Zara

“Life isn’t about where you begin. It’s about where and how you end.” That’s what my mom always tells me. And I always listen. I’ve been centering my life around those few words. Telling myself that it’s not important that other people are bragging about themselves now. It's about how other people brag about them later. That is, if they brag at all. But I’ve been thinking about those words recently. In a different way. Does it matter how you were raised? Where you came from? If your family was wealthy? Or poor? Does your background your beginning matter at all? What about your end. Does it matter if you’re rich when you leave? Or dirt poor? How about middle class? Does it matter what your job was? Or if you even had a job? Is it important that people remember you? Who you were? What you did in your lifetime? It seems trivial. Almost. Maybe. But it makes me feel small. Insignificant. Unimportant. Funny thing is I haven’t even started thinking about how small people are in comparisons to this universe. Or even compared to time.

Depends. What was the question? Hey. Thanks.

It's kind of funny seeing him open the elevator doors so many times. Kind of like people pushing the crosswalk buttons a billion times hoping that the signal will change faster. Only difference is that he has a better reason.

Elbow - Grounds for Divorce http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqD8iEirDFM&feature=user

I like the teletubby. I think sexual preference is a choice. I'm not buying everything that video is saying. No one is born a certain way. To have a certain life. Fate. Whatever you want to call it. To live in a certain place. Have a certain partner. Whatever. Life is what you make out of it and the only way you can do that is by making choices. Not having those choices already chosen for you. It's just that each choice has a consequence that you have to be willing to accept and deal with no matter how big or small they may be. Also the psychological triggers in humans and the unforgettable innate human nature to want to do things that are considered 'forbidden.' Something I don't understand is why homosexual people have been trying to "stand out" so much lately. And also why they are so heavily advertised by the film industry as "funny" and "laughable" in comedy films. Almost every comedy film I see has some sort of "gay joke" at least hidden in it. That is, if it's not shoved in your face by people who are trying to force you to think it's funny.

Offspring I tried to tell her: --------This way the twig is bent. --------Born of my trunk and strengthened by my roots, --------you must stretch newgrown branches --------closer to the sun --------than I can reach. I wanted to say: --------Extend my self to that far atmosphere --------only my dreams allow. But the twig broke, and yesterday I saw her walking down an unfamiliar street, --------feet confident --------face slanted upward toward a threatening sky, and --------she was smiling --------and she was --------her very free, --------her very individual, --------unpliable --------own. --Naomi Long Madgett

OneRepublic - Apologize OneRepublic - Stop and Stare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhpqXbndFvQ...feature=related

NOTE: I hope I didn't make any typo's. Is there a place I can put the last one? Vergissmeinnicht Three weeks gone and the combatants gone returning over the nightmare ground we found the place again, and found the soldier sprawling in the sun. The frowning barrel of his gun overshadowing. As we came on that day, he hit my tank with one like the entry of a demon. Look. Here in the gunpit spoil the dishonored picture of his girl who has put: Steffi. Vergissmeinnicht. in a copybook gothic script. We see him almost with content, abased, and seeming to have paid and mocked at by his own equipment that's hard and good when he's decayed. But she would weep to see today how on his skin the swart flies move; the dust upon the paper eye and the burst stomach like a cave. For here the lover and killer are mingled who had one body and one heart. And death who had the soldier singled has done the lover mortal hurt. --Keith Douglas NOTE: Vergissmeinnicht means forget me not in German. Steffi is a girls name. Ending The love we thought would never stop now cools like a congealing chop. The kisses that were hot as curry are bird-pecks taken in a hurry. The hands that held electric charges now lie inert as four moored barges. The feet that ran to meet a date are running slow and running late. The eyes that shone and seldom shut are victims of a power cut. The parts that then transmitted joy are now reserved and cold and coy. Romance, expected once to stay, has left a note saying GONE AWAY. --Gavin Ewart Պառավի Հորտը (1882) Ձյուն էր գալիս փաթիլ – փաթիլ, Հետն էլ անձրև կաթիլ – կաթիլ. Այս միջոցին մի պառավ կին Հորթ էր փնտրում դաշտի միջին: Կովը եկավ տավարիցը, Կուրծ ու ծըծեր կաթով լիքը. «Հորթուկս ո՝ւր է», - Նա բառաչեց, Խեղճ պառավին լացացըրեց: Մինչդեռ այսպես պառավ ու’ կով Ողբում էին լաց ու կոծով, Հանկարծ լսվեց մի բարակ ձայն, Կովն իմացավ, որ հորթն է այն: Կովը վազեց բառաչելով, Պառավն ետքից տընքտընքալով, Կորած հորթը մորը գտավ: Լիք ծըծերը բերանն առավ: Ծըծեց բոլոր կաթն ու տկզեց, Տանտիկնոջը բան չըթողեց. Բայց պառավը այս անգամին Սիրով ներեց չար հորթուկին: --Ղազարոս Աղայան

How could you hate your own child? Son? Daughter? Or even dislike him or her? The little being you created. Gave life to. How could you? How could you curse at your own flesh and blood? Yell, scream, or hurt him or her without good reason? How could you throw your child out of your home? Pretend like he or she means nothing to you? Treat them worse than you would treat a beggar on the street? Like garbage. How could you? What will happen to your child? Will he or she end up just like you? Or worse? I've been noticing that a lot of people that follow the "ultra super liberal" Western mentality almost always end up with screwy kids that end up with even screwier kids and so on. Today I saw a woman who hated her own son and treated him like trash. Not the first time I've witnessed this but he was only a little boy. Maybe less than 10 years old. It seemed like all he wanted from his mom was a little bit of attention even if it meant getting her angry. He probably doesn't receive a lot of attention from her.

I hope the respect levels range is from 0 to 100.

elle and ALMA. Hope both of you have a good one.

like planning on getting out of the house but ending up taking a picture, sitting down, and posting it here instead.

Now I'm happy. I can't believe I found it. Or even saw it. I think it came out of its cocoon pretty recently. Not 100% sure but I think so.

It seems like everyone says one thing and does the exact opposite. It's got to be one of the funniest thing ever.

I can understand how it brought more awareness but what they did was so wrong. Even if their opinions were different they didn't have to do that. It was beyond unnecessary and very upsetting.

I didn't see the discussion afterwards but I still wouldn't have wanted it to be aired. The documentary itself sends a very clear and deep message. I don't think anything else was necessary. Another concern that I have is uninformed people that might actually consider and buy into what the opposing side said because they were too lazy to do some research. However, I was really disappointed to see but also glad to be informed of certain things such as the fear and intimidation directed towards the people involved in producing the footage and filming of people and places in Turkey. Of course, most of the intimidation tactics and regulations came from the government itself but it was still nice to be informed. I was also upset when they showed the "monument" in Turkey that stated that yada-yada Turks were killed by Armenians and when they showed Turkish people hanging their clothes on church walls that they took apart with their own hands to use as support for the shoddy piles of dirt they call homes.

This pissed me off. A lot. Here is the link. Students disrupt genocide memorial A peaceful demonstration was disrupted Wednesday when two students stepped on flowers and knocked down signs at a memorial service honoring those who died in the Armenian genocide between 1915 and 1923. The memorial was organized by several Armenian student organizations, including the Armenian Graduate Student Association and the Armenian Student Association, and consisted of 1,500 carnations in honor of the estimated 1.5 million victims of the genocide. Members of the organizations began planting the flowers in McCarthy Quad at 4 a.m., and fact sheets were put up with information about the Armenian genocide along the perimeters of the walkways. "We were trying to have a very silent and powerful way to raise awareness of the Armenian genocide on campus," said Kanakara Navasartian, president of the Armenian Graduate Student Association. "Everyone has a right to honor their past, and this wasn't just about the Armenian genocide. This was about crime against humanity, period." Navasartian said two students approached the display and began knocking down the fact sheets. The Ottoman Empire has been accused of deliberately and systematically destroying the Armenian population during World War I, starting in Istanbul in 1915. Turkey does not recognize the term genocide as an appropriate description of the events. Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed the week of April 22 through April 29 as "Days of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide." Helen Kuiumdjian, president of the Armenian Student Association, said another member of the organization called her to tell her two students were disrupting the memorial. "She said the girl and her boyfriend were yelling and stomping on all the signs and flowers," Kuiumdjian said. "I was notified by [the Department of Public Safety] and they said they were looking for the girl and that they had found her." DPS officials declined to comment. Kuiumdjian said the students damaged the groups' display, but they were able to rebuild it. "They broke our signs and our plants were hanging," she said. "It was a wreck, but a bunch of members worked and fixed it back up in about 20 minutes." Kuiumdjian said students passing by the memorial also helped fix the display. Students said the disruptive behavior was inappropriate. "I don't have any definite examples of what else they could've done, but something more peaceful," said Daniel Bay, a sophomore majoring in business administration. "You can hate someone as much as you want, but they shouldn't have the right to do that," he said. "They have their own beliefs and they shouldn't have acted out so negatively." --Melody Chiu

Don't forget your car flag(s). I know I won't. I had it out today too.

That's why I put up the other two links. Most people won't take the time to look back to the article. Have you seen the documentary? I think this is the second time I've seen it aired on television.

There is another MSNBC pole. Here's the question: Should PBS have commissioned a panel discussion on its documentary about Turkish-Armenian history? Here's the pole, article, and film.

Here's the Never Again campaign. Not sure where else to put it. The only thing I think they could have done was make the words on the wrist-bands a different color. It's not visible from far away or even from a close distance and most people don't really read it because there are so many cheap companies that also have the same bands with cheesy messages all over them. But there's also the cost and the fact that the paint might peel off anyway. I'll contact them about it.

I just hope some other people that read this might decide to take their own initiative and do something extra too.

I want to start donating to the Armenia Fund on my own. Usually we pool money and send it all at once. but that way I only give a set amount each year. So I have an idea and I've decided to take some initiative. I got a jar and every single time I get paid I'm going to put some money in it. Like 10 or 20 dollars every two weeks. If I find change on the ground or I get change for a purchase that money goes into the jar. I'm also going to spend less and find some alternative ways to make a little bit of money and put all of that into the jar too. I've already got over $50 in the jar as a starter. Hopefully I'll pitch in a lot more money this year. Care to share?

Walk for genocide awareness Orange County, CA Interesting how this ended up on the front page of the religion section. The link is above. There is also information here.

Yes because smelling like fish is great for work. Maybe I'll get a raise.