrupt Russian-puppet regime “President” who should resign….
[Some of this material is re-posted with grateful acknowledgement to a blog post by Elizabeth Abosch who I have tried to get in-touch with/link to regarding this post, unsuccessfully.] When I was a little boy, one of the ladies who made sure that I had an after school snack and got on with my homework until my hardworking parents returned home, was our next-door neighbor, whose name was Odessa (Redus) Brown. I took the name for-granted, yet always thought “Odessa” as a regal, majestic name and I never thought to research it until my Inna, who I hope will spend the rest of my life with me as my wife, introduced me to a place in her country that she wants us to enjoy together that has an historic beach-port, called Odessa, Ukraine, two years ago. Recently, she writes: “Naphtali, check out This Unpleasant Information… By the way, yesterday there was a whole transfer on TV with participation of real girls on a similar theme…. These girls told about the histories as they were used by years… Men from USA, England, Italy, Switzerland, Australia. Men promised to marry them, met on resorts, or came to them on a visit. Or invited to itself, and after one or two months sent the women home. As, have told and have shown a photo of the man which each two years invites to itself women home in in USA under the visa of the bride. And then exposes for doors of women… And so already proceeded [has done this for] with about 10 years. Now to this to the man any more does not give embassy the sanction to invitations of the following brides. I see, the whole system of entertainments and games on feelings was already created, and it is expensive(dear) costs(stands)! I of nothing want to tell bad about you and about us. I only share with you the information and as, has thought, if You will publish this information on the BLOG. Cheerfully it is possible to spend in Odessa to American guys! [Can have a good time] You remember, two years back, you sent to me the reference from YouTube about Odessa…. Yesterday wanted to find this reference again…. But has lost…. I any more do not remember, that there spoke…. But I remember, that there there was a dirty. Also it is the truth much to our regret. But this dirty is everywhere in any city of the world. And you know it. Only it is interesting, why particular Now this time, do they began to give this more than attention?!(Why?)” Yeah, Honey, I agree. Why the sudden attention to this? And so now, please peruse parts of Ms. Abosch’s historical account. “With access to Turkey and its closeness to the rest of Europe, Odessa is an international human trafficking hub. Women and orphans from Odessa or even poorer areas like rural Moldova travel to the city to find good jobs abroad, and are promised them by traffickers before their passports are taken away and they are sold into slavery or work as prostitutes within the city.” Video from a movie about Odessa: Elizabeth Abosch writes, “In wartime and in post-war Soviet film, one man made a name for himself portraying an Odessan and portraying him as a hero. That man was Mark Bernes, the first great Soviet Star and the possible creator of what I like to call, the Odessa “Hero Myth”. Bernes (who was of Jewish ancestry) became famous for his character Arkady Dzubin, first in the 1943 movie “Two Soldiers”. He spent time with troops in military hospitals who were native to Odessa, and picked up that their dialect seemed quite lazy and was accompanied by much shoulder shrugging and lip pursing. He created an archetype for “the Odessan”, a vaguely Jewish, musical, easy-going person who could calm his brothers with humor and then rise to any bravery needed….” In “Two Soldiers” he distracts a woman from a bombing raid by singing an ironic song about a fisherman, Konstantin, and his wife Sonya: “Shalandy Polnye Kefali”:”
And also of heartfelt interest, Ms. Abosch continues, “Perhaps his most famous song as the Odessan Arkady Dzubin was “Dark Night”, which became the unofficial anthem for Soviet citizens and soldiers barely surviving World War Two. The song is about a soldier who believes no harm can come to him as long as his wife and new baby still wait for him…
The lyrics are, “Dark night, only bullets whistling over the steppe, Only the wind humming in the woods, dim stars twinkle. In the dark night, darling, I know, I’m not sleeping, And in the crib, you secretly wipe away a tear. How I love the depth of your gentle eyes, How do I want him to press my lips against you! Dark Night divides us, my love, And a disturbing, black steppe lie between us. I believe in you In my sweetheart, This belief is the bullet Dark night … Happily me I am confident in mortal combat: I know you will meet with my love To me no matter what. Death is not terrible. With time it’s time to meet. Here and now She whirls on me. You got me waiting And the cradle, And so, I know, with me Nothing will happen!” Maybe a bit more than many other famous cites in the world, Odessa is fueled by the myths surrounding it which shape perceptions about the place to this very day. Ms. Abosch’s blog from 2012 is concise, precise and enlightening – sometimes sadly so. Here is one more sample video and song with great classic pictures of “the city of the steps” that she brought to light, “I Remember Mother Odessa” (“Odessa Mama”): “Whoever has not been In the beautiful city of Odessa Has not seen the world And knows nothing of progress Who cares for Vienna of Paris, They’re puddles, jokes, no comparison Only in Odessa is A Paradise, I say. There in a restaurant They serve you beer And with it a bite Of fresh skrumbli Bashmala and balik And with them a shashlik With a good glass of wine – What could be better? Oh, Mother Odessa, You’re forever dear to me. Oh, Mother Odessa, How I long for thee! Oh, Mother Odessa, Who can forget you? Oh, Mother Odessa, I see you no more. Oh, Mother Odessa, I long for you and vow: Your avenues, promenades Are light, beautiful. The cafes, the boulevards, One can never forget. The carriages, the gypsies, The tumult, ta-ra-ram, The hotels, the young ladies Still are on my mind. Oh, Mother Odessa, You’re forever dear to me. Oh, Mother Odessa, How I long for thee! Oh, Mother Odessa, Who can forget you? Oh, Mother Odessa, I long for you and vow: Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, One cannot forget. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, How I should like to see you again! Hop tidl dam ti stidl didl dam ti….. Oh, Odessa-Odessa Mother, You are the most beautiful panorama; Everyone treasured you dearly. The cabarets, restaurants, You will still remember today Who knows what has become of you? Odessa, Odessa, I long for you” It is amazing that Odessa still is controversial and standing today; I guess they wouldn’t have it any other way. I encourage you to read Ms. Abosch’s whole piece here, http://odessahistory-eabosch2012.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html Out of respect for her brilliant research and blog, I shan’t devote more space to it than I already have, in order to peek your curiosity.
I feel this is a lesson in how stereotypical thinking ruins reputations on both sides of any argument. It reminds me of the rolled eyes, doubting looks, behind-my-back whispers that I am being “tricked” or scammed, that I notice when I tell some people about my relationship with Inna, inferring that she isn’t “real” or is “stringing me along”. Being a black American, I know first-hand how stereotypes, painted with a broad brush, can distort the perception of a whole people – or country.
I also can hear my late father commenting how black Americans and Jews have many more similarities historically than most people realize. A story about Jews hiding in a Ukrainian cave comes to light here: After you’ve absorbed her blog, please come back here to comment. Maybe we can get Elizabeth herself to weigh-in!
The following are pictures I took during my first overseas trip in all of my fifty-nine years that was inspired and helped by my Nina and long time attorney and friend Bruce. There is not much more to say and I will, with the exception of captions, let the photos speak for themselves.
the Center of Kiev
where I stayed the longest and most cozy
Different fixtures in this new place
street pole adorned
door of cafe I took video from!
lost on Subway “metro” I kept coming back to THIS outside station.
I was going for the statue!
We just walked from there!
still “lost in space” on the Metro…
Kiev’s tallest skyscraper!
Beach on Dnepr river
Kiev bike girl!
from my favorite of three apartments there
A main brew label!
trash dumpsters filled fast! This is early morning
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,000 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
Thanks to all of the pairs of eyes who’ve spied this space in the past twelve months. Time continues to fly as I get older. Have you noticed this phenomenon too? A SPECIAL спасибо to the best lady I’ve ever met and yet to touch, Nina! Don’t LEAVE! As you can see by running your mouse over the continents, she was instrumental in my intercultural presence! I can only excitedly imagine what a team we will be once under the same roof constantly! 😛
Achilliad's Blog! 