Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Dec. 25, 2010)

Dawn (1899)

An angel robed in spotless white

Bent down and kissed the sleeping night.

Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.

Men saw the blush and called it dawn.

…Paul Laurence Dunbar

Inaptly Named

It has been observed that the surname of composer Johann Sebastian Bach means “brook” in German, whereas he was a veritable ocean.

Religion and Politics

The surest evidence that the country of Turkey is reverting to Islam is its current apathy to the state of Israel

That’s Progress

Science is resourceful. It couldn’t open a day coach window, so it air-conditioned the train.

From My Persian Dictionary

Párchah: cloth

Bazzáz: cloth merchant

Karanful: clove

Kanár: coast

Private Conversation

Edo was bending Bedo’s ear while attending a play in the theater, when the man in front turned to Edo and said, “Excuse me, but we can’t hear a word.” Edo replied, “And is it any business of yours what I’m telling my friend?”

What’s in a Name?

Hampartsoumian: Armenian in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, Hampartsoum is defined as Ascension of Jesus Christ. Hamparian is a common variation of the name, and diminutives are Hampar and Hampig, the latter being of curious interest to Odars.

• 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