Shnorhavor Nor Dari yev Soorp Dznoont!!!

Christmas day is at a close and I'm now logging on the brand new Gateway computer my dad bought for my mother as a Christmas gift that she will never use because she has her own. But all the good things my father does for her throughout the year makes up for it. And I just found out that my parents read my logs, so I have to be careful what I say. They laughed about serving me tea... then cider... then coffee... then tea again. And then they served me all of the above a zillion times this week. I only log the truth!

Christmas was nice and Santa was good to me. Kojian, this is for you: I got a Simpsons puzzle and a Simpsons PICTIONARY. That's right, when I go back to Armenia, I'm taking it with me and we are going to play. You better be there. Like the rest of the world, my family thinks I'm obssessed with the Simpsons. At least I know I'm the normal one and the rest of the world is crazy. :)

I'm fat again after losing all the weight from Thanksgiving. It's hard to stay skinny when my mother cooks SOOOO good, though my dad would have everyone believe he is the chef. It was a wonderful Christmas... and a white one. Last night (Christmas Eve) just as everyone arrived, the snow started falling and by morning the area was blanketed in snow.

Tomorrow I head to New Jersey for the Annual AYF Convention, a 5 day meeting. It's always straight back to work. This will be nine years for me. One reason I like it is because it brings all of the active members together and forces them to innovate, plan and strategize. The best ideas come out of this meeting. Then we all get to party afterward for New Years.

So at the end of this day, as I am surrounded by love and family, I hope everyone else is too.

Merry Christmas and Happy re-borned Sun to Everyone!

Here we are, we said Salut once more and one more week to re-start and re-plan our projects for the next year.
I have been sick and very busy this weeks, that´s why i was not logging. About the logs, i just read the Rosita´s log that i found very interesting. The Sovedagan Armenian Anthem has an armenian mood, its melody. The new one, it is true!!! It´s an italian old song about Giuseppe Garibaldi. There are lots of countries like Lebanon, Armenia and others that its anthem is not that representative. They have their folk backround but they choose an european style to compose the anthem. Others countries like Iran or India have anthems that are very similar to the folk songs of their countries.
Remembering Raffi´s novel GAIDZER i compare the New Botero Cat in Yerevan City
which i found very similar with the legendaries Cats of Van City. In our old Capital City, VAN the main pets were the Cats. This kind of cats are well known worldwide. They are big and fat and it is said that are very intelligent. Now Turkey shows this sort of cats as a turkish atraction. Botero´s is a famous artist because all of his sculptures are fat, wide and huge. Maybe he read GAIDZER too...
Heat is attacking Buenos Aires...armenians here hang out togheter. They go to clubs to play soccer, to shopping preapering their vacations or whatever. The argentinean mass has their hopes poured on the next year because this one has been really hard for every citizen here.
In the next logs i will try to present some sheets about the armenian places in Buenos Aires city if someone of this world would visit this city during the summer.

If you can, download the argentinean anthem, it is beautiful!!! ;-)

Hello, everybody! I’m always thinking about to log, there are a lot of things I want to share with diasporans and hayastantzís, to do distances shorter and easier, but when I think that it must be in English… my natural language is Spanish, second is Armenian, and English is only the third. So, it takes time to think and translate and write. Sorry for mistakes.

In these days, when schools finish here, the national anthems of Argentina and Armenia sound at every closing ceremony. And I ask myself: Why the national anthem doesn’t sing in Armenia?. Here, at the Diaspora, we teach it, we sing it, we translate it and write in phonetics for the people who doesn’t read Armenian. We play it in every festivity, even at church in the independence days. But people in Armenia doesn’t even know it! It is played only in two verses-strophes,
-introduction included- , without words. It isn’t emotive at all, it isn’t inspiring. There is no motivation, it doesn’t make you feel the land’s hero, not the owner, not even a citizen. I think the flag takes roots in every soul, but not the anthem. I’m convinced that sometimes only music, with the right words moves the soul’s threads. It’s make you feel well, more patriot, more committed –even for a while.
And then, here, in the Diaspora, in Argentina at least, there are discussions: two verses or four?. Still last year, at school, we sang three, which has no sense if you read it carefully. Two or four is pertinent. But two or four?. I think that, as the music is not of an Armenian composer (it’s an Italian melody), it’s not so representative,
-and as the second and third strophes are about the flag itself-, they may not be sung. Pupils suggest: do as in Armenia. Better do not. (At the Second Armenia-Diaspora conference, when all 1500 attending people of Diaspora were waiting to sing with the land owners this uniting song, it only sound just a short melody).
So, can’t we altogether accord into this? Beginning from the Armenia’s government?
Have you heard the Pambukjian’s version? It is powerful. In it’s CD there are four verses, but I cut two of them in the computer.
Mer hayrenik azad angakh!. Also in the Hymn!.

It's GOR GOR GOR MANIA!!!! Last night was rockin', and JD seems to agree. Donohue's was hoppin' with lots of people I know and lots who I don't know. It was a little more lively than a few nights ago. John Berberian made a special appearance to play with Gor and Aaron, and the music sounded beautiful. It's was a bizarre mix of people... didn't know who was Armenian or not. Obviously all of Gor's peace corps buddies made it out. It was a nice atmosphere, and I dare to say... moving for all. I think I saw a few misty eyes, some nostalgia, some stunned faces. It was truly a beautiful night. And I DID tape it, so I'll try to make copies... and sell them for $5 a pop. :)

I said my goodbyes to Gor today, as I'm heading off for the holidays and he leaves soon after me. I'm driving south for Christmas. Time to spend with the family, warm up in my childhood bedroom, have my dad show me his new book and stamp purchases (since it's now winter and he can't work in the garden every day) while my mom bothers me about what else she should get me for Christmas after the cup of tea she makes, followed by the cup of cider, and then the Haygagan soorj, and then tea again. My sister, her husband, his parents and sister, my cousin, aunt, uncle and probably a couple more will be at our place for Christmas. It's good to have family around on the holidays. :)

It's a nice feeling to not have to worry about driving to Northridge in the rainy weather we've been having (although today is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!). My friend Inna is visiting from Armenia and it is her first time in America. In the past couple of days we haven't really shown her much of LA cause of the rain (somehow people in LA forget how to drive), and so today I'd like to take her to the Getty Museum. It should be a great day, and we'll be able to see ALL of L.A., all the way to Catalina Island! :)

It's been really nice to spend some time with her. It's looking as though I won't be able to go to Armenia until July....don't ask - I'm already becoming anxious. I wanted to spend New Year's there, but after calling Levon Travel, a not-too-friendly employee of theirs informed me that it would cost $960, so I said I'd rather save that money for when I go in the summer. By the way, I downloaded the application for the 10-year visa thing (since I end up paying more than $300 every summer in fees anyway), and it seems fairly simple. I just need to go get my 6 pics and I'm set... I should take care of that by the end of this week.

Yesterday I got offered a job teaching English at the Armenian Sisters' Academy, but I had to regretfully turn it down because they would need me to teach beginning March, and that's when I'll be receiving my 2nd radiation treatment... so it doesn't quite work out. Oh well, I'll find something else to do these 3 months that I'll be off. I'll be heading out to Vegas on Monday to spend Christmas with my aunt who lives there, and that should be a good change! After that, I'll be going to SF with my sister to spend a little time there.

This weekend I'll be at our agoomp practicing with the kids for our visit to Ararat Home on Jan. 4. They have been working hard on learning "Silent Night" (in Armenian) and some other songs and also I bought half of Pic'N'Save (now called Big Lots) so that they can make creative cards for the grammas and grampas. I have to admit, some of them are really ugly, but I'm sure the nenes and dedes will appreciate them anyway.. hehehe. And of course there's the Harout Barahantes on Friday! YAYYYYYY

TSUH! :)~

My December 5 log… I don’t know if you are still interested in “old news”.
It’s been a cold week… I mean reeeeeeally cold! Yesterday was -18C… yep that is 18 below 0… 0 being the freezing point.
It snowed a lot too. Did I tell you that Amassia had built her first snowman when I was in Armenia a few weeks ago? Anyhow, it’s winter alright and it really feels like Christmas.
Talking about Christmas, our “perfect”, very politically correct Canadian society would like to start calling the “tree” by its new and “respectful” name … Holiday Tree! I mean really! How far can these people go? I really have to get out of here!
Inch vor eh, I saw Ararad twice. Both were very different experiences and I read them differently each time. I have to say that I enjoyed the acting. Arsiné Khanjian was at her best. I don’t know when we can start talking about scenes and details about the film… since I believe there are a few of you who have not seen it yet.
I miss Yerevan. I miss the noisy Abovian/Tumanian khachmerouk…
…my log ended here!

TODAY
Montreal Armenians have been quite active. There has been a book sale at the community Center. Last Sunday, Prof. Marc Nishanian spoke at Hamazkayin, and I was the host of a half hour show about the Armenian community of Montreal. The show was in French and aired 4 times. My co-host Celine Kuyumku and I demonstrated a very cool and hip community that is well connected and very well organized. I think most of the viewers were satisfied.
On another note, my brother told me about the fact that the US government had put Armenia on their list of countries where its citizens had to register at the borders (finger prints etc). I just a few minutes ago that only 3 days later, the Armenian lobby was able to remove Armenia’s name from that list. I must say that this makes me feel very proud. It was great to see Armenians from Armenia and the diaspora working together towards a common goal… and the result was excellent! Bravo mezi.
You know, I still haven’t seen Gor perform live!

NB: Bonne Fête Patrick.

I just saw Gor play once again at the Armenian Library and Museum of America. He was accompanied by Aaron Stayman. The two made a lovely duo and I'm pretty sure the audience agreed. There was a good crowd of diverse fans. Many of them were Peace Corps volunteers in the area. Many were recognizable Gor fans. Many were faces I've never seen before, and others were faces I knew, but wasn't aware they knew of Gor. It was a nice gathering. Tomorrow night he plays at Donohue's Bar & Grill in Watertown. This is the bar I call home. For the few years I've lived in Boston, this bar has been like a Cheers to me. With the Armenian flag hanging next to the Irish, Greek, etc., 10 cent wing nights, Monday Night Football outtings, being across from the Hairenik building, around the corner from the ACEC (Armenian center), and the other corner from Saint Stephens church, no dress code, a waitress named Julie and an owner named JD who knows how to say "Parev Tzez," Donohue's is a great venue for Gor. And now I have to go pick up the man to work on album stuff...

I am paranoid about eating at restaurants now...

Anyway, last night was an amazing experience as Gor, Aaron, and I went to oud legend John Berberian's house for dinner and a musical jam session. We stayed until at least 1:30am on a weeknight and played a bunch of songs from John and Gor's repertoire. From a personal perspective, it was nice to see an Armenian American icon such as John playing with a young Hayastansi in the likes of Gor and seeing how their musical tastes are similar. Aaron and I just followed along the best we could on the banjo/guitar/oud respectively.

On another note, it's amazing to see Arsineh Khachikian starting to set up her own design company. Only 25 years old, she has the talent and drive to be one of the best in this business. She's had to put up for working for free for many people and organizations over the last few years. Being a true Armenian and very dedicated to her community, she never said no to a job that was asked of her. But, when people started expecting her to do work for free, well, that changes things. Now that she's won an award and has been contacted by other organizations such as Farm Aid to do work for them, I see great things happening to her career. Anyway, it's cool to see someone starting a business who is so damn talented! Look for Reinas Design in the near future...

I am going to comment on the long list of comments in the "Diaspora in Armenia" section, since I know Raffi is probably frustrated with people turning one log into a chat room. But the subject is an important one. How does one portray Armenian or Armenian life to and audience? Should we jazz it up and make being Armenian seem like the best thing there is? Or should be post honest reality of life so that people have a full understanding of what life is really like. People like Ara choose to share the harsh realities and truth of what goes on with hopes to inspire some of the readers to make a difference and to stop using lack of knowledge as an excuse. Others like Madlene or Raffi choose to focus more on the upbeat side of town with hopes to attract readers to Armenia. Obviously I'm over simplifying the situation.

In reality, you have readers that are interested in all of it, the whole deal. And the more opinions, the better. But the one thing we do so well is force our opinions on others. Being Armenian is great, but we have problems. I love all the volunteer work I've done all my life, but it doesn't change the fact that I think we mess up our own potential. Everyone is going to contribute what they know best or what they seek to do. Whatever we post is going to give them a better sense of what's out there, and that is why I appreciate this log forum. All you negative people, there are bright sides to life. All you positive junkies, people don't always want it sugar coated.

With that said, I'm having a pleasant week of stress!

Moving on, Atom Egoyan and Arsinee Khanjian were interviewed on WBUR yesterday about Ararat. The interview went well. Atom is very well spoken and gives the perfect responses to questions. Someone had called in to comment that the film does little to say exactly what happened and that it could play as a fictional one sided story that the audience may not read as truth. Atom responded well by saying that this was not a tutorial, rather a movie to inspire people to research more to understand. He very clearly states that there are documented eyewitness accounts, such as Clarence Ussher's book and recommends the read.

What disturbed me was that the final caller was a Turk calling in criticism, but there was no time offered to respond. Of course, she called to say that it was a time of war and the use of the word genocide is unfair, as there were few Turkish families helping Armenians. I'm not sure if she looked up the definition of genocide (as the word was coined and defined by the Armenian genocide), but the definition is that the government has a premeditated plan to wipe out an entire race. Joe Shmoe villagers are just props in the matter. Anyway, it was a sour ending to a good interview. There were getting calls from all over the US, so perhaps it was broadcast all over.

Regarding movie ratings, I believe the new update is that Ararat ranked 31 this week, possible made over 1 million, and that there is still no word on nationwide distribution. As far as Boston goes, they opened Ararat at a new theater because it's been doing so well, which will extend longer than expected.

I knowwwww.. 2 logs in a row.. WOW WOW... (don't get too used to it). I just realized that I forgot to say about a million things this morning when I logged. Of course, now that I've had about 8 cups of coffee during the day, my brain (or rather my heart) is working overtime. So here's what I forgot to say....

First of all, I wanted to mention something interesting that happened while I was at the fundraiser for 3Noor. So I was standing around waiting to be coached on how to bring people inside and so forth, and all of a sudden I heard a very familiar voice. It was Gor singing! For a split second I was so confused, cause somehow I thought "oh, Gor is going to play!?", but as the coordinator of the event, Marie Lou walked up to me, I impatiently asked.. "Where's Gor?" And she exclaimed... "You know him???" Of course, now I was very excited, because I thought she was confirming that Gor was there. Needless to say, Gor was not there and it was just his CD playing in the background... but she was so excited to know that I knew about Gor's unique music. She told me she had searched for his CD all over, and finally got it from Boston. (That's when I told her about cdbaby.com). Anyways, so just a heads up... Gor definitely has a fan club in LA (and everyone at the event was asking about what music was playing). I thought that was pretty cool.

Second, I forgot to say that on Sunday morning I also attended a lecture organized by the ANC-WR. The speaker was Aram Hamparian from the east coast, and he was to speak about System of a Down and ARARAT and the work they do for the Armenian Cause. Although I was 15 minutes late, I kind of thought that the lecture didn't really focus on the subject too much. Yes, what was discussed was totally relevant too, but kind of like a tangent, or maybe even a prologue for the discussion I was hoping would take place. Nevertheless, it was quite informative and interesting to hear. The basic idea I took from the lecture was that there are different kinds of Armenians (explained in terms of levels). The speaker seperated "Armenian identity or Armenian-ness" and "Amount of Influence". By amount of influence, he meant how influential an individual is in the American political aspect. For example, a survivor of the Genocide who had just come to America would have high Armenian identity, but low influence; the other extreme being Cher as an Armenian who has high influence but low Armenian identity (just an example). And he was saying how it's a continuous debate on which group to focus. Do we focus on giving these high influence people a better Armenian identity (assuming they are even interested), or do we focus on producing Armenians who have high indentity, and hope they become high influence people? I'm not quite sure what I think about that question yet.... but it's definitely pertinent in today's world... I'm assuming he was trying to tie this idea in with System and ARARAT. For example, how Egoyan was not someone who had high indentity growing up, but gradually became more interested and eventually made such a huge impact.

Anyways, that's enough for now....
BTW.. Welcome Harout, Rosita and ALEXXXX!!! (how r u Alex?? how exciting that u're a logger now) :)

TSUH! :)~

Break time: It's 8:46am and i've been awake for at least 4 hours now. I've been trying to figure out how chemistry could possibly be useful to me in my coming life (seeing as to how I don't plan on becoming MacGyver). Actually, I've been trying to figure out what this all means... and maybe that's my problem. At this point, there's really not much thinking going on -- thus the log break.

Let me just say that the weather here in LA is beautiful... so HA HA to all those stuck in snow! (lol -- oh no, i'm turning into a mean bitter person---u see what finals do?). No really though, we've been having beautiful sunny days, but cool enough to wear a sweater. The nights? Freezing (in LA standards).

This weekend I helped out at a fundraiser for an organization called "Education for Development". They are the ones who have started Three Pomegranites. Check out the website. Basically what they do is, they make learning and using the Armenian language fun for everyone! Aside from that, they tie together the youth from all over the world using technology. For example, Armenian schools from different parts of the world come together in an interactive project, like a Word Hunt, and then have videoconferencing, etc. I believe this is going to be a GREAT asset... but unfortunately people haven't realized how important projects like this actually are. Not only does 3noor help the youth in Armenia connect with other Armenians their age around the world, it also gives students an opportunity to bring what they have learned (Armenian related subjects) into an arena that is more up to date and on their level. So now, the dull xerox-ed worksheets you had to do for grammar can be replaced with working with the websites character "Aren" to help find clues about the different cities that other kids live in. It's an incredible program. The webpage is both in English and Armenian (east and west). Aside from the different projects, they also have Armenian short stories for children. A great resource! If you'd like to help out in any way, feel free to contact them (they work all over the world).

I think that's pretty much it for right now...
I'll log again when finals are over and done with.

TSUH! :)~
p.s. -- I love the Botero cat... can't wait to see it! lol

ARG-MENIA


Ok...the slowest logger of the "cilician" diáspora is again with you. I ended my exams and i do not care if they went wrong or not. I am happy because i ended at last!!!
All the institutions celebrating the end of the educational season meanwhile the strong heat smashes the Buenos Aires´ pavement.
We heard with joy about the Botero´s Big Cat Sculpture in Yerevan. Joining that news to the picture i saw of Yerevan recently in the Repatriate Log page makes me think that Yerevan, Armenia and Karabagh are growing a lot. Its developement brings joy and calm to every diasporan soul in this planet.
I´m very happy to have an argentinean new partner in the log!!! She is Rosita Youssefian the most active armenian teacher in Argentina. She is constantly working for Armenia and Karabagh trough education. I am sure her logs will be very rich about its contents.
The Argentinean Hockey Female team won the world championship of Grass-Hockey. So here argentieneans are very exited. On one hand because of the champioship and in the other because of this girls that are extremely beatiful... ;-)
It has been long time since the last time i e-mailed Aram Hajian. I tried to see his project about the armenian vernissage many times but i couldnt. Finally the project is done and its called MADE IN ARMENIA DIRECT You will find lots of armenian gifts, accesories and other that every tourist would like to buy in a trip to armenia. Now this projects makes a closer way to buy those things and to make an increasement in the armenian economy.
Other issue about the Baron Der lands in Jerusalem. Finally the goverment of Sharon will pay the damages caused in the armenian property of Baron Der. The isreal´s army will keep only a short corner of the property.
I wonder if the Ararat film will reach the argentinean cinema´s. Lots of armenians live here and it would be important. The problem about is the low price of the argentinean peso. Maybe is not a benefit to bring the film here. I wish Miramax could bring it here. We are eager to see it!!!
Hot days are coming. Policemen are getting ready for next 20th December. One year ago, a chaos started in the center of the city. It was the 20th December when the president left the goverment and lots of argentineans went to face the policemen in goverment building at the center of Buenos Aires. More than 20 people died. So one year after people are scared if something happens again.
It was the second half of the last century. In Buenos Aires, armenians were called TURCOS (TURKS) because in the ID papers of the genocide survivors was written OTTOMAN EMPIRE CITIZEN. One of the ARG-MENIOS that changed that was MARTIN KARADAGIAN. He created the wrestling TV show in Buenos Aires. He became a legend. And the important thing was that he was called Martín, EL ARMENIO (Martín, the armenian). The show was called Titanes en el Ring. Now all the rights are managed by Martíns daughter Paulina Karadagian. The show was the top of the TV ratings in the 70´s. Other warrior of the Titan´s Show was the armenian ARARAT. A huge man!!! hahaha
Well, i think Martin deserves a place in the hall of fame of armenians. Try any internet searcher and you will find lots of things about him. After him, the argentinean mass, low, middle, and high classes realized that the Armenian is not a turk...
Anyway in turkish, Karadagian means: THE SON OF THE BLACK MOUNTAIN.
Mystic, huh?

Hello, I’m Rosita Youssefian, from Argentina. I’m the oldest of all of you, and I enjoy a lot all the logs you write, especially the repatriates. It seems to me that I’m in Yerevan again.
My first log is about Patrick: a week later he passed away in Armenia, his rests were buried in Buenos Aires. The HOKEHANKISD at the church was extremly sad and emotive. Hundreds of people were there to confirm the love and respect we all had for Patrick.

Here are the only words said at loud that day:

“In a few days, a khatchkar will be set near Saghmosavank. It will say “in Patrick Tateossian´s memory, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina”.
This stone cross will try to pay tribute to an armenian young from Argentina, who worked for almost a decade in the Mother Land. But this stone won´t express the livings, the stories and emotions of Patrick´s dayly working.

“Patrick arrived Armenia after the Independence, with not much knowledge about the country, virgin-minded of any ideological or political partisanship preconceptions from the previous period. This way, he could easily understand the Real Armenia, the country under his eyes, not the one imagined by books.

“This kind of privileges are not available for anyone, and less people would make good use of it. Patrick was touched by destiny, and begun slowly, in different jobs, in differents tasks, to build a bridge that tried to make things easier between Hayastan’s armenians and abroad’s armenians, re-opening a jammed way, making it better, strengthening it.

“Patrick achieved in a short time the recognize as “Whitouot titleAmbassador” of Argentina’s Armenian community in Erevan. An honour that implied a charge that he accepted with his natural goodness: he was postman, chofer, counsellor and translator, earning the best salary nobody does: people’s friendship.

“Today es quite easy get in Armenia: just go through customs. The stamp in our passports are the proof. More difficult is to carry Armenia in our hearts, there isn’t material stamps for it. Patrick Tateossian belonged to this two categories: he obtained something that very few persons can achieve during their lives: that is to enter himself as well in people’s hearts. That stamp, that sign, will last as long as his friends’ lives and memories.

“There is a khatchkar at Sagmossavank, a stone cross. Is a bridge’s fundamental stone that link us to Armenia. Not to a government, not to an institution. That bridge links us to the people. That bridge is not built in months or years, that bridge never ends. Patrik Tateossian knew it. Let us be conscious fo the magnitude of this perennial task.

“From his friends, to Patrick” (Eduardo Karsaclian)

What Raffi fails to share with everyone is that while this was a great weekend, Raffi has learned the difficult skill of juggling all important things and following them all through, but sacrificing his own personal time and sanity to make things happen. Raffi, you are a magician in many ways.

This weekend was wonderful. It was the first time I had no plans, no work, no worries, but people in town to see. Armen Carapetian, a family friend, an Armenia friend, one of the first people to introduced me to the Armenian I now love, came to town to visit and see Gor. The party at the Arzoumanians was a great evening with great people and a nice performance by Gor. The rest of the weekend made me almost feel like I was back in Armenia. Many people I met there were lingering around in this crowd. Armen and I paid a visit to Tamar Hajian who gave us the full update on projects and progress in Armenia, particularly at the Arlex office. It was exciting to hear all the wonderful things happening. One of the great things about that community in Armenia is that there is an overflow of ideas. The better thing is to see some of the ideas get picked up. Months later I am hearing about projects that people are now working on that were merely conversation pieces at lunch in the Arlex office. Bravo to those who are open to take a chance on ideas.

Today I went to see Ararat for the 4th time. It still musters up some tears in my eyes. I met with some friends, but got there early, so I stood out front watching the line of people purchasing tickets in front. It was wild to see the types of people going to see this film. There was a crowd of Harvard Law students who went per recommendation of one person who sent out an email to the whole Law student body. My impression has been that the sales have been so great because Armenians are filling the seats to make sure it goes nation wide. Most of the people I saw at the counter asking for Ararat tickets were definitely not Armenian. One older African-American man was there alone and said he read a review on Ararat and had to see it for himself.

The snow has stopped finally, but it still sits. We only got some inches, but it just seemed like it would never end. The winter is among us! Maybe I can go back to LA again... polution nothing, it's warm there!

It's been a great weekend thus far. The private reception for Gor Mkhitarian went very well on Friday night. Sevag and Alik Arzoumanian hosted a great event for about 50 people here in the Boston area to meet Gor for the first time. There was live music and a lot of great food. Gor will be playing at two venues in Boston before he heads out to London and then back to Armenia. The big show is on Tuesday December 17th at 7:30 and 9:15pm at Donahue's Bar in Watertown, MA. A smaller show is at the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown at 2pm on Sunday December 15 to open an art exhibit. It's great to see Diasporans and Hayastansis mingling around the concept of music and the arts. It's really the reason I started my label. I want to bridge the gap between our two words. It may or may not work in general, but on a small level I hope it does...

Tonight I am going to see the great oudist John Berberian perform with a jazz trio here in the Boston area. I'll be bringing Gor and some other friends to see the show. It should be great. This week I meet up with Garo Lachinian and Arsineh to finalize some plans for the Bambir/Quake cover as well as a photo shoot for Gor in and around Walden Pond near some abandoned train tracks. The winter setting should make for some cool pics...

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the heater is so delightful.
And since I have little work to do,
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Just please stop snowing before tonight's party for Gor to jam, because this is something I don't wanna miss! IT NEVER ENDS! THE SNOW JUST KEEPS COMING!!!!

Small world! Small world! small world! Yesterday morning, I was going about my business getting a tea to start my day. Who do I see on the way out but Anna and Jason. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't at the AVC office. What a nice surprise that was. We caught up a bit. Apparently they were in town just for a little while and were heading back to Armenia just hours later. Oh, what a refreshing surprise. It tops off my earlier morning experience of having an old woman get out of her car to come over to mine to yell at me for cutting her off, when actually it was the gentleman infront of her that let me in. I yelled back. YES, I started my day telling off an old woman and I'm proud. She was asking for it.

So the day continued and I was passing through the ARS office only to find Shakeh, the owner of Artbridge in Yerevan, chatting with the ARS ladies. Again, I had to do a double take (this time especially since it was a group of them sitting around drinking Armenian coffee... much like a normal scene at Artbridge). Another pleasant surprise. I appreciated her encouragement for me to move to Armenia and start a business.

Later that day I attended an Assembly event. I have been freelancing for the Armenia Tree Project for years, so I accompanied the staff. I was introduced to someone in my industry and told her I was in Armenia for 6 months. Her husband asked, "Oh, do you know Armen and Kohar? Kohar is my niece." The world just keeps getting smaller.

Just another day in the life of Watertown!

Finals are coming up and my workplace is crazy. However, I received some good news today in that I was granted an interview with the composer of the "Ararat" sountrack, Mychael Danna. I was assigned the "Ararat" sountrack to review for a world music magazine I contribute to called Global Rhythm. I called up the contact person at Milan Records and arranged for the interview. Apparently the record sales for the sountrack have been pretty good. It's a gorgeous sounding soundtrack.

For anyone that is interested, here are the final results of the 2002 Armenian Music Awards.

Time is passing soooooooo fast!!! I can't believe Thanksgiving is already over, and I'm getting quite nervous and anxious for the end of school. I still can't imagine not having to wake up so early to drive to Northridge.. not walking through out campus of construction galore, and not eating from the "roach coach". Buttttttttttttttttttttttttttt..... I'm excited to start some new stuff!

My trip to SF was great! I went up on Thursday evening with my cousin Lori and the next morning, my cousin who lives in Seattle (for school) joined us. We had lots of bonding time...rented some movies and did some shopping. My sister's recital was WONDERFUL... she sang beautifully! There were so many people at her recital, the hall wasn't big enough! Needless to say, we are all very proud of her and know that this is just the beginning :)

After that, I guess came Thanksgiving. I have to admit, this year my Thanksgiving was quite LAME. It was spent at my house, with just my family (mom, dad, brother, gramma). My dad had woken up at the crack of dawn (maybe earlier) and had made the Thanksgiving meal. So by 1pm, everything was ready. It was 2pm when he finally convinced us to eat (no patience whatsoever) and so we sat and ate. It was actually the first Thanksgiving that we spent without any extended family, and to tell you the truth, I didn't quite like it. I like the noise, and the laughter, and all the other things that come with a big family get together.

Yesterday we had a guest at our house.... his name is Maestro Tigran Hekekyan. He is the maestro for the Little Singers of Armenia. He had come all the way from Armenia just for my sister's performance. Anyways, so we were sitting around the dinner table and talking and he was telling various different stories about his travels around the world with the Little Singers and all the different people he had met along the way. What really got me thinking is the following: As Armenians, we are ALL little public relations people for our country and our cause. Every single one of us needs to be educated enough to be able to promote who we are and educate others as to what our cause is. Are we doing this? Let's all stand back for a second and think about all the people we know. Do they "represent"? ( Actually, I can think of a lot of people who I wouldn't want representing Armenians as a whole. ) We need to be assertive people like the Nazo who called into the Kevin and Bean interview. The only way that we can reach others and have them understand who we are and where we come from, in order for them to be sympathetic with our cause, is to TEACH them.

Just some random thoughts this morning...

TSUH :)~
p.s. -- Arsineh... hooraaaa for the gypsy life! :)

I'm sitting in my sister's basement freezing my bum off right now. Apparently they have no heating down here. Takes me back to last year in Armenia when I looked forward to rushing home to turn on my personal heater, curling up right next to it in a blanket and making out the English in movies on Armenia TV dubbed over in Russian. Only here, I can just go upstairs to the guest room and relax. And when I get back to Boston, I can blast the heat and not pay a dime for it... one of the perks of my apartment.

It just occurred to me that it was over a year ago when I made my temporary move to Armenia. So much has changed since then. I have changed. Until I received an offer to go to Armenia, I had a pretty good idea of what my life was going to look like from then on. I would jump around a bit from job to job until I found the right one. Maybe find a nice husband, buy a house in Watertown, have some kids and do some cool things along the way. One of the reasons I chose to go to Armenia was to challenge that. I wasn't ready yet to determine my future.

Needless to say, I made the right move to turn my life up-side-down. I hopped back and forth from Armenia to DC to Boston to LA to Armenia, stayed in odd places everywhere, met some bizarre people along the way, had some unique opportunities fall in my lap and it all led me back to this point. I'm living in Boston again, bouncing around from city to city, not finding steady work, meeting odd people and no sure what I will be doing, where I will live, who I will meet and where I will end up a month from now. This was my biggest fear a year ago. When I just arrived in Armenia last year, I had some regrets about throwing away a stable life to float for a year and not have a real home. It was frightening... not having one or two people to stick to, not knowing where I'd end up. Now that I'm still not sure where I'll be next month, next year, for the rest of my life, it sure is nice.

I am lucky. I have one constant thing in my life: my family. My parents will always be there with a home waiting for me. I'll always know how to find my sister when I need to. The rest doesn't matter anymore. As quick as life has changed for me, it could happen again. That now means to me one thing... I never have to be satisfied with all I've done.

The last two weeks was an unexpected adventure. I saw Ararat 3 times in 3 different cities, I met interesting people in LA, had a ball at the Music Awards, at like a pig and had a ball with my family. Some could look at me and say I've gotten nowhere and have accomplished nothing. Some could say I've done more than my peers. (I've heard plenty of both lately). Aah, I really don't care anymore. What interests me is what's to do next. I'm lucky enough to know I can take a jump and I'll always have a safety net.

PS... Ara, I heard about the WOW! Thank you and I hope you are keeping warm this winter. Haro, I don't know, you tell me when you're going back.