02 Aug 2001, 5:56 a.m.

We'll Always Have Petrograd

Wow, The Onion actually has some really funny headlines today. I won't spoil it by actually reading the stories, though. About three days left in St. Petersburg. I'm just falling further and further behind in …

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01 Aug 2001, 7:23 a.m.

I Love Dead People

Possibly the most interesting and relaxing thing I've done here in Russia is spend lots and lots of time in cemeteries. Today was the last time, I'm pretty sure. I leave St. Petersburg in only …

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31 Jul 2001, 6:32 a.m.

Lenindependence Day in Less Than a Week

Today, a bit about dreams and funny quotes from here in St. Petersburg. I leave on Sunday. Yesterday: "That's a war bookstore." Okay, I'm not going to tell y'all why it's funny, but it is. …

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30 Jul 2001, 6:24 a.m.

Solovki, Part II.

Here's the second part of my Solovki travelogue. This promises to be longish, overall, when done. Part I was here. Thursday: We Arrive. The next morning, I had no hangover that I could tell -- …

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28 Jul 2001, 8:37 a.m.

The Return of the Native Speaker

First of all, this Modern Humorist story made me laugh a great deal, and I'm quite grateful. Second of all, I saw a Britney Spears matryoshki doll today. No, not kidding. It was inevitable, I …

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27 Jul 2001, 5:46 a.m.

Cheap, Tasty, or Blessed: Pick Two.

One brand of mineral water available here in Russia is -- it says right here on the bottle -- blessed by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. (When John discovered this, he said, "I …

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26 Jul 2001, 6:24 a.m.

I only want to find the statue of the dog!

Yesterday I went and saw where Pavlov worked, here in St. Petersburg. It was pretty funny. So I searched for No. 12, Akademika Pavlova, near the Petrogradskaya metro station. On the way, I found out …

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25 Jul 2001, 4:16 a.m.

Chto-ever!

Dmitry Sklyarov news has been rather hard to find on the morning news program "Vesti" for the past two days. Blah blah blah, earthquake in Pakistan, raising of the Kursk, Macedonia riots. Tell me about …

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24 Jul 2001, 6:15 a.m.

Construction

I'm listening to National Public Radio right now. It's a story about Dmitry Sklyarov. Wow, I didn't know how much I missed Bob Edwards's voice until just now. "Construction" refers to Nyevskii Prospekt, which is …

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23 Jul 2001, 5:50 a.m.

Hi, I'm fine, and back in Piter

This is the "I'm alive, though my forehead is one large mass of bug bites" entry. I'm back in St. Petersburg, working on the Solovki Islands travelogue. John's diary of the trip will probably be …

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