Life stories that normal people never experience – told with humour and a dash of smart analysis
A midnight flat tire on Vancouver Island's loneliest road. Rescued by a bear hunter. We hiked more than 50km - with a bear trailing us, and more - a cub peeking from behind a tree. We followed wolf tracks, slept beneath lighthouse skies, and watched the sunset blaze over the coast. Well, even the "Graveyard of the Pacific" has a
A marketplace purchase spirals into a surreal encounter with three strange men, a house of fake Klimt paintings and gaudy antiques and a reincarnation of David Bowie if he was 70. The real horror? Realizing why we ignore danger: fear of rudeness outweighs survival instinct. J just laughs and fixes everything.
A lady finally meets a psychiatrist who cuts through her misdiagnoses (Biporar? Borderline? ADHD?), she gets the shocking truth: she’s just a "banal creative hysteric", just a dramatic creative soul. No pills, no disorders—just a hysteroid personality type, craving admiration and creation. Now she’s torn: relief or disappointment?What is the cost of this freedom?
This piece explores how bathing differs across Canada, Russia, and the UK. It brings back memories of five-minute cold showers under the watchful eye of a landlady in London, prison-style rules from a Canadian corrections officer, and even the odd excuse to start a romance during water outages in Moscow. Because every summer in Russia, hot water disappears.
Hilariously weird everyday stories — we all experience but never expect
What are the reasons to stay far from home and family? Freedom. The freedom from our parents: mine - from my parents, my son’s - from his. So we all live in different places. I still ask myself what I need more—to be with the man I love or with the son I love. What is the cost of this...
Over a fancy breakfast, there’s an encounter with celebrity-turned-propagandist. Once, he scolded Bernays’ manipulation tactics; now, he deploys them, velvet words masking war. From Moscow secret bars to the red glow of the Kremlin, sickly perfection and impeccable beauty becomes oppressive, and truth slips through polished rhetoric. What is the cost of this freedom?
Royal bedrooms don't save you from loneliness if you're not allowed to scream, kiss, or laugh outside the etiquette. When you're raised as a princess, everything is handed to you — but you live by someone else's rules. To descend into the ordinary, you end up sleeping on a mattress in the kitchen.Is freedom more important than propriety? Or would...
Delayed flights, vanished luggage, lost passport, airport meltdown, French-Canadian bureaucracy, grief, stubborn optimism, and a ‘little black dress’. Real-time chronicling of a chaotic route via Toronto, Montreal and Dubai with Emirates as the unexpected hero and Air Canada as the ultimate mess-up.I still ask myself what I need more—to be with the man I love or with the son I...
Disguised behind sunglasses and a Tilley hat, she lives as “Lesbian Brenda” - hiding from coworkers, motherhood, and expired documents. Her children prepare to fly alone to Moscow. One never to come back to Canada. She’s blocked her mother and her ex. It feels like living in a The Academy of Fools sketch - a clown released from the Cuckoo’s...
A marketplace purchase spirals into a surreal encounter with three strange men, a house of fake Klimt paintings and gaudy antiques and a reincarnation of David Bowie if he was 70. The real horror? Realizing why we ignore danger: fear of rudeness outweighs survival instinct. J just laughs and fixes everything.
Hilariously weird everyday stories — we all experience but never expect
A midnight flat tire on Vancouver Island's loneliest road. Rescued by a bear hunter. We hiked more than 50km - with a bear trailing us, and more - a cub peeking from behind a tree. We followed wolf tracks, slept beneath lighthouse skies, and watched the sunset blaze over the coast. Well, even the "Graveyard of the Pacific" has a...
Immigrant Longing: When a Stranger’s Mother Feels Like Home. J brings his spectacular mother to Starbucks, a desperate hug blurs borders between "here" and "home”.
Bipolar rollercoasters, ADHD squirrel moments, OCD’s endless scrubbing, borderline’s abandonment, depression’s cozy blanket & suicide’s sneaky whispers.
exploring life before and after medication, the loss of intensity, and the strange calm that follows. A journey from madness to mellow. Bittersweet trade-off between wild intensity and calm, ordinary life.I still ask myself what I need more—to be with the man I love or with the son I love. What is the cost of this freedom?
A lady finally meets a psychiatrist who cuts through her misdiagnoses (Biporar? Borderline? ADHD?), she gets the shocking truth: she’s just a "banal creative hysteric", just a dramatic creative soul. No pills, no disorders—just a hysteroid personality type, craving admiration and creation. Now she’s torn: relief or disappointment?What is the cost of this freedom?
A peaceful, rainy stroll turns into a panic attack - deepest fear - worms. Those harmless, wriggling creatures that invade the sidewalks after rain. Tiptoeing between them in horror, romance rain is gone. So why are we afraid of worms?
Stories about cultural differences, immigration, adapting to a new country and odd situations that newcomers experience
This piece explores how bathing differs across Canada, Russia, and the UK. It brings back memories of five-minute cold showers under the watchful eye of a landlady in London, prison-style rules from a Canadian corrections officer, and even the odd excuse to start a romance during water outages in Moscow. Because every summer in Russia, hot water disappears.
A reflection on family, distance, and the immigrant experience. Envy to Starbucks’ happy families. Memories of Moscow mornings - grandfather’s stories, grandmother’s pancakes, father’s steady presence - clash with the loneliness reality of a new life abroad.
From quiet suffering in Moscow to Caribbean cruises in Canada, this reflection contrasts how different cultures treat aging, love, and dignity in the twilight years.
Stories about relationships – humorous, ironic, where everyone sees themselves
Love is… A quest for a bug zapper while the beloved is frozen in terror - insects all over the house. She rushes to rescue him. While he always rescues her - from bears and her nightmares. She tests limits - he survives. Growth through mutual, manic devotion.
Watching shows with J is always a surprise. His life’s more interesting than any script. I laugh: “Netflix made another show about you.” With every show carving into his past and wondering - so different - how to make it together?
A messy Starbucks barista and her germaphobic partner clash over laundry, hygiene, and stubborn habits - boots get hosed down, clothes are "arrested,". How would love survive if two people are so different? Or does the negative attract the positive and thus evolve into something stronger?
A love story without bars, alcohol, no drunken kisses, no drama-fueled nights or sleepovers — just two very unusual people building something rare, raw, and real. It’s so unusual that it looks like a glitch.
House-hunting in Canada — with impossible wish lists, hidden “perfect” homes, and a real-estate Jedi who saves the day. Dreams of Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen and foggy mornings for “aesthetic sadness,” the house happened to be on the street with the cutest ever name -‘Quail’s Run’.
During a trip to Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island, craving love, a wish was made by Fairy Lake. Two dragonflies alighted, teaching that dreams matter. By October’s end, the perfect dragonfly - the one and only - was found.
Emily Carr’s - famous Canadian artist from Victoria, British Columbia - last painting, captures the sweeping skies and textured, …
The Curonian Spit, in the Kaliningrad Region, is a good place to have a relaxed, peaceful and inexpensive beachside vacation.
The best time of year to be in the Kamchatka Peninsula is considered to be autumn: warm, sunny weather sets …
A simple task—measuring rice and water—spirals into pi-level math, proving how Eastern European instincts to expect the worst can turn …
Rushing from Canada to Moscow to visit Dad in intensive care — unrecognizable after just a month. Hiding shock behind …
A movie about Dad through his music is made —Simon & Garfunkel to Piazzolla, Vertinsky to Zaz. His soundtrack echoes …
Emotion is a feeling. It is not a thought. Such as happiness, love, fear, anger, or boredom. Emotions can be …
As a researcher, I deploy targeted methods to get actionable insights: Surveys (personal/QR-code/social media-enabled to understand visitor feedback and …
This paper examines the remarkable transformation of Siberia's Priiskovy region, where winter tourism development overcame political resistance to become a …
Travelling is to become worldly, meet other people, leaving home,
it’s dressing crazy. It’s sleeping in another bed, it’s feeling that time is short, it’s to feel solitude.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
