"Get her, Vartan! She's got Lamejun!"

Thanks to Josie Simmons for spotting this advert for lamejun in the front window of
Eastern Lamejun, Belmont, Massachusetts.  The little girl in the picture looks suspiciously like Dylan Marie!

Indzi Naye! ինձի Նայէ

"ինձի Նայէ," Medzmama would say whenever she was trying to get our attention. "Indzi naye!" (Translated into Spanish = Mira)
Marash Girl loved the expression:  "ինձի Նայէ!" "Look at me!"

And so rather than shouting at her grandchildren to stop whatever they were doing that could have caused damage to themselves or to their surroundings, Marash Girl would simply call out, ""Indzi Naye!" But why would they stop what they were doing to look at her? Because it began as a game. Marash Girl would tell her grandchildren to dance and play and sing, but whenever (and it could be never or instantly) she commanded them to look at her, "Indzi nayé", they would stay in whatever position they found themselves at the moment of the command and look at her, often bursting out into laughter. Kind of like the kids' game of statue, but for them, a game that lasted the whole day, the whole week, the whole year. And the game worked. Rather than ignoring her, or crying, the children would giggle and hold stock still, statue-like, staring at Marash Girl, in whatever position they happened to have found themselves when they heard the command, ""Indzi nayé"!"

A lot better than scolding and tears, right?

A Daughter Tells Her Father's Story

Marash Girl recently attended a presentation by NAASR on the publication of Yervant Alexanian's account of his early life, FORCED INTO GENOCIDE, a book compiled by Adrienne G. Alexanian, the author's daughter.  According to Ms. Alexanian, her father had kept notes hidden away from the family in a drawer, notes which she found after his death, and published in book form.  

It made Marash Girl wonder . . . how many stories are hidden away in attic trunks, in bottom drawers, in notebooks long ignored?  How many stories are hidden away in the memory of our loved ones, or in our own childhood memories -- stories which have been told to us repeatedly, stories which we have chosen to ignore . . .  How many?  Now is the time to record those stories!  your father's/mother's/grandfather's/grandmother's stories. . .  Use the modern convenience of audio/video, computer, or the old-fashioned method of handwriting . . . or ask a friends to ask you about your parents/grandparents story while they videotape your answer . . . Don't wait!  Now is the time!  Now is the time!

Atul Gawande Speaks at the Mosessian Theatre for the Arts

• Marash Girl was fortunate to attend the General Event Reception for Atul Gawande  with dinner and drinks yesterday evening at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, Massachusetts.
• The reception was followed by a conversation on life with athenahealth CEO, Jonathan Bush interviewing Atul Gawande on the main stage of the Mosessian Theatre.  Gawande was presented with the 2017 Charles Mosessian Award for the Arts, a presentation which was followed by a musical tribute with the International sounds (of India) of the group Awaaz Do featuring Saraswathi Jones
• A dessert post-reception concluded the evening.

  

              Atul Gawande on stage      Photo by Marash Girl

The Kindness of New Yorkers

"BROKEN"  (in case folks  hadn't noticed!)   Some kind NYC soul took it upon him (her?) self to create the sign attached to this bench, and to cover the sign with plastic! "BROKEN"  (if you hadn't noticed)

Bobcat At Home

Wild Bobcat at home inside the gates of this Southern California Gated Community. . . .

Photo by Martha McCool

Mayor Cohen with Mayor Cohen

Mayor David Barry Cohen, who served as mayor in the City of Newton, Massachusetts, from 1998 to 2009, posed next to his portrait  on Monday evening at Newton City Hall.                                            Photo by Marash Girl

It's 9:00 A.M. Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?

                                                                  (Photo of a poster on the streets of New York City)

A new twist on an old theme.  "It's nine o'clock in the morning...Do you know where your kids are?"  Scary if you're a parent, right?    But if you're a parent in NYC, you or your caregiver can text “SCHOOL” to 30365 to get the help you need and find out how many days your child has missed.  Unfortunately, that text will NOT tell you where your kids are!

Jim Corsi, Day Jr. High, Newton High School, Boston Red Sox, Swartz's Hardware (Nonantum)

 Jim Corsi at Swartz's Hardware, Nonantum      Photo by Marash Girl

Yesterday, Marash Girl went shopping for an oven thermometer at Swartz's Hardware down the Lake (Nonantum) (that's Newton). As she was waiting in line at the checkout counter behind the fellow pictured above, an affable fellow who was purchasing hardware to repair his refrigerator handle . . . the fellow and Marash Girl had a wee conversation regarding the hardware the fellow was purchasing for the repair (Marash Girl feeling she was somewhat of an expert having inherited some of her father's intuition for refrigerator repair). An affable fellow he was, and soon, of course, we both started bragging about the fact that we had both attended Day Jr. High and Newton High School.  Not sure who mentioned the fact that the fellow pictured above, Jim Corsi, was a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, and later a studio analyst for the Sox. One would have trouble finding a nicer, more "martamod" fellow.  He was thrilled to have Marash Girl take his picture.  (See above.)

Opposites or Equals: The Women of Yesteryear, The Women of Today

                   Opposites or Equals: Alice in Wonderland / Wonder Woman

From Facebook

Similar to what Grandpa Peter told us!

Séta Tahan and Teporah Bilezikian posted in Marash Bilezikjians on Facebook     Séta Tahan January 29 at 12:13pm To Paulo..( as You are interested, with the family History, let me give you some info. I have heard from Father& aunts.  Garabed, in jail, ( because as Houry said) helping Fedayins..All his belonging were taken by the government. So, his younger brother, Nazareth , also very wealthy, having his big house( you have a picture in front of the door) so, Nazareth(Pacha) took in charge all his brother's family, and they came &a live together. Until the big "Genocide". But my grand pa, being a friend with the"Wally" ho was, it seems a "nice" Turc, told him in secret "Nazareth , take your family, friends, servants some money & leave Marash, don't let someone know I gave you this advice.Say you are going to Aleppo visit a branch of your family"..  . My grand mother told me one day I was 9 years old,( they used to live in Aleppo, & we were born, my mother too, in Lebanon , so they used to come every 2years to visit us ) she said"Nazareth couldn't sleep for days, not knowing how to behave, not fair to know &keep it secret , at he end he decided to tell the close family members, his married daughters, of course his brother's family, the servants, close friends , etc..etc.. & told them also to advices their own families&friends in big secret.  The Wali, as promised , let some soldiers escort them until Aleppo(which also belonged to Turcs). Some of his brother's family refused to leave (Houry knows their names) and were killed. But until his death, grand Pa was affected :saying "oh!I  It was such a difficult situation...I did it first for the family, then I couldn't tell loudly"run away, you are going to be killed" because the Wali, will be killed and all of us with him.  Untill he died his last words had been" we forgot..that friend...or the other " like a nightmare " Like Comment             Reply to this email to comment on this post.         This message was sent to bethelcharkoudian@gmail.com. If you don't want to receive these emails from Facebook in the future, please unsubscribe. Facebook, Inc., Attention: Community Support, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Fearless Girls on Wall Street, or Facing the Wall Street Bull!

 

                 Fearless girls (Dylan Marie on right) face down the Wall Street Bull, New York City

What is it?

What is it about going to the dentist that is so unsettling, even though one is only going for a teeth cleaning?  Is it the feeling of being "tied" down, unable to move lest the sharp instruments will stab you?  The inability to attack with your mouth, perhaps dating back to prehistoric times?  The fear of pain?  Whatever it is, it never leaves, does it?

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there, and to all of you folks who made the fathers fathers!

Remembering back in the day when Marash Girl and her sibs would offer a happy father's day greeting to their father and would get back in return, "Just be good.  That will make me a happy father!"

Free books, anyone?

Today  (a sad day for Marash Girl), Marash Girl begins to empty her warehouse of 35,000 books.  Anyone interested?

Lost the Lease on my Warehouse

Today I was forced to grapple with reality.  I have lost the lease on my warehouse and must divest myself of thousands of books that have been for sale online.  Anyone interested in taking over the lot?

Add What?

In her last blog post, Marash Girl recommended that if a soup or a scarf in progress doesn't look right, perhaps you need to add a color, a texture, a stitch.  She neglected to mention that, especially in the case of a scarf, you may  need to rip the whole scarf out and start all over again!  And in the case of the soup?  Watering the soup down would be close to starting all over again, and not as painful as throwing the whole soup out.  But if you must do that, you must!

Knitting In Life

Yesterday evening, Marash Girl began to knit a scarf using newly purchased, beautiful yarn, but as she started knitting, the beautiful yarn was not becoming a beautiful scarf.  Why?  What could she do?  And then she remembered that just as in cooking, just as in life, she needed to add another ingredient . . . another color . . . another texture . . . another strand of yarn.  The stitch alone was not enough.  Note of warning here:  be careful what you add, especially to the soup . . . you can alway rip out the knitting, but the soup?  

Okay, you philosophers out there . . . how would you apply this to life?  Your life?  The life of others?

May God grant you . . .

Whenever Marash Girl's dad was non-plussed  upon hearing a senseless comment made by an erstwhile conversationalist, her dad would comment, "God give me money and you brains!"  

Search as she might, Marash Girl could find no reference online to this statement, nor has she ever heard the comment elsewhere.  Was her dad translating an Armenian proverb?

Josie Graduates from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts,

Yesterday, Josie Simmons graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, the same school attend by famed painter Frank Stella.  Congratulations Josie and Frank!

Image by Frank Stella graces entrance to Phillips Academy

Try, try again, Nasrettin Hoja Style

Nasrettin Hoja was seen stooping at the shores of Lake Akshehir, spooning yogurt (or madzoon, as we Armenians call it) into the lake.  

"What are you doing," the townspeople asked him.  

"I'm going to make the lake turn into yogurt," answered Nasrettin Hoja.

"That's not possible," scoffed the townspeople.

"But what if it is?" countered Nasrettin Hoja.

[Note:  Madzoon is made by heating milk to just boiling, cooling it and when it is at just the right temperature -- not too hot, not too cool -- adding and stirring in a tablespoon of madzoon which has been mixed with some of that warm milk, bringing the total mixture -- madzoon and milk -- to the same temperature.  Cover the bowl, wrap the bowl in towels, set aside, and the next day, you will have madzoon!)

Go ahead! Try, try again!

Most of us who were growing up mid-century remember the phrase, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"  It was our core, our reason for not growing up.  It told us all that we needed to know:  that no matter what, we would eventually succeed . . .  or, if necessary, find a better way!  But do any of us know where that phrase comes from?  Marash Girl did not, and so she went ahead and looked it up on the internet, and this is what she found:

William Edward Hickson is credited with popularizing the proverb:

'Tis a lesson you should heed:

Try, try, try again.

If at first you don't succeed,

Try, try, try again.^[2]

The proverb can be traced back to the writings of Thomas H. Palmer in his Teacher's Manual, and The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat.^[3]

Try Try Again

 

by T. H. Palmer

'Tis a lesson you should heed,
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again; 

Then your courage should appear,
For if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear
Try, try again;

Once or twice, though you should fail,
If you would at last prevail,
Try, try again; 

If we strive, 'tis no disgrace
Though we do not win the race;
What should you do in the case?
Try, try again

If you find your task is hard,
Time will bring you your reward,
Try, try again 

All that other folks can do,
Why, with patience, should not you?
Only keep this rule in view:
Try, try again.

The Miracle of Perennials

What with the beautiful weather that has finally arrived in New England, Marash Girl's thoughts have turned to the miracle of perennials -- those flowers that return every year, no muss, no fuss -- they just come back to cheer us up!  Every year!  No time to write any more!  Gotta go out and start pulling out the perennial weeds!

Lost the Lease on my Book Warehouse

Thousands of out of print books up for grabs!  Anyone interested, please leave contact info by clicking the blue comment link below.