Clouds? Smoke? Ash? Rain? We’re not sure anymore. The AIR in L.A. is just plain WEIRD and we don’t know what this gray stuff in the air really is. It was like over 90 degrees yesterday, and today it’s a regular Fall day in the low 60’s, with cold wind and it looks like it could rain.... but are those really clouds? Chenk kider.

Ya, so Southern Cali is burning. No worries, there’s not much burning activity going on in my neck of the woods (knock on wood), but all around us... it’s burning! There goes our AYF chapter’s winter trip to Big Bear, cause there probably aren’t any cabins for us to rent anymore. Sad... so sad! All the people who have died... what a shame! You’d think we’d be prepared for something like this -- but this is 923842379 times worse than the Northridge quake! Now our work is gonna slow down, cause getting houses insured is going to take longer, so escrows are going to take longer to close, and that slows down the loans, and so.... our business is affected.

Well, aside from the burning southern half of Cali, there’s other exciting things going on. This weekend I’ll be going to SF to go to Arax Mansurian’s concert at Liberty Hall. It should be great! (Arax Mansurian is Shushan Petrosyan’s mother by the way, who sings at the Sydney Operahouse).

Other than that, next month I’ll be going out east... and I’m finally purchasing my Armenia ticket. Looks like I’ll be there for about 3 weeks, and I’m making a 4 day stop in Prague! It should be nice!... although I know I’m gonna freeze my ___ off. :) hehehe

TSUH! :)~

This has been a crazy week. Alex Sardar (from the diaspora in Armenia log section) popped in the ANCA office by surprise on Friday. He just arrived from Armenia Thursday night and showed up in the office the next morning. He came with a group of Parliamentarians here for the week, so we've been out and about. His cousin Armen also drove down from Vermont to see him, as well as his father who just arrived last night. DC is hoppin'!

So last Saturday, there was an event at the church where the Parliamentarian ARF Rep was asked to speak. Turns out the Parliamentarians needed rides, so here comes chauffeur Khachikian to the rescue. It was a good excuse to finally wash and clean my car. Picked up the men and drove them to the church, waited and drove them back. On the way back, the ARF rep (the speaker) had asked me what I was doing in Armenia (Alex had told him I was there) and I responded saying I directed the AYF Internship. Somehow that spun into a talk about youth and the two Parliament men in my car had come up with some amazing education focused ideas that essentially will turn into legislation that will effect tens of thousands of people in Armenia. It was so interesting to hear that happen in my car on the way back to the hotel.

Later that night, a bunch of us went out and just enjoyed conversation until 2am. It's been a while since I've done that. The next day I ran out to the store to buy a bag full of yarn to make up for my wild ways... everyone's getting knitted scarves for Christmas this year!!!

So the outings continue. Last night was Sushi night... not Shushi, but Sushi. Tonight we are going out to Dupont Circle for the "Drag Race" event of the year. Apparently, this is a joke race where men dressed in drag, and particularly high heals, enter a race. I'm sure we are in for some real entertainment. Can't wait.

This weekend, I'll be in Philly again for a Halloween Party Armo style, dressed as a security guard. Why you ask? Because it's all I got.

Armenia Street Vol. III (The last one ;-)

Allezzzzzzzzzz!!! ?a va bien? Como estan mis amigos armenios?
Lav ek?
Well, i have been busy as always, Some exams are landing as hiroshimatic bombs in my academic life. So i sorry again about my poor loging life.
Well, for any armenian or non-armenian that wants to visit our community there are other places to visit on the Armenia Street: The Armenian Center with the Armenian Cathedral, The AGBU (or UGAB, or whatever) or Buenos Aires and the Suren Fesjian Cultural Center and the Tadron Cultural Center.
Im adding some photos because i dont really want to describe their activities. The Cathedral works Ok, there are lots of kahanas and Der Hayrs here, most of them from Echmiadzin. There is an interesting chorus called Mesrob Mashdotz that i think they are a promise to be one of the best choruses of Armenian Liturgical Music ever. I dont have nothing more to say about the Armenian church, its getting empty!!! Empty spirit maybe?
Well, the AGBU depends from the US here, its no more autonomus. They do lots of cultural activities, etc. You can enjoy the dinner at AGBU fridays night. Suren Fesjian Cultural center is the home of the Ramgavar Liberal Democratic Party, the weekly Sardarabad works there. Nice building to visit too.
The Armenian Center or Centro Armenio, is the oldest institution here. The Cathedral and the Arslanian School depends much of Armenian Center. There are lots of activities there as well to see. Books, Cd?s and so are sold there. There is a big gym where you can play football or you can see the rehearsals of the Masis Dance group.
Tadron is very cool place!!! You can see all the new wave of the armenian culture of Buenos Aires. Its a very progressive place. Kalousd Jansezian and his family run the place. Armenian Plays, Music, Armenian Souvenirs from Armenia to Buy, etc!!! I highly recommend you to visit it! At least you can drink a nice sourj there. Another place to drink a sourj is the Viejo Agump (Old Agoump) on the same street. You will see some hairy and big nosed persons that you sure recognize as your brothers of race, haha.
well, its enough for this Armenia Streeeeeeet, isnt it? If you want more adresses of armenian places you can visit in Buenos Aires, click the link, im already tired...
Something weird is happening to me, that is while im learning french, my english is getting like a mix salad so i have to do an efford to write in english, that wasnt a problem for me before. I think i may sing Help of Mc Cartney & Lennon, haha! ;-)

News, news, hmmmm...ahh! Vahakn Dadrian is coming to Buenos Aires!!! At last! I am eager to meet him! We will patiently wait for his arrival to our city.
Another nice news is that a piano master from armenia called Armen Babakhanian is coming here to play the Concert of Piano of Aram Khachaturian.

Next Month the FONATON organized by the Armenian National Fund will earn money for the routes for Karabagh-. Mishd Badrasd.

Shadontz vor ayskan tche? krer...maders g@ tsavin,
bachikner polor journalin paregamneroun, te spiurki ev te hayasdanin.
A bientot!!!

The foliage is beautiful here in New York, lovely shades of gold, orange, and yellow, mixed with red. Although the days are getting chillier, making it extremely hard to get out of bed, and go to school. I miss summer already.

I have been looking everywhere for the Ararat movie on VHS. I do not want to purchase it online, and none of the stores, or blockbusters have it. I'm so mad for not having bought it in Armenia this summer. It was everywhere, in every store, shuka...but here, I'm lucky if they can pronounce it. The reason why I want is because my teacher thought it would be a great idea to extend the Holocaust unit further, with the addition of the Armenian genocide. After my teacher and I looked everywhere for the tape, he threw in his towel, and I resorted to buying the DVD. He said with a DVD it would difficult since there is no DVD player etc. etc. etc. Now he does have the DVD player, except we are on a different unit: governmental conspiracies. So this is great I will bring in the DVD when the unit is over, and I'm glad that my class is still enthusiastic about it. The reason he brought in the DVD player, was to show us segments from the movie Capricorn One. A 70's movie, with bad syncronized music and OJ. A team of scientists stage a phony Mars landing, however everybody believes they land on Mars. I won't ruin the movie, but it really makes you think about the CIA.

I'm excited to see who wins tonight. I hope Yankees!

A lovely autumn weekend spent in Philadelphia... I road tripped with a few girls in DC (who moved here from LA). We decided to pack the car and head for Philly to hang with some of our friends up there. We used a wine and cheese event as the excuse.

An interesting little story from Friday night to prove how small the world is, a couple of the guys wondered off and met some strangers at Wawa's (convenient store in Philly) and decided to join them at a party. There were some interesting illegal things going on at this party which the boys wanted nothing to do with. However, in the middle of all of this, they met a girl who interned in Washington over the summer. Turned out this girl was Turkish and worked in Rep. Weldon's office who refused to meet with our ANCA interns from his district because they were Armenian. This girl blocked all our faxes, letters, e-mails, etc. in that office from getting to Weldon and advised the office not to deal with Armenians. In fact, earlier that evening, we had done a letter signing campaign to Weldon's office asking for support on Armenian issues... only to run into the source of the problem later that night. What a small world.

We partied the rest of the weekend, got back Sunday only to watch the Redskins loose the 3rd game in a row. Not pretty. They were a mess and Ramsey (QB) might be out of the game for a while due to injuries... another year of Redskins misery. Even worse, Cowboys are leading the division... Raffi I can now relate to your sports depression.

I have one word for you... WOW!!! Last night I went to the Zvart Operetta, and let me tell you... it was AMAZING. From the music, to the singers, to the stage, to the costumes, to the props, to the humor... it was absolutely fantastic! The lead singers were incredible (except one guy Zakar agha.. wasn't too impressed with him).... but everyone was absolutely fantastic! Now a couple of years ago, I went to SF to see the Arshak II opera, and I have to say that the operetta that Lark Musical Society and AGBU put on cannot even be compared! Zvart was by far better than Arshak. (Maybe it's not fair to compare the two, but I'm Armenian... and I have to compare) hehehe

Anyhow, our new house is slowly getting there. There is just so much to do, and the fact that none of us are dedicating our entire time to take care of these things...looks like it's never gonna finish. The most functional room is the kitchen--of course! :) But where we live is quite exciting! Today I was standing out on the front porch and saying bye to my cousin.. and what do I see walking by? A FOX!!!! And.. the other day I was building my shelves, my dad yelled from downstairs, so I look out the window.. and what do i see? PEACOCKS!!!! Peacocks on the porch, peacocks in the driveway, peacocks ON THE ROOF! Crazyyyyyyyyy neighborhood! :)

That's all the excitement for now...
TSUH!:)~

Ladies and gentlemen, Student Civic raised over $2000 dollars from the talent show yesterday. Hooray! We could have raised more, but there were too many events going on last night, like the Yankees 6-5 victory over Boston Red Sox. (Oh what a thrill!) Everytime there was an intermission or a delay all the judges, and a few of my friends and I would run to the conference room to find out the score. Then my brother and I rushed home, turned on the TV and caught Boone's home run in the 11 th inning. I don't mean to brag but he sent the Red Sox's home! :)

To answer the comment, no there are not to many Armenians in my school. I have maybe met two, and only there father's are Armenian. They have no idea about Armenia, and where it would be on a map. Which is a pity, because if you are related to a country like Armenia, you should flaunt it. However, during this season of tennis, I was telling my team about my summer in Armenia. And out of nowhere this girl says wait "You're Armenian? I'M ARMENIAN TOO!." And before I know it we were giving each other hugs, smiling, laughing, like two friends separated for years. It was great, too bad the rest of the team could not relate. Her family is from Bolis (Istanbul), despite the fact that the dialects are so different that we never understand each other, it is all good.

Oh and before I forget to mention, for all the New Yorkers out there if you like Aram Asatryan, his band will be performing at the Atlantic Oceana Music Center. Tickets are for $70, $80 and $90. Show includes dinner, and also a featured guest Armine
Minasyan performing on duduk and clarinet. So for a night of dinner and dancing you may call (718) 743-1515...or (718) 208-6288...or (718) 753-8117. Don't ask why there are three numbers. Alright for all those Asatryan fans out there "zama yekela arten 7:40..." and I have to go. :))

I just buried my baseball glove today in my storage trunk. The Cubs and Sox baseball caps have been thrown off my balcony window. I refuse to watch the Yankees and Marlins. Boston is in mourning today and Chicago yesterday. I mean, this cannot be real...

Today was my last day of tennis, which we had to cancel, due to winds reaching 40 mph. A teammate of mine was telling me how she went home, and her neighbor’s tree broke and fell into her backyard. I didn’t pay to much attention to it, only to come home and see my tree broken on my lawn! My tree has a little story with it, it was planted when I was born, and my brother’s is right next to mine, and my sister’s a little further down. Beautiful tree…and half of it was on my lawn. It hurt’s to look. ::::(

Tomorrow Student Civic will be having the annual talent show. Being apart of Civic, I decided to work backstage instead of selling tickets. It’s frustrating having 500 people run at you, yelling for change, pushing to get in front of others, etc…All proceeds go to my friend’s scholarship fund. All in all it is entertaining to see how much talent the students at my school possess. From Christina Aguilera wannabe’s, to African drum solos, my school has it all. Last year, there was a student from China, and he did martial art moves under Chinese music, it was very interesting. I complimented him on it after the show and he said the reason he did it was to open student’s eyes to other cultures. Now wouldn’t it be great if I put on a traditional Armenian song and came out with the old styled Armenian dress and two long braids hanging??? TASH TASH! I think I will take my Clarinet & Zourna CD juuuuust in case. :)) Goodnight all.

I think yesterday was the worst sports day of my life. Red Sox and Cubs lose. Oh, and how they lost. Ouch.

Last weekend was quite interesting. I went to Camp Haiastan up in Massachusetts for the AYF Senior Seminar. The days were filled with lectures and discussions, while the nights were spent around a camp fire. Few people showed up, but the group was quality and bonded in the quaint setting. It's been a while since I've been back to Camp H. I spent 11 summers of my life there, and many random weekends throughout off season, too. I have yet to see it under snow, which I hear is beautiful.

A bust of General Karekin Nejdeh stands in the middle of the cabin circle, which has been there for the last 40 years. The Camp itself celebrated its 50th Anniversary a couple years ago. Sometimes I go up to Nejdeh and chat with him about the state of the organization, and I hear that I'm not the only one who has. Camp holds a very sentimental value that even if you have never been there, don't know what it is, aren't even Armenian, you could walk onto the Camp grounds and feel the presence of endless memories. Just looking around, you can see evidence of kids making friendships to last a lifetime.

Some think of Camp as the Armenia outside of Armenia. It's more than that. I also had a chance to catch up with the groundskeeper, Tim Sherman. He's been the cook, the caretaker, the construction worker, the innovator, intimidator and friend to many. I was working in the kitchen with him back in 1995. Since, we've been good friends. A true American who plays hockey, lives in Franklin, etc., he is the most Armenian among us. He has devoted his life to this Camp. I just wish he knew his worth because without him, the Camp wouldn't run as smoothly as it does and the many generations of Armenians that pass through each session wouldn't become part of this tight circle of friendship.

We also attended the Worcester AYF 70th Anniversary dance that Saturday night, with the Aravod Ensemble as entertainment. A small, but proud community, Worcester put on a good show for us, and we sure had a good time.

Sorry to all of you in Boston who I didn't get to visit while I was up there. Will post photos in my next log once I print them.

Happy Columbus Day everybody!!!

There are many beautiful places to visit in Armenia, especially the cafes which some have now become tourist attractions. It is impossible to walk on a street without a cafe. Xanjyan Street is one cafe after the other, and it is still difficult to find a seat during the evening. However, more cafes springing up over the city are causing many debates, especially environmental ones. 30 years ago, silver spruce trees that are very rare in Armenia were brought from Russia, to filter the air, and protect the environment. Now many of these spruces are being cut down, and sold 10 times less than the market value, for decoration around the cafes. The one now in debate is the Mermaid cafe. Cutting down these spruces, is The Minister of Nature Protection (Vardan Ayvazyan) ...well isn't that ironic. And who is he cutting them down for, his wife, who owns the Mermaid cafe. How sweet. Unfortuneatly Mrs. Ayvazyans spruces will end up just like Mr. Karlos Petrosyans (Minister of National Security). He also cut down 18, 30 year old spruces and pines to decorate his Partez Cafe, which have all dried out. Now I am not saying that our cafes should not be decorated, it's just pointless when there are other means of doing so. Having all those tree's cut down... For what? So that they may dry up in a few years? And after they dry up do we just cut down more to replace them, until we have nothing left? Being the small country that we are, it is important to conserve on as many things as possible.

Hello everybody! I will be a new logger at this site. I am 17 years old, born and living in New York. For many years I have spent my summer vacations in Yerevan, and like most people I fell in love with the city and lifestyle. And thanks to my mom for introducing me to this site, it is a great way to keep in touch with the current events around the world concerning Armenia. So let us begin with the events in New York. Performing at Carnegie Hall yesterday was Constantine Orbelian. He was conducting the orchestra to Aram Khachaturian's greatest works. Also making appearances were Dora Serviarian-Kuhn (pianist), who is considered the chief interpreter of Khachaturian's Piano Concerto, Marina Domashenko (mezzo-soprano) and the Yale Alumni Chorus. The Yale Alumni chorus is made of the Yale Glee club, as well as the alumni, which are approximately 100 singers total. Therefore, you can only imagine the emotion throughout the audience when Khachaturian began playing the Armenian National Anthem, while the Yale Alumni Chorus sang the verses. I am still in awe that they sang in Armenian. Good for them! There were also pieces from the Spartacus Ballet, famous old Armenian songs, and of course Surerov Para (Dance with Swords, better known as the Sabre Dance, from the Gayaneh Ballet). It was absolutely fantastic, I did not want to leave, and every time I heard a non-Armenian say what a wonderful composer Khachaturian was, I would begin to gloat, saying in my head he is one of us. :) Yah, I had a wonderful night! Alright everybody that is it for now, until next time. Take care. Buh byeeeee!

We're all busy these days. Work, families, hobbies, etc. When we make time for Armenian community stuff, it's interesting how people choose their projects. Church functions, lobbying on behalf of Armenian issues (see Arsineh), Youth Groups, etc. While I freely admit that my "Armenian Time" revolves around The Label and this log due to time constraints, it is amazing how many Armenian Diasporans have given so much toward the "Armenian Cause". Of course, the "Armenian Cause" is a general term and can mean a lot of different things. Nevertheless, they've contributed toward building something- an Armenian community, an identity, a system where young people could grow up Armenian outside the homeland. That generation did a great job. But then, there are those that have been numbed into a daily routine, and really don't have a clue how to contribute toward the Community anymore. Maybe it's a lack of leadership, I don't know. I like to look at those people doing nothing these days, but, with a passion to do something, as the "X-Factor" people in the Armenian Diaspora. Igniting their Armenian passion can lead to some interesting things. Just look at the people on the "other side" of this log for inspiration.

Last night, I went to Sepal in Watertown. It's a nice Middle Eastern restaurant around the corner from the Hairenik Building and down the street from the ACEC. The walk down Bigelow street on a Friday night is pretty cool as you've got the Greek church on your right, a Protestant Armenian church on your left, an Armenian Apostolic Church on the "Artsakh Street" sidestreet on your right, some apartments on your left as you walk down further, a sportsbar "Donohues" on the right and finally, the Hairenik building at the end of the street. The street is usually quiet, but active. Armenians coming in and out of the Hairenik building or parking in a parking lot and popping into the Armenian Cultural Center around the block is a familiar scene and an endearing image for those who are not from the Boston area. Or, if you are in your 40's and 50's and want to get lung cancer, pop into the "Gentron" and grab some kebab, drink some beer, and play backgammon in the smoky filled room.

But, back to Sepal. On Friday nights, it's not packed and you can actually sit and talk comfortably. I met with two Armenian friends of mine who have passions in different areas of life. One is an expert photographer and the other is a passionate music fan and writer among other things. Both are in their early 40's. The photographer contributed toward the upcoming Gor album by volunteering his time and resources to do a photo shoot of Gor. We've been working together on this project for about a year and last night I had the opportunity to hand him the finished product. It was a nice moment finally seeing what we had worked on for so long. The photographer is fairly well known around these parts and is very active in the Armenian community. My other long time friend is someone I've just reconnected with. I've asked him to produce an album for Pomegranate in 2004. Knowing his meticulousness and understanding of fine music, he has presented an absolutely amazing choice of an artist which will be featured on our label. The choice is a slight departure from our rule of only having our artists be from Armenia. But, more on this later. It's been interesting seeing his enthusiasm for the project grow as he gets more involved with it. Given the right resources, this guy is going to produce a world class album because so many of his musical passions have been ignited along with his love of Armenia. There are so many of these people out there. Grab them, and get them involved.

A snapshot of a typical Friday night in Watertown, MA.

The exciting news of the week is that Peter Balakian's new book "The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response" is doing very well. 20,000 copies had been sold prior to being released, which puts it 4th on the New York Times Bestsellers List. If more copies sell this week, it might bump up to 1st. Well, it's now released, so I highly recommend going to amazon.com and purchasing your copy.

Also this week was the opening of an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York about the Near East Foundation of New York. This is an American committee for relief in the Near East. During the end of the Armenian Genocide, this foundation had raised $30,000,000 for Armenians... this is not the equivelant of $30 million today. This was $30 million back then. So they have an exhibit in New York which my co-workers attended and say was phenomenal. It will be up until December 7, 2003.

A cool new feature here (in my opinion) is a new mailing list, where every new entry from these logs will be emailed to you. All you have to do in order to subscribe is send a blank email to logs-subscribe@cilicia.com

What a week! This week has been 100% pure "tashkhala" (for the lack of a precise translation). Mondays are of course hectic no matter what, since Monday mornings we have a 3 office inter-office meeting. Work has been so mixed up I don't even know where to begin. We moved offices, but what we thought would be a week transition turned out to be transition till now. Hmmm....

Monday evening we had a guest arrive from Armenia... Digin Arusyag Sahagian. She will be spending the next month at our house (even though we are also between houses). The last time she came to America was in 1996, and now she is back with the invitation of the Board of Regents (Armenian schools). She'll be working on several projects with them, involving making Armenian books for the Armenian students. I guess to simplify what she does... she goes around to different villages and collects the OLD Armenian songs, dances, and stories so that they may be preserved in their original form. Her father began this work when he was young, and she has continues it to this day. It's amazing how much she knows! It's going to be an interesting month. Since I'm used to always seeing her in Hayasdan, it's very cool to have her here, since I feel like she is a little piece of Hayasdan living with me. :)

Other than that our "move" is not going too smoothly. Most of our stuff in boxes is at the new house, and we are waiting for the floors to be done, so we can move in the big stuff. I don't know how this moving thing is supposed to work... but I doubt it's supposed to be like THIS. (Then again, we're Armenian... and most of the time things aren't supposed to make sense --- for example my friend who found a cheap ticket to fly to Portland from Sacramento, but rented a car to drive to Sacramento to take the flight.... or my cousin who lives in Seattle, and didn't want to spend money flying to Vegas for the holidays, so she decided to drive down even though gas costs a million dollars a gallon and it would take 2 days).... We have a different logic. ha ha ha

TSUH! :)~
p.s. - can't wait to hear what the Glendale-Ghapan people accomplish!
p.p.s - it's my birthday??? (sure.. why not!) :)

The big news around here is that the Red Sox and Cubs both advanced to the next round.

Lots o' stuff going on with the label. I will be going to www.womex.com later this month to check out the world's biggest international music exposition. It will be more of a learning experience for me rather than a deal making trip. I will be meeting up with another Armenian friend of mine who owns a label. It's great to see small little labels popping up, all approaching music in different ways. Gor's new album is coming out in the next few weeks and a documentary on him will be shown in LA on the 12th of October. At ArcLight.

Sayat Nova Dance troupe of Boston had a rousing showing here in Boston for their first new program in 4 year. They sold over 1000 tickets, and that is a throwback to the 1980's. Participcation at Armenian events like this have been sparce. Rarely do you get 1000 tickets sold for Armenian events out here. There are a lot of 200-300 events, but, not 1000. Bravo to them.

Armenian Street Vol. 2



The ASOCIACION CULTURAL ARMENIA has been built by the Arzoumanian Foundation. It has many floors and is the building where the ARF works. The AYF, the ARF Central Commite, The Homenetmen, HOM, Nairi Dance Group, Hamazkayin , the Diario Armenia and other groups work (Ararat Scout Group) inside this building.
The Arzoumanian Brothers (Siranoush and Boghos) helped to make this building to be what it is now.
Is an active place. Mostly, Fridays and during the weekends at night, there is a big Tango School. All the Argentinean youth goes there to learn about this typical dance of Buenos Aires. It has a nice Restaurant and a great Auditorium. What?s more, there is a gym, a basketball stadium and a swimming pool that belongs to the Homenetmen section.
It is a must if you visit our community. The address is Armenia St. 1366.

28th September after many years, the Ourfatsies of Argentina joined togheter in a big Hokehankisd and Hokedjash in memory of the martyrs of Ourfa who fighted for their Freedom against the Turkish Army decades ago.
What is interesting is that the Armenian Community of Spain is growing day by day, and the interchange with the Community of Buenos Aires is promisinf a prosper future. Let time arrange thigns...
I have hear that some Musicians from Armenia will play in the Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires next October 29th, For sure they will play Armenian Songs of Aram Yllich Khachaturian, taking into account is his borning Anniversary (1903-2003). The Argentinian Philatelistic Asociation launched some stamps of the Armenian Composer for free use on Argentinean Postal Service.

Well, tomorrow its Yon Kippur, but i dont belong to those who lie during the whole year and say SORRY for one day.
GAMK BIDI LINENK U TER SHADANANK ! ! !

Perhaps I can answer Joe's question from the comments on the last log. I saw Vahe Berberian last night with my father. Oh my lord I was crying from laughing so hard. Now, my father is the ultimate conservative Armenian father. The man goes skiing with a suit and tie. He even went to the beach once with a tie too. There were a few select words that probably didn't fly well with him, but it wasn't bad at all. My dad was laughing with the rest of us. He didn't make obscene jokes or anything. It was a good evening.

On Friday I also attended the Democratic National Committee Meeting (which I expected to be on Saturday, but was misled). I got to see 4 of the 10 democratic presidential candidates speak... Dean, Clark, Kucinich and Lieberman. I was impressed with Dean and Clark, but the others were a bit of a bore. There was plenty of Bush bashing going on, but much optimism among the democrats, given the news lately. Between Bush's staff leaking a CIA agent's name, Schwartznegger being accused of womanizing and praising Hitler, and Rush Limbaugh being fired from ESPN for racial remarks against McNabb (black quarterback), the democrats are already celebrating their win. I hardly have faith that democrats are any more innocent of such extreme behavior, but I give them this... the Bush Administration is digging their own hole.

Redskins face Philadelphia Eagles today, going in with a 3-1 record. Let's see how all this McNabb controversy affects the game! :)

This has been an interesting week. On Monday I joined some visitors, Josh from Boston and Aram Hajian who was back from Armenia for a wedding. They rounded up some friends and we (the office folk) met up with them. It was nice to catch up with Hajian, as he reminded me that my 2.5 year plan to move to Armenia is down to 1.5 years. Well, I made myself a promise and I'm sticking to it, but I might have to stretch it half a year to 2 years from now. He seemed amused and impressed by all the specific planning. I have my reasons. :) Otherwise, I got my usual update on "things going on in Armenia" and my fill of political discussions on Armenia.

Yesterday I attended a Turkish hearing on the Hill. Nothing but a group of Turks testifying infront of a House Committee who's members already love Turkey. We had one friend on the committee who questioned them on the Armenia issue, and another who hammered them on Cyprus and the Kurds, to which they kept throwing the PKK at them. We sat with some Greeks and Cyriots in the crowd, so it was a nice little union of us. Otherwise, there was lots of talk about how Turkey didn't mean to disappoint the US, they are fixing their problems, but really, Turkey still loves the US and the US has lots to gain from being friends with Turkey, despite their horrific record of human rights abuse. At the point when Rep. McCotter questioned them on their relations with Armenia, I was videotapping with a tripod and all, I scanned over to the Turkish witnesses to tape their response, and to my surprise (not really), I find this Turkish photographer standing RIGHT infront of my camera and would not move. I had to pick up my entire set up and move to a different position which captured a different angle and provided us the PERFECT shot of the witnesses for publication. Despite his efforts to get in my way I came through in the end. Don't mess with me Turkish Photographer, I will get my shot! But oh they play dirty.

This weekend I will be attending an ARS function featuring the Armenian comedian Vahe Berberian. I am looking forward to this. I have a growing appreciation for Armenian comedians... I hear this one is really good.

I will also be attending a Democratic Presidential Debate this Saturday morning... looking forward to that as well. I will post updates.

Well, it looks like I found a great deal out east... so.. in November I will be making TWO trips to the east!!! That's just the exciting news... other exciting news is that this weekend (or next) we'll be moving to our new house! See, for 5 years we've been living in the "transition" house, which wasn't going too well lately - cause the transition house is not meant for 6 people. Anyways, atleast now everyone will not be in each other's face 24-7, and life might be a bit calmer in our household.. :)

Today a funny thing occured to me... My new office is in a "less-upscale" area (Sunland), and although it's not the ghetto like Comption, it's not Bel Air either. It's in a shopping center, which is somewhat run down, but in renovation. So as I was parking my car, I saw 3 people (2 men and 1 woman) sitting on the floor towards the corner... with their carts - so obviously they were homeless. I didn't think anything of it. Later on in the day when I was leaving to pick up my brother - they were still sitting there. When I came back from my afternoon errands... they were still sitting there and having beer. When I was leaving the office, they were still sitting there and having their beers. The reason why I thought this was weird, because I couldn't understand how these people thought themselves to be sooooo helpless and defeated by the world out there, that they'd resorted to sitting in a parking lot corner and drinking beer - instead of working on somehow bettering themselves. I'm sure they are not the only ones. I don't know... I just found myself annoyed. Annoyed cause I felt like I believed in their capabilities more than they did.... but who am I to work on inspiring them?

That's pretty much it for right now...

TSUH! :)~