TIGblogs - Arpine Grigoryan's TIGBlog

TIGblogs - Arpine Grigoryan's TIGBlog http://arpik.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us Thank you, 2011 http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/7112651

Here are the top events that made my year so awesome.

Was a trainer on Personal branding and online reputation management, on effective use of social networks and twitter in particular, did a session for a training of trainers.

Tuned my public speaking skills with several presentations at various events.

Visited some interesting locations in Armenia and met some great people.

Became part of the geeks community with some very cool people :)

Helped with organization of some interesting and geeky events likenbsp;Foursquare Day, BarCamp EVN 2011, TEDxYerevan 2011.

Did a presentation on "How to date a geek girl" at BarCamp Yerevan 2011, which later became viral on the web, and Slideshare's presentation of the day, of the week :)

Was a speaker at TEDxYerevan 2011, a huge milestone reached. Met some wonderful people thanks to the event. (Side effect: made my shoe collection famous :D)

Had a ride on a helicopter and applied for a parachute jumping (pending).

Was on TV live several times... as an expert on ebooks (haha), email communication (interesting), blogger (when did i last update my blog? :D) and stuff like that)))

Was a maid of honor for the first time in life and enjoyed my title a lot :))))nbsp;

Applied for a license and became an official TEDx organizer and organized my first TEDx (out of 4 to be organized within a year) end of November.

Attended a live show of one of my favorite bands - COLDPLAY!

Went to Eurotrip - 5 countries and 8 cities in just 12 days. Saw the Paris, climbed the Eiffel, crossed the whole Germany from West to East on a car, and all of this - with my best friend :)

On my 4th visit to Amsterdam, I finally tried a space-cake....my advice: whatever it is... be sure you have someone to take you home afterwards :)

Reconnected with a special friend, who later became an even more special one to me :)

Watch my 2011 in photos that matter :) 180 photos that showcase moments that mattered during my 2011. The music is: Coldplay - We Found Love.

]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:01:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/7112651 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 about my job and PanARMENIAN Photo :) http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/714619

As some of you may know, I work at the company that has established the first Armenian online information agency - PanARMENIAN.Net. The company itself is called PanARMENIAN Media and includes several other divisions such as our newly established PanARMENIAN Photo agency.

You may also know that I am currently the head of PR and Marketing of the company.

So a little advertisement may go here below.. :)))

Since my job takes a lot of time (and it's supposed to be so :))) i'm having no time and energy to write for my dearest blog, but since I'm currently setting up a blogging schedule for myself, I hope to fix this gap!

The recent months we were working hard on the establishment of the Photo agency, obtaining the latest photo reporting equipment, setting up the agency's work flow and trying to position ourselves in the market.

So it's a news and event photography agency and our photographers are attending almost every event taking place in the country. We are also working towards realization of photo projects.

By the way, our photographers are more than photo reporters and you may notice some humor and creativity in the photographs, not so common in traditional photojournalism.

The highlights of the day in photos can be found in our Flickr photostream and Livejournal community.nbsp;

Today we finally launched PanARMENIAN Photo website that contains images from the recent events in the country and also an extensive photobank.

ok, enough :) less text, more photos :) enjoy the links.

]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:06:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/714619 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 Bar Refaeli on the cover of Esquire for July http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/700689
While browsing my daily feeds with news, images and interesting stuff in Google Reader, this one caught my eye, and I just can't stop watching it :)

Sharing with my readers:

This is Israeli model Bar Refaeli having the magazine's contents scrawled across her body, with a new Stephen King short story teased on her arms.

]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:06:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/700689 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 My thoughts on the attitude towards people and judging http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/679305

It's a rainy morning, not yet 8 am, and I didn’t sleep well this night. Instead, the lines of a future blog post were wandering in my mind, not letting to sleep until I bring them into these letters.

I've been thinking about the attitude we have towards other people and about the judging of others.

Recently I've been noticing that some of the people I know and love, where making me feel uncomfortable with them, because I couldn't stand listening how they were talking about other people, discussing some of their characteristics with sarcasm, negative tones, humiliation and sometimes also offensive notes. It could be just someone passing by the street or someone known…

Do we really have the right to judge people solely based on the limited information we have about them? E.g. their look, their beliefs, their deed, especially rumors about them...

I try and guess I mainly succeed in putting away the stereotypes that could be built by other people's opinions or other basic information i can get from the first look.

I have this attitude towards the unknown people that is: I generally like them, unless they prove me that I shouldn't. And if i like somebody, i won't let myself judge or make fun of them. This means that by default I like everybody, until someone does something that makes me change my attitude. Moreover, i don't quickly change it to the "negative" one, because one thing can be just a result of certain circumstances, so i can be just become neutral, not good, not bad.

I have had a lot of talks on this matter with different people that were trying to convince me that I'm too naive and optimistic and that I shouldn't so easily accept strangers as good people by default.

Yet this is how I'm made. I do believe that there are more good people than bad. In the general meaning of good and bad.

It's my whole lifetime experience with people, brought me to this.

I met an interesting quote in the blog of my friend Araz. She has a post called: "You can't hate anyone whose story you know".

Rephrasing this I'd say "You can't judge anyone unless you know his story".

When i wrote this statement, it didn't sound good to me, because i realized that "You WON'T simply judge anyone whose story you know".

I'm not touching the topic of judging criminals, people with no morality and wrong values. My post is about the common thing happening daily with all of us.

I find it offensive when people make fun of another people based on their look, deed or anything that makes a first impression, because it could just as likely be the worst day of their life, it can be something brought by circumstances that weren't under their control at all. They didn't choose it, it chose them. Who didn't have bad days? Is there anyone who can say that they are perfect and hadn't ever been in a bad situation?

I don't think that making fun of others with or without their presence is smth worth to be doing for intelligent people. In case of their presence, it can be only appropriate if you are sure that they are enough balanced and steady and that they are capable of understanding your sarcasm, accepting critic and feedback.

How many times did it happen to us that we had made a wrong negative impression about someone and then felt guilty of having it ?

To me, it had happened more often than the opposite. I rarely have changed my positive attitude towards anybody.

I truly believe that the stereotypes and some first impressions shouldn't be the base of the attitude towards anyone. Just change the angle of view and you'll notice additional details that were unnoticeable before.

Let's take this example:

There was a girl in my surrounding that was often criticized for being a weirdo, she didn't have many friends and seemed like pushing them away. She was a workaholic and didn't pay much attention to her outlook. Everybody was giving her judgmental looks until one day we got to know her "story".

It turned out that she had lost her father and had to take care of her mother that was ill and her siblings. She was the only one working in the family and had to help the younger sister to enter university.

She knew that she was making an impression of a weirdo, she knew that people were judging her, and that their attitude would be changed if they knew the story. But what she didn't want was having that pitiful looks on her. She was okay on her own, in her own small world.

Dear everyone, next time before you do any remark on anybody like "geghci" (common referring to people from villages that are here considered as underdeveloped and silly) remember that having the luck to be born in the city doesn't make you better of those you didn't have that luck.

Before judging someone by their deed or look, do the basic thing such as putting yourself in their shoes, consider that there could be many circumstances that brought them into that condition and that generally, you are noone to judge others, whoever it is.

]]> Tue, 26 May 2009 06:05:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/679305 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 United Artists for Abruzzo - Domani - Artisti Uniti Per L'Abruzzo http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/658695 that has destroyed the beautiful city L'Aquila and numerous villages around, killing about 300 people, a song-tribute to the victims was released.

56 great Italian artists united to create a song called "Domani 21 Aprile 2009. Artisti uniti per l'Abruzzo". April 21 is the day, when they met altogether in a music studio in Milan for the support the campaign "Salviamo l'arte in Abruzzo". Its aim is to collect money for the reconstruction of the conservatory "Alfredo Casella" and the seat of the Teatro Stabile d'Abruzzo dell'Aquila.

Here's the official website of "Artisti uniti per l'Abruzzo".

...and this is the video that they created and that I totally loved

The idea belongs to Jovanotti and Giuliano of Negramaro - both my very favorites, and they realized it by the support of Mauro Pagani of PFM, Caterina Caselli and others.

Among the artists there are: Ligabue, Jovanotti, Mauro Pagani, Giuliano Sangiorgi of Negramaro, Gianna Nannini, Elisa, Giusy Ferreri, Tiziano Ferro, Zucchero, Fabri Fibra, Giorgia, Piero Pelu’, Caparezza, Laura Pausini, Baustelle, Mario Venuti, Caterina Caselli, Pacifico, Dolcenera, Gianluca Grignani, Negrita, Nek, Francesco Renga, Antonella Ruggiero, Mango, Elio e le storie tese, Giuliano Palma and many others... (I named only ones i know and like)

I'm going to buy the song online (as soon as it will be released on May 8) and have my contribution in the support of saving the art in Abruzzo.

********

As some of you know, I have some close ties with Italy and live with a feeling that part of me is Italian. Sometimes I feel myself like one of diaspora Armenians whose heart aches when hearing Armenian speech or news from Armenia. I feel the same towards Italy! I feel homesick and I can't find my place. I have been listening to Italian radios all day today, and the Italian speech is so much dear to me... like the native language that I've somehow "forgotten" and then "refound" inside me again.

********

Here are lyrics of the song that also help to see who appears in the video and who sings which line:

Tra le nuvole e i sassi/ passano i sogni di tutti (Ligabue)

passa il sole ogni giorno/ senza mai tardare. (Tiziano Ferro)

Dove sarò domani? (Enrico Ruggeri)

Dove sarò? (Gianni Morandi)

Tra le nuvole e il mare/ c’è una stazione di posta (Franco Battiato)

uno straccio di stella messa lì a consolare (Massimo Ranieri)

sul sentiero infinito (Max Pezzali)

del maestrale (Eugenio Finardi)

Day by day (Zucchero)

Day by day (Cesare Cremonini)

hold me/ shine on me. (Zucchero)

shine on me (Cesare Cremonini)

Day by day save me shine on me (Zucchero, Carmen Consoli, Mauro Pagani, Cesare Cremonini, Eugenio Finardi)

Ma domani, domani,/ domani, lo so (Francesco Renga)

Lo so che si passa il confine, (Roberto Vecchioni)

E di nuovo la vita (Mauro Pagani)

sembra fatta per te (Giuliano Palma)

e comincia (Elio)

domani (Elio e Le Storie Tese, Vittorio Cosma)

domani è già qui (Jovanotti)

rap 1 Estraggo un foglio nella risma nascosto

scrivo e non riesco forse perché il sisma m’ha scosso (Caparezza)

rap 2 Ogni vita che salvi, ogni pietra che poggi, fa pensare a domani ma puoi farlo solo oggi (Frankie Hi NRG)

e la vita la vita si fa grande così (Gianluca Grignani)

e comincia domani (Giuliano Sangiorgi)

Tra le nuvole e il mare si può fare e rifare (Claudio Baglioni)

con un pò di fortuna (Ron)

si può dimenticare. (Luca Carboni)

Dove sarò (Baustelle)

domani? Dove sarò? (Samuele Bersani e Baustelle)

oh oh oh (coro: Carmen Consoli, Antonella Ruggiero, Alioscia, Pacifico, Mango, Massimo Ranieri, Bluvertigo, Nek, Giuliano Palma, Antonello Venditti, Roberto Vecchioni, Albano)

rap 3 Dove sarò domani che ne sarà dei miei sogni infranti, dei miei piani/ Dove sarò domani, tendimi le mani, tendimi le mani (Marracash)

Tra le nuvole e il mare

si può andare e andare (Laura Pausini)

sulla scia delle navi

di là del temporale (Carmen Consoli)

e qualche volta si vede (Nek)

domani (Antonello Venditti)

una luce di prua (Nek)

e qualcuno grida: Domani (Antonello Venditti)

rap 4 Come l’aquila che vola

libera tra il cielo e i sassi siamo sempre diversi e siamo sempre gli stessi

hai fatto il massimo e il massimo non è bastato e non sapevi piangere e adesso

che hai imparato non bastano le lacrime ad impastare il calcestruzzo

eccoci qua cittadini d’Abruzzo

e aumentano d’intensità le lampadine una frazione di

secondo prima della finee la tua mamma,

la tua patria da ricostruire,

comu le scole, le case e specialmente lu core

e puru nu postu cu facimu l’amore (Jovanotti, J Ax, Fabri Fibra e in chiusura Sud Sound System)

non siamo così soli (Giuliano Sangiorgi)

a fare castelli in aria (J Ax e Fabri Fibra)

non siamo così soli (Giuliano Sangiorgi)

sulla stessa barca (J Ax , Fabri Fibra)

non siamo così soli (Giorgia)

a fare castelli in aria (J Ax e Fabri Fibra)

non siamo così soli (Giorgia)

a stare bene in Italia (J Ax e Fabri Fibra)

sulla stessa barca (J Ax)

a immaginare un nuovo giorno in Italia (Giorgia, Giusy Ferreri, Dolcenera, Mario Venuti, Jovanotti, J Ax, Fabri Fibra)

Tra le nuvole e il mare si può andare, andare

Sulla scia delle navi di là dal temporale (Piero Pelù)

Qualche volta si vede una luce di prua e qualcuno grida, domani (Morgan)

Non siamo così soli (Giorgia, Mario Venuti, Giusy Ferreri, Dolcenera, Giuliano Sangiorgi)

(tromba solo di Roy Paci)

Domani è già qui

Domani è già qui (Jovanotti, Marracash, FabriFibra, J Ax)

(Assolo violino Mauro Pagani)

Ma domani domani, domani lo so, lo so, che si passa il confine (Gianna Nannini)

E di nuovo la vita sembra fatta per te e comincia (Elisa) domani (Sud Sound System)

Tra le nuvole e il mare, si può fare e rifare

Con un pò di fortuna si può dimenticare (Manuel Agnelli Afterhours)

E di nuovo la vita, sembra fatta per te (Mango)

E comincia (Niccolò Fabi)

(coro finale)

domani

E domani domani, domani lo so

Lo so che si passa il confine

E di nuovo la vita sembra fatta per te

E comincia domani

(Manuel Agnelli, Dolcenera, Zucchero, Niccolò Fabi, Pacifico, Giusy Ferreri, Alioscia, Pacifico, Max Pezzali, Caparezza, Niccolò Agliardi, Luca Carboni, Roy Paci, Tricarico, Ron, Giuliano Sangiorgi, negramaro, Negrita, Giorgia, Francesco Renga, Malika Ayane, Laura Pausini, Morgan, Jovanotti, Massimo Ranieri, Nek, Enrico Ruggeri, Piero Pelù, Antonello Venditti, Roberto Vecchioni, Carmen Consoli, Mango, Cesare Cremonini, Saturnino)

Domani è già qui, domani è già qui (Jovanotti).

]]> Wed, 06 May 2009 01:05:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/658695 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 April 24 - Armenian Genocide Rememberance day, and Obama didn't keep his promise http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/648755 Western Armenia.

Ask anybody here - it should rain on April 24. Why? "Because even the nature cries for the victims". And it really usually rains or even snows heavily on April 24. Not this year. It was showering yesterday though.

I joined the tens of thousands of people who went to the memorial to put flowers in memory of the victims. It's a long way walking from the footsteps of the Sport-Concert Complex to the Genocide Memorial complex called "Tsitsernakaberd".

It's a VERY long way in a crowd, walking like 5 steps in every 10 minutes. Not everybody could make it. But there was no way back. Once you're in the crowd, you can't step back.

I used the time to listen to the crowd... it was interesting to hear some of the recent rumors, "highly intellectual" chats of teenagers, for whose it was just an occasion to gather together.

I managed to tweet couple of times, check my email and listen to my music player.

I was regreting that I decided to go there in the afternoon instead of going in the evening, thinking that there would be less crowded then. Later i heard that there were even MORE people in the evening!

On the exit, close to the Hrazdan stadium, the road was closed and a number of free buses that were heading to the biggest subway stations were organized.

Brabion service again distinguished, offering free flowers

nbsp;

the queue seemed to be endless, we walked 2,5 hours with a speed of snail!

nbsp;

..Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama avoided using the word 'Genocide' during his annual speech addressed to Armenians of America, replacing it with the Armenian equivalent "Meds Yeghern". So was it addressed only for Armenians to understand? I'm disappointed. Although, to be sincere, i didn't expect anything else after the yesterday's "road map" story.

.....

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/648755 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 «Վարդագույն քաղաքի գույնը» by Սերգեյ Սարգսյան http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/641649

Գրքի մասին իմացա Ֆեյսբուքից: Այնտեղից էլ իմացա գրքի շնորհանդեսի մասին, որը կայանալու էր իմ ամենասիրած գրախանութում` Բուկինիստում: Սերգեյին հեռակա կարգով ճանաչելով (друзья друзей :) հետաքրքրվեցի գրքով, և նրան նվիրված Ֆեյսբուքի խումբ հրավիրվելով հնարավորութուն ստացա կարդալ սեմփլը :)

Գիրքը գնեցի (1300 դրամ էր, որը ըստ ինձ, բավականին մատչելի գին ա) և հեղինակի «ճկուն մաղթանքների» հետ միասին տարա տուն:

Երեկոյան մի քիչ կարդացի, ու հաջորդ օրը աշխատանքից վերադառնալով հայտնաբերեցի, որ քույրս այն արդեն կարդացել-վերջացրել էր :)

Իսկապես բավականին հեշտ ու մի շնչով կարդացվեց:

Քնելուց առաջ գիրքն ավարտեցի ու դնելով մահճակալիս կողքը քնեցի: Մյուս օրը առավոտյան այն իր տեղում չգտա.. պարցվեց հայրս վերցրել էր կարդալու :D մինչև էդ ասել էր, որ նորություններով տեսել էր գրքի շնորհանդեսի մասին տեսանյութ, ու փաստորեն ևս բավական հետաքրքրվել էր: Մայրս նույնպես հետաքրքրությամբ կարդաց, մանավանդ որ գրքում նկարագրված էր իրավիճակ` իրենց ամբիոնի հետ կապված :)

Ճիշտ է, մինչև գիրքը մինչև վերջ կարդալը, չդիմացա ու նախապես կարդացի գլուխների սկզբի բնաբանները: Դրանք, բավականին հաջող կերպով ընտրված մեջբերումներ են երգերից, քաղաքական գործիչների «փստացրած» արտահայտություններից և այլ ժպիտ առաջացնող խոսքերից:

Ահա մի քանիսը, որ ինձ բավականին ուրախացրել են`

«Ախ չգիտեմ, ինչ է սերը, որտեղից

Ու ինչու է սիրտը իմ հանում հունից:

Զգացմունքը այս, եթե սեր են անվանել,

Անդադար պատրաստ եմ ես այդպես սիրել»:

Երգչուհի` մայրանալուց առաջ

«Երևան, Երևան գնալու եմ,

Հիմնական Երևանում մնալու եմ»: -Շատերը

«Մենք պետք է ստեղծենք ոստիկանի այնպիսի իմիջ, որ ժողովուրդը սկսի մեզ հարգել»: -Ալիկ Սարգսյան, ոստիկանապետ

«Մեր նպատակն է Հայաստանը դարձնել արտակարգ իրավիճակների տարածաշրջանային առաջատար»: -Մհեր Շահգելդյան, Արտակարգ իրավիճակների նախարար

«Հաստատ ճանաչելու ենք հայոց Ցեղասպանությունը»: -ԱՄՆ-ի նախագահներ

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Գիրքը նկարագրում է 2008-ի ամռան վերջի իրադարձությունները չորս երիտասարդների կյանքում` աշխատանք, աղջիկներ, ընկերություն, NGOշնիկներ, կոռուպցիա և այլ ինտրիգներ:

Ծնողներս, որպես գրքի թերություն, նշեցին իրենց ասելով բազմաթիվ ուղղագրական և ոճական սխալները, որոնք իմ համեստ կարծիքով, դիտավորյալ էին թողնված խմբագրի կողմից ու միայն շեշտում էին երիտասարդների խոսակցական լեզուն (տեղ-տեղ կոպիտ` «իչքան», «գալի»...) ու հեղինակի անմիջականությունը (տեղ-տեղ գռեհիկ արտահայտություններ, որոնք, ինչ թաքցնենք, երիտասարդների առօրյա հաղորդակցության մասն են):

Գիրքը իսկապես գրված է առօրյա լեզվով և հետաքրքիր հումորով: Ճիշտն ասած, չեմ պատկերացնում, թե որքան մարդ կա, որ կհասկանա կատակները, իրավիճակները և գրքում շոշափված թեմաները ամբողջովին: Կարծում եմ, գրքում նկարագրված իրավիճակները և արդար հեգնանքով լի նկարագրությունները առավելագույնը հասկանալի կլինեն այն ակտիվ երիտասարդներին, որոնք քիչ թե շատ տեղյակ են երկրում գործող ՀԿ-ների աշխատելաոճի նրբություններին, համալսարանային, պետական և բանկային աշխատանքի առանձնահատկություններին, անգլերեն գիտեն ևն: Բացի այդ, այդ երիտասարդները պետք է որ տեղյակ լինեն, որ օդնոկլասնիկիից բացի կա նաև Ֆեյսբուք և այլ ուրիշ հետաքրքիր կայքեր:

Բավականին գունեղ են նկարագրությունները` …

«էտ բառը հատուկ «բոլդ» շրիֆտով արտասանեց Մովսեսը», «…Գագոն, որը 27 տարեկան հարևան էր, չէր ավարտել դպրոցի վերջին մի քանի դասարանները, սրտաճմլիկորեն բութ էր, բայց լավ խորովածի կրակ էր կպցնում» … «Խաչատուրիչը կարծես թռել էր Արմենի դեմքին և ժրաջան կախվել նրա ինտիլիգենտ ունքերից»:

Հետաքրքիր էր «տեսնել» նկարագրված իրավիճակները ու նաև մեզ, երևանյան աղջիկներին` տղաների աչքերով: Մոտս նույնիսկ ցանկություն առաջացավ գրել դրա զուտ աղջկական «պատասխանը» :D Գիրքը կարդալուց հետո ցանկություն առաջացավ էլի այդ ոճի բաներ գտնել-կարդալու, ու իհարկե գրքի շարունակությունն էլ հետաքրքիր կլինի կարդալ (որը, հուսով եմ, կլինի!): Սերգեյ ջան, "пиши ещо" :))))

Գրքի մեջ ինձ ամենաշատը դուր չեկավ շապիկը... Նարեկ, ներող :)

Համոզված եմ, շատերը գրքում կգտնեն իրենց ծանոթ իրավիճակներ ու կերպարներ, որոնք այստեղ ներկայացված են Սերգեյի հումորային տեսանկյունից, համեմված` շատերի համար աննկատ, բայց ուշադրության արժանի մանրուքներով: Ու երևի թե դուք էլ, երբ որ կարդաք, կսկսեք ինձ նման փնտրել գրքի հերոսներին` (Վիլոյին, Մովսեսին, Ալիսային ու նույնիսկ Վիլոյի կոլեգա Արսենին) պատահական անցորդների մեջ:

Արդեն էնքան եմ պատմել գրքի մասին ընկերներիս, որ հերթ են կանգնել, գիրքս վերցնելու` չնայած որ ես իրենց խորհուրդ եմ տալիս գնել իրենց սեփական օրինակը ;) Խրախուսե՛նք երիտասարդ գրողներին !!!

Մի խոսքով, խորհուրդ եմ տալիս: Բոլոր պրոգրեսիվ երիտասարդների համար must-read :)

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/641649 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 ...and they'll live happily ever after :).. of that I'm sure http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/640537

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Yesterday they had a wonderful wedding and a great party!

]]> Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/640537 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 My Corner of Gratitude and Memories: My Treasury http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/639003

I have organized a corner in my room, which my mother and sister call "place for gathering dust that can't be easily swept". But for me it's a very important place where I keep my memories: small souvenirs, candles, statuettes, gifts from different people.

I can smell the combined nice flavor of different scents whenever I'm around it and sit to work at my desk (it's on the left side, inside the bookshelf). With this post i want to present my most favorite items.

The items are of the following categories:

scented candles of different forms that i didn't resist not to buy, since I'm a candle maniac :D

souvenirs of my friends from the places they have traveled and from friends abroad.

small pieces of something that remind me of a memorable day or event.

I'd like to mention a notable contributor to my collection - my lovely cousin Gohar, who's lucky to travel a lot for her job. She always brings me nice things :)

Here's are some of the items and the story behind them:

this colorful candle is a gift from Italy from my friend Masha

this original candle was a new year gift from my cousin Gohar

this strange pieces were actually part of Berlin wall - gift from my friend Arsen

this 50ml bottle of Armenian cognac "Noy" with a lable "Анти-кризисант" (anti-crisisant) is new year gift from my former workplace EPEBAH magazine

This cute cat is a native of St. Petersburg - a souvenir from my friend Garik who currently lives there

This egg of clay, with ancient Armenian carvings is made and given for my birthday by my friend and colleague Abo

this happy hen is а gift to myself for Easter from Rotterdam where i met the holiday last year

this compass is gift from my friend Marko Petrovic from Serbia - the one that helped him to get overland from Serbia to Armenia and not to get lost on the border of Turkey and Georgia

this native American dream catcher is a gift from my friend Jared from New York

this painted egg-shaped jewelry box is a souvenir from St. Petersburg from my friend Ani

this Eiffel tower model is brought by my mom, you can guess from where :)

this flower vase is brought by my sister Evelina from Barcelona

this green apple is actually a candle - i bought it since i love green apples, and it smells like an apple!

this ceramic green apple contains an apple-scented candle and is a gift for my birthday by Emma

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some nice purple scents - birthday gift by my friend Tata

this ceramic (i think it's kind of a hat) is a souvenir from Georgia from my friend Gohar

the typical dutch-style painted small box I bought from Amsterdam, and the heart is from Venice glass and I bought it as a souvenir from Casa di Giulietta in Verona

this cute hedgehog carrying a ladybird is a magnet - gift by my friend Haykush from Moscow

this hello kitty branded box of candies is a gift from Luska from US

nbsp;this origami bird is from my Japanese friend Kanako

nbsp;orange and cinnamon candle set - bought by me in Padova, Italy.

A reminder of a very nice shop called "Sapo"

this nice candle set was a gift for new year by my friend Ani

this small wooden dachshund is one of my favorites - gift from my younger cousin Karen, he made it at a school handicraft class

this Japanese girl is a souvenir from Japan by my cousin Gohar

this keyring is a souvenir from Chicago from my friend Gohar

this typical dutch souvenir was brought by myself from my second trip to Amsterdam in 2004

these small animals are of Venice glass and i bought them from Murano island

this rabbit is a gift by my sister Gohar from Japan (if I'm not mistaken)

this Nefertiti is a souvenir from my friend Ani from Egypt

this picture "frame" is very old and a gift from my father's friend. That's me and my sis on the pic :)

this golden thingy that can be used both as a bookmark or a pendant - gift from Tokyo by Gohar

perfume oil in a bottle from Egypt brought by my friend Ani

this piggy bank I brought from Netherlands

thingy for lighting incenses - gift by my cousin Gohar from Dubai

this sea-shell jewelry box is a souvenir from Sochi from my friend Ani

this pieces of rocks are taken from Armenian regions, during a trip i'd like to remember

this traditional sweet is a gift from my Croatian friend Iva

this tea box filled by my favorite Sencha Royal tea is a gift from my friend Avet

small souvenir bottle of tequila - gift from my friend Maricruz from Mexico, with whom we spend many nice days in Italian student camp

Using the opportunity I'd like to say hello to all my friends that found their gifts here and to those who will find :))

I love you all, wherever you are!

]]> Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/639003 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 BarCamp Yerevan http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/636145

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/636145 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 I want to hug my parents everytime I see these photos :) http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/635775 I had this idea for a long time now. I want to scan all the photo albums we have and make digital also the family videos we have in VHS cassettes (we don't have a VHS video player for some years now heh).

I started from the red album called "Наш Малыш" ("Our Baby" in Russian). My mother made it after my birth :) with all the photos, descriptions and interesting facts about the first months of my life. I was reading in tears :)

"October 3, 07:15 she was born"

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This is probably the first photo of mine ever.

There were photos taken by my dad's camera.. BW photos with a lot of dust and scratches (i love them!)..

nbsp;Photos taken in photo atelier's, they were already in color :)

it's not me but my sister on one of the photos, guess which one? :)

nbsp;

Classic atelier photos (colors are auto-corrected)

...I saw the photo of me walking for the first time of my life.

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my first steps

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i liked to fly since i was a baby :)

I found notes by my granny describing the phrases and poems I have learned at the age of a little more than 12 months.In the album she has described each of the first 24 months of my life. When i started to smile, sleep normally, walk, speak, etc... I got to know that at first, my eyes were dark gray.

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Never thought that I'd learn so many details of that days ! :D I love my mom for doing that !!!

So that's where my love for writing and immortalizing important moments comes from :D She was younger than I am now when she had me :)

I found out that i've been indeed a cute baby :-)))

Enjoy some of my favorite photos :)

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here you see where i inherited my current nose from (well almost :D)

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I love this one.. i wonder where is it.

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in a costume :)))

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at the republic square

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on a beach.. no idea where.. probably Sevan?

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on a swing. see how young my parents are :)

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thoughtful...

By the way, my sister (born 3 years after me) doesn't have this kind of a book and this much baby photos... partly because they had enough fun with me (maybe :D), partly because of the economic crisis/war situation of that years.

]]> Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/635775 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 About girls sitting alone at a cafe - cri de coeur http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/629391 an open letter

My dear Yerevan men. I'm writing this open letter to you with a request.

I'm a girl that often needs some time for herself to analyze the information, write down plans, organize actions, to-do lists and just thoughts. To me, the most convenient places for that are small cafes where i take a coffee and park benches, where i can be alone with myself and reflect a bit.

My request is - when you see a girl sitting by herself, writing, reading a book or just thinking, please please don't approach her asking if everything's okay or if they want to get acquainted. That's silly and meaningless! And afterall it distructs!

Thank you for understanding.nbsp;

P.S. Good luck with picking up the girls who actually want to be picked up:)

There are limited number of cafes where i feel myself comfortable sitting alone and writing my personal stuff. That's Yum-Yum, SQ1 and Segafredo. In all other places even the waiters are gazing with a strange look as if i'm there to pick up somebody or to show off something.

I do really need that time away from home/workplace computers where I'm endlessly procrastinating and a half-hour reflection with writing down thoughts, actions and to-dos increases my productivity for several times.

Do you think it's reasonable what I'm asking or am i being naive or, on the contrary, trying to show off something with this? Is it SOO weird that someone feels okay sitting alone?

Ok, true. I don't really think that my audience consists of those people who actually pick up girls such way, so this letter should be considered as a "cri de coeur" (cry from a heart).

By the way, i always enjoy watching self-sufficient women sitting alone and enjoying their coffee and if I am looking at them, that's with admiration.

I used to collect photos where girls are sitting alone at a cafe with a coffee or tea :)

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]]> Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:04:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/629391 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 Garou in Yerevan. concert review http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/622059

I got invited to Garou's concert on March 22. It was organized in the framework of the "Journées de la francophonie" by some "Black Ban Productions" company i've never heard of before. It was supported by the Government of RA, some ministries and the French Embassy in Armenia.

The tickets were quite expensive (10 000 - 70 000 AMD) and i wasn't even planning to go there until i got invited :) My mom, a big Garou fan, was asking me to find cheap tickets for a long time already, but i couldn't do anything. At last, she bought tickets on the last day with a sale !!! 30 000 AMD tickets costed 10 000. I can imagine thoughts and feelings of people who bought earlier with unreasonable prices while discovering the last day "discounts".

So some people payed about 100$ for this piece of paper, and yet this was not the most expensive one.

The concert took place in the big hall of the Sport amp; Concert complex (where the ice skating-rink is). Many people like my mom were quite disappointed to discover that it will be in the big hall instead of the small one, since the sound could be not satisfactory and it could be cold in that big hall. Despite of the ticket prices, we noticed some hard traffic on the way to the SCC and the huge crowd downstairs and the difficulty of parking in the parking slots of complex. The places in front of the stage were the cheapest since there were no seats and were mostly for youth, for jumping and dancing :) Garou invited the public downstairs "to rock" several times, but i bet people who paid tens of thousands for their seats weren't be so eager to join the crowd in front of the stage :)

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Taken with my phone from our seats (i forgot to take out the batteries from charger for my camera :()nbsp;

I wasn't very much familiar with Garou's music. I didn't listen to anything besides Belle, Gitan and the French album "Seul". I was pleasantly surprised to discover his English songs and the album "Piece of My Soul". I was mostly impressed by the performance of the song "You and I" on a piano. At first i thought that it's again a cover for some famous song that i should likely know. I liked it so much that listened the entire song with closed eyes. Then I typed some of the heard lyrics on my phone notes to find it later :) Now i found that song and can't get enough of it !!!

On last.fm Garou has got only 447.854 plays (it's really not much comparing to other similar artists). He's way too much underrated! I'll slightly increase that number on the following weeks though ;).

Since the audience wasn't very familiar with most of his songs, he made a clever decision to sing covers of other famous French songs. He was actually asking the audience about the french songs we know. He performed "La Mer" (Charles Trenet) and "Beyond the Sea" (Bobby Darin) mixed, also "La Boheme" of Charles Aznavour (piano solo), Celine Dion's "Sous le vent" and some others.

The public was much surprised hearing the beat and chords of "Come together" (of The Beatles) that was smoothly transitioned to "Belle".

Since the "Notre Dame de Paris" fever in Armenia, Garou became famous here and had been claimed to have some Armenian roots. As it usually happens, rumors have it that many of worldwide celebrities' have relations sounding like "grandmother's cousin's son's wife's neighboor was Armenian". He neither confirmed nor denied the fact of him having an Armenian ancestry (also during the press conferences), but pronounced from the stagenbsp; "Armenians, we are cousins".

He asked for an Armenian brandy/cognac right on the stage and was given it on the next break :) He kept giving compliments on how kind and hospitable our nation is and saying "genatsed Hayasdan" :)))

This was an amazing show with a truly high-quality sound and organization (not counting the ticket prices). The tickets had several types of protection from fakes, and they were being checked on the entrance by their numbers and attendees had to pass a scanner and have purses and bags checked. And Garou.. well he got some hundreds and why not thousands of new fans. He was worth to be seen on the stage.

* photos are taken by my friend Tata

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2009 05:03:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/622059 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 March 21. to remember http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/621321

March 21 - It was a memorable day. I did something that will remind me of this day all of my entire life. I made an artificial scar - a tattoo in the form of a shooting star :) Don't ask me why permanent, why on that particular place, why star... i just don't know it. I've been guided by some unknown force. Today, i've been lookingnbsp; it and feeling that it was something that had to be there sooner or later. Something was giving me a hint, guiding through all those diverse reactions and inner pros and cons discussions. I had that exact image in my mind !!!!!! it should be right there and right that picture!

Spring officially starts today in all calendars. It was a sunny, warm and nice-in-all-means day. I managed to meet all of my closest friends, my most recent bziks (random, on the street!) and saw a potential bzik in one guy i knew for already years now.

Besides, i started the day out of home. Having lots of fun at Yves Larock's party!

thank you, spring.

]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:03:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/621321 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 March 8 and spring. partying in Yerevan. http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/613917

Flowers at a Rotterdam market

Last year it was Saturday and as usual I was alone. It was a good occasion to dress up :) I like to dress up. I had taken some stylish stuff there hoping that I'll have the occasion to wear it. After 6 weeks of staying there i didn't have any and despite the fact i was going to celebrate that spring holiday all alone, i decided to get dressed properly as if i was home :) Luckily it was sunny (which was not usual then) and i went out to walk in the city. I walked to the large shopping district at the heart of the city and was happily spending my time :)

Since the beginning of my walk i was noticing people looking at me with unusual interest (unusual for Dutch but not Armenians :) I was thinking that they were maybe trying to recognize a celebrity in me since they usually don't dress up like that and walk :) I spent the day fine... though it wasn't the way i would like to celebrate spring :)

This year i did it my way ;)

Together with my 3 friends, we got dressed up and went partying

At first we went to the newly opened glamorous cafe Segafredo Zanetti. I love the interior there and the coffee is great! The service is excellent too and at our arrival all of us got free coffee cocktails with mint

. They were non-alcoholic and amazingly tasty !

But we had some dancing plans for the night and we took cosmopolitan cocktails (as our beloved heroes usually do in one very famous TV-series/film

;) and desserts.

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Panna cotta and cosmopolitan

It was still 9 and we went out to walk in the streets of downtown... We decided to check the music and ambience in Kami and Cheers clubs.. but it was too early for partying and we didn't stay anywhere and went to our usual place- Square One for a beer

The good mood was guaranteed and after the SQ1 we went directly to Kami club. The party has already started and it was cool! I haven't been to clubs this year yet and the 'opening' was quite promising ))))))) I met lots of my friends there and had a lot of fun! In fact I got home 3AM and my feet needed contrast showers and couple of days to rest and recover after 4-5 hours of dancing in fancy but not very comfortable high heels.

And by the way, you may send me hundreds of links to Wikipedia and other pages, but i won't change my belief !

The spring starts March 1 and not 21 !!!!!!! (at least for me

)

]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:03:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/613917 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 Lilacs and spring mood :) http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/612355
Last year, after my homecoming on April 1, I was in something like euphoria. For more than 10 weeks spent in Netherlands, I hadn't properly seen a sun and missed my life, my friends and everything in Yerevan very much. For some weeks after my return to Yerevan I was living like with pink glasses, nothing could bring me down. I was enjoying every second of my life :)

Here's some photos done on the first days of April.

These two photos are with my BFF Tata in a park where we found a fantastic blooming lilac tree. I love lilacs, especially purple ones, but wikipedia says they symbolize death while white lilacs symbolize first love.

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And these photos are made in my room's balcony:

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]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:03:00 EDT http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/612355 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 "Taxi, Eli Lava" film review http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/609173

"Taxi Eli Lava" film was produced by Sharm Holding. I promise to be neutral with the review despite of the fact that I've worked over 2 years in that company (i'm no more there for 1,5 years), and I'm quite familiar with the directors and crew.

The film consists of 10 7-minute episodes directed by different people and shows us their view of the Yerevan city. It's format and topic is explicitly copied from "Paris, Je T'aime", "New York, I love you" movies (I love this format also in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Chacun Son Cinema"). In fact, the working title of the film was - "Yerevan, I love you".

At the end of the movie I was pleased and also surprised because because i was expecing much less - something like "Mer Bak 3" (the previous Sharm produced film drowned with aggressive product placement and seeming to be a film for advertisers only).

Some of the episodes made me laugh, some - made me cry (really!) and some made me think.

It was different from other previous films also because it contained some "open" scenes not so usual for Armenian "pop" movies.

Yerevan was presented as an anthil and through eyes of a stray dog, a prostitute, an art school student, common teenagers. The thread of the story is the taxi driver occasionally meeting the heroes of episodes and expressing his thoughts and positive mood. It makes you rethink of how small is the city indeed and how everybody and every occurance is interconnected and a you'll see a small try to untangle the circumstances that brought to a particular moment in the episode "Yerevan ragtime". I like "Sheko" the most! Directed by David Babayan (who also directed "Ararat" video of Arto Tuncboyaciyan) it's showing the dog's perspective on the city in a very interesting way.

What was good: because of the episodes being short, you won't really get bored of it. There's action, there's melancholy, romance and love.

What was bad: the same faces. Yep, we are a small nation and the population of our country is even smaller and that's the excuse. We have just about dozen (or maybe twice more at most) of good (or well branded) actors and we have to see all the same faces over and over again. The same Nazeni Hovhannisyan and Hrant Tokhatyan (though i do really love his acting just that it's sometimes monotonous), Michael Poghosyan (well, i like him too) ... though some of new faces indeed appeared. The good thing of this was that most of the roles were short, so you were not really getting tired of them.

In front of the Moscow cinema with the big poster of movie

Generally, i'd say it's a new level in Armenian cinema (i guess it's also conditioned by the increasing financial resources and maybe.. experience?). So it's definitely recommended to watch.

The movie was scheduled for screening at all sessions for 4 days (March 5-8) in all 4 halls of the 2 cinemas - Moscow and Nairi (yes, in case you didn't know, in Yerevan we have just 2 working cinemas). Despite of the fact that the screenings were every hour, most of the sessions were sold out in advance (it's kinda rare for Yerevan :).

Taxi “Eli Lava” official website: http://www.elilava.am/

Episode titles:

"3000 years ago"

"Yerevan flies"

"Seven minutes"

"Yerevan ragtime"

"The second Sunday of spring"

"Sheko"

"The title comes later on"

"The hood"

"You, go!"

"Known and unknown love"

Catchy theme song of the movie by Reincarnation titled "Eli lava"

(this is also a trailer to the film)

]]> Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:03:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/609173 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 [Armenian wedding traditions] Tarosiks http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/606865
I have already written about Armenian wedding traditions and mentioned tarosik here.

Tarosiks are wedding favors usually given to the guests by the wedding hosts. During the ceremony, the newlywed couple distributes them among the guests - one for a family or more commonly - to single people. ["taros to you" or "tarose qez" in Armenian means - wishing the same to you], so tarosiks at weddings means wishing bachelors to get married soon.

So tarosiks are small gifts, usually sugared almonds and candies wrapped in an elegant fabric with laces and ribbons. It can also be in a wrapped box and contain a statuette, crystal figure, scented candles and soaps and also cinnamon rolls.

By the way:

Modern gift trends include: CDs with the favorite music of the bride and groom, shot glasses filled with colored candy or silver picture frames with a photo of the couple. Gifts may also be personalized with the couple's names, initials or wedding date. - from Wikipedia

Here's some of the tarosiks we have collected at home in the recent years.

]]> Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:03:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/606865 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 confused in translation http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/605273 mi manchi" from Italian. "Կարոտում եմ քեզ" doesn't express it when you feel the lack of somebody, somebody is missing in your life.

"Mi manchi" հավասար չի != «Կարոտում եմ քեզ».. բայց հո չե՞մ ասի «դու ինձ պակասում ես»:

«Քո կարիքը զգում եմ»-ն էլ էն չի... «Կարոտում եմ»-ը ասող անձին ա հղում (ուրագի պես.. :) միշտ դեպի քեզ, միշտ դեպի քեզ) նույնը` "Скучаю".

Մինչդեռ "(tu) mi manchi"-ն ասվողին ա վերաբերում, այսինքն արտահայտության առարկան դիմացինն ա: Սրանով դիմացինը ավելի ա կարևորվում, իսկ «Կարոտում եմ»-ը, ըստ ինձ, ավելի էգոիստական ա հնչում... համ էլ կարող ես ասել «Կարոտում եմ» ու չնշել ում/ինչը, իսկ "Mi manchi"-ում հակառակը` նշվում ա որ հենց դիմացինը կարոտվում ա (ինչ ահավոր բառ գրեցի):

Ափսոս լեզվաբանական կրթություն չունեմ, որ ավելի գիտական լեզվով արտահայտեի մտահոգությունս :)

սենց բաներ...]]> Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:03:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/605273 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 "You're only as good as your last haircut." http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/602153 I feel better than before ;)

nbsp;Haven't posted my photos for a while :)]]> Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:02:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/602153 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 Meet Max - his life, habits and an insight to his personality http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/597755

Photos are clickable :)

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:02:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/597755 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 The Great Lent. I'm fasting http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/598071 Great Lent starts today. Since the recent weeks I was mostly at home and spent a lot of time sitting at a computer, a small weight loss will be only good. And thus, the Lent is a good occasion. Although I must admit - I'm doing it not because of religious beliefs (I'm not very religious), but to clean my organism. I have friends that had been fasting this period for some years and they were feeling really good after that, with a refreshed organism.

Armenian Apostolic Church declares the beginning of the Great Lent on February 23. It will last 48 days, until Easter on April 12. Fasting by Armenian religious traditions include abstaining from any kind of food not of vegetable origin. While during Catholic Lent eggs and dairy products are allowed, on ours (similar to Orthodox traditions), on the contrary, the meat, dairy products and eggs, seafood are forbidden.

This will be a tough job for me since meat is a frequent ingredient for dinners at our home (like in most Armenian families). And I'm not saying about cheese and other dairy products ! I cannot yet imagine my life without cheese :((

So I need to prepare my food myself which can include:

Rice

Potatoes

Corn

Lentil

Haricot, pea and other beans

Mushrooms

All sorts of vegetables (hello, spring!)

Spinach and other greens

Oatmeal

Noodles (soya or rice)

Yeast bakingnbsp;

Honey (luckily it's allowed)

Cereals

From the sweets - dried fruits

And from the following things i should abstain:

Milk, sour cream, butter

Cheese

Meat, chicken, fish

Eggsnbsp;

Cakes, pastry, donuts

Sandwiches, pizzas, most pastas...

Olive oil

Wine (! :( )

Arrivederci my dear pizza...

I concluded that i can make my beloved pizza with yeast dough, cover it with vegetables and tomato pasta (?), but somehow resist to put cheese. This could work :) And also I can make a wide range of salads with vegetables.

I cannot guarantee that I will resist and abstain from all the forbidden food, and so maybe I will sometimes become catholic :D (eating dairy products) but I will try my best to fast for the first time. In fact, I've never been on any kind of diets before.

Now, that I have written about my commitment in my blog, it became kind of an obligation, so I will keep it updated on the process.]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:02:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/598071 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 My wish bracelet's anniversary http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/597217

On Saturday, Feb. 23, I was meeting my Italian friend Roby in the Piazza Duomo. If I had read the wikitravel page on Milan carefully, I would know how to avoid scam there, which i didn't do. When we were walking together on the square, a black guy approached us and tied a thin colorful band on my left wrist, asking to make a wish. It was a wish (friendship *) bracelet. It's common for all over Europe. They approach, tie a bracelet, then ask for money, though at first, when you refuse to take it, they insist that it's completely free :) My friend had to give the guy couple of euro coins, but he was insisting on more and it was hard to escape from him.

He told me that i shouldn't tear it myself, it has to be worn out and fall off naturally. And the day it happens, my wish will come true.

I don't remember exactly what was my wish, but i'm waiting impatiently for it to wear out. Hey, it's been with me like a part of my body for already a year! Wherever i went, whatever i was wearing - swimsuit, fancy dress at a wedding, it was with me!

* Friendship bracelets are usually given to friends. According to indigenous tradition of Native Americans (where it came from), the recipient of a friendship bracelet must wear it until the cords wear out and fall off naturally. The idea is that the friend paid for it with the hard work and love that made it, and the recipient repays the friend by honoring the work. Removing the bracelet before it naturally falls off is a sign that the friendship has gone sour. Another variation of this tradition is that the recipient of a bracelet is entitled to a wish. After the bracelet wears out and falls off naturally, the wish will come true.

We call them "fenechki" here - the Russian way.

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:02:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/597217 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 My Astronomy hobby and the International Year of Astronomy http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/590883

2009 was announced to be the International Year of Astronomy. 400 years ago Galileo Galilei was the first to use telescope for observing the sky.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s understanding of our position in the Universe: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye and moons around Jupiter. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work Astronomia nova – in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions. - Wikipedia

Space Expo and the diploma

I am a big astronomy fan since childhood. It started in February 1994, when I was in The Netherlands and was taken to the Noordwijk Space Expo.

It made a huge impression on me and after that I began watching the night sky with different eyes. I have an "Astronaut's diploma" from that space expo that is hanging on my wall for the recent years and sometimes when I watch it, it makes me think "Gosh, I have an Astronaut's diploma!!!!" :D

I was so much passionate about astronomy, reading and watching documentaries a lot, that one day at school i announced that i am going be the first woman on Mars :) Classmates laughed at first, then some of them asked for my autograph for future ;)

My first astronomy book

One day when I was 14, walking in Vernissage (flea market in Yerevan) with my mother, I saw a wonderful book on astronomy in Armenian. It was among some old books from old home libraries that people usually sell in Vernissage. It costed 2000 dram and my mother bought it for me without any hesitation. It was my first and best astronomy book ever. It was brand new and even published in the same year ! I haven't had any book of that quality before. Called "ASTRONOMY" from the "eyewitness guide" series, it turned to be an Armenian translation of the Dorling Kindersly edition. It was hard covered, high-quality publishing on a glossy paper with colorful illustrations that was published in Armenian with the help of Vatche amp; Tamar Manookian charitable fund. Taking into account the quality of books we were studying with at schools that years, this book was more than wonderful. It helped me not only to satisfy my curiosity, it meant a lot ! I felt it as it was sent to me from above.

That time and many years later I was carrying that book whenever i was going out of the city overnight, to watch the sky and tell my friends about the constellations and some interesting astronomy facts.

Byurakan observatory

I was always using the occasion to visit the famous Byurakan observatory. We were watching the Moon, Jupiter rings, Mars and some stars with the 3m telescope and asking questions to the astronomer that was guiding the excursion. I liked to ask more advanced questions to make them ask me if i wanted to work there :D But they never asked me :(

I don't know what events are planned to be organized in Armenia this year but I'll try to participate and restore and renew my hobby.

And I will try to find this film: http://www.eyesontheskies.org/

About the film and download links in Russian.

Website dedicated to the IYA2009

Greetings to my astronomer friends ;)]]> Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:02:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/590883 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111 нравится моей маме! http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/586557

I haven't been a huge fun of Comedy Club, though I really like and respect these guys. Unlike my sister who is a Comedy Club addict :) They deserve huge respects at least for this video and song.

I love when lyrics make you feel yourself somewhere else, in someone else's shoes. I think i'd love it even if i didn't understand Russian.]]> Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:02:00 EST http://arpik.tigblog.org/post/586557 40.1811111 44.513611140.181111144.5136111