Photo for April 28, 2006.

ugly shoes in Nordstrom, originally uploaded by nazarian.

These are a couple of ugly womens shoes I saw on the saesmans' desk in a Nordstrom store. I don't know how much they cost but I'm sure some women buy them.

Photo for April 26, 2006.

movie_hallway, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Hallway.

Photo for April 25, 2006.

child_on_leash in Paphos, originally uploaded by nazarian.

I captured this funny moment during my last trip to Paphos, Cyprus. Here we have a guy who has a boy on leash. To me this is good parenting - he's making sure that the kid is safe. But my standards for good parenting are quite low - Homer Simpson is a good father in my opinion.

In the background we have a dehydrated British family chilling in a seafront cafe. Behind them is the Paphos Castle where according to folklore Othello lived.

Photo for April 24, 2006.

Tsitsernakaberd_Apr24_2006, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Today all the Armenians around the world commemorate the victims of the genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government in 1915. 91 years ago the Turkish government started the systematic extermination of the Armenians in Turkey. Till this day they have not apologized for what they did to us.

This is a photograph of Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia. The photo was taken by Onnik Krikorian. The original is found at oneworld.blogsome.com/2006/04/24/24-april-2006/. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Picture for April 20, 2006.

TACentral_rant, originally uploaded by nazarian.

It's a screenshot of the TourArmenia website at www.TACentral.com

The owner, Rick Ney, had a series of stories titled 'Notes from Armenia'. It was the first Armenia related website I accessed. It was about his experiences in Armenia during the early 90-s.

Since then the website has expanded to include a wealth of information about travelling to Armenia.

I came across a page on TACentral.com that I thought was funny. Rick has written a small rant about the WiFi in Armenia and he was pissed off at a comment I had posted on Blogrel.com about it (I was against free WiFi) in 2005.

Photo for April 19, 2006.

pickles_in_progress, originally uploaded by nazarian.

This is a snapshot of veggies being pickled. I don't know if this is a favorite passtime for women in Armenia but I know that it is widespread. They will can a wide variety of products - apricots, raspberries, cucumbers, etc.

It's a tedious process but the results are well worth it come winter.

The canning differs from what is done in the US. The Armenian version is more labor intensive. Once the jar and the lid are heated, the lid is secured by tightening the edges with a special tool.

The tool is spun around the lid. There is a ball bearing that rolls around the edge, and there is a bolt that is tightened to make the bearing tighter. As a result, the edges of the lid are pushed inwards. There is a rubber gasket that ensures a tight seal.

Photo for April 18, 2006.

muttnik_yuri, originally uploaded by nazarian.

This is my cat Yuri.

{from muttnik series}

Photo for April 17, 2006.

cat_in_market, originally uploaded by nazarian.

A cat drinking from a puddle in the Vanadzor bazaar.

{from the muttnik series}

Photo for April 14, 2006.

indy_senate, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Indiana senate building at night.

Photo for April 12, 2006.

Pelicans, originally uploaded by nazarian.

These were a pair of pink pelicans in Paphos, Cyprus. Apparently, they are a regular feature on the beach there.

Everybody was nice to them except for the little kid with the denim shorts and white T-shirt in the center of this photo. If you look closely, he has a small stick in his hand and he would occasionally poke the pelican next to him. The bird was patient but sometimes would turn and try to pinch him with its beak. The kid would stop bugging it but within a few moments would resume.

Photo for April 11, 2006.

muttnik, originally uploaded by nazarian.

My mom's dog.

{from muttnik series}

Photo for April 10, 2006.

muttnik, originally uploaded by nazarian.

It's a street cat chilling in a parking lot in Paphos, Cyprus.

{from the muttnik series}

Photo for April 5, 2006.

Forest, originally uploaded by loretsi.

Photo for April 4, 2006.

vanadzor market, originally uploaded by loretsi.

This picture was taken near the main shuka (market or bazaar). The person in the foreground is an icecream vendor. The things hanging from his umrella are handmade electric water heaters. These basically are carved pieced of wood into which a spiral heater element is wound. You plung it in a bucket of water and plug it in. It is by no means grounded but for some reason nobody gets electrocuted. I don't know the physics of it so I can't explain why not.

He also sells books and sunflower seeds.

The yellow thing on the right corner is a propane powered bus. These ancient vehicles still run and will climb mountain roads loaded to maybe twice the capacity they were designed for. They usually do this in first or second gear tops.

In the backround is the main baghnick (bath house) and the Ghrer hills.