I was actually searching for a meaningful quotation on aging today. But when I saw this by award-winning Canadian-American author Sara Gruen, it struck me as being equally appropriate to a matter that has been on all of our minds lately: the sanity of a certain aging head of state.

So, if any of his staff happen to be reading this (because we know he doesn’t read), perhaps they’d be kind enough to pass it along to him . . . and then run for cover:

“Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work, but important.”

– Sara Gruen, “Water for Elephants”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/2/26

Warning: This is a rant, though a fairly mild one. And if you read on, I’m fairly certain you will be able to relate, and will have no trouble understanding why I felt the need to vent.

First, a little background. I am a senior woman, single, living on a limited retirement income. I did not have wealthy parents to leave a nice little trust fund in my name, or a highly successful husband with a huge life insurance policy; nor do I possess any of the kinds of talent from which I might have earned gobs of money during my productive years. But I’ve never been poor, either.

My health is pretty good (“for my age,” as doctors are overly fond of pointing out). But as we grow older, sh*t happens: parts begin to wear out, you develop aches in places that you didn’t even realize you had places, and you start thinking that twinge you always assumed was just a gas pain might actually be something entirely different and much more scary. So your list of specialists begins to grow, because the old-time family doctors who diagnosed and treated practically everything short of major surgery died out about the time you reached middle age.

And that’s why man invented insurance.

Ah, yes . . . insurance. The biggest money-making scam ever devised, whereby a bunch of bean-counters sit at their desks and make life-or-death (YOUR life or death) decisions that determine whether your doctors will be allowed to treat you in accordance with their years of actual medical training and experience. And they send you a big fat bill . . . every single month, month after month, year after year, for the privilege of spending the rest of your natural life fighting with them over whether removal of that ruptured appendix was really necessary.

But they know we can’t afford to be without their coverage. And since Medicare is notoriously insufficient unto itself, a supplemental — or “Medigap” — policy is a must. And they’re outrageously expensive, allegedly because older folks require more medical attention. So, just at that time of life when we can least afford it, we lose our previous employers’ group coverage and begin paying extortionate prices for individual coverage.

And each year, we get to look forward to that inevitable notice of “premium adjustment” — praying, as we slit open the envelope, that it won’t be more than this year’s half-baked cost-of-living increase in our Social Security checks so we can at least break even.

*. *. *

I needed to pause for a moment there, because this is where I get to the guts of this dissertation, and I felt myself getting worked up again.

You see, my annual notice of premium adjustment arrived in the mail yesterday. Without going into too much boring detail, let me just say that, not only did the dollar amount far exceed my last Social Security increase; the new premium represented a whopping 19.6% rise over last year’s premium . . . whereas Social Security only allowed a cost-of-living increase of just 2.5% over last year.

And the new premium now represents 21% of my total monthly income.

“But Donald Trump said . . . ”

Yeah, yeah . . . I know what he said.

Well, anyway, after crunching those numbers — and indulging in some much-needed Haagen-Dazs — I began an online search for Medigap policies that might be a bit cheaper than my current one. And guess what I learned?

I’m screwed. In fact, we’re all screwed.

All of the Medigap policies are regulated as far as coverage is concerned, so you will receive the same benefits under, say, Plan “A” regardless of what company you choose. But there is a choice of several plans, and the premiums can vary widely.

I did find some that would have cut my premiums by about $300 a month, but they involved huge annual deductibles that totaled almost that much per year. So I wouldn’t have saved a dime; I would simply have had to put that $300 aside each month to cover the deductibles.

Admittedly, I only looked at a summary that offered a range of premiums, and I based my calculations on the top of the range. I haven’t yet checked out individual insurance companies, and that might make a difference. So the search continues.

But my point is this: In today’s economy, we ordinary people have two options: (1) die young, or (2) face an uncertain, less-than-dignified old age. Talk about Sophie’s choice!

But at least I can take consolation in knowing that Donald Trump and his cronies don’t have to worry about paying their bills.

Don’t you feel better now?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/2/26

Today would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday. Because she died at such a tragically young age, she will always be stunningly beautiful, quirky, sometimes joyous and sometimes sad — in our minds, at least.

But she was not, as so often depicted, a “dumb blonde.” In fact, she was witty and introspective, as exemplified by her commentary on the meaning of life:

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes, it’s a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you’re going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends — they ‘ll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything — they’re your true best friends. Don’t let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they’ll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them — actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can’t give up because if you give up, you’ll never find your soulmate. You’ll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don’t, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life’s a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”

Marilyn survived a terrible childhood, three failed marriages, stunning success and fame as an actress . . . only to give in to her demons at 36 years of age. But she left a beautiful legacy of having brought joy to millions of fans, including two generations (so far) that hadn’t even been born when she died.

Continue to rest in peace, “sweetie.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/1/26

I’ve quoted author and columnist Erma Bombeck several times, for her quiet wit and common-sense observations. I loved her gentle humor and her bright outlook; and it pains me to say that it’s probably best that she did not live to see what has happened to the world, and to our country since she left us.

I don’t know when this was written, but Erma passed away in 1996. And at some point before then, presumably around the 4th of July, she had this to say about America:

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”

That was then. This is what has happened since:

That was last year’s birthday celebration. The word is out that, among his other plans for this year’s 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation, he has something equally (or more) inappropriate planned.

So sorry, Erma. So very, very sorry.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/1/26

A spelling bee, that is, and specifically the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee that was concluded last week when 14-year-old Shrey Parikh correctly tackled words like . . .

“Cywyddau” . . . “Taurokathapsia” . . . “Natchitoches” . . . and finally, “Bromocriptine.”

(I capitalized all of them to be on the safe side, because I have no idea what any of them mean or whether they may be proper nouns.)

And that is precisely my point.

Who the hell does know, or care? Honestly . . . when will anyone other than, say, a devotee of the works of the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, ever have any use for a word like “cywyddau” (plural of “cywydd”), which (I looked it up) refers to “a highly structured traditional Welsh verse form . . . best known for being written in 7-syllable rhyming couplets that use cynghanedd — an intricate system of internal rhyme, alliteration, and consonant matching.” [Definition from Wikipedia AI Overview.]

See what I mean? Even Dylan Thomas himself probably didn’t know or care about cywyddau; he was too busy pleading with his father to “not go gentle into that good night” to be concerned with seven-syllable rhyming couplets or intricate systems of consonant matching.

I don’t mean to throw cold water on the accomplishments of young Shrey and the other spelling champs. They’re obviously bright kids, committed to learning and doing more with their lives than playing video games 24/7. They are to be admired and congratulated, as are their parents for encouraging them.

But what has happened to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the decades since I became my school’s champion speller by correctly spelling “conscientious”? Yes, we were encouraged to study word lists; but they were useful words that added to our expanding vocabularies, with a few obscure ones thrown in for fun. And at the same time, we were being taught in our regular daily classes to sound out words, learn their definitions, and discern the most logical spelling. We didn’t simply swallow a volume of Webster’s Unabridged, and then spit it out, one word at a time, on command.

Why are we cluttering these children’s minds with words they are never likely to encounter again in their lifetimes? (And by the way, since this is a U.S. competition, when did they start throwing in bits from other languages that are not a part of the English lexicon?)

I don’t advocate “dumbing down” the contest — just keeping it real. And of course, a certain amount of memorization does factor into a well-rounded education. For example, I can still rattle off my multiplication tables, the names of the major bones of the body, and a few of Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquies. But none of those things ever played a part in my career advancement . . . although nothing livens up a dull party like a recitation of Marc Antony’s oration at Julius Caesar’s funeral.

Seriously, there is so much more for kids to learn these days, in the same number of school years, than when I was their age — more decades of history, and certainly more science and technology. Let’s not overwhelm them with the useless stuff, and maybe we can leave them a little time for . . . what was that old-fashioned word again? . . . oh, right:

F-u-n.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/1/26

Today is the 1,544th anniversary of the founding of Kiev (as it was known then). Although the exact date is the subject of ongoing debate, it has come to be accepted as the year 482 A.D., and is celebrated on May 31st.

(Just as a matter of interest, the city of Moscow was not founded until 1147 A.D. — nearly 700 years later. So all of the talk about Ukraine historically “belonging” to Russia is . . . well . . . so much talk.)

Today, even in the midst of war, the spirit of the people of Kyiv shines through the pain and the misery, as expressed in a post that I found on Facebook today. It reads in part:

“This is a city that is truly impossible not to love. A city of chestnut trees and golden domes, bustling streets, morning traffic jams, and evening walks along the Dnipro River. A city where every street has its own story and every district its own character.

“ . . . Kyiv is its people. It is the rescuers who are first to arrive after strikes, the soldiers defending its skies, the doctors, volunteers, utility workers, teachers, public transport drivers, and everyone who works every day to keep the capital alive.

“Kyiv is a city of resilience and a city of hope. Happy Kyiv Day — to the city that inspires, fights, and wins!”

– Ukraine Breaking News, May 31, 2026

Happy anniversary, Kyiv. May you see 1,544 more!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/31/26

Who would have believed that this face . . .

. . . would ever have left me ROFLMAO?

But, as I’ve said before, Vladimir Putin and his crew of Kremlin comics are often at their funniest when they’re being serious.

On Thursday, May 28th, a drone — in the midst of a massive Russian multi-drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Izmail — crossed the border into Romania, striking an apartment building in Galati, seriously wounding two Romanian civilians.

NATO and the EU immediately denounced Russia’s “reckless behavior,” while Romanian President Nicusor Dan expelled the Russian Consul General and shut down the consulate in the nearby city of Constanta.

But instead of attempting to defuse the potentially volatile situation by apologizing for what might conceivably have been an accident, Putin went on record the next day as saying it was too early to determine whether the offending drone was actually Russian. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, he said:

“Who in Romania says that this is a Russian drone? No one can say what the origin of this or that drone is until an examination has been carried out.” [Reuters, May 29, 2026.]

Claiming that Ukrainian drones had previously been spotted in Poland, Finland, and the Baltic countries, he attempted to deflect blame by adding:

“The first reaction was exactly the same as it is now in Romania: The Russians are coming. Then, after a short time, it turned out that it had nothing to do with Russian drones.” [Id.]

Well, maybe . . . except for a little matter of geography.

I am the farthest thing from a military expert, but even I can see the fallacy in Putin’s so-called logic. Let’s look at the map of the region.

The area in which the missile strike occurred is circled in red, in that little space where Ukraine and Romania share a short border, next to Moldova. Galati, Romania, is located just across the Danube River from Izmail, Ukraine. So why would Ukrainian forces, who were busy repelling an attack from Russia, be firing drones toward Romania in the opposite direction? Unless they were colossally stupid — which they most assuredly are not — their anti-drone munitions would be aimed generally in the directions shown by the arrows: north/northeast.

Am I right?

Now, I realize that the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union have had a long-standing tradition of refusing to accept responsibility for anything, preferring instead to find the nearest scapegoat when things go wrong. But it seems that after so many years of dissembling they’ve run out of plausible excuses.

So why can’t Vlad — just once, to see how it feels — put on his big-boy pants, and admit that someone in his army goofed? And if that’s too painful, he can always find a general or two to take the heat.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/31/26

There is nothing more dangerous than an animal — even one of the human variety — that is cornered and out of options. And with his war against Ukraine in its fifth year, his economy bottoming out, NATO and the European Union standing up to him, and his own people catching onto the fact that he is something less than superhuman, Vladimir Putin is showing distinct signs of exactly that kind of desperation.

He has also been struggling to maintain a measure of control over a number of former Soviet republics. The Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — are fiercely independent, having gained membership in both NATO and the EU in 2004. Strategically-located Moldova has more recently become a candidate for EU membership. And now Armenia — long considered to be under Russian security protection — has begun turning Westward, deepening its ties with Europe and the U.S. while noticeably reducing its dependence on Moscow . . . the final straw apparently having been Russia’s failure to assist Armenia in maintaining its control in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

So, Putin being Putin, he has been issuing threats that he may not actually be in a position to carry out. In a statement glaringly reminiscent of his rhetoric prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he recently warned Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that they could face a “Ukrainian scenario” if they continued to pursue stronger ties with Europe, and spoke of a potential split:

“In my opinion, it would be right, both in relation to the population, the citizens of Armenia, and in relation to us, as the main economic partner, to decide as early as possible, for example, by holding a referendum. Accordingly, we would draw the appropriate conclusions and follow the path of a soft, intelligent and mutually beneficial divorce.”

– Vladimir Putin, May 10, 2026 Press Briefing

And we all know what a Putin-esque “Ukrainian scenario” looks like.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/31/26

Not all of the hostages are in Russia. The prisons and penal colonies in other former Soviet republics and Russia-friendly countries — such as Belarus, Azerbaijan and Georgia — are also full of political prisoners: dissidents, oppositionists, journalists, and others who have spoken out against their repressive regimes.

In June of 2025, seven such individuals were convicted in a court in Baku, Azerbaijan, on various spurious charges and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Their names have been on my list of hostages since that time; I dubbed them the “Azerbaijan Seven.”

One of them — economist, civil society advocate, and RFE/RL contributor Farid Mehralizade (far left above), had been abducted on the street on May 30, 2024, denied counsel, and charged with “illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.” Despite a total lack of evidence, he was convicted at the 2025 trial and sentenced to nine years in prison, where he remains today. [RFE/RL, May 30, 2026.]

After two years in detention, Mehralizada has spoken out on his life in prison, as reported yesterday by RadiioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. His account is not filled with tales of horror, anguish and depression, but instead focuses on the social, economic, and practical aspects of life behind bars . . . and is well worth taking the time to read.

A young man — just 31 years old, with a wife and a daughter born a few months after his arrest — his words reflect his loneliness, but lack any expression of bitterness or anger. His report is both enlightening and inspiring, indicative of a man who is determined to survive this miscarriage of justice in order to be reunited with his family. We can only hope for the success of the efforts underway for his early release.

*. *. *

And for the thousands of other political prisoners of Putin and his tyrannical allies, another week in prison has passed. Once again, here is the full list of those hostages known to me, which is still only a fraction of the total:

Prisoners of War:

The 20,000+ Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin
Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Oleg Orlov
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Afghanistan:

Mahmoud Habibi (Afghan-American)
Paul Overby (American, missing since 2018)

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
Farid Mehralizada
Ulvi Hasanli
Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
Mahammad Kekalov
Hafiz Babali
Nargiz Absalamova
Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
Oleg Antipov
Artyom Azatyan
Georgy Azatyan
Aleksandr Bylin
Roman Solomko
Artur Terchanyan
Dmitry Tyazhelykh
Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
Aleksandr Andreyev
David Barnes (American)
Yevgenia Berkovich
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Yury Dmitriyev
Anastasia Dyudyaeva
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Svetlana Petriichuk
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Lev Schlossberg
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Karina Tsurkan
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

You have not been, and will not be, forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/31/26

I’ll never understand why bad things have to happen to good people. But on the flip-side, I like to think that karma will eventually catch up with those who deserve it — the murderers, abusers, tyrants, and yes, even the vampires (if they do exist) — who are completely without conscience and live only for their own twisted pleasures.

I included vampires here because of a quote from Anne Rice, the late American author best known for her Vampire Chronicles, in which Lestat, reflecting on his own ill-conceived life choices, addresses himself:

“Oh Lestat, you deserved everything that’s ever happened to you. You better not die. You might actually go to hell.”

– Anne Rice, “The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)”

I could name any number of people living today who might give that thought some serious consideration. But you already know who they are, don’t you?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/30/26