Mr. Melamed says that Queen Elizabeth I would have never thought that some five hundred years later, in one of England’s former colonies, her Speech to the Troops at Tilbury will evoke discussion about her sex life and earn her the title of a “slut.”

Strawberry Fields, Central Park. December 8th, 2007. A man of a rather stout complexion with an odor of alcohol around him yells “Give peace a chance! Give peace a chance!” A Neil Young-looking older man says to his friend: “He must’ve not had his vegetables. He keeps shouting ‘give peas a chance’ haha.”

Pavel says that having turned 18, I can now buy lottery tickets. I said I bought one already. An expensive one too, entitled “Columbia University Application for Undergraduate Admissions.” Seventy dollars.

Maman says “любить — так королеву, воровать — так миллион.”