On January the second.
But I don’t care.
The chains will be back on on Monday, and until then, we’ll say “hey Slavyane” and keep doing what we do best. Kiev is full of crows, stray dogs, and other people’s dreams – dreams that rise like the fog off the earth in the unusually damp winter mornings. No snow until John the Baptist’s feast arrives… No snow, and then the skies will open, but I will be far away from here by then, with my debts, my coughing Nissan, my ringing phones…
I am murderously, murderously sick of my life, and of the people that pollute it. Especially those who think that just because they have PhD’s… Well, it’s a long story. Suffice it to say I have been, for the time being, cured of the idea of joining a doctorate program. And not because of the lacrosse case either, although that has also given me pause, seeing as I am stuck in the crossfire on this one, and stuck firmly. It’s become personal now too – the goal to get a PhD was never mine to begin with. I don’t have to achieve other people’s goals.
I have resolved to abandon a quest for status, particularly as it involves a process which is both foreign and artificial to me, and I have to pay for that by having my soul dragged through the dirt, at least for now. I think I can manage. Or maybe I hope.
Natalia A. 
When I hear that you are murderously, murderously sick of your life I want to give you a hug and offer to make some tea (Also make sure there are no loaded weapons around but I do that surreptiously).
As distance renders this impractical I can only say I hear you, I empathise and I know you are right. Life is shit, isn’t it?
But it’s also great and a hug and a cup of tea would prove that.
Have someone make you a cuppa and eh, give someone else a hug.
When you help others, you can’t help helping yourself, right?
And it would go some way to being, you know, good.
*
Dude, you’re already in a lot of debt, why would you want more? What would you need a Ph.D for? Those only bring status to those rich kids who have none. They also don’t have debt, or a clue. Your talents will bring status to you in other areas. Focus on those. When you’re rich and bored and 50 and still want a Ph.D, go for it. Until then focus on one headache at a time.