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Moscow and the arrival of capitalism
I was a teenager when the Soviet Union collapsed and suddenly I found myself in a new country and in a new regime. As things go in life, when you have to live through the unbelievable, you adjust pretty quickly, especially when you are young. Still, the changes that my country was undergoing right before… Continue reading
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Bad witches in Russia
Let’s go back to the 1990ies in Russia to continue with chronology of the events, not just influencing me and my life after, but also the fate of Russia and the rest of the world. When I talk about witches, and apologies to all nice white witches, who wish no harm (I am one of… Continue reading
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Weird Russians
Every time I mention that I am Russian, I can always register some fascination mixed with deep suspicion on the face of my interlocutor. Russians are considered to be weird and big. It’s the biggest country in the world, with long history, enormous culture and habits that leave the rest of the world population always… Continue reading
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Magic is in the air
I believe in Magic I always preferred the fantasy world to the ordinary reality we mostly observe around. Magic always appealed to me even if when I was growing up in the Soviet Union, a state where religion was banned at an official level (but people still, obviously believed). I constantly looked up to the… Continue reading
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Hypnosis, cigarettes, and champagne
By that time I was already in full-blown psychosis, but when you are in this state, you don’t really notice. And why should you, especially when you feel happy and complete at the same time? Psychosis as such is a culturally misunderstood concept, but I feel like I could share a few insights on the… Continue reading
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Russians and the meaning of life
Russians like deep feelings and philosophical discussions. You won’t meet a Russian, who doesn’t believe in ‘cudjba’, ‘ducha’ and ‘toska’. These three words mean: fate, soul, and a sort of nostalgia, that is difficult to translate directly. However, toska has real part in the Russian culture. It’s a sort of dwelling, dwelling over life, dwelling… Continue reading
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Elena: A Love Story for Humankind
After catching a brief glimpse of a woman’s face on a friend’s Tinder page, world-famous pianist Elena Sokolova’s life is plunged into total chaos and collapse. The quickly vanishing image is the face of her missing twin sister Olga, separated from her in a Russian orphanage at the age of eight, and who Elena has… Continue reading
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Born in the Soviet Union. A phone prank
When I was growing up, during the times of Gorbachev and Perestroika, which as you probably know, resulted in total change of the regime, as well as, of the whole country, things used to be different. Around the age of sixteen or seventeen I was contemplating the end of the Soviet Union and the way… Continue reading
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Born in Russia: my summers in a Cossack village
I had beautiful summers in Russia. Children are quite lucky in Russia as they get three months off during summer months! It is a nightmare for the parents, but total delight for the kids. Three full months of fun, three full months of the joy of childhood, freedom and exploration!I was sent each summer to… Continue reading
About Me
I am a doctor of philosophy, a university lecturer, and a lover of cats, fine wine, dancing, theatre, and human eccentricity. Born in the Soviet Union (Moscow), I grew up in both Russia and Donbas. I am fluent in four languages, and have spent all my adult life studying (except from 18 to 19) working and living throughout Western Europe. Despite a surname-Netchitailova- that translates from Russian into English as “unreadable”, my great passions in life are reading and writing. My personal struggles have made me appreciate the manifestations of weirdness that exist everywhere. My novel ‘Elena: A Love Story for Humankind’ telling a story of a Russian pianist, diagnosed with schizophrenia, looking for her twin sister in England, can be found on Amazon.
Porcupine's wisdom 