These days I barely have a chance to collect my thoughts, much less type them out online. But there are so many things going on right now, I must.

Kojian, you will be missed from the logs, but thank you for the years you put in and opening this forum for the rest of us.

Right now, I have my new interns in town, my grandmother, cousin, aunt, and company have all left, but my sister and her husband and in-laws will be here this weekend, our wonderful Executive Director of the ANCA will be getting married on Saturday for which the whole family is now in town, I am working on two different CD designs, both of which I am VERY proud of so far, and I have two more weddings on the following weekends. Next week's wedding is in DC, the following in Detroit, and two weeks later, LA for my cousin's engagement. All this while the internship continues in full force with lectures, tours, meetings each day, not to mention the daily activity of projects, assignments and just plain fun.

Thoughts on my interns? Well, I know at least one of them reads these logs so I don't want to give too much away so early in the summer, but I'll say this much... for such a busy time of my life, I can't complain. My interns have actually been a source of inspiration and comfort. For me to not use the word frustration at a time like this is a huge compliment. Much shall be accomplished in the Hai Tahd arena this summer thanks to a group of solid interns.

This afternoon there will be an intern mixer at the ANCA office for Assembly, ANCA and all other Armenian Interns currently in Washington. We have already run into a few of the Assembly interns at events and roaming the halls of the Capitol, it'll be a good opportunity for all these young Armenians in town to get to know each other.

Past news, the ARF had a dance in celebration of Armenian Independence last weekend. Nersik Ispirian performed and did a great job. A highlight of the evening was that an Armenian from the Kerry Campaign attended to read a statement by Presidential Candidate John Kerry celebrating Armenia's independence with us. I look forward to hearing about the music festival fundraiser you guys are holding for Kerry up in Massachusetts. Keep up the good work!

It's been a long time off from the Blogger here. Had a wedding, went on a honeymoon, and moving into a new condo. Life can be worse. The first order of business is to say that a bunch of us in the Boston area are organizing a music festival at Camp Hayastan in Franklin, MA called "ArmoStock 2004- Kef for John Kerry". We plan on having 5 bands/performers ranging from Alternative Folk to Pure Folk Music. The plan is to bring in new talent and a major headliner. I can't give out the line-up just yet since we have to book everyone first, but, let's just say that it will be a one-of-a-kind event. I will keep everyone posted. Looks like the ANC may be joining in for this one...

Other than that, the Armenian Folk Music for Guitar CD is in the final stages of production and should see the light of day in a few months. Our expert designer Arsineh Khachikian is helping out on her 6th straight Pomegranate Music CD project. In the Boston area, Kef Time Cape Cod is coming up and there are picnics everywhere. Never a shortage of Kebab around Boston during the summer.

The wedding was great and as my wife and I were able to see many friend we haven't seen for a long time. It was in an Armenian church with the reception in Warwick, RI. Unique is the best word I can describe the experience. Here is a picture...

Well, the verdict is in... I think I'm officially a Gor groupie! :) haha...

Last night I went to this amazing event called "Songs & Flight". It was at someone's beautiful home (forgot their name), in their beautiful garden. There was a stage set up and everything! The performances were all incredible, except this radio-wave instrument... I didn't really understand, but none-the-less the musician (odar) played Armenian songs, so it was "in" in my book. There was a wide variety of performers, but the ones I liked the most were Gor (of course, especially "Sassountsiner"), Lori Tatoulian (HILARIOUS!!!!), Zoulal (group of 3 females from NY singing acapella - BEAUTIFUL!), and In Progress (a So. Cali band with young musicians). Apparently Songs & Flight is not new, even though it was the first I ever heard of it. It just so happened that last night, it was "Armenian Night" and so all the musicians were either Armenian, or playing Armenian. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much? Perhaps!

I think the best part was that Zoulal and In Progress played and sang songs that I knew and loved! For example, "Sareri Boyin Mernem" (might not be the real title, but it's what I call it), "Sari Siroon Yar", "Ghapama", "Aylookhs", etc. They were excellent!

I was especially happy to see SO many young people, and although some of them might not have been there cause they love Armenian music, the atmosphere was created for them to mingle with their friends and indirectly support/listen to Armenian music. (Maybe we can brainwash them without them noticing). :) The event was a GREAT IDEA! I hope it gets repeated more often.

As for my fellow Gor groupies, he has a "concert" at Harvest Gallery on Brand in Glendale, on Saturday, June 19 at 8pm. See ya there! :)

TSUH! :)~
p.s. - the packing has started!

DC is bumpin'. So many people have popped out of nowhere for work/internships in DC, the party life is starting to pick up.

Let's see... I went to Ocean City (nearby beach) last weekend with a bunch of Armenians from New Jersey, DC folks and one of my new interns for the summer here from France. Though the weather was cloudy, windy and not quite warm enough for a bikini, it was still exactly what I needed... completely removing myself from work and everything in DC. We had all you can eat crab... and sat for 3 hours. I can't believe we didn't get kicked out.

Here's the view from both sides of our room. :)



When I got back home, family awaited. My cousin, aunt, grandmother and friend flew out from LA to visit for a week. It's been a crazy week of constant outtings. They returned today, just in time to give me a week of rest before the rest of my interns arrive. It should be a very interesting summer.

So the days are passing really quickly, and in a month I'll be on my way to Armenia again.. (didn't come soon enough). I'm busy with work, trying to get everything cleaned up by the time I leave (I think my mom has officially fired me.. haha FINALLY), and also working with the AYF group who's going to Artsakh this summer to do some rennovation projects there (AYF Youth Corps).

Oh yes, I almost forgot. If you live in the L.A. vicinity, and you have a blood type of B+/- or O+/-, please go to the Children's Hospital in Hollywood, and donate blood for an Armenian 14-yr old named Natalie. She was just recently diagnosed with leukemia, and needs blood. The Donor Room is open Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, or by appointment. The Hospital's phone # is 323-660-2450. Let's pray for Natalie. :)

Now, my random topic. Last week I got an email from my cousin who's currently in Armenia, and she was telling me about how one day, a marshotni she was sitting in had an accident. And the thing I was focused on, was how she wrote about ALLLL the people who came to the accident sight, trying to either help with the situation, or just watching. I remembered this today, because this morning I went downstairs to have my coffee and the TV was showing this fatal accident on the 10 freeway... then later on while I was driving on the 118, there was a car flipped over on one side of the road (it had JUST happened)... and no one was stopping to help! So, when just last week I thought it was funny (and I admit, pretty dumb) that Armenians gathered to see what was going on, and were all up in everyone's business... today I was saying.. GEEEZ, i bet the people in that car wished there were some of those Armenians helping them out. I know... totally random, but just a thought I had today while driving.

I spent a good part of my day in the downtown L.A. area today. I have to admit, it was probably my first time going all over that part of the city. I think most people don't realize how HUGE the "LA area" really is. So, today I saw prostitutes, drug addicts, homeless people on Skid Row, mexicans selling cucumbers and watermelon to passerby-s, kids blowing bubbles at almost every corner, people blasting weird ethnic music from their stores, and others asking me if I wanted a hot dog every 3 steps. Very very interesting experience!

Tomorrow most of everything will be closed in Reagan's memory. So many people went to see him while his body was at the Prsidential Library in Simi Valley. I'm just now realizing how truly popular he was (compared to Bush).

TSUH! :)~