Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (March 10, 2012)

Achievement Isn’t Everything

He has, indeed, done it very well; but it is a foolish thing well done.

… Samuel Johnson

Russian Proverb

A sleeping fox counts hens in his dreams.

From the Trivia File

Ouzelum bird: This fanciful bird is reputed to fly backwards, and thus does not know where it is going but likes to know where it has been.

Nail-Paring Superstition

Cut them on Monday, you cut them for health;

Cut them on Tuesday, you cut them for wealth;

Cut them on Wednesday, you cut them for news;

Cut them on Thursday, a new pair of shoes;

Cut them on Friday, you cut them for sorrow;

Cut them on Saturday, you see your true love tomorrow;

Cut them on Sunday, your safety seek,

The devil will have you the rest of the week.

Revisionist History

Teacher: George Washington not only chopped down his father’s cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Hratch, do you know why his father didn’t punish him?

Hratch: Because George still had the axe in his hand…..

Unseemly Words

Edo: Where’d you get all those bruises?

Bedo: Oh, they threw a loud party downstairs last night.

Edo: So?

Bedo: I was the loud party!

What’s in a Name?

Jarrahian: Arabic in derivation, identified as a profession, jarrah is defined as a surgeon.

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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