Para bellum

Temperature: 0/32 degrees. And. It’s. Snowing.

Eating: nuts and raisins.

Drinking: Do you know what is almost as good as Guaraná? Pepsi Max Mango. I need to add those to the emergency supply list. (See below. Yes, I’ll need those in an emergency. It’s either those two or bourbon and cachaça, and how well do you think you’d function all boozed up, hmm? If emergency turns to catastrophe, that’s when you’ll need the booze. I’m not going down without a fight or a breath I can use a flamethrower. Just kidding. Not really, no. You’ll be oh so sorry you even tried. Oh, honey, that is not a threat, that is a promise. What? No! I do still love everyone. Until you give me a reason not to.)

Listening: to Russian officials swiftly deny, deflect, defuse and all-around summarily dismiss any involvement in the Bucha massacre or any other war crimes for that matter. As if they had a script at hand, which they of course always have, with a dozen different explanations and substitute scenarios excluding the truth and their guilt. Obfuscation is the operative word.

Watching: Russian television is like watching a telecast in Bizarro World; up is down and square is round. Sitting down to watch Russian state media re: Ukraine is like stepping into a brainwashing machine where you will be subjected to a steady stream of carefully curated programming and be convinced that the west is evil, degenerate, and plotting Russian demise, shown Russian soldiers helping the downtrodden people of Donbas, presented with proof of Ukraine’s evil schemes, and reminded of why you need Putin. What you won’t be shown is the decimation of Mariupol, the bombing and shooting of Ukrainian civilians, Russian soldiers looting homes and hospitals, or how united and fierce the Ukrainians are in their fight against the invader. No use switching channels; the studio and talking head may change but the story, the soundtrack, the imagery stays the same, day in, year out. It’s a very powerful tool of mind control and manipulation. And it works.

Reading: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and The Languages of Scandinavia: Seven Sisters of the North by Ruth H. Sanders. You don’t have to be a glossophile to enjoy these books, you can just nibble here and there.

Writing: a list of what might be missing from our emergency supply kit. Both the government and emergency services have kindly reminded everyone of the importance of preparedness. This is a sensible nation of sensible people who trust the government and one another, so everyone agrees and acts accordingly.

Thinking: Hate is a verb, a wrongdoing word. Indifference is a verb, the undoing word.

Feeling: lucky we live in a sensible nation of sensible people.