Other than that... sksela and consumerism

Der Hova already announced that the Prime Minister of Armenia died today. His name is not on the same level as Kocharian, Sargisyan and the oligarchs, and I have little idea of who he was, but anyway... he was pretty young to die of a heart attack, though that seems quite normal here.

Anoush texted me the news first, as the "Sksela" event she was at was cut short by a request by (I guess) police to end the action upon news of the death. Sksela is generating a buzz on the blog circuit lately... and there is even a youtube clip of last weeks action. I don't know how much offline buzz there is about them though.

Anoush has her own blog about mixed things - from her life here, to other random things. Her last blog was about consumerism, and how endless it is, but that it must end. Following an interesting article about a couple in Manhattan in the NYT that is not going to buy anything all year, except organic food grown within a days driving range of their apartment, it is something that is going to keep coming up. People buy so much crap - and most of it is indeed crap (which they don't even need), that it is destroying our world. One place we can make a dent is by ending of obligatory gifts. Gifts that people exchange/give which oftentimes the recipient neither wants and certainly doesn't "need". I'm liking the idea of donating in peoples name as a present more and more... I wish Armenian charities would make that easier and package it better. An email thank you from the charity, a nice little card, etc...