UAE – Natalia A.

Who are you? And the far reaches of globalization

I recently gave a talk at the Chekhov Cultural Center here in Moscow, as part of English Language Evenings (thanks so much to the organizer, Stephen Lapeyrose, and all of the wonderful people who attended), and before the talk, I had to clarify something on my resume. I had to explain that a certain jobContinue reading “Who are you? And the far reaches of globalization”

Bag spam: what’s in my bag? And what’s in yours?

I’ve got friends who keep sending me little memes that I have no intention to spam other people in my Gmail address book with. I can, however, spam the readers of this blog! So for those of you who are, for some reason, dying to know what’s in my bag, here’s a rundown: – WorkContinue reading “Bag spam: what’s in my bag? And what’s in yours?”

Man with 86 kids going for 100… and he gets applauded? Really?

Remember the outrage over the Octo-Mom – Nadya Suleman? How come I am hearing nothing of the sort directed at Hot 100-Dad? Could it be because of… *gasp* sexism? Because Islam only allows 4 wives at a time, I’m assuming he marries and then gets divorced to make room for the next crop of broodma…sorry,Continue reading “Man with 86 kids going for 100… and he gets applauded? Really?”

Parody of Johann Hari’s piece on Dubai

If you know me well enough, you probably realize that I am as likely to go off on a tirade about one of the Gulf states as anyone. However, even if I leave my professional role aside for a moment, I still must say that this parody on Johann Hari is priceless. Notice that theContinue reading “Parody of Johann Hari’s piece on Dubai”

Shorter Danielle Crittenden: Throw the Niqabi Off the Train!

Props for anyone who gets the movie reference in the title of this post. Non-Muslim women have pontificated on the niqab (face-veil) and its relation to Western culture before. *cough* Admittedly, a lot of our comments, my comments included, can be rather presumptuous and patronizing, even if we don’t mean them to be. I’ve beenContinue reading “Shorter Danielle Crittenden: Throw the Niqabi Off the Train!”