Who is Neznajka?

In keeping with the rules of American foreign policy, I
had meant to preemptively answer the above question. Somehow, though, I never did. So here it is.

Neznajka (Незнайка) is a character from a series of Russian children's books: The Adventures of Neznajka and His Friends; Neznajka in Sunshine City; and Neznajka on the Moon. In Russian, his name basically means "know-nothing" as in "he's a know-nothing." My girlfriend before leaving for Ukraine, Zhenya (Jane), recommended that I try to read Neznajka on the Moon. What I ended up reading were a number of chapters from the first book with my first Russian tutor, Larisa, though I do own both. Neznajka's defining characteristics are his curiousity, ineptitude, and inability to maintain focus and interest in the things he had apparently found so interesting. Also, he tends to irritate the hell out of everyone around him.

I chose Neznajka as the name for my blog for several reasons. Sometimes my friend, Lisa, and her mother, Lana, would call me Neznajka because they knew I was reading it; so it was a term of endearment. I openly admit that I am ignorant on many subjects, still I would sometimes ask why I couldn't be any of the other characters, one of the more respectable ones. In any case, in my life, I hope to try to hold on to some kind of child-like curiousity about the world, to learn more about things that are new to me, and to do my best not to irritate my friends and neighbors. Вот я не незайка, но немножка похож на него. (So, I'm not Neznajka, but do resemble him a bit.)