Uncle Garabed’s Notebook

Proverb
Joy and Temperance and Repose
Slam the door in the doctor’s nose.
… Longfellow

Argumentum Ad Hominem
When someone refutes your argument and you cannot counter-refute his refutation, what do you do?
Why, you simply ban it!

Small World
Back when Uncle Garabed was a federal employee stationed at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, some auditors from the Army Audit Agency came around to inspect the books. One of them introduced himself as Frank Galantay. UG asked him if his surname had anything to do with a region in Hungary called Galanta. He immediately responded, “Why, yes. That’s where my father is from, and that’s how the family got its name. How come you know that?” UG answered that he appreciated classical music and was acquainted with a suite of dances arranged by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly, which he called “Dances from Galanta.”

Politics
The Democrats are in a real bind. They won’t get elected unless things get worse—and things won’t get worse unless they’re elected.
… Jeane Kirkpatrick

Not On the Up And Up
Anno: Dear, you never play golf with Bedo anymore
Edo: Would you play golf with a cheat who moves the ball and fools with the scorecard?
Anno: I should say not!
Edo: Well, neither will Bedo.

What’s in a Name?
Setrakian/Setragian: Babylonian in origin, identified as a proper name after a Babylonian god, Shadrach is the name of a Biblical character described in the Book of Daniel. His original Hebrew name was Hananiah.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

CK Garabed

Weekly Columnist

C.K. Garabed (a.k.a. Charles Kasbarian) has been active in the Armenian Church and Armenian community organizations all his life. As a writer and editor, he has been a keen observer of, and outspoken commentator on, political and social matters affecting Armenian Americans. He has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Reporter and the AGBU Literary Quarterly, “ARARAT.” For the last 30 years, Garabed has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Weekly. He produces a weekly column called “Uncle Garabed's Notebook,” in which he presents an assortment of tales, anecdotes, poems, riddles, and trivia; for the past 10 years, each column has contained a deconstruction of an Armenian surname. He believes his greatest accomplishment in life, and his contribution to the Armenian nation, has been the espousing of Aghavni, and the begetting of Antranig and Lucine.

Latest posts by CK Garabed (see all)

• A Reminiscence: John Najarian - February 19, 2020
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Aug. 5, 2017) - August 7, 2017
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (July 22, 2017) - July 22, 2017