notes and comments

[arabaliozian]

Ararat

ON THE ETERNAL SNOWS
OF MT. ARARAT
************************************
As a child I was taught to brag
about the eternal snows of Mt. Ararat.
I know now that I have as much right
to brag about Ararat
as a Red Indian has to brag
about the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
*
If anything I now see Ararat
as a memorial to defeat and surrender.
*
And speaking of Manhattan:
Did you know there is a 2000-year old city in Yemen,
called Shibam, that looks like Manhattan?
If you don’t believe me, Google “Shibam / images.”
#

[arabaliozian]

moral of the story

MORAL OF THE STORY
***************************************
If I no longer write in Armenian
it’s because there is no money in it,
and as everyone knows by now
money plays a central role in life.
*
Our 1% are fully aware of the fact that
if it were up to people like me,
they would be placed under arrest,
tried and condemned on grounds of
incompetence, corruption, and undemocratic activities.
*
When it comes to taking care of number one,
even idiots behave like geniuses
and our bosses bishops and benefactors
are no exception.
*
If there is a moral in the story of Easter it is this:
If you dare to go against the establishment
crucifixion is what awaits you.
#

[arabaliozian]

comments & observations

AS I SEE IT
*************************
To be an Armenian writer means
to be at the mercy of moneyed white trash.
*
The truly great man is great posthumously.
*
Writing is easy if living precedes it.
*
What made me decide to be
an Armenian writer is ignorance of reality.
*
Kemal was Hitler’s secret role model.
This has now been established
beyond a shadow of a doubt.
For more details, see
ATATURK IN THE NAZI IMAGINATION
By Stefan Ihrig.
*
The corrupt can always count
on the support of the corrupt.
In Raffi’s words:
“Profit is their only homeland.”
#

[arabaliozian]

man/beast

MAN & BEAST
******************************
The most important difference between man and beast
is that beasts do what must be done
without engaging in double-talk about God and the Devil.
*
CHURCHILL & HISTORY
***********************************
When asked what history’s verdict will be on him,
Churchill is said to have replied he didn’t care
because he was going to write the history.
As far as I know no Armenian political leader
has ever said that but all Armenian leaders
have conspired to rewrite our history.
So that our real history
(to quote another line by Churchill)
has become “a puzzle inside an enigma.”
*
A RECURRING NIGHTMARE
**********************************************
I am back at work in the insurance head office
where I wasted eight years of my life.
*
TRANSLATION
********************************
“Speak truth to power.”
Has anyone ever translated this expression into Armenian?
*
BOOKS
******************
After reading a great writer the question I ask myself is:
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
*
AMADEUS
*************************
Saw AMADEUS again and again I had trouble
with his loud and insolent laughter.
Mozart could be down to earth and unpredictable,
but vulgar and cheap? Inconceivable!
#

[arabaliozian]

truth

ON TRUTH
***************************
Truth shall set you free
and on the road to Golgotha.
*
MORAL II
*************************
To have God on your side
is no guarantee of victory.
*
ON HALF-TRUTHS
************************************
They can be as dangerous as Big Lies.
*
ON SHRINKS
***************************
Psychiatry is popular in America
because Americans are brought up to believe
with the Almighty Dollar all things are possible.
*
ON FAITH
*****************
Men of faith operate on the false assumption
that they have a monopoly on truth.
*
ON ILLNESS
************************
Illness can be a life-altering experience
especially if you die as a result.
*
ON AGREEMENT
*******************************
When informed by a gentle reader
that I armful of xxxx, I agree with him.
Nothing disarms an Armenian more
than agreement.
*
ON SAROYAN
**************************
Saroyan’s marriage (two marriages, as a matter of fact)
to Carole Matthau “ended when Saroyan flung her down
a flight of stairs and choked her in front of their children.”
For more details, see SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
by Michael Mewshaw (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
2015, pp.107-108).
#

[arabaliozian]

explanation

AN EXPLANATION
********************************
Greeks had a god for everything except moderation
and they believed in moderation in all things.
Even so, their history is a long list of wars
not only against barbarians (meaning non-Greeks)
but also against their fellow Greeks.
*
Good parents teach their children
how to engage in double-talk and
how to pretend to believe in the double-talk
of their superiors.
My parents taught me nothing –
they were too busy trying to survive
in an alien and hostile environment
in time of war.
That may explain why I write as I do.
*
Those who have been exposed
to only one side of the story as children
will find it very difficult to believe
there may be another side as adults.
#

[arabaliozian]

comments

CHEERFUL REFLECTIONS
******************************************
Alexander the Great, we are told, was a megalomaniac.
But unlike most other leaders who shall remain nameless,
he was also in possession of other qualities.
*
A funny thing happened to us on our way to the devil –
we were Ottomanized, Russified, Sovietized, and Levantinized.
Who is an Armenian?
Does he exist?
*
What is the difference between a dupe and an idiot?
Politically, none!
*
Our deceivers pretend to deceive us
and we pretend to be deceived.
#

[arabaliozian]

comments & observations

ON KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING
************************************************** *
To say of an Armenian that his knowledge
and understanding of our history and culture
is based exclusively on Armenian sources
is to say he knows and understands nothing!
*
It is misleading, not to say asinine, to suggest
that it is the patriotic duty of every Armenian
to recycle Armenian nationalist propaganda.
*
When an Armenian speaks, ask yourself:
Who is he and where does he come from.
Is he involved directly on indirectly in fund-raising?
Because if he is, it goes without saying
his main function is to flatter the vanity
of his fellow countrymen on the grounds that
you can’t have penetration without lubrication –
if you know what I am saying.
*
Can you name a single Armenian institution
that does not rely on the financial support
of the community – or on taxation
with representation?
#

[arabaliozian]

flattery

Sunday, April 12, 2015
***************************************
ON FLATTERY
************************
Women go for that xxxx
but men are worse
and women know this.
*
Men penetrate women
but in every other enterprise
it is women who do the penetrating.
*
Even brainless blondes know from experience
that all they have to do to attract men is nothing.
*
When I point out to her that
what she says is wrong,
she tells me I have an attitude problem.
*
Truth shall set you free
but in its absence lies will do just as well
if not better.
*
When I tried to achieve popularity as a liar,
I failed. Now i speak the truth
and hope has become my opium.
#

[arabaliozian]

middle-men

MIDDLE-MEN
*******************************
There are two kinds of people,
deceivers and dupes.
And then there are the middle-men –
bishops, imams, and rabbis.
*
We like to say
“We are a people like any other people.”
The question is, do other people say
“We are like Armenians?”
*
Breaking bones is against the law;
breaking hearts is not.
*
Cherish your defeats.
You will owe your future victories to them.
#