#as is every time i remember hes armenian

[katherinakaina]

Being bullied for knowing another language is a real thing. Think of all the animosity people feel towards the Bachelor for saying, what, 3-4 phrases in Latin.

Storytime.

Every Russian feminist remembers how Nixelpixel was bullied and I presume is still being bullied. It really was Russian gamer gate and Nixelpixel is Russian Anita Sarkeesian. Both were tormented for being feminists, that's the base of it. But Anita was also a target of antisemitism and anti Armenian rhetoric. Nixelpixel is a skinny white Russian, very little to add on top. So she was bullied for speaking English.

She is bilingual and as many of us bilinguals do, she mixed languages in her speech in the way that I do and feels natural to me and all my friends.

The Russian Internet was not having it, not even a little bit. Unanimous consensus was that she is doing it only to appear smarter.

For English speaking people in the first world it maybe hard to comprehend. English is just the default language. But remember how conservatives react when some nonbinary teenager makes a video about cultural appropriation or any other academic topic and suddenly they all feel like they don't know certain words?! And they have to google words to understand someone's complex speech?! This is unheard of! And what right does this "beneath me in social hierarchy" have to know something that I don't?!! Outrageous!

The core of this emotion is envy. Knowing English good enough so you become legitimately bilingual is a privilege in Russia. Knowing a lot of stuff about society and understanding complex topics is a privilege. You have time and money for education. Or you got lucky and had educated parents. Envy becomes even more venomous when the person you envy is supposed to be beneath you.

Like, I don't really get it. But that's how I make sense of other people hating me all my life for being... eloquent. As if they anticipate me being hostile because they are less eloquent than me and attack me preventively.

This is made worse by me being autistic and forgetting all the time that you must make all humble song and dance around your every achievement so not to trigger neurotypical rage. I genuinely forget which words are too smart and which are fine. The idea that I'm trying to sound smarter on purpose is so laughable to me.

Returning to the Bachelor. He's a doctor, he studied at university. Do you hate him when he uses medical jargon? What's the deal with Latin then? They study Latin in med school. It is a mandatory course. For me this trait of his always meant to signify that he took his education very seriously and knows everything that he studied very well.

When people just assume that someone, a character or a person, does anything just to look smart I'm a little triggered. I know I'm not safe in that company.

And I know that all of it is incredibly whiny. Knowledge is a privilege, as I said. Dankovsky is a privileged man. I'm not blaming those who feel uncomfortable around learned people. I'm not blaming those who are not into such characters.

But Dankovsky is not gatekeeping knowledge though! He looks like a man who would nerd out about Latin to you, if you only asked. He gives his degree away for free! It's not the same as rich people hoarding wealth. He's eager to share his knowledge! But now he is a coloniser imposing his western ideas onto indigenous society.

Oh well, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Maybe it's not envy then? Maybe they want a smart sounding person but the one who would agree with them all the time? Like, Peterson uses a lot of long words and they love him. Hm...

[hussyknee]

Not so friendly reminder that Tankies are people who deny not only the genocides of Russia but also Vietnam and China (including the Uyghurs), and are apologists for the North Korean regime. They push Russian propaganda of "colour revolutions" every time a Global South country rises up against a totalitarian government because they believe totalitarianism is merely anti-communist agenda; deriding, dismissing and dehumanizing the liberation movements of our countries that come at great human cost. They're not anti-imperialists or anti-colonial; their chief issue with the imperial core is that it's not their ideology seated at the heart of it. They only care about Global South lives when it serves their ideology, and have no genuine concern or curiosity about the ground realities or agency of the communities impacted by imperialism and colonialism.

I also want you to understand that every major power player involved in this conflict is a genocidal fascist. Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis that are fighting Israel are funded by the theocratic Iranian regime headed by Ebrahim Raisi (begging you to remember the hundreds of Iranian girls and women killed for protesting it). Iran is also an ally of the notorious Bashar Al-Assad's regime in Syria, responsible for the genocide and displacement of millions of his own people while actively funding the Islamic State he wages war against. Both Assad and Raisi are allies of Putin, who is currently trying to colonize and genocide Ukraine and is terrorising Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia etc. However, Iran and Putin (half-heartedly) are also allies of the Armenians who are being genocided by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is supported by the US, but also Erdogan in Turkey, infamous dictator that hates the European Union and is a close pal of Putin. Meanwhile the US's best friends in the Middle East is Israel, which hates Arabs, and Saudi Arabia, who doesn't recognise Israel as a country but is hated by most of the MENA and is currently in a Cold War with Iran.

*yanks y'all by the shirt and shouts in your face* THERE ARE NO GOOD GUYS HERE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?? ONLY INNOCENT CIVILIANS CAUGHT IN A SPIDER WEB OF GREEDY, DESPOTIC, GENOCIDAL, FASCIST CUNTS. THERE IS NO POINT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH ONE IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO GLOBAL DEMOCRACY BECAUSE ALL THE FALL OF ONE DOES IS CREATE A POWER VACCUUM THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY BE FILLED BY THE NEXT BULLY.

These governments can only be toppled from within by their own people once external threats like war with their neighbours are eased, because militaries with nothing to fight are economic black holes that try to eat itself, and it's this economic stress that act as catalysts for coalition building and civilian revolt. Military losses weaken imperialists' coercive power and legitimacy over their own people, so the best thing you can do to help them agitate for change is preventing imperialist expansions from claiming any more victims.

[laserlesbians]

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again… I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die...”

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

John 11: 23-26, 43-44

Today on Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, His returning to the world that made death die. In Armenian we say Քրիստոս հարեավ ի մերելոց - Christ has arisen. But on this particularly special Easter, we celebrate also the presence of trans people in our lives and in this world.

The two quotes above are from Christ’s resurrection of Lazarus - He identifies himself to Lazarus’s sister Martha as the resurrection and the life, the source of her brother’s salvation, and tells her that anyone who believes in Him will never die. When He raises Lazarus from the tomb, He calls him to come out of his place of deathly imprisonment, and calls on his peers to take the bindings of the shroud off of him so that he may be free.

For the trans people in the audience, this may be a familiar narrative. I am far from the first person to identify the Lazarus narrative with a coming out story, and I pray I won’t be the last.

But I want to call some attention to a parallel with the scene of the resurrection being discovered later in John’s gospel:

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

John 21: 6-7

When Jesus Himself is resurrected, the first sign of this that the apostles have is the presence of His graveclothes in the grave without a body in them. As He commanded for Lazarus, He did for Himself. If we imagine Lazarus’s narrative as a transgender one, I think that this is the day for us to imagine Christ’s resurrection as a transgender narrative as well. He is the resurrection and the life, we are made in His image, and His resurrection is echoed every time a trans person chooses to live their own life in their own either authentic vision.

And, if you’re cis and wondering how to be more Christlike on this Trans Easter - Remember what He said to Lazarus’ compatriots: “Loose him, and let him go.” Encourage your compatriots to loose the bonds holding people back from living their truest life. Do the work yourself, as well, and bring the Kingdom on Earth that much closer.

[beauty-and-passion]

Eurovision 2024: 38 songs, first impressions

Wake up, bitches, it's that time of the year again.

No, not Christmas. It's Eurovision time, aka the time when we can verbally destroy each other and call our neighbors "filthy traitors", but in the end we would still be united against the real enemy: the jury.

As we all know, last year Sweden won but Finland caught the Snitch or, to put it simply, Finland won our hearts, but since the newly crowned King of Europe Käärijä was too busy being majestic and Finland was too busy being precious, Sweden graciously offered to host the competition for its neighbor.

Yes, this is what happened. No, you don't remember something different.

And yes, I ultimately decided to follow this year's competition. As someone said in some old post, Eurovision is a bit like that toxic relationship you can't escape from. And maybe you don't really want to escape from it.

So, since we're trapped in this hellhole, at least let's enjoy our time together with a heavy dose of sarcasm and a sprinkle of wholesomeness. Eurovision might have flaws, but nothing is perfect in this world after all.

As per every year, I always do my first listening while doing my chores, so the songs are in the background and I have no idea who sings what or from what country they're from. I just let them flow and see if something gets my attention.

And this year a lot of them did! I couldn't identify a clear winner, but I found a ton of small, beautiful gems everywhere. Oh, this year seems very, very promising.

As always, this is my first listening: many more will follow and my opinions may drastically change. So please, don't take my comments too seriously: this is all for fun.

__________

ALBANIA

Pretty nice song and pretty nice rhythm, I really like it.

But also... I've been to Tirana in January and I've listened to the songs they have there. And even if this one is very good, I would've loved more true Albanian rhythm.

Still, this will probably end in my personal playlist, so that's a plus for me.

Vote: A Titan in disguise? *Greek mythology intensifies* *Cronus intensifies*

__________

ARMENIA

We all stan a song in Armenian and if you don't, you will start doing now because yes, we have Armenian and yes, it sounds great.

So let's all thank Armenia for bringing its beautiful language - along with some nice Balkan rhythm that kept slapping me in the face.

But you know me, I'm a simple Mediterranean: I hear Balkan rhythm, I love it.

Vote: I will always be a slut for Balkan rhythms

__________

AUSTRIA

If Armenia slapped me with Balkan rhythm, Austria bitchslapped me with the whole 1990 decade.

But you know me, I am a simple Millennial: I listen to something that seems to come straight from the 90s, I dance.

Vote: We! Will! Rave!

__________

AUSTRALIA

This was... good. Just good. And the singer is good too. Maybe even too good.

Sigh, Australia forgot again that this is Eurovision. Please, someone, remind them this is the show of fire, sparkles and insanity.

Vote: "What ya gonna do in the real world?" Easy, WE! WILL! RAVE!

__________

AZERBAIJAN

Luckily Azerbaijan remembered that hey, they're the country that delivers good stuff! They should bring a good song!

And so they did and delivered us a good song, with good verses and a wonderful chorus in Azerbaijani.

The only problem is that the chorus is much better than the verses and if the song was entirely in Azerbaijani, it would've been a banger. Unfortunately, it's just good.

Vote: great job, Azerbaijan. Next time, ditch English entirely

__________

BELGIUM

"Are you still playing the game?" If you mean The Game, I think we all lost it.

Vote: +1 for the power move of making everyone lose The Game

__________

CROATIA

As soon as I started listening to it, I was assaulted by a sick rhythm. Then by a guy who tells me he's a big boy. Then by his anxiety. Then by more sick rhythm.

Then by what is probably the greatest line ever said in the history of music:

One last thing: the singer's name is Baby Lasagna. Baby Lasagna. He's speaking to my Italian heart and, even more importantly, to my Italian stomach.

And you know me, I'm a simple Italian: food is mentioned, I vibe.

Vote: my cats will vote for him

__________

CYPRUS

Oh no, please help this young lady! She forgot she's from Cyprus and she should send sick bops in Greek!

Vote: it's not a bad song at all. It's just not Cyprus-worthy

__________

CZECHIA

Oh, sorry, I didn't know this was a therapy session. I'll wait in the hall.

Vote: it's not bad, it's just... nope

__________

DENMARK

After a lot of disappointing years, finally Denmark brought a great song! The singer is good, the rhythm is good and it deserves a place in the final.

Vote: it's not in Danish, but we can't have everything

__________

ESTONIA

This song is an instant favorite. Native language, sick rhythm, adorable weirdos, all in one package.

And let me repeat that: Estonian! Beautiful Estonian language! It was such a wonderful surprise to listen to it! I literally stopped what I was doing and perked my ears because mmmh, it sounds like Finnish, but it's not exactly Finnish... what's that? And it was Estonian.

I am in love <3

Vote: pure Moldovian spirit in Estonia? I approve.

__________

FINLAND

So, let's recap:

we have a singer named Windows95man.

He wears a blurred Windows logo and no pants.

He comes out from an egg made of jeans.

The other singer isn't always in tune and he's dressed in pieces of jeans that make him look like a paperman.

He has the balls to ask if there's anything wrong with how he dresses.

The song screams of the 90s.

And then, during the performance, a pair of shorts literally fell from the sky.

With fire.

If that's not pure Eurovision, I don't know what it is.

(And before you ask: of course they cannot use Finnish, only Käärijä can and only the next Käärijä will be allowed to use it.)

Vote: Even if Finland sent the worst, most boring singer ever, for this year I would've given it a free pass. But Finns are such bosses, they decided to send this. Respect only

__________

FRANCE

And here on the right, you can see the French Frenching harder than ever.

Vote: a song named "Mon Amour". Seriously. Seriously. What will be the next one about? La Tour Eiffel? Oh wait, you already did that

__________

GERMANY

I'm mad because I already know this song will get zero points just because "iT's GeRmAnY", even if it's actually good.

Vote: thank you Germany for still sending good songs. You deserve more

__________

GEORGIA

You're "rising from the ashes like a phoenix"? Well, now I remember Conchita Wurst with Rise like a phoenix, which is way way WAY better than this song.

And since Conchita is Austrian, I also remembered the memo we got this year, which is one and one only: WE! WILL! RAVE!

Vote: more rave, less this

__________

GREECE

What? What? What do my ears hear? Greek rhythm? Greek language? And it comes together with a more modern vibe?

See, Greece? SEE? This is how you do things well. This is how you choose a good singer to represent your country. Thank you, Greece, for finally picking someone competent and not the umpteenth child.

Vote: finally, a song Greece-worthy

__________

ICELAND

I don't know why, but this song reminds me of another, more famous song. Can't exactly pinpoint which one, but it's way too familiar and I don't like it.

Vote: as soon as it was over, I forgot it

__________

IRELAND

And here on the left, you can see Ireland coming back to their roots, aka the most insane, batshit crazy stuff they have, stuff that will make you question what the heck happens on that island and if everyone's okay.

Vote: not a favorite, but it's definitely something I've never heard before. So that's a plus

__________

ISRAEL

I still have no idea why Israel is here, but I suppose that some have a free pass for killing innocents.

The singer isn't bad either, but the rhythm keeps reminding me of another, more famous song. Just like Iceland, I don't remember exactly which one, except that the famous one was better.

Vote: you shouldn't even be here

__________

ITALY

I already made a post commenting the Italian songs from this year and told a couple things about Angelina Mango and this song's meaning.

Here I can only reconfirm that this song is still a huge bop, the southern rhythm is still my Roman Empire and we may still have some chances of winning this year's Eurovision.

Vote: her southern accent my beloved

__________

LATVIA

The rhythm isn't so bad, but it's just so. Very. Forgettable.

But hey, I suppose it's good for re-listening, because I listened to it twice and both times it was like listening to it for the first time.

I didn't like it both times, but that's a detail.

Vote: just as forgettable as the Icelandic one

__________

LITHUANIA

You know, I respect Lithuania. Their songs are not my favorite, but they keep using their own beautiful language. Hence why, they deserve a place in the final.

Vote: keep showing us the beautiful Lithuanian language, I believe that one day I will find I song I like

__________

LUXEMBOURG

Do you know what I feared the most this year? That Luxembourg came back after 30 years and the song was shit. That they showed us something stale and boring.

But Luxembourg stepped in like the queen of the party and said: "Please, hold both my French and my English, because I can and I will drop something sick". And so they did.

Amazing rhythm, amazing singer, amazing return.

Vote: Luxembourg is back and wants to win

__________

MALTA

Malta is my personal Sweden. Even when they send a song I don't really like (like this one), it's just weak. I don't remember a song coming from them that I considered truly "bad".

I don't know what kind of sorcery Malta does, but it works on me every year.

Vote: Malta has too much power on me

__________

MOLDOVA

Don't worry, Moldova: you can't always be the best every year. You deserve to relax once in a while and this year you've been covered by a lot of other countries.

Vote: it's not the huge bop you would expect from Moldova, but that's okay. I'll let it pass, because Moldova always does great things for Eurovision

__________

THE NETHERLANDS

This song has a lot of amazing things.

First, the language: thank God, the Netherlands are still sending songs in their native language as it should be. It's beautiful to listen to it and I love to hear words that kinda remind me of both German and English.

Second: despite what it seems, this song isn't a satire/parody of Europe. On the contrary, it's a celebration of how open Europe is and how easy it is to travel without borders.

And it may seem normal for us because we're used to it now, but I visited Albania this January and there were a shit ton of controls and checks to do. While last time I went to Greece, all I had to do was walk down a corridor, show my ID card and everything was fine. The open borders truly are a victory for everyone who likes to travel - and a sign of how much better Europe is. So a song celebrating them is very much appreciated.

Third: the song isn't just about open borders! It's about a man remembering his parents, about how much he still misses them. And it's about his victory. In the end, he's literally telling them: look, dad and mom, I finally made it to Eurovision.

And these soft, wholesome things always get me in my cold heart <3

Vote: top of the final chart, no questions

__________

NORWAY

Let's all thank Norway for bringing the folk theme, along with their beautiful language.

I don't know what happened this year, but we are blessed by so many beautiful languages it truly seems like Eurovision and not Englishvision.

Vote: a bit too many screams, but I appreciate the enthusiasm of speaking in your native language

__________

POLAND

Poland learned from last year and instead of bringing another ball of nothing, they brought a song more fitting for their vibes.

It's in English tho, and that's very sad because Polish is a nice language. But at least the singer is good and in tune.

Vote: She built the tower. If it's the one from Stephen King's series, then we should have a chat

__________

PORTUGAL

Portugal did a miracle last year, by bringing a song I actually liked. So in order to be coherent, this year they brought another boring, forgettable song.

Vote: nothing good lasts forever

__________

SAN MARINO

Don't worry, people, San Marino will bring all the party vibes we need. It will take them some time to come, because they took a detour to Spain, but the vibes are still great.

Vote: maybe this year they won't be the usual traitors and give us 12 points

__________

SERBIA

Serbian lyrics? Yes, please!

And even if this song has some ballad vibes, it's not the umpteenth boring ballad. It's a very nice, soft song and the singer's voice is good too.

Vote: great job, Serbia

__________

SLOVENIA

A song in Slovenian? We stan! We all stan!

I'm not sure I like the "rrruaph!" sound, but the use of a native language and the dark vibes are very appreciated.

Vote: all these countries are spoiling us with their beautiful languages and I'm here for it

__________

SPAIN

Spain rarely disappoints and once again they proved it: instead of bringing the umpteenth young gal, this year they chose a more mature singer and not only she has a wonderful angelic voice, but she sings in sexy Spanish and her song is perfect dance material.

Vote: We're all zorras

__________

SWEDEN

Since Sweden refuses to bring something else besides the same generic pop music in English, I want to start a new trend: the Swedish Suggestion Box. Here we can all suggest much more interesting Swedish songs (or artists!). There's only one rule: they shouldn't be boring, nor generic stuff you can hear on the radio 24/7.

This year, I would like to suggest Nanne Grönvall: she's a pop singer, but she mostly sings in Swedish. I particularly recommend the songs Håll om mig, Den Vilda, and Vi är dom tuffaste.

If you have other Swedish artists or songs worthy of attention, please recommend them in the comments/reblogs! Even if the songs are in English, they're still fine! As I said, the only rule is that it shouldn't be generic and boring.

And I know Sweeden can do better than generic and boring.

Vote: Suggestions are open!

__________

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland is my second Sweden: even if other people might hate the songs it brings, I've rarely hated something coming from it. And if I did, it was with fiery passion. Yes, I'm looking at you, devastatingly boring 2022's entry.

So I'm very happy that this year we can all agree this is a great song, because wow. WOW. Mixing electropop with opera singing made something truly amazing to listen to and I can't wait to see if the singer manages to do it live. If he can, it will be magnificent.

Vote: fine, Switzerland, I'll forgive you for the 2022's entry. But only if you keep sending amazing stuff like this

__________

UKRAINE

Ukraine = quality and no one can deny it. I'm not a huge fan of this mix rap/Ukrainian rhythm they have been brought in these last years, but as long as I can listen to some nice Ukrainian language and some new vibes, I am all for it.

Vote: thank you, Ukraine, for always bringing amazing stuff

__________

UNITED KINGDOM

And here it is: the only country (with Ireland) that is legally allowed to use English in a song. Even if I dream that, one day, the UK will send a song in French and blow up the entirety of Europe.

The song per se isn't bad: very 90s' vibes, very dancey. But if I have to choose something with 90s vibes, I prefer the rave.

Vote: not bad UK, but could be better

[hauntedhookah]

travel notes

Athens: Athens was not incredibly memorable. I thought of it as a city to live in. 

Naxos: in naxos my hair was curly again, i wore a 2 piece los angeles apparel set and walked around an infuencer's backdrop for 5-10 minutes at a time. i met mormon and canadian assorted girls on the beach, i followed one of them to the top of the hill at the windiest sunset since Albany Bulb winters. in another part of naxos i visited a bustling beachside bar alone one night after a martini at a neighboring beachside restaurant. the bartender was curious about how alone i was, he liked me. i, drunk, was likeable in my giant skirt and silk blouse. i left silently

Santorini: Santorini was an existential crisis. The room I stayed in during the last two days was Peace embodied. Not much else mattered, and the window view of the caldera from the mezannine cannot be captured in any photograph

Crete: in crete i waded through the thigh-deep water, my silver canon tied firmly around my wrist. i marveled at the quite silence of the hotel, at night i went out to sit in the sand. i swam in crete, i sat and read deborah adele's book in crete. i felt lonely and utterly bored in crete. i loved that everyone was allowed to look the way they wanted as they walked aimlessly from one end of the beach to the other-- no one was hiding anything from sight. no body was unwelcome, all bodies were represented. most were burned, even mine got close. in crete we remembered my grandfather and dreamed up the paths he took through the island. in crete we traveled to the pink sand beach, where i hope to have learned a valuable lesson about Wanting What You Don't Have, and Replacing A Feeling of Lack with An Object.

Austria: in Austria we stayed at a hotel with a winding staircase and ate a continental breakfast in that odd room, hushed voices and european stares. Though I care not for the history, for the first time since the start of the trip, I felt good. I felt open to new experience and full of wonder. i kept repeating to myself over the smallest novelties, "fascinating", and stepped out of the smoke-filled echo chamber of the hotel alleyway every day with a sense of calm preparedness. We walked to a big gothic church and that was beautiful, I'll admit. The gargoyles looked friendly against blue sky and in sunlight. 

Armenia: in armenia one of the first nights i spoke to a million people at the new trendy russian bar, of course after harassing the russian bartenders for not speaking armenian. first dea and aleen, then kristik's group of russian repats, then the diaspora mix at the round table and later still walking towards polygraph with Mushegh and his talkative friend who's name i forgot.  it was a marvelous night of speaking in all languages, i enjoyed it very much after weeks of no social interaction. another one of those nights we visited an exhibit in an underground stone cave, spoke to a kind man nextdoor about the power of diaspora contribution to armenia and he gifted us handmade soap. we met kristik's friends on Cascade around midnight and i learned so many different armenian folk dances. we danced around the fountain until we were sweating and tired at 3am, it was marvelous. many full, endless nights full of conversation. so much more social than anything in the US

Georgia: in georgia i disliked the folks. on the second day I walked up the hill, stopping for 2 individual khinkali, and heading up through the forest to the waterfall. I climbed down again, now through sulfur smelling rivers to the baths. I decided to head home as my phone died and stopped by the first place i see to charge it in order to get home-- a little wine bar. I end up staying there from 8pm-3am with ilia, one of the bar's founders. we talked about everything, he had armenian words and when i tried to pronounce georgian ones he was impressed. i haven't had that much wine possibly ever. what a lovely way to get drunk. and what a lovely way to realize after days of lonliness that connection is always out there, especially when you seek it the least. 

[khodorkovskaya]

17.04.23

i keep manifesting B, i can't deal with this anymore! and it feels like my fault, but in reality it's just that our city is small and we hang out in the same areas so ofc there's a big chance of us bumping into each other every now and then. but still...

my zurich friend came into town this weekend and we went to church together for easter and it was fun. there's something so intimate about going to church with someone, don't you think? like sometimes i go to church and there's a person praying or lighting a candle and it feels like you're looking at something you're not supposed to look at. like prayer is such an intimate thing. and during the easter service there were so many people and we were all standing there, some people humming to the hymns of the choir or whispering to themselves or exclaiming "he has risen" and it was such a funny sensation. (the lady standing next to me was singing soooo out of tune lol! i was like girlie we're all passionate about jesus here but let me listen to the choir plsss!)

we left at 2am because i was sleepy and i felt bad bc i told my friend that i thought a lot during the ceremony and he asked me if it was positive or negative thoughts and i said positive bc like duhh he has risen! and he said that he thought a lot too but for him it was negative thoughts. and i feel like maybe he wanted to talk but i was too tired and stupid to ask him to elaborate, so he didn't. and we walked in silence for a bit. idk maybe he wanted to talk...? so i suggested we go for coffee the following day but he couldn't make it. i feel like a bad friend and i really hope he's okay.

we also talked a lot on telegram and he told me he enjoys writing. and i was like oh me too!!! like idk it's such a surprise to me whenever i meet people who like writing. but at the same time, although i identify as like a person who enjoys writing, i never write. the only thing i write is well... this blog. and it's not really writing writing, is it? i can't remember the last time id written like a proper story. my friend said he wants to write about his trip to poland and id be very interested to read that. his polish trip does sound very intriguing.

then i thought about what if i were to write something about my recent trips. and my trip around the balkans in 2019 came to mind. it's one of my favourite memories i have to say. but it wouldn't make a great story. because it wasn't like thought provoking or anything, nothing really happened, i just had fun and that's it. i guess i could write a descriptive text about like the mountains and the views or whatever, but that wouldn't be an interesting read. and tbh the moment i remember the most vividly from that trip is uhhh having the best sex of my life with B. and that could be a fun descriptive text, like i could compare it to the texture of velvet and the colour purple and the taste of that armenian walnut jam with purple walnuts that look like geodes, you know the one im talking about. i could come up with all kinds of metaphors.

so i was walking thru the train station on my way to the tram, thinking about the things that feel like being in love with B in sarajevo did. i started to miss it a bit. and then i got on the tram, turned around and... there he was.

i saw him walking out of the train station and at first i thought it was some random guy who looked like an uglier version of B. in my head i was like "ooo he kinds looks lik- ohHHH". he got a haircut, so his hair didn't look as bad as the last time i saw him. but something about his facial expression and his stride... idk he looked so mean. he had this arrogant air about him, as if someone had just told him off and he was making that face of "ugh fuck off, im so much better than you". like the way he caried himself gave off such "im better than you" vibes and his facial expression was very mean. idk, like i said, he looked like an ugly version of himself. i didn't pay attention to what he was wearing but he had his backpack with him. and it was the backpack that made me realise it was him.

i waved at him from the tram and he looked me in the eye and idk if he didn't see me or just ignored me.

and i was a bit disappointed. bc like i was really getting into the having sex with him in sarajevo memory and i thought maybe i could think about it again before bed today. but now his ugly face is ingrained into my brain and i can't think about sarajevo anymore. i need to hang out with more hot people so that i could at least sexually fantasise about someone. like im in my twenties, come on, why are my options so limited???

[yieldfruit]

Why is election a controversial doctrine among Christians? What is it?

Election...God has an elect. This is biblical and the word "elect" can be found many times throughout Scripture when referring to those who are his. For example:

As the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12

I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:10

Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? Luke 18:7

What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened Romans 11:7

Think about this, when we pray for others' salvation we pray for the Holy Spirit to do that work in their heart and life. We understand it is the Holy Spirit who opens up/softens hearts. I do believe everyone chooses whom they will serve (God or Satan) and if anyone is in Hell it is due to their own choosing, "The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. I believe God can and does harden hearts that do not/will not choose him. "And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” Exodus 14:4. God will use even hardening for his glory.

God knows those who are his/those who love the truth that saves them/those that will forsake their sin and repent, and those are the elect. Remember God is outside of time, so he knows the beginning from the end and those who will call upon him to be saved and those who love the lie rather than the truth. God is not, metaphorically speaking, biting his nails in heaven worried about who will choose him. His Word says he desires none would perish and all would come to repentance, we know that is his heart (2 Peter 3:9).

We are not robots, God's Word is filled with admonition to turn from sin and abide in him! "Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?" Jeremiah 4:14. "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" Luke 9:23, etc. There is SO much in his Word about responding to him. "But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15.

This is a hard question to answer for many and many people are divided about it. I am not a Calvinist nor an Armenian, I follow Christ and the Bible alone - no man, no man's doctrine or creeds. I follow Christ and his Word. A Christian. I prayed for God to give me mercy and grace in answering this and to answer with, "What does your Word say, Lord?" That's my heart's desire - Lord, what does your Word say about your heart in this? I want to get it right, nevertheless I understand my mere humanity/human understanding in this area that can be hard to wrap our minds around (just like the thought of Eternity can be hard to wrap our head around). Where I am wrong, may he correct. I knows he loves me and will correct where I am wrong, and I am saved and kept by grace. I answer this question with reverence, but wanting to get what is in the Word right. I side with Charles Spurgeon and John MacArthur on this issue, both men who are Reformers as I am and understand that this can be a bit of an issue on Earth where there are two tracks that seem to be running parallel to each other, yet they will convene in Eternity. "Someday we will know just as we are known." 1 Corinthians 13:12. I trust the Lord, he knows those who are his, those who are not, I trust how he opens hearts, how he hardens hearts, that he desires all to come to repentance and he takes no delight in the death of the wicked, and how he works ALL of this together for his glory.

[anyways-wonderwall]

Album of the Week #56

eat ya veggies

(2021)

by bbno$

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 TL;DR: Fun songs that never fail to put me in a good mood. I love you Alex :).

(the cover is simple, yet says so much. 7/10)

School over! Next week my thoughts on Eurovision 2023!

Overall Thoughts I would like to come forward and admit something. I love bbno$ (and to a lesser extent yung gravy). So much so that I saw them live in concert, which was such a weird and fun time and worth every penny. This is my true guilty pleasure music, one that my friends nag me for but I cannot stop listening to. I don’t know why part of me didn’t think that I’d like this album (it’s not embarrassing if I only like the hits right?), but that part of me was dead wrong. I think that what I love about bbno$ so much is that he really just seems like a guy that gets to make whatever music he wants and is having so much fun doing it. While its clear that a lot of these songs are jokes, and just messing around with friends, the ones where he is genuine are just as good, something that is so hard to do. Most of the album falls into the first category, a self-aware joking around vibe that is infectious. Even though some of the songs aren’t amazing musically (“brainless,” “u mad!”) how funny they are kind of makes up for it. Like since Alex Gumuchian (yes he is an Armenian king) is having fun I am too. A lot of these songs are really incredible though! I don’t know if he is the one completely making the backing tracks but pretty much all of them are flawless. I found myself nodding along to every one of these songs when I was listening to the album in public. “Resume” uses samples so well, with a super well crafted riff, “black eyed pees” is abrasive but switches it up enough to keep you interested, and “check up” is a genius use of samples that I’m desperate to know the source of. I am not at all a connoisseur of rap or hip hop but when he raps it actually sounds good! The rhymes are fun and when they are nonsense that makes it even more fun. Mix that all together and you have some fantastic songs. There are four songs on this album that I am absolutely obsessed with(pretty impressive given there are only 12). “yoga” features the one and only Rebecca Black singing seriously this time, and a super catchy chorus and hook that both of them get to sing (also slap bass!!!!). “wassup” may be one of my favorite songs of all time, and has never failed to make me smile and sing along. Like I am contractually obligated to groove and dance to this example of peak Baby Gravy. “i remember” is the introspective not rap song on the album that is INCREDIBLE. I did not expect his serious songs to actually be good but I am in love with this song. And last, but certainly not least, my most listened-to song of 2022: “edamame.” I don’t think I can express in words my love for this song. The backing track is a perfectly crafted fast track with horns and so many layers that I still notice things for the first time when listening (listen for the kids cheering stock sound after each chorus), and Rich Brian and bbno$ absolutely kill it. Even John Green knows the words, what else do I need to tell you to show this is a masterpiece.

Final Thoughts You know what? I’m a bbno$ fan, but how can I not be. All of these songs are absolutely incredible and never fail to put me in a good mood. That’s something I need more of.

[sourcherrymag]

three poems by Alex Vartan Gubbins (he/him)

Ruben Hakhverdyan’s A Palmful of Apricot

I am there at the time of the war. Niko home from the hospital feeds and cries in and out of dreams. Ruben and his Yerevan guitar live in our Bose speaker, in our apartment at the end of Antarayin St., #3. His chords like Paris but smaller walk with grime in streets to get lost in and have heartful discussions. Yerevan’s red rooves in our laps as we breathe quiet, listen to oush e mishoush e, the fog is mist as Niko sleeps, as I brush his hair so thin I cannot feel it. His head moves up and down slight like the distant flashes on Mother Armenia overlooking the city, his head in the paint of a dim moon through our windows overlooking Parliament on Baghramyan St. and a graveyard where our building’s easy shadows lay on headstones with names I have read but do not know. Cats stretched out on windowsills of abandoned apartments, the darkness flooding the stairway down to Lover’s Park, the hanging mulberry vines over the doors with Soviet keyholes.

[CLOSED WINDOWS]

She keeps the windows closed tonight, shades drawn, every light in the house out except a floor lamp, its beams touching a world map filled with destination marks. Lines lead to Diyarbakir, Aleppo, Islamabad. A cry from the other room settles into her stomach, a grumble like a bee leaving the hive to find a distant flower. She’ll have to carry him along the road over her back, under her arm, & if a storm comes, beneath her shirt on her breasts to heat his body safe. & after he grows, when he sees how his legs dangle like vines, she knows she’ll have to leave him to the earth, that dot in a million galaxies, an energy that feeds lions oceans of birds, builds a thousand skyscrapers to house humans who make plans to steal time from the poor and air from forests. She’ll have to leave him to walking without herself as a crutch. Maybe he’ll roll in a wheelchair for people to look down at him as they pass. Maybe he’ll learn to grab the low hanging palm branches to hold his head to others’ chins. Maybe a bird will lend him wings, feathers carved for bones, like boulders.

HOLD

Found by shepherds in the backwaters Mud covered in lily pads

You can say sorry a thousand times   the baby will cry

It’s the pull away from her mother’s bosom she’ll remember It’s the arctic in the water It’s the crows & beaks diving to the lashes It’s the pecking she’ll remember she’ll remember

It’s when the sky shooting stars like smoke It’s when the lynx  hopping branch to branch a little closer Closer she’ll remember

* * *

Dear Zenobia

My mother rebuilt her wrinkled hands with the womb The lining a red oxygen for her they radiant Transform her hair to surge

In the middle of the night she’d lift her reshaped hands To reach the water glass from the cedar side table

She drank with her

* * *

Dear Zenobia

You can meet her as you sleep Draw lines dream to dream to recall a path of remembrance At night I keep my lines beside my bed Hold them in my hand under my pillow

Alex Vartan Gubbins enjoys poetry, forests, and water. He also likes to translate Armenian and Arabic poetry. He lives in the Detroit Metro Area where he works as an educator.

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

PAUL MOTIAN, TOUJOURS EN MOUVEMENT

"Playing with Paul Motian taught me about that. Feed in the melody, then let it happen, and how it flows from that moment on comes completely from your imagination and everybody's collective imagination. Man, that's an exciting place to be."

- Joe Lovano

Né le 25 mars 1931 à Philadelphie, en Pennsylvanie, Stephen Paul Motian a été élevé à Providence, au Rhode Island. D’origine arménienne, les parents de Motian étaient nés en Turquie et s’étaient installés aux États-Unis après avoir fait escale à Cuba. Motian avait d’ailleurs déclaré plus tard que les mélodies arabes et turques qu’ils avaient entendues durant son enfance avaient contribué à développer ses idées musicales. Évoquant ses origines arméniennes, Motian avait déclaré: ‘’I heard a lot of music when I was a kid. My parents were born in Turkey. They were Armenian and they used to play a lot of Turkish music and some Armenian music. I remember my mother telling me that when I was two years old, I was always dancing to this music. My parents would say, ‘Gee. Maybe he’s going to get into music some way.’’ Dans une entrevue accordée en 2005, Motian avait ajouté: “As a kid, Arabic- and Turkish-derived melodies and rhythms got me dancing around the parlor.”

Motian avait d’abord joué de la guitare avant de passer à la batterie à l’âge de douze ou treize ans. Décrivant ses débuts, Motian avait précisé:

‘’I started playing when I was about 13, in Providence, Rhode Island. I was born in Philadelphia, but I grew up in Rhode Island. There was a guy who played drums a few blocks away from my house. When he would play you could hear in the street. I was fascinated with it. He played in a Gene Krupa bag. I used to go over there and listen to him every once in awhile. I started fooling around at home with some wooden sticks, and finally he gave me a couple of lessons. After that I studied reading and syncopation with Emilio Ragosta and George Gear in Providence. George Gear used to be friendly with George L. Stone from Boston. I played with the high school band. I might have played a couple of dances and clubs with musicians from that band.’’

Après avoir fait une tournée en Nouvelle-Angleterre avec un groupe de swing, Motian s’était joint à la Marine dans le cadre de la guerre de Corée. Durant son service militaire, Motian avait étudié la batterie à la Navy School of Music de Washington, D.C. Motian explique pourquoi il s’était joint à la Marine: ‘’All my friends were being drafted in the Army and coming back frostbitten. That’s why I went into the Navy.’’ Décrivant son séjour dans la Marine, Motian avait ajouté: ‘’Somebody told me about the Navy School of Music so I thought I would do it that way. I was stationed in Brooklyn, living off the base.’’

Après sa démobilisation, Motian s’était installé à New York. Il poursuivait: ‘’When I got out of the Navy, I moved into Manhattan, I studied with Billy Gladstone, and then I went to the Manhattan School of Music for awhile and studied timpani with Alfred Friese and Fred Albright. That’s when I started playing around.’’

Comme batteur, Motian avait été particulièrement influencé par Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Sid Catlett et Art Blakey. Il expliquait: ‘’One of my favorite drummers was Sid Catlett. I never saw him play. The person that I did see play a lot and who was a major influence was Kenny Clarke. He was in New York at that time. Max Roach was also an influence. I first heard his stuff when I was a teenager. I liked it a lot.’’

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

Motian avait amorcé sa carrière professionnelle en 1954. Motian expliquait: ‘’The professional part of my career didn’t start until I was 24 or 25 years old, around 1955 or ‘56. I use to carry my drums all over the city, man. I use to take them everywhere.’’ À l’époque où Motian était arrivé à New York, les beaux jours de la 52e rue étaient déjà chose du passé. Charlie Parker est mort en 1955 et sa disparition avait marqué la fin d’une époque.

Par la suite, Motian avait joué brièvement avec Thelonious Monk. Il expliquait:

‘’I remember one time going to a place where Thelonious Monk was playing. The drummer hadn’t shown up and the promoter knew I played the drums. He said, ‘Hey man. Go get your drums and you can play with Thelonious !’ I ran as fast as I could all the way home, got the drums and played that night with Thelonious. That was a thrill for me. Later on, I worked with him for a week in Boston. One time I was playing with Monk and I think the tempo picked up a little bit. At the end of the set I went over to him and said I was sorry; that I might have rushed a little bit on that number. Monk said, ‘Well, if I hit you in the side of the head you won’t rush !’ [rires] That’s great advice. I’ve never rushed after that.’’

Après avoir joué avec Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Gil Evans, Mose Allison, Lee Konitz, Tony Scott, Lennie  Tristano, Roy Eldridge, Art Farmer, Coleman Hawkins et George Russell, Motian avait accompagné en 1956 le pianiste Bill Evans sur son premier album comme leader intitulé ‘’New Jazz Conceptions’’. Trois ans plus tard, Evans et Motian s’étaient joints au contrebassiste Scott LaFaro pour former un trio qui avait transformé à jamais l’histoire du jazz. Motian connaissait déjà LaFaro pour avoir lui dans son quartet. Après la mort de LaFaro, Chuck Israel avait pris sa relève comme contrebassiste.

Motian connaissait Evans depuis 1955. Il avait même habité dans le même édifice que lui. Dans le cadre de sa collaboration avec Evans, Motian avait innové en abandonnant le rôle traditionnel des batteurs consistant à garder le rythme. Avec le trio d’Evans, Motian s’était particulièrement fait remarquer lors de l’enregistrement des albums ‘’Sunday At The Village Vanguard’’ et ‘’Waltz For Debby’’, tous deux enregistrés le 25 juin 1961. Les concerts du Village Vanguard avaient d’ailleurs été les dernières performances du groupe. Moins de deux semaines plus tard, le 6 juillet 1961, LaFaro avait été tué dans un accident de la route lorsque l’automobile qui le transportait était entrée en collision avec un arbre. Il avait seulement vingt-cinq ans.  Evans avait été très ébranlé par la mort de LaFaro. Il avait même cessé de se produire en concert durant plusieurs mois après sa mort. Dans son ouvrage intitulé ‘’Meet Me at Jim & Andy's: Jazz Musicians and Their World’’, publié en 1988, Gene Lees écrivait: "The shock of LaFaro's death stayed with Bill for years, and he felt vaguely guilty about it...He felt that because of his heroin habit he had made insufficient use of [their] time together... After LaFaro's death, Bill was like a man with a lost love, always looking to find its replacement." Après la mort de LaFaro, Motian avait continué de jouer avec Evans durant deux ans, mais il avait quitté le groupe en 1963 après que la dépendance du pianiste envers l’héroīne ait commencé à affecter sa musique.

Décrivant sa collaboration avec le groupe d’Evans, Motian avait déclaré au cours d’une entrevue accordée en 1990: “We were the best and we knew it. We knew we had something different and original that no one had done before. It was a different way of playing in the context of a trio. It wasn’t piano, bass and drums, it was music made by three people.”

A l’époque, le groupe d’Evans avait révolutionné les trios avec piano en mettant la section rytmique sur le même pied que le piano. Comme Motian l’avait expliqué lors d’une entrevue accordée en 2006: "Before that, it was always like, you know, the pianist with bass and drum accompaniment. And that just happened that way. I think it was because of the three of us. The three individual players who played the way that we played, and when we played, that was the result.’’ Motian avait ajouté: “It’s like you take a puzzle with maybe a thousand pieces, and maybe you find only three that really fit together. That’s a rarity, man.” 

Évoquant le travail du groupe d’Evans, le contrebassiste Eddie Gomez avait commenté: “That original trio made such an indelible mark on the jazz world and trio culture.” Gomez avait collaboré durant onze ans avec Evans à partir de 1966. Revenant sur la composition du groupe d’Evans, Gomez avait ajouté: “Bill chose the musicians for the kind of interactive play that Scott and Paul developed. Scott and Paul were very contemporary in the sense that they were looking to expand the music back then, in the ’60s. Miles’s band was exploring that too, in a different way, with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter. Those bands were opening up the language of trio playing.” Décrivant le son de Motian, Gomez avait déclaré: “Paul had an almost orchestral-percussion-section sound. And his sound is his. It’s like composing all the time, the way he plays—and it’s also improvised. I’ve always loved approaching music so that it breathes and has the components that make it sing, dance, and touch your heart. And Paul has all that. He makes the music just kind of vibrate. He’s very subtle, and he also has all that energy and swing that you want.” 

Par la suite, Motian avait fait partie des groupes de Paul Bley (1963-64), Arlo Guthrie (1968–69) et Keith Jarrett (1967-76). Motian avait rencontré Jarrett alors qu’il se produisait avec Tony Scott. Motian poursuivait: ‘’He was about 19 or 20 then. Later on he called me and Charlie Haden and we did Keith’s first trio album. That was in 1967 and later on I played with Keith in Charles Lloyd’s band.’’ Avec le groupe de Jarrett, Motian avait aussi fait une tournée en Asie. Même si Motian avait participé en 1967 à l’enregistrement du premier album de Jarrett comme leader, ‘’Life Between the Exit Signs’’, l’album qu’il considérait le plus satisfaisant était ‘’The Survivors’ Suite’’, qui avait été enregistré en 1976 avec le saxophoniste Dewey Redman. En 1972, Jarrett avait retourné l’ascenseur à Motian en participant à l’enregistrement de son premier album comme leader, intitulé ‘’Conception Vessel.’’ L’album avait été enregistré avec une formation composée de Keith Jarrett au piano, de Charlie Haden à la contrebasse, de Becky Friend à la flûte, de Leroy Jenkins au violon et de Sam Brown à la guitare.

À la fin des années 1960, Motian et Jarrett avaient également fait partie du groupe de Charles Lloyd. En 1965, Motian avait également travaillé avec le chanteur et pianiste de blues Moses Allison.

Par la suite, Motian avait travaillé avec le chanteur folk  Arlo Guthrie, avec qui il avait joué au festival de Woodstock en 1969. Le bassiste de Guthrie avait vu jouer Motian avec Bill Evans et l’avait recommandé au chanteur. Motian expliquait: ‘’Arlo had a hit record with Alice’s Restaurant and was about to start touring. I enjoyed that. It wasn’t a big musical experience but it was fun. I can play country/western music: keep time with brushes and have fun. I did a couple of tours with Arlo and part of that would be the Woodstock Festival.’’

Motian était retourné par la suite avec le trio de Jarrett. Le saxophoniste Dewey Redman avait rejoint le groupe en 1972.

Dans le cadre de sa collaboration avec Jarrett, Motian avait développé une relation étroite avec le contrebassiste Charlie Haden, avec qui il avait continué de travailler de façon sporadique des années 1960 jusqu’aux années 1990, notamment dans le cadre du Liberation Music Orchestra.

En 1974, Motian a publié un second album sous son nom, ‘’Tribute.’’ Décrivant le jeu de Motian comme batteur, Jarrett avait commenté: "He was a good drummer because he understood composition. A lot of drummers are good drummers because they have some understanding of rhythm. Paul had an innate love of song." Un des derniers albums que Motian avait enregistré avec le quartet de Jarrett, intitulé “Byablue” (1977), était d’ailleurs principalement constitué de ses propres compositions. Après la mort de Motian, Jarrett avait rappelé un incident qui s’était produit au cours d’un concert au Village Vanguard lorsque le batteur était tombé accidentellement en dehors de la scène. Jarrett expliquait: “I heard a crash, looked up, and Paul wasn’t there at his drums, but coming from behind his drums was his arm, reaching for the cymbals so he wouldn’t miss a beat.”

Même s’il était surtout connu pour sa collaboration avec le trio de Bill Evans, c’est sa participation au groupe de Bley qui avait offert davantage de possibilités à Motian. Il expliquait:  “All of a sudden there was no restrictions, not even any form. It was completely free, almost chaotic.” Interrogé plus tard dans le cadre d’une autre entrevue, Bley avait confirmé: “We shared the same philosophy, musically. He knew that what he was doing in the past was not his answer. What he lived for was growth and change.” Après sa collaboration avec Bley, Motian s’était d’ailleurs orienté de plus en plus vers le free jazz, notamment dans le cadre de son association avec la Jazz Composers' Orchestra Association. Même s’il s’agissait d’une période stimulante, Motian n’avait pas fait beaucoup d’argent à cette époque. Il expliquait:

‘’I played with Carla and Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, and John Gilmore. It’s better now in New York, but I think that 1965 was one of the good periods in New York. That was around the time the Jazz Composers Guild was organized. I was playing a lot but I wasn’t making any money. I used to work for two dollars a night. That was it. That went on for a couple of years, but I managed.’’

De la fin des années 1950 jusqu’au début des années 1960, Motian avait également collaboré avec Lennie Tristano, Charles Lloyd, Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz, Mose Allison, Tony Scott, Stan Getz, Johnny Griffin, Joe Castro, Ornette Coleman et Don Cherry. Après le départ d’Elvin Jones, Motian avait même rejeté une offre pour devenir le second batteur de John Coltrane.

À partir de la fin des années 1970, Motian avait commencé à se concentrer sur la composition et la direction de ses propres groupes. Désireux d’aller plus loin que le rôle de simple batteur, Motian avait commencé à composer sur le piano que lui avait vendu Keith Jarrett. Jusqu’à la fin de sa vie, Motian avait d’ailleurs exclusivement composé au piano. Décrivant l’importance de la composition, Motian avait précisé: ‘’I’ve been studying piano and composition. I think that’s really important for drummers. All drummers should play a little bit of piano. If they’ve got something against the piano, then study vibraphone or xylophone or buy a wooden flute, man ! My composition stuff is all recent. I never even dreamed that I could do that kind of thing.’’

Décrivant sa méthode de composition, Motian avait ajouté: ‘’I’ll work it out myself first. When it seems satisfactory, then I’ll write out parts and rehearse it. Maybe I’ll get the saxophone to play the melody. If it doesn’t sound right, I may make a few changes. I’ll do the same thing with the bass, and then rehearse the trio. The song grows from there.’’

Après avoir formé un premier groupe de travail en 1977, Motian avait également commencé à faire des tournées, notamment en trio avec le saxophoniste Charles Brackeen, puis à partir de 1981 dans un autre trio avec le saxophoniste Joe Lovano et le guitariste Bill Frisell. Se remettant constamment en question, le groupe avait exploré de nouveaux territoires sonores, notamment dans le cadre de l’album ‘’It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago’’ (1984), en rendant hommage à Monk sur l’album ‘’Misterioso’’ (1986) ou en reprenant des standards du jazz. Le groupe avait également enregistré un album live intitulé ‘’Sound of Love’’ au Village Vanguard en 1995. Décrivant sa collaboration avec Motian, le saxophoniste Joe Lovano avait commenté: "Playing with Paul Motian taught me about that. Feed in the melody, then let it happen, and how it flows from that moment on comes completely from your imagination and everybody's collective imagination. Man, that's an exciting place to be."

Après avoir enregistré avec les disques ECM dans les années 1970 et au début des années 1980, Motian avait enregistré pour les disques Soul Note, JMT, Soul Note, JMT et Winter & Winter avant de retourner chez ECM en 2005.  Évoquant ses débuts avec ECM, Motian avait commenté: ‘’When I got offered to do my first record for ECM, I put together some music and found out that I could do it. Plus, I had some good musicians to help. That’s what I’m working on now. I would like to get that together. That’s very important. I mean, it took me a year just to get a book together for my band !’’

DERNIÈRES ANNÉES

En 1982, Motian avait publié l’album ‘’Psalm’’, qui avait marqué une longue collaboration avec le guitariste Bill Frisell et le saxophoniste Joe Lovano. Avaient également participé à l’enregistrement Billy Drewes au saxophone et Ed Schuller à la contrebasse. Par la suite, Motian avait éventuellement formé un trio avec Frisell et Lovano. Se joignaient occasionnellement au groupe les contrebassistes Ed Schuller, Charlie Haden et Marc Johnson, les saxophonistes Lee Konitz et Dewey Redman et la pianiste Geri Allen. En plus des compositions de Motian, le groupe a enregistré des hommages à Thelonious Monk et Bill Evans ainsi que des albums de standards. Le trio avait poursuivi ses activités durant vingt-cinq ans.

Parmi les albums enregistrés par le trio, on remarquait ‘’Monk in Motian’’ (1988), les trois volumes de ‘’On Broadway’’ (1989, 1993), une collection de standards, ‘’Motian in Tokyo’’ (1991), ’’Trioism’’ (1994), ’’At the Village Vanguard’’ (1995), ’’I Have the Room Above Her’’ (2005) et ‘’Time and Time Again’’ (2007).

Commentant sa collaboration avec Motian, Frisell avait précisé: “I was a huge fan of Paul’s. The day he first called me, it was a complete surprise that he would ask me to come over and play. I had his Conception Vessel album sitting there facing me on the floor, and the phone rings and he says, ‘Hi, this is Paul Motian….’ I just about had a heart attack. We played together ever since. It’s just gigantic, the importance of him in my life—even if I hadn’t played with him.” Frisell avait ajouté: “Paul made me feel like I was discovering everything I was playing for the first time. He was allowing me to be myself, and I could just go full force, as far as my imagination could go. I credit him with giving me the confidence and the experience of really finding my own voice.’’ Évoquant la synergie qui prévalait dans le cadre du trio, Frisell avait conclu:

“I’m playing with him and I think, Wow, I just had this great idea, but then I realize later that there was a lot of telepathy stuff going on, almost like he was transmitting his ideas into me. Like we’d be on a train somewhere, and I would be singing some song in my head that we had played the night before, and then he would start singing it right at the exact same moment, at the same point, in the same key. You just get into a zone of being connected in this amazing way.”

Même si Motian avait souvent travaillé avec des pianistes, ses albums comme leader enregistrés depuis les années 1970 incluaient rarement des pianistes. Motian ayant joué de la guitare avant de passer à la batter9e, ses albums mettaient souvent en vedette des guitaristes. En plus de ses groupes avec Bill Frisell, les deux premiers albums de Motian sur ECM avaient été enregistrés avec le groupe de fusion Electric Bebop Band, qu’il avait co-fondé avec le guitariste Sam Brown. Fondé en 1992, le groupe mettait en vedette de jeunes guitaristes comme Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brad Shepik, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder et Jakob Bro, ainsi que des jeunes saxophonistes comme Joshua Redman, Chris Potter, Chris Cheek et Tony Malaby. En 1993, le groupe a enregistré un album de standards avec les guitaristes Kurt Rosenwinkel et Brad Shepik. Véritable école un peu à la manière des Jazz Messengers d’Art Blakey, la Jazz Machine d’Elvin Jones et la Special Edition de Jack DeJohnette, le groupe avait permis de faire éclore le talent de nombreux jeunes musiciens de jazz. Le groupe avait éventuellement changé de nom pour devenir le Paul Motian Band. Un des meilleurs albums du groupe, ‘’Garden of Eden’’ (2006), mettait en vedette Chris Cheek et Tony Malaby au saxophone, Jerome Harris à la basse et Ben Monder, Steve Cardenas et Jakob Bro à la guitare.

Dans les années 1990, Motian a formé le trio coopératif Tethered Moon avec le pianiste japonais Masabumi Kikuchi et le contrebassiste Gary Peacock. Au cours de la même décennie, Motian avait enregistré avec Paul Bley, Muthspiel et le pianiste italien Enrico Pieranunzi.

En 1998, Motian avait signé un nouveau contrat avec les disques Winter & Winter, avec qui il avait enregistré une nouvelle série d’albums, dont  ‘’2000 + One’’ en 1999, ‘’Europe’’ en 2001, et ‘’Holiday for Strings’’ en 2002. En 2005, Motian est retourné chez ECM, avec qui il avait publié l’album ‘’I Have the Room Above Her’’ la même année. Motian avait enchaîné avec ‘’Garden of Eden’’ en 2006 et ‘’Time and Time Again’’ en 2007. (enlever rouge)

À la fin de sa carrière, Motian avait également travaillé avec Marilyn Crispell, Leni Stern, Joe Lovano, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Geri Allen, Bobo Stensen, Tim Berne, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Alan Pasqua, Bill McHenry, Stéphan Oliva, Frank Kimbrough, Jason Moran, Eric Watson et plusieurs autres.

En 2009, Motian avait enregistré l’album ‘’Live at Birdland (avec Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau et Charlie Haden). La même année, Motian avait multiplié les collaborations avec des musiciens comme Samuel Blaser (album ‘’Consort in Motion’’), Augusto Pirodda (album ‘’No Comment’’), Chick Corea et Eddie Gomez (album ‘’Further Explorations’’) et Bill McHenry (album ‘’Ghosts of the Sun’’). Ironiquement, ce dernier album avait été publié le jour-même de la mort de Motian, le 22 novembre. Le dernier album de Motian comme leader était intitulé ‘’The Windmills of Your Mind’’ et mettait en vedette Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan et la chanteuse rock Petra Haden, la fille de Charlie.

En 2010, Motian a publié l’album ‘’Lost in a Dream.’’ Enregistré au Village Vanguard, l’album qui avait été enregistré avec le pianiste Jason Moran et le saxophoniste Chris Potter, était composé principalement de ballades. En mai de la même année, Motian avait participé à un hommage à Evans intitulé ‘’Further Explorations’’qui mettait en vedette le pianiste Chick Corea et le contrebassiste Eddie Gomez. L’album avait été enregistré en deux semaines au club Blue Note de New York.

Ressentant de plus en plus le poids des années, Motian avait décidé en 2004 de ne plus se produire à l’extérieur de New York. Au cours des dernières années de sa vie, Motian s’était surtout produit à New York, principalement au Village Vanguard. Il avait aussi joué au Cornelia Street Café.

Refusant de s’enfler la tête avec ses réalisations, Motian avait déclaré au cours d’une entrevue qu’il avait accordée en 2006: "I'm proud of the fact that I'm able to still be around and be able to write music and get better at what I'm doing. And I feel like I'm still learning." Dans la plupart de ses groupes, Motian utilisait un répertoire qui combinait ses propres compositions aux standards du jazz et aux classiques du bebop.

Contrairement à plusieurs musiciens de sa génération, Motian n’avait jamais vraiment désiré enseigner (son travail de compositeur ne lui en laissait d’ailleurs pas le temps), même s’il avait donné des cliniques et s’il avait des idées précises sur la façon dont il aurait transmis ses connaissances s’il en avait eu la possibilité. Il expliquait: ‘’I always had a thing about that. If I ever teach, I’m not going to teach on a practice pad. To me, that doesn’t really have too much to do with the drumset. The drumset is your instrument, not the practice pad !’’ Motian n’avait d’ailleurs jamais beaucoup pratiqué, car il jouait essentiellement par instinct.

Même s’il n’avait jamais beaucoup pratiqué, Motian continuait de jouer chaque jour. Il précisait: ‘’I try to play a little bit each day. Sometimes I make a mental note and sometimes I’ll even write down: ‘play at least ten minutes a day on the drum set.’ I have to really feel like I want to do it. I don’t force myself. When I sit down and try to think about working something out. I’m never really happy. If I sit down and play the drums, like I’m playing in front of people. I’ll get into it more. Then I can play for awhile.’’

Motian avait tendance à devenir un peu nostalgique lorsqu’il évoquait les grands batteurs du passé. Il expliquait: ‘’There were so many really great drummers. I’d like to bring that heart of drum playing back. People now don’t know about Shadow Wilson, Denzil Best, Kenny Clarke, Dave Tough, Chick Webb, Jimmy Crawford ! And Baby Dodds !’’ Motian était d’ailleurs convaincu que les plus grands batteurs ne pourraient jamais devenir démodés. Il avait ajouté: ‘’Their type of playing is connected with the way people are playing today. It really is. Whether it’s used or not is another story. But, I think there’s a certain art to playing the drums that is missing today.’’

À la fin de sa carrière, Motian avait fait une tournée en Europe avec son trio et avait enseigné dans une école au Danemark. Il précisait: ‘’I was there for two weeks with two, one hour classes a day. I took a private student everyday for a half hour lesson. I had to come up with something new each day and that was a challenge. The first day I had them tune the drums. There was a set of drums t6here that sounded terrible. I got the idea to have each drummer tune them to whatever he heard. By the end of the two weeks that was the best sounding drum set in that school.’’

Paul Motian est mort le 22 novembre 2011 au Mount Sinai Hospital de New York des suites du  syndrome myélodysplasique (SMD), une maladie caractérisée par la production insuffisante de cellules saines par la moelle osseuse. Il était âgé de quatre-vingt ans. Motian laissait dans le deuil une soeur, Sarah McGuirl. Considérant Motian comme un des musiciens les plus expressifs du jazz, le saxophoniste Joe Lovano, qui avait collaboré avec Motian durant de nombreuses années, lui avait rendu hommage en déclarant: "He was a hard-swinging free jazz drummer with an uncanny sense of time-phrasing and form that was beyonun.’’ Lovano avait ajouté: "His touch and sound, sense of dynamics were so personal and unmatched.’’ Commentant le décès de Motian, le contrebassiste Eddie Gomez avait ajouté: “Paul was a lot of fun to be around. Honestly I had no idea he was ill. He seemed so perfectly healthy and full of life, and he played that way. We got a chance to hang out and kid around a lot and talk about older times. He was a great spirit.” Décrivant Motian comme un homme réservé qui ne vivait que pour la musique, Frisell avait précisé: “He was protective of his own space. He lived alone, and his whole life was about music. He just wanted to stay in the music, I think. He was super-sensitive, and sometimes people like that have to put up a little bit of a barrier, just to keep themselves from getting trampled on. But he was so generous with people too, and if he let you in, he really let you in.” Commentant le sens de l’humour un peu pince-sans-rire de Motian, Frisell avait conclu avec ironie:  “Paul had this real intense thing, but I was looking at a bunch of old pictures, and there are millions of ’em where he’s just laughing and laughing. He always tried to lift things up. He wouldn’t stay down in some dark place for long. He had that effect on people, and certainly on the music. It was very serious and it was never a joke, but there was joy in it.”

Plusieurs albums de Motian ont été réédités avant et après sa mort. En septembre 2010, les disques CAM Jazz ont publié un coffret simplement intitulé Paul Motian. Le coffret comprenait des albums qui avaient d’abord été publiés par les disques Soul Note: ‘’The Story of Maryam’’, ’’Jack of Clubs’’, ’’Misterioso’’, ’’Notes’’ (avec Paul Bley), ’’One Time Out’’ (avec Bill Frisell et Joe Lovano) et ‘’Flux and Change’’ (un album en duo avec Enrico Pieranunzi). En novembre 2012, un an après la mort du batteur, les disques Winter & Winter ont réédité les cinq volumes des albums de standards de Motian. En avril 2013, les disques ECM ont publié un coffret simplement intitulé Paul Motian dans le cadre de la série Old & New Masters Edition. Le coffret comprenait les six albums que Motian avait enregistrés pour ECM de 1972 à 1984: ‘’Conception Vessel’’, ’’Tribute’’, ’’Dance’’, ’’Le Voyage’’, ’’Psalm’’ et ‘’It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago.’’ En mars 2012, les disques ECM ont publié ‘’Sunrise’’, une collaboration de Motian avec le Masabumi Kikuchi Trio. L’album avait été suivi en juillet de la même année par la parution de l’album ‘’Owls Talk’’ d’Alexandra Grimal. Outre Motian, l’album mettait aussi en vedette le saxophoniste Lee Konitz et le contrebassiste Gary Peacock. Deux enregistrements en concert avec le pianiste Enrico Pieranunzi ont aussi été publiés:  ’’New York Reflections: Live at Birdland’’ (avec Steve Swallow) et ‘���Live at the Village Vanguard’’ (avec Marc Johnson). Les deux albums ont été publiés respectivement en octobre 2012 et en mars 2013. Les disques CAM Jazz ont également réédité en mars 2013 l’album ‘’One Time Out’’ en format vinyle. La réédition comprend aussi une copie sous forme de CD.

Plusieurs musiciens ont également rendu hommage à Motian. Publié en septembre 2011, l’album ‘’Motian Sickness – The Music of Paul Motian’’ mettait en vedette Jeff Cosgrove, John Hebert, Mat Maneri et Jamie Masefield. En novembre 2011, la Joel Harrison's String Choir a rendu hommage a Motian dans le cadre de l’album ‘’The Music of Paul Motian.’’ L’album mettait en vedette un quatuor à cordes composé de Christian Howes, Sam Bardfeld, Mat Maneri et Dana Leong, ainsi que deux guitaristes, Liberty Ellman et Harrison. En juillet 2012, Russ Lossing a publié ‘’Drum Music: Music of Paul Motian’’, un album de piano solo édité par Sunnyside Records. Lossing avait enregistré l’album à l’origine pour célébrer le 80e anniversaire de naissance de Motian. Lossing a également publié un vidéo sur la chaîne YouTube au sujet de l’enregistrement. Le saxophoniste Ravi Coltrane a inclus la composition de Motian  ‘’Fantasm’’ sur son album de 2012 Spirit Fiction. L’enregistrement mettait également en vedette le saxophoniste Joe Lovano. En juillet 2015, Noël Akchoté a publié à compte d’auteur l’album Fiasco (Plays the Music of Paul Motian) exclusivement sur format digital. L’album comprend des arrangements pour guitare acoustique solo de douze compositions de Motian. En 2016, Jean-Marc Padovani  a publié l’album ‘’Motian in Motion’’ sur étiquette Naïve Jazz. Deux ans plus tard, le Carl Michel Group a publié l’album ‘’Music in Motian’’ sur étiquette Play On Records. En 2020, Haşmet Asilkan a réarrangé les compositions de Motian pour guitare solo et les a publiées sous le titre de ‘’Paul Motian Songbook.’’ Finalement, en 2022, un des collaborateurs réguliers de Motian, le saxophoniste Joe Lovano, a publié l’album ‘’Once Around The Room: A Tribute To Paul Motian.’’ L’album a été enregistré avec une formation composée de Jakob Bro à la guitare, de Larry Grenadier et Thomas Morgan à la contrebasse, d’Anders Christensen à la basse électrique et de Joey Baron et Jorge Rossy à la batterie.

Au cours de sa carrière s’étendant sur cinq décennies, Paul Motian avait contribué à redéfinir le rôle de la batterie comme instrument de jazz. Évoquant le style de jeu de Motian, le pianiste Ethan Iverson, qui avait joué avec le batteur à la fin de sa carrière, avait déclaré: “With Paul, there was always that ground rhythm, that ancient jazz beat lurking in the background.” Reconnu pour son jeu sobre et peu expansif, Motian jouait rarement des solos, ce qui avait fait dire au critique Will Friedwald du New York Sun en 2006: “Lots of drummers are about power and energy. Mr. Motian is about supporting a soloist… with exquisite coloration and holding and ensemble together.” Le saxophoniste Greg Osby, qui avait accompagné Motian au Village Vanguard peu avant sa mort, confirmait: “He was an economist: every note and phrase and utterance counted. There was nothing disposable.” Décrivant Motian avant tout comme un joueur d’équipe, un critique avait commenté: ‘’Paul Motian can turn a set of drums into an orchestra without overshadowing his fellow players.’’ Un autre critique avait ajouté: ‘’To him, percussion is music at every level and he could never be accused of playing anything for superficial effect.’’ Reconnu comme un excellent improvisateur, Motian avait donné ce conseil aux futurs batteurs: ‘’When all else fails, play the snare drum. That’s where you learned it all in the first place.’’

Évoquant sa collaboration avec Motian, John Cumming, le directeur de la compagnie britannique Serious Productions, se rappelait des tournées européennes auxquelles Motian avait participé dans les années 1980. Cumming expliquait: "He had a kit that was falling apart in mid-gig with the Liberation Orchestra once. Two of us were fixing it with hammers and nails. He'd look round, still playing, and hiss, 'Have you been to the hotel yet? What's the restaurant like?' He was funny, modest, very calm, a bit solitary, but a wonderful collaborator." 

Motian a enregistré une trentaine d’albums comme leader au cours de sa carrière. Innovateur dans l’âme, Motian cherchait constamment à se renouveler. Comme l’expliquait son collaborateur de longue date, le guitariste Bill Frisell, “He was always on the edge. I think that’s why we were able to play so long and it always felt new. He never settled into a safe zone—he was always reaching for something he’d never played before.” Réfutant l’idée selon laquelle Motian ne savait pas garder le rythme, Frisell avait ajouté: “Some people say he didn’t play time, or something. That’s absurd. He had the deepest beat of anyone I ever played with. Some of the stuff I read about him, they talk about how he’s ‘abstract,’ or this or that, but they miss that he did play with Oscar Pettiford and Coleman Hawkins. That’s all in there. I think they have to listen a little harder.”

Convaincu que Motian n’avait pas toujours reçu le crédit qu’il méritait, le contrebassiste Eddie Gomez avait commenté: “I think Paul is one of the grand artists of the twentieth century, certainly on the instrument. But I don’t know that he gets enough credit. I think his art makes him less accessible to others. If you only like to hear a kind of playing that’s driven either by technique or by certain stylistic ways, Paul isn’t going to come up on your radar, because he’s so understated and artistic and special. He heard music in a different way and opened up all kinds of possibilities.”

©-2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique

[daimonclub]

The Christmas Tree

Christmas tree legends The Christmas Tree, an article that explains its legend, origin and tradition, with some enlightening merry quotes to enrich the great value of the Christmas period. Snowflakes felt so awesome in winter season. There is a main figure in Christmas known as Santa Claus. And the main theme of Christmas is jingle bell, a very famous tune known all other the world. People use this tune a lot all over the Christmas event, and it feels so good like something very positive that will bring peace and happiness in our lives. Moving between the legs of tables and of chairs, rising or falling, grasping at kisses and toys, advancing boldly, sudden to take alarm, retreating to the corner of arm and knee, eager to be reassured, taking pleasure in the fragrant brilliance of the Christmas tree. T. S. Eliot It is curious to what a degree one may become attached to a fine tree, especially when it is placed where trees are rare. Christian Nestell Bovee The Christmas tree is the dot on the i. Frank Taylor The trees that bud and blossom forth, Throughout the world from south to north, Are tokens that a life will bloom When manhood's passed beyond the tomb. T. Augustus Forbes Leith Three things are needed to make a Christmas tree: ornaments, the tree and faith in the future. Armenian proverb I stone got crazy when I saw somebody run down them strings with a bottleneck. My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and I said that I had to learn. Muddy Waters My beer-drenched soul is sadder than all the dead Christmas trees in the world. Charles Bukowski He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. Roy L. Smith It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that matters, it’s who’s around it. Charlie Brown A Christian should resemble a fruit tree with real fruit, not a Christmas tree with decorations tied on. John Stott The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. Burton Hillis

Christmas tree origins I grew up with a Christmas tree, I’m going to stay with a Christmas tree. Thomas Menino The perfect Christmas tree, all Christmas trees are perfect. Charles N. Barnard Some Christmas tree ornaments do more than glitter and glow, they represent a gift of love given a long time ago. Tom Baker The Christmas tree is beautiful only when it is finished and when the lights can be turned on, the crib is not, the crib is beautiful when you do it or even when you think about it. Luciano De Crescenzo Taking down the Christmas tree makes it feel official: time to get back to joyless and cynical. Greg Fitzsimmons I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love. Linus Van Pelt What will we find under the Christmas tree this year? Oh my God, I think the roots! Carl William Brown Glittering tinsel, lights, glass balls, and candy canes dangle from pine trees. Richelle E. Goodrich The best Christmas trees come very close to exceeding nature. Andy Rooney There is new life in the soil for every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer. Calvin Coolidge The earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. James Irwin Christmas tree stands are the work of the devil and they want you dead. Bill Bryson Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness. Eckhart Tolle He that planteth a tree is the servant of God, He provideth a kindness for many generations, And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him. Henry Van Dyke

Christmas tree quotes Now I’m an old Christmas tree, the roots of which have died. They just come along and while the little needles fall off me replace them with medallions. Orson Welles Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 25 feet tall. Larry Wilde They’ve got plastic Christmas trees now. They’re hard to tell from the real aluminum ones. Milton Berle I was only kicking down the Christmas tree to get the star on top. Ray Bradbury I don’t know what I believe. I guess that makes me a christmas tree agnostic. Stephanie Perkins Only look what is still on the ugly old Christmas tree!" said he, trampling on the branches, so that they all cracked beneath his feet. And the Tree beheld all the beauty of the flowers, and the freshness in the garden; he beheld himself, and wished he had remained in his dark corner in the loft; he thought of his first youth in the woods, of the merry Christmas Eve, and of the little Mice who had listened with so much pleasure to the story of Klumpy-Dumpy. Hans Christian Andersen A Christmas tree, the perfect gift for a guy. The plant is already dead. Jay Leno The Christmas tree, twinkling with lights, had a mountain of gifts piled up beneath it, like offerings to the great god of excess. Tess Gerritsen A dog looking at a lit Christmas tree thinks: they finally put the light in the toilet. Romano Bertola Christmas trees don’t grow on trees; they need rainbows, lumberjacks, and Leprechauns on unicorns playing jock jams on glockenspiels. Ryan Ross Make your plate look like a Christmas tree, I tell people, mostly green with splashes of other bright colors. Victoria Moran There’s no experience quite like cutting your own live Christmas tree out of your neighbor’s yard. Dan Florence

True natural Christmas trees The smell of pine needles, spruce and the smell of a Christmas tree, those to me, are the scents of the holidays. Blake Lively Christmas is a very enjoyable event ever. It is a great feast for everyone. Kids, adults and grandparents. Everyone enjoy this occasion very much. Parents give presents to their children and this brings happiness in their hearts. An enormous amount of joy comes through this period which is a real gem for us. Therefore how could we avoid talking of one of the main symbol of this religious celebration, which is certainly the Christmas Tree, so let's read about its fascinating history. The Christmas tree today is a common custom to most of us. There are many interesting connections to ancient traditions such as Egyptian and Roman customs, early Christian practices, and Victorian nostalgia. However, most scholars point to Germany as being the origin of the Christmas tree. Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return. The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from his illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes, which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon, farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder. One of the earliest stories relating back to Germany is about Saint Boniface. In 722, he encountered some pagans who were about to sacrifice a child at the base of a huge oak tree. He cut down the tree to prevent the sacrifice and a Fir tree grew up at the base of the oak. He then told everyone that this lovely evergreen, with its branches pointing to heaven, was a holy tree - the tree of the Christ child, and a symbol of His promise of eternal life. Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. Another story tells that perhaps it was Martin Luther responsible for the origin of the Christmas tree. This story says that one Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through the snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of the snow glistened trees. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moon light. When he got home, he set up a small fir tree and shared the story with his children. He decorated the Christmas tree with small candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth. Another legend says that in the early 16th century, people in Germany combined two customs that had been practiced in different countries around the globe. The Paradise tree (a fir tree decorated with apples) represented the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

Christmas tree in Rio de Janeiro The Christmas Light, a small, pyramid-like frame, usually decorated with glass balls, tinsel and a candle on top, was a symbol of the birth of Christ as the Light of the World. Changing the tree’s apples to tinsel balls and cookies and combining this new tree with the light placed on top, the Germans created the tree that many of us know today. In the 1840s and 50s, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularized the Christmas tree in England. Prince Albert decorated a tree and ever since that time, the English, because of their love for their Queen, copied her Christmas customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments. An engraving of the Royal Family celebrating Christmas at Windsor was published in 1848 and their German traditions were copied and adapted. Another story about the origin of the Christmas tree says that late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope that spring would soon come. Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans. It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims’s second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy. The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.

Christmas tree best wishes Research into customs of various cultures shows that greenery was often brought into homes at the time of the winter solstice. It symbolized life in the midst of death in many cultures. The Romans were known to deck their homes with evergreens during of Kalends of January 15. Living trees were also brought into homes during the old Germany feast of Yule, which originally was a two month feast beginning in November. The Yule tree was planted in a tub and brought into the home. But there is no evidence that the Christmas tree is a direct descendent of the Yule tree. Evidence does point to the Paradise tree however. This story goes back to the 11th century religious plays. One of the most popular was the Paradise Play. The play depicted the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin, and their banishment from Paradise. The only prop on the stage was the Paradise tree, a fir tree adorned with apples. The play would end with the promise of the coming Savior and His Incarnation. The people had grown so accustomed to the Paradise tree, that they began putting their own Paradise tree up in their homes on December 24. Christmas trees have been sold commercially in the United States since about 1850. In 1979, the National Christmas Tree was not lighted except for the top ornament. This was done in honor of the American hostages in Iran. The tallest living Christmas tree is believed to be the 122-foot, 91-year-old Douglas fir in the town of Woodinville, Washington. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition began in 1933. Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, brought the Christmas tree tradition to the White House. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony now held every year on the White House lawn. Since 1966, the National Christmas Tree Association has given a Christmas tree to the President and first family. Most Christmas trees are cut weeks before they get to a retail outlet. In 1912, the first community Christmas tree in the United States was erected in New York City. Christmas trees generally take six to eight years to mature. Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska. 90 percent of all Christmas trees are grown on farms. More than 1,000,000 acres of land have been planted with Christmas trees. On average, over 2,000 Christmas trees are planted per acre. You should never burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace. It can contribute to creosote buildup. Other types of trees such as cherry and hawthorns were used as Christmas trees in the past. Thomas Edison’s assistants came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees. In 1963, the National Christmas Tree was not lit until December 22nd because of a national 30-day period of mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy. Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons. On the contrary the 2020 Christmas Tree is an 18 ½ foot Fraser Fir from West Virginia. It will serve as a centerpiece for Christmas decorations in the Blue Room of the White House. The White House Christmas Tree must stand 18-19 feet tall and reach the ceiling of the Blue Room, where the chandelier is removed each holiday season to accommodate the tree. And last but not least, if you want to choose the perfect Christmas tree visit the website of The American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA) which is a non-profit organization established to help families create holiday memories and build traditions by choosing the perfect Christmas tree. www.christmastreeassociation.org/ Instead if you need a good short story for your children about Christmas or the Christmas tree, you can find many of them at this link: https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen/short-story/the-fir-tree Top 10 Tallest Christmas Trees in The World Read also our other posts on Christmas  ; Christmas quotes ; 60 great Christmas quotes ; Christmas tree origin and quotes ;  Traditional Christmas Carols ; Christmas jokes ; Christmas markets in England ; Christmas cracker jokes ; Christmas food ; Christmas thoughts ; Read the full article

[greywoodrpg]

𝕜𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕒𝕩𝕥𝕖𝕣

he appears as though he was born twenty-four years ago, he is a witch and lives in downtown and is unemployed, and is in no coven. he looks an awful lot like logan lerman.

“I have the feeling of being born long, long ago; I drag my life like an endless train.”

tw: car accident

Since a young age, Karter was a rather hotheaded kid that wanted to do only what he desired. Of course, he did what he was told, he went to all the lessons he needed to, played any available sport, switching between them as napkins, and tried to keep his grades up, managing highest marks in most classes. But consistent is not something you could call him. Sure, he was smart enough to read his lessons once and remember details enough to ace exams and graduate high school with A-s, but how much he remembered those lessons was anyone’s guess. He played for the football team, the soccer team, the basketball team, swam and even tried out for tennis before asking from his parents to buy a piano, then a violin and then a guitar, even having a short stint with drums that were quickly thrown out due to the ruckus. And all these extra curriculums were enough to get him a full scholarship in Yale, promising to do better there when saying goodbye to his family.

In university Karter focused more on the parties and girls rather than on classes, experimenting with anything he could think of, deciding he might as well despite the long life ahead of him. He signed up for Humanities, before he moved to Finance… and then he moved to Management where he was persuaded to stick to he decided to get diversity through languages and so he signed up for different one throughout the four years there, leaving with some knowledge on French and on Ancient Greek, a few words in Latin, a string of Armenian sentences. You couldn’t say he was fluent, you couldn’t say he was a genius and knew them all… But he liked to pretend to know even less.

After using money he had saved up working throughout his university years and having managed to put aside most of the allowance his parents gave him while he was there, he went on a trip to Europe. Karter is now back in Greywood and enjoying irresponsible life to the fullest. For the short time he had been back he had caused a car accident, ruined a bachelor’s party and miss at least two family gathering. He started writing a book, telling his parents that was his passion before locking himself into his room and trying to remember his violin lessons, the typing machine he had purchased from an antique shop left somewhere under tons of paper on his desk. And then he had told his parents he would like to be a carpenter (maybe he has watched too many homestead videos online) and so he proclaimed he’s moving out and getting an apprenticeship. Sure, he does go home every once in a while and brings his clothes in the laundry as he had no desire to do it on his own after having done that while in university, sitting by communal laundry rooms and being bored to death. And he does drop by his sibling’s to grab dinner if they let him. And he did ditch his lessons in woodwork a few times. But he was sure that this would be the thing he would stick to and maybe even someday make his own company and hire others to do it and observe with knowledge. 

“what power did he attain when settling in greywood?”

Since settling in Greywood Karter has had very unnatural luck. Sure, he had always thought himself lucky, but walking out the street and a car you didn’t see swerving perfectly around you or a nail going through your shoe precisely between your toes… or winning every game of beer pong despite previously having the shittiest of aims possible? There’s something there he isn’t sure how to channel.

penned by... geri

[thereformedprincess]

🕰️⏳❤️🙏🙌 GODS PERFECT TIMING🙌🙏❤️⏳🕰️

💯💥❤️🙌🙏God is of perfect timing. He is patient to fulfill his promises to all of humanity. Whether that be in his wrath or mercy.

💯❤️🙌🙏. This is the 12th attribute of God. His long suffering.

💯 Throughout scripture we see that God waits. He is patient. His promises come to pass since the beginning of his creation.

💯. Many see this as a positive thing and it is for those who believe but there are negatives as well.

💯. In 2 Peter 3:1-13 we see God's long suffering in his perfect timing ready to be executed. Armenians will try to use this specific scripture to debate against reformed theology however if we look at it in it's proper context we see that it is God's long suffering. It actually defends reformed theology in that God will not save everyone. But is long suffering until all of the elect are drawn into his kingdom. (Matthew 24:22). However I digress. God is patient to fulfill his promises. And this passage is telling us to be on guard for false prophets in the waiting.

✨2 Peter 3:1-18

3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

💯. God's long suffering is also displayed in various books in the bible. In genesis 6 we see that God's patience had finally run out on a wicked generation and he chose Noah and his family to save and one female and one male of every species. the rest were sent to destruction.

✨Genesis 6

6 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9 This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

💯. We see God's long suffering coming to an end again in genesis 19 on Sodom and Gomorrah.

✨genesis 19:14-28

19 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

💯. In God's long suffering we see his mercy even upon the wicked

✨Matthew 5:45 that ye may be the children of your Father who is in Heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

🕰️⏳❤️🙌🙏 In conclusion and to define God's long suffering is to define his perfectly sovereign timing. Imagine how Holy he is that he has such patience for the wicked. Imagine his perfect justice sitting still for so long. He is willing that none of his elect should perish eternally and so he waits for the very moment every one of his sheep is drawn in. In this we see both his Grace and his wrath. His long suffering is for his sheep. There will one day be a day of judgement from the Lord. Where every knee will bow. And every tongue will confess. We are living in the end times. 💯Not the tribulation.💯 👏👏👏👏 We cannot make our Lord return on our time! 👏👏👏👏 His long suffering is mercy to all on the earth.

[sarkisyanportfolio]

Neighbors

Is it harder for women to write about themselves than it is for men? Tennessee Williams had no issue in composing essays about his own reflections on his work and the people that dropped by in his life; and yet I wonder if women write with that same volubility about themselves without focusing on a certain exterior message.

Even now, I write about women’s position to men and not about myself. How can I write about my positionality and exclude that from how that’s influenced by my gender? Even in writing essays, and in writing about yourself, there’s a lot we don’t say. Dostoevsky said, the more a person feels they cannot reveal to themselves, the better a person they are. You will learn more details about a person on their Wikipedia page than you will by reading their personal essays, but more details do not mean more truth. The latter gives you what Wikipedia does not, and that’s a built relationship with someone you’ve never met.

Recently, I stumbled upon some reminiscences from my childhood; something that is typically accepted as calming or comforting. I’m both drawn to that which reminds me of my childhood, albeit music or photos, maybe movies, but a part of me feels a lack that is only acknowledged when in the presence of something nostalgic. Schopenhauer said, the sadness we feel when recollecting is due to the expectations we had of the future when we were younger. We’re dissatisfied with how the future (our present) turned out.

The house I owe much of my development to was a red brick rowhouse stacked next to one another in the matchbox that is Queens with all Armenian-immigrant neighbors. Us included. My bedroom upstairs was the tiniest room in the house, some could call it a converted attic but looking back, the unfortunate sizing was good to humble my already bratty personality which I attribute to my problem with authority, then and now.

It was in this tiny magenta-carpeted room that I would fling my backpack off, and take 45 minutes to several hours at times dancing and singing by myself while changing out of my school uniform. I distinctly remember judging my day as being good or bad based on how much fun I had.

Mrs. Seta and her husband Mr. Hakop were a charming warm elderly couple that lived next door to us. Like all rowhomes in urban cities, our front porches were split by a thin white railing fence with little flowers in the centers. My grandma and Mrs. Seta would have mid-day coffee every day when the weather permitted, leaning their arms on the railing, watching passersby walking their dogs or commuting home from work. When my grandfather would come home from work, my grandma would make him food, and he would retire to the porch and meet with Mr. Hakop for some chitchat.

Both of my grandparents had shakey English, yet it never stopped either of them from socializing with people in the neighborhood no matter where we lived. We moved quite frequently, first from place to place within urban areas in New York, and then to the confines of south Florida--from which I don’t think I ever recovered.

The perks of knowing multiple languages as a result of living in a Soviet Republic, and by having to move around for work in a developing country like Armenia with low employment, gave my grandparents the people-skills I wish I had. I, as a person who was born and raised in this country, would still consider the people in my neighborhood to be strangers and would have no inclination towards sparking a conversation with them, but my grandparents saw no reason to not invite people inside for coffee. Years later, I was at a party at my neighbor’s home in south Florida and my grandma conveyed in her fragmented English that “in my country, neighbor is family.”

The loss of my neighbors was as hollowing as the loss of my childhood with my parents’ decision to move away from New York. Is it painful to look into the past? Some undoubtedly get lost in their recollections of the past, and to some extent, the past is never truly as we remembered it to be, but I do miss the people that shaped my past. Do I exist for them the way they exist for me? How’s that for writing about yourself?

[melnikbg]

Man wished assistance from the missionary

This was a dozen years ago, and all the parties to the affair are now dead. But the man assured me that a certain lawyer in Galata had the means – of getting him an American passport for the modest sum of $3,000, and the point on which the man wished assistance from the missionary was the question of securing a hold on the lawyer, to whom the money must be paid in advance. I never knew whether the lesson in common honesty which this man received did him any good. But he sadly abandoned the scheme of buying American citizenship for $3,000, and went into the Turkish prison in default of the American protection which he had fondly hoped to gain.

Missionaries for help

The applications of the people to the missionaries for help in their political and religious quarrels with their superiors make quite a list in the course of a year. One clay a fine looking man with a magnificent black beard, with the eye of an eagle and the bearing of a Grand Duke, came to call. He was the chief of a tribe, half Arab, half Canaanite, living in Syria. Conversation in Turkey is farther advanced than in some Western countries, from the artistic point of view. The preliminaries are not necessarily weather comments taken from the Bureau Reports. They are rather expressions of high regard which imply that one is of world-wide fame, so that although but just introduced for the first time, the emotions on meeting are those of a gratified desire.

After these preliminaries had been handled with no less dignity than skill, my visitor explained his object in calling. It was the wish to bring his people, numbering some fifty thousand Mohammedans, to increase the ranks of the Protestant Community. To the chief, the proposition was a reasonable one. Our Protestant friends are few in Turkey, hence such an accession to their ranks would be a matter for any missionary to consider. He was astounded beyond measure on learning that conversion from Mohammedanism to Christianity is not a thing for any one to accomplish for another, and that if his people wished to be Christians, all that was necessary was for each individual to yield up his heart to Jesus Christ. After long and vain efforts to lead 11s to see how grand a result we could boast if his people were to join us sightseeing sofia, he went sorrowfully away. In actual fact the proposal of this man contained the possibility of the complete destruction of the whole missionary enterprise in Turkey. He had some quarrel with Turkish officials, and he hoped that by the bait of a wholesale conversion of his people to nominal Christianity, we would espouse his cause. This he imagined would bring to him and his tribe the support of the United States Government.

Constantinople can missionaries

In no other city in Turkey than Constantinople can missionaries be sure that they understand the purposes and wishes of the Turkish Government. Without this knowledge they fail to understand the bearing of many edicts and regulations that affect their work, and may easily fall under suspicion or even seem to disregard the laws. The every-day happenings of the period of the Armenian troubles, in 1895 and 1896 gave illustrations of the dominant place occupied by Constantinople and of the necessity of remembering this quality of the city in any scheme of missionary operations in Turkey. The time came during that anxious period when the question was a burning one of the right of missionaries to risk life by staying in the midst of a troubled region. United States officials seemed early to reach the conclusion that missionaries ought to leave the country, instead of causing to the representatives of the United States anxiety and embarrassment by remaining where they might easily become victims of massacre.

Yet the missionaries throughout Turkey wished to remain at their posts in order to do what good they might to the suffering people. They had not what some officials professed to see in them —an ardent desire to get killed for the purpose of adding to the burdens of the official class. But the missionaries in the interior of the country told us at Constantinople that we must give them timely warning when they ought to flee rather than stay, and that they would rely upon our judgment. The responsibility of our position toward these associates was tremendous, for it implied prophetic foresight of new disturbances, through keeping the hand as it were upon the pulse of the Turks to detect each new symptom. Those were days when we dared not take a single step without prayer for guidance. And I believe we had it.

[bulgariazagora]

Man wished assistance from the missionary

This was a dozen years ago, and all the parties to the affair are now dead. But the man assured me that a certain lawyer in Galata had the means – of getting him an American passport for the modest sum of $3,000, and the point on which the man wished assistance from the missionary was the question of securing a hold on the lawyer, to whom the money must be paid in advance. I never knew whether the lesson in common honesty which this man received did him any good. But he sadly abandoned the scheme of buying American citizenship for $3,000, and went into the Turkish prison in default of the American protection which he had fondly hoped to gain.

Missionaries for help

The applications of the people to the missionaries for help in their political and religious quarrels with their superiors make quite a list in the course of a year. One clay a fine looking man with a magnificent black beard, with the eye of an eagle and the bearing of a Grand Duke, came to call. He was the chief of a tribe, half Arab, half Canaanite, living in Syria. Conversation in Turkey is farther advanced than in some Western countries, from the artistic point of view. The preliminaries are not necessarily weather comments taken from the Bureau Reports. They are rather expressions of high regard which imply that one is of world-wide fame, so that although but just introduced for the first time, the emotions on meeting are those of a gratified desire.

After these preliminaries had been handled with no less dignity than skill, my visitor explained his object in calling. It was the wish to bring his people, numbering some fifty thousand Mohammedans, to increase the ranks of the Protestant Community. To the chief, the proposition was a reasonable one. Our Protestant friends are few in Turkey, hence such an accession to their ranks would be a matter for any missionary to consider. He was astounded beyond measure on learning that conversion from Mohammedanism to Christianity is not a thing for any one to accomplish for another, and that if his people wished to be Christians, all that was necessary was for each individual to yield up his heart to Jesus Christ. After long and vain efforts to lead 11s to see how grand a result we could boast if his people were to join us sightseeing sofia, he went sorrowfully away. In actual fact the proposal of this man contained the possibility of the complete destruction of the whole missionary enterprise in Turkey. He had some quarrel with Turkish officials, and he hoped that by the bait of a wholesale conversion of his people to nominal Christianity, we would espouse his cause. This he imagined would bring to him and his tribe the support of the United States Government.

Constantinople can missionaries

In no other city in Turkey than Constantinople can missionaries be sure that they understand the purposes and wishes of the Turkish Government. Without this knowledge they fail to understand the bearing of many edicts and regulations that affect their work, and may easily fall under suspicion or even seem to disregard the laws. The every-day happenings of the period of the Armenian troubles, in 1895 and 1896 gave illustrations of the dominant place occupied by Constantinople and of the necessity of remembering this quality of the city in any scheme of missionary operations in Turkey. The time came during that anxious period when the question was a burning one of the right of missionaries to risk life by staying in the midst of a troubled region. United States officials seemed early to reach the conclusion that missionaries ought to leave the country, instead of causing to the representatives of the United States anxiety and embarrassment by remaining where they might easily become victims of massacre.

Yet the missionaries throughout Turkey wished to remain at their posts in order to do what good they might to the suffering people. They had not what some officials professed to see in them —an ardent desire to get killed for the purpose of adding to the burdens of the official class. But the missionaries in the interior of the country told us at Constantinople that we must give them timely warning when they ought to flee rather than stay, and that they would rely upon our judgment. The responsibility of our position toward these associates was tremendous, for it implied prophetic foresight of new disturbances, through keeping the hand as it were upon the pulse of the Turks to detect each new symptom. Those were days when we dared not take a single step without prayer for guidance. And I believe we had it.