whatever you are, be a good one

I'm a TEDx Organizer!

2011-12-06T01:14:00.001+04:00

I have already told you how much I love TED and about the TEDxYerevan conferences that I took part in (also as a speaker).

I decided to actively take part in spreading the ideas of TED becoming a TEDx Activator. Now let me tell you what it is and why I'm so proud now :))

TEDx Activator is an experiment in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support TEDx organizers who are using TEDx events to spread ideas in the developing world and unprivileged communities. Any community that does not have access to TED and TED.com qualifies.

TEDx - is an independently organized TED event by an individual who has to be granted a free license from TED. The event can be just viewing TED talks, or can have live speakers as well. TED rules state that if it's a full-day event, total 25% of talks have to be pre-recorded talks from TED.com.

In reality, TED is very strict about rules for TEDx and I actually enjoy being part of this!!! There is a strong community with many virtual collaboration tools which somehow reminded me of my beloved youth organization - AIESEC.

In the framework of the TEDxActivator program, each of the Activators will be organizing 4 TEDx events in 1 year, for the above mentioned unprivileged communities.

The first event I planned was for teenagers of various backgrounds, the others most likely will be in the regions of Armenia.

TEDxTumanyanPark organizers :)

The first event me and my friend Gohar organized on November 30, was for TUMO kids exclusively, named TEDxTumanyanPark, and made possible with the help of TEDx Activator Manager and TEDxYerevan licensee Kristine Sargsyan. It was a viewing event with the theme "Creativity in tech". We invited 100 kids (announcing it on Facebook) to the cinema hall of TUMO.

We selected 5 short to mid-length talks with many visuals. We made sure the Armenian translations of the talks (most of which were done by me and Gohar) were there and were correct. We prepared small intros for the talks and also were telling the main points of the talks in Armenian, since some of the kids couldn't manage to read the subtitles or understand the English speech. We had a great support from the TUMO staff and it was a pleasure to work with them!
And based on what we heard from the kids - they really enjoyed it! I hope we will see TED speakers growing up out these kids who were just getting acquainted with TED :)

Here are a few official numbers about TEDx:

TEDx began in March 2009.

# of TEDx events 2009: 279

# of TEDx events 2010: 952

# of TEDx events 2011 so far (Nov. 29): 1645

Total # events: 2876

Countries: 118

Languages: 40+

Licensees: 3450+

Videos (TEDxTalks): 10,500+

Across various platforms, TEDxTalks videos have been viewed over 50 million times.

Here are more pics from the event, made by my lovely cousin Semira Martirosyan.

P.S. My status msg on FB about becoming a TEDx organizer got 120 likes and 30 comments. As it turns out, there were rumors in the city that I had quit my current job and now I'm a full-time TEDx organizer :). Dear all, i'm still PanARMENIAN Arpik and I have no intention to change my job. Being a TEDx organizer does not require full time efforts, thankfully :)

a lunch with @dolboed and meeting @stevewoz at the airport. quite a day!

2011-11-10T03:26:00.000+04:00

Often, when you wake up in the morning, you have no idea how many awesome things will happen to you on that day.

This week, I was invited to take part at the EU-Armenia Seminar on "Media Today" in Tsakhkadzor with many international guests and had a chance to get acquainted with Anton Nossik, the Russian internet guru. We had some interesting conversations over lunch and coffee and he even started following me on Twitter and 4sq! :)

You know, as a rule, I don't take photos of me with celebrities. I hate that. But i love being around them and talking to them. I get inspired by the conversations and learn a lot indeed.

Today the news broke that Steve Wozniak is arriving to Armenia to receive the Global IT award by the Armenian President. While posting a status about it I saw a Facebook suggestion to subscribe to Steve Wozniak's updates. I checked out his profile and saw his Foursquare checkin that was posted on his wall with the comment mentioning his flight number and destination - Yerevan :)
I couldn't miss the chance to go and meet him at the airport with friends. Despite not having any "i" devices to give him for signing and not quite being an Apple fangirl, it was a great chance for me to meet the Apple co-founder in person :)

My friends prepared a small surprise for Woz. He was really excited to see them (and his wife and other people there too!). He signed their iPads (they're priceless now) and got an Armenian apple from Lia (and hugged her:))

Armenian Apple fanboys meeting Woz in the airport

I was watching it from the side :)

me tweeting!

the geeks...checking in

upd. watch the whole photo report here: http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/photoset/1085/

Adrineh blogged today about the 10 reasons she loves about living in Yerevan. I can relate to the points she mentioned but would add a new one that's very true for me: life in Yerevan is full of surprises! You can hear that a legend like Woz is coming to Armenia right on his arrival day and actually rush and meet him in the airport :)

pics by Lia Mkhitaryan

"Guinea Pigs in Technology" or geek girls are cool! my TEDxYerevan talk

2011-10-29T14:46:00.000+05:00

As I have told you already, I was honored to be selected as one of the speakers of TEDxYerevan 2011.

I was very excited about the opportunity and I also knew that it's gonna be a tough job. I had to pass auditions with the organizing team and prepare a talk which would be:

short
fun
geeky
inspiring

After my sudden success with the BarCamp's talk, everyone expected of me something similar: just an easy, funny speech about geeks and dating. But I really wanted my talk to contain a personal story (like in most of TED talks), have a message and to inspire at least some people. So i had many conversations with various people, met other geek girls. My closest friends were particularly helpful as they were "working" on my talk all the way from the start to the final submission. I even organized some small auditions at in my apartment, asking for feedback on slides, texts and even my body language when talking (a friend even recorded my rehearsal on a video so i could watch myself).

So here I can finally present the result. I'm posting the slide deck, narrative speech (a little extended with some parts that were cut out in the final speech) and also the video of the talk.

"Guinea Pigs in Technology" or geek girls are cool (contains slide notes)

Do you know what guinea pigs and women in technology have in common?

This is an old joke i used to hear a lot some time ago. The popular answer is this: the common thing between women in tech and guinea pig is the fact that women are related to technology the same way guinea pigs are related to pigs. I'm here to tell you that this is complete and utter… nonsense.
Let me tell you a story.
So it’s about a girl, who was born in a very typical Armenian family. Normally her destiny would be pictured like this: she’ll go to school, enter university, find a husband, have some kids, become an exemplary housewife who can cook excellent dolma… and work as a teacher maybe.. well, in this particular family i'm going to tell you about, things went a little different.

Something somewhere went wrong and the first signs of the troubles have started to emerge as the family bought their first PC back in 1996 and their teenage daughter started to show signs of computer addiction.. becoming a «computer rat» in their words. Her initial plans to become a journalist quickly vanished and she started to dream of becoming a hacker.
Since the age of 13 she became the computer expert for her whole extended family, getting emergency calls whenever someone couldn't find a certain key on the keyboard, or couldn't change the font properties in the Word processor.

Since then, “Let Me Google It For You” has been a phrase she used a lot. Well and the RTFM.

She has been studying computer science and one day she realized that the profession she's chosen is changing her while studying databases when she was around 18 years old. She had this idea.. of being able to remember big amounts of information, to be able to connect things she heard.. and just to be able to fit in all the things she was learning. She found out how to optimize her brain's databases, arrange the tables with a 'foreign key' and index all the data, so that all the new information she gets, gets stored in the appropriate table with the keywords, and she can fetch the information quite easily. This was a remarkable moment when she realized that she somehow managed to optimize her brain the way, so she quickly connects the facts and random pieces of information and her memory is significantly improved…

One of the happiest moments of her life was buying a laptop. She needed a portable computer that she could use it even in bed and in cafes, and when she had it, it was not very common to walk in the streets with big laptop bags yet.. and she occasionally felt herself like the little Tiffany from the Men in Black.

With the web 2.0 and new media emerging, she became an early adopter, and was labeled as a tech evangelist. One who signs up for all the new social networks, manages to be aware of all the industry news… she has built some impressive online personality with big network, and with many followers and all…
She was labeled as a geek. Then she started to explore what’s in that word.

So who are geek girls?

These are the most common perceptions I’ve brought together.

They are not feminine

They lack social skills, mostly hang out with other geeks

Using a lot techno-slang

They must know good programming

And they work just in tech industry

Some of these things are truly just myths. In reality geek girls are:

1. Independent or better to say - self-dependent people. They solve most of their own problems :)
They can easily setup a home wireless network, configure a router, even without a prior knowledge in networking. They just know how to find it out digging through search results and technical forums.

2. Geek girls are smart, witty, tech savvy

3. They are gadget and connectivity dependentEven though they don’t depend on other people for their problems, they are very much dependent on their gadgets and network availability.

4. They learn really quickly and are actually very good at quick self-learning. They know how to google stuff, or youtube things like “how to fix damaged headphones” or simply “how to gift wrap a box”.

5. Geek girls are info-junkie and love sharing. They have to be up-to-date with the latest information on their interest and they all love sharing information and useful hacks. That’s why they are active in social networks.

6. Also, geek girls can be really cute
Just like socialites. Not convincing?

Well.. for the socialites we all know that they are:

Obsessed with shopping and worship shoes

They actually admire lady gaga for some reason.

They are obsessed with SATC show and frequently quote the heroines.

I know a geek girl who’s a shopaholic, with a particular passion for shoes. Well, she recently told us, she counted about 27 pairs in her 2011 spring-summer collection.
And not only her… among my geek girlfriends there are ones who think that Lady Gaga is actually cool. They read Cosmo and yeah, Sex and the City is one of their favorite shows of all time, they were noted to be stylish and pretty. Not quite like the perceptions, right?
Now lets go back to the girl I was telling you about in the beginning.

The netbook that’s the default accessory in her purse is actually pink. It has Google, Firefox, Android and Hello Kitty stickers next to each other. Among her 200 RSS subscriptions, there are many fashion, gossip blogs. Her smartphone has more fashion apps than you know existed J She meets her friends not by calling and asking where they are, or telling where she is. They have foursquare and other geolocation services for that. She tracks her not suspecting sister with the google latitude she had setup on her cellphone.

You can meet geek girls in some glamorous party, all dressed up, on towering heels, talking on her smartphone.. Explaining someone from her workplace how to fix the server..
You can meet a girl restarting that damn router at a café when they badly need a wifi.
This is Ani, she has written an alarm clock application for her friend’s phone, because it didn’t have one.

These girls - Nelly and Gayane, have created a very popular website dedicated to indie music all by themselves, coding, promotion and stuff.

Geek girls were active in Yerevan Barcamps’ organization, well; I was one of them and guess what? I was telling about “how to date a geek girl”. Somehow this presentation became a viral hit on the web, becoming the top presentation of the day, then week, then most tweeted and ended up getting about 20K views in couple of weeks. And I got featured in a Taiwanese website with a special mention of my netbook which turned out to be a Taiwanese pride. It got a huge positive feedback and I want to share some of the highlights.

When geek girl is dating a geek guy.. well. That’s predictable. They communicate via messengers (even when they are in the same room), they schedule meetings via google calendar invitations, their computers are sweetly connected via a shared folder in dropbox, and they express their emotions via likes and comments…

When geek girl is dating a non-geek. Either the guy gets paranoic thinking that their (potential) girlfriend can hack everything of theirs, starting with text messages on the phone, ending with email and social media accounts. And nothing good comes out of it.

You can never know that a pretty girl you’ll be flirting with in a bar, might have already checked your FB profile on her smartphone while you were looking away, and might have tweeted how bored she is with your conversations.
But, if guys are smart enough, they start exploring her ‘territory’, signing up in the social networks she’s in, following her posts and reacting to them.
If you follow these simple steps, a geek girl can give you the root password for her heart.

But actually, being a geek girl is really cool.

Being a geek girl makes you feel more confident, independent. You can solve your own problems actually. You become needed and demanded by everyone around, from your boss to your friends.

So what do guinea pigs and girls in technology have in common? Yes, they are both cute J

We, the geek girls of Armenia have decided to establish a community of our own. So i invite the girls to join us.

At last, I want to tell you that a geek’s image for girls actually comes with a ‘dumbness filter’. If you’re a geek girl, you can attract all the right guys and scare all the wrong ones J

Girls, enjoy being geeks.

The video of my talk

I'm really thankful to all the people who approached me, gave feedback, told me that they could relate to some parts of the talk and just told me they enjoyed it :) I'm thankful to fellow speakers for cheering me up when i was nervous and for all the support. I am so lucky to be part of this great team!

TEDxYerevan 2011 speakers

Don't forget to check out other talks on the TEDxYerevan website.

Eventually, everything connects

2011-10-20T14:04:00.000+05:00

I loved this line since i first read it. I even named my tumblog like that - "Eventually everything connects".

I love finding out unexpected connections between things that i never thought could be related anyhow. Facts, people, ideas...
Actually, when i googled the phrase to find out the author, I was greatly surprised. It connected, again!!!

The full phrase is the following: "Eventually everything connects—people, ideas, objects…the quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
The author is Charles Eames - legendary designer.. and... imagine. I've met his grandson!!! A TED speaker Eames Demetrios. Who came to Yerevan for his project Kcymaerxthaere (I'm gonna blog about it separately).

Here's Eames Demetrios' TED talk about his legendary grandparents.

Happy 20th Anniversary, my Independent Armenia

2011-09-21T02:50:00.000+05:00

I am from the first generation of kids of Independent Armenia to go to school in September 1991.
I remember seeing tanks from the window of my school (it was Charents school on Amiryan str.)
I remember the the war, the dark and cold years and studying under the candle light. And then one day the electricity turned back on and didn't go off again.
I remember watching how Lenin's statue was dismantled and moved out of the Republic Square.
I remember watching how the Armenian tricolor was raised on the Republic Square for the first time. I was standing there, holding my dad's hand.
I've seen the developing free and independent Artsakh.
I've been standing, captivated and holding breath, in front of the newly renovated Republic Square fountains for the first time admiring the singing and dancing show.
I've been following the preparations for the 20th anniversary celebrations and I feel proud.
I have seen the worst times of my independent country and me and my children will see its best times.

...
Few days ago friends were discussing their plans of moving to study/work abroad and have the life they deserve and want. Then someone asked me where do I want to move to? This is not a question I would think twice before answering. I don't usually go into such discussions and I never blame anyone for planning or actually leaving the country for a better life. However, for myself, I can never imagine living permanently abroad. Even in my beloved Italy. Few months at most. And it's not an exaggeration and not a selfless patriotic decision. I do truly feel good living here and I don't care about the fact that I would be earning much more and would have a more secured life if i moved to some western country. I'm not blind and I see the development here and I see the role I can have in it.

There are people who constantly criticize all good and bad initiatives (some even do manage to present entirely good and worthy things from the worst possible angle), point out all the mistakes and shortcomings of the authorities, alarm about problems and spread out all the negativity. That's their way of trying to make a change. As for me, I prefer to cross the street on the green light, never throw anything on the street, admire and share news about all the good initiatives and notice the smallest steps in the development. In my inner circle of friends there are people who are optimistic about the country's future, preferred to stay and work in the country despite of the numberless opportunities to move away. They don't spend most of their time complaining, instead, they actually try to work things out and help others to work things out with a positive attitude. I know how I can contribute to my country's prosperity and I will do it. One step at a time.

This is my post from 3 years ago: Independent Armenia -17

the Cosmo girl in me has awakened

2011-09-17T02:25:00.000+05:00

Finally I'm inspired to write another blog post. It's about my new favorite magazine - Cosmo!

To tell the truth, when I first heard that there will be an Armenian Cosmopolitan, i wasn't very optimistic about that... and I couldn't even imagine that I will be buying its every issue and participating in Cosmo events with such an enthusiasm. The cosmo girl in me has been awakened :) I don't remember myself buying any beauty or women's magazines. So far, the only magazine I've been buying with this periodicity was the "Хакер" when I was a teenager :)

There have been very different responses to Cosmo's appearance in the Armenian market. Many friends of mine have been mocking the articles, titles and just the fact that "those terms" sound so funny in Armenian. But is there any other way? I imagine how difficult it is for the writers and editors to translate and adapt the materials and just to find out how those things are called in Armenian! One of the biggest impacts of Cosmo in our society will be for us to finally get used to Armenian language terms for things. I didn't know Armenian equivalents for most of cosmetics items and even names of clothing (դիմափոշի for румяна, ստվերաներկ for тень, բոկոտիկ for босоножка, երանգաքսուք for тональный крем etc).

So here I'm gonna tell you why I <3 Cosmo so much :)

It's very professionally done. From content to the design and layout (printing quality too :))). I really enjoy browsing its pages.
Contrary to other beauty magazines we have in the market (which are brought from Russia), the content in Armenian Cosmo is actually targeted on us! You see the ad and you know that you can buy it here in the boutiques.
The fashion and beauty columns are informative, useful and with items that are accessible for us. You can see professional photo shoots with clothing that is hand picked from our boutiques by their fashion editor with prices indicated and stylists advice on how to combine the items.
They have a good social media strategy and a very professional website (kudos to Shushan!;).
They succeeded in finding their target "audience" and their first months showed us how much this magazine was demanded by Armenian young women. I'm not surprised that Cosmo is actually the largest circulation Armenian magazine in our market.
I'm really proud for knowing some people from the Cosmo staff personally and that's how I'm not surprised how they get such a great thing done every month :))
You can find useful gifts in some issues! I bought two copies of an issue that had a really cute and quality passport cover from women'secret inside. My mom started to read Cosmo after that :))))
They organize really cool events !!! :)

Last month Cosmo organized a "Tropic Party" in Vahakni and I went there with my cousin and met looots of friends. They had invited some beauty salons and cosmetics brands to showcase their products, had some contests and many surprises. Imagine, opportunity to have a free professional make-up (got lucky to have it!), hairdo (mine was amazing! my sister didn't recognize me at first when she saw me like that :)), free cosmopolitan cocktail (of course), great music and gifts, gifts...

me having a professional makeup (probably just 3rd time in my life :D)

here i learned about this hair gadget which makes awesome hair :))

so this was my look

me and my sister :) my hairdo consists of "broken waves" (yup, just learned the name)

this pic was featured in the September issue, I'm on it!! :D

Here's Cosmo's photo report on the party: part 1, part 2, part 3.

After the tropic party, we learned that there will be a shopping night in Yerevan, for the first time!!! They managed to get more than 80 boutiques and companies participating and actually organized a real shopping festival for Yerevan citizens. I promised myself that I won't do any shopping before that date (financial issues, nothing else :D), but had to break my promise since I had to be a gorgeous maid of honor on my friends' wedding before the shopping night :))) [and you know, i couldn't recycle an old dress and even shoes on that wedding!]

With my shopaholics image known to the whole world, I unwillingly became a walking advertisement for the Cosmo shopping night :D I've been getting few questions on what it is and how it's gonna be held, every day. Calls, FB messages, in person... well, somehow i was really informed :) Hey Cosmo, I guess you owe me here :D

It so happened that had very limited finances [the shopping for wedding was... costly, to say the least :D]. As a true shopaholic, I already knew what's up in the boutiques, so the shopping night was planned to be just 'walking around, fitting stuff' kinda activity. And it so happened that at first, I got to be strolling from boutique to boutique with my awesome male friend :D very nice experience, I must say [well, it became a little awkward in the Etam lingerie boutique, but hey, there were few other guys in there too! :D]. Actually, in this case, I got lucky to know a guy who appreciates shopping in general and was really patient with me :))

late night shopping with Ani

After that I got the chance to visit the Burberry store for the first time (memorable thing, huh) and watched my friend Ani buy a beautiful new dress with a nice discount from there :))

So how was it? as my friend Gaspar noted, there wasn't so much stir and boom during the Museum night in any year :D The central streets were flooded with groups of girls, all dressed up, with full shopping bags. Some stores organized banquets and DJs playing.. with all the stir, you could think that there have been clearance sales everywhere. In reality, there were 10-20% discounts, plus gifts, contests and a promise to be open till midnight. There were queues in front of many boutiques up to late night. I managed to do a small shopping and to have this cute star pendant from Mango as a memory from this day :)

Cosmo's photo report on the shopping night: part 1, part 2.

P.S. Shopaholics among you can check out this Foursquare list I made of boutiques where I shop for clothing and lingerie.

P.P.S. I'm not affiliated with Cosmopolitan Armenia in any way (except for the people i know who work for it) and this isn't meant to be an advertisement. I just want to show my support for this 'project' and will continue promoting the stuff i like in my blog :)

me at TEDxYerevan 2011

2011-09-11T03:16:00.001+05:00

Just came here to share some exciting news :)

Loooots of exciting things happened to me since I last wrote here and I'm having a terrific week now.
Now I'm very close to reaching another milestone.

You know, I've always been bad at public speaking. As a shy girl since school, I've always avoided public appearances, although they somehow followed me everywhere. I always knew I was bad at it and had a big desire to improve myself, so I started to take the chances whenever I was invited to do a training or presentation. It required a lot of energy with my self-criticism and perfectionism.

I remember, at BarCamp 2009, I was just an attendee and didn't have the courage to make a presentation. Next year I volunteered for BarCamp 2010 and did 2 presentations, got a lot of feedback. This year I also did two presentations, and spoke at the opening.. all in the big main hall! ...and the feedback was awesome. I am thankful to each and every one of my friends who were there, supported me and pointed me what had to be improved.

one of my biggest public speaking challenges at a Powerpoint Karaoke event: just a blabla on something you have no idea about :D

During these two years I did a number of presentations and trainings in various places and every time i've been noticing my own improvement.

Last year at TEDxYerevan 2010 I watched my friend preparing for her talk and other speakers presentations and thought: hey, it'd be cool if i could grow up to be a TEDx speaker :) ...

so here I am :) in a great company! looking forward to September 24 to present my ideas on "Guinea pigs in technology" ;))

Watch the TEDxYerevan 2011 teaser here:

and btw, it will be held in TUMO!

How to date a geek girl (my #barcampevn11 presentation)

2011-06-07T19:42:00.119+05:00

This is the presentation and slide notes for my BarCamp EVN'11 talk.

A certain person, who considers himself as ‘definitely not a geek’, inspired me to start writing a blog post about this, which was never finalized and published before this… but while i was trying to chose a presentation topic for this barcamp, and had two serious topics in mind, well… 2 days ago i had this “tadaaa” moment and that was it :) i’m here.
So .. well.. i have to say.. I’m a geek. A tech-savvy, gadgets dependent, spending tremendous amount of time being connected. There’s also a term – wired.

So i’ll be telling some insights on this topic from my own experience… a little bit spiced, however ;)
Just one thing before i start – you have to promise not to use any of these tips against me, okay?

These tips might be particularly useful for non-geeks as they give some perspective from an actual geek girl.
They will particularly work if the girl has some initial interest in you, or at least nothing against.

1. Subscribe and Follow

Geek girls, probably not everyone, but of the type i’m gonna tell you about, are quite accessible. Meaning, they are easily reachable via some social networks, have quite a noticeable online presence. Like if you google their name, you’ll get at least couple of pages of results for her profiles, blog posts, comments etc.

One of the first things you should do is - if she has a blog – definitely subscribe to it. Find her on social networks, get on to the messenger she’s using and start friending.. but not in all places at once. Note: if you’re not on any of those popular networks, you should seriously consider signing up for them, that will significantly ease the job ;)

Start exploring her online personality.. her likes and dislikes.. chances are, you’ll get pretty much informed on how she spends her days, what does she do in life, etc..

If you’re still interested in her after discovering her online personality… then you should start... interacting.

2. Interact

Write comments. Carefully pick when and where to comment so that you don’t annoy. Learn the netiquette and some basic ethics of online communicaton in those networks.. that’s why it’s important to observe a little bit before you act. .. so my advice here is.. don’t like or comment her every post :) or write messages like these:

3. Find her

Ok third.. find her. I mean find out where she hangs out. If you’re lucky enough to be mutually friended with her in Foursquare, then you’ll know when she hangs out in the evenings, her favorite spots.. you’ll find the good time to join her. If you’re lucky to be authorised to see her location any moment via google latitude.. that means wow.. she must really like you. You get bonus points for that :)

So basically, she'll appreciate a msg like- "r u still in Segafredo? can i join you? of course if i won't disturb".

And again here, you have to know the limits.. you’ll learn them from her reaction actually.

..and by the way, couple of words about privacy. If you find out that she has started being online for you in Facebook chat, that must be that she added you to her some kind of “online for chat” friends list. By the things that are accessible for you in her profile, you can guess how much she trusts you.. if she’s a real geek, she has to have multiple friends lists with custom privacy settings, so if you see all pictures she’s tagged in, all her wall posts, profile info.. you have pretty good chances ;)

4. Be nice

Find things that you can do that make her happy. Geek girls are not that kind of ones you can achieve by sending the standard flowers, inviting for a classic café dates.. if you notice that she’s very picky for details.. try not to do spelling mistakes when typing. That can annoy her :)

You can send her offline messages by the way.. and long emails are still trendy :)

Just don’t be too sticky.

5. Don't be always on

While you might be refreshing her wall once in every hour, checking her tweets and statuses in messengers, don’t show that you’re constantly dying to get a message from her. Make her miss you and she’ll be contacting you herself. But don’t also make her feel so it’s just her that always writes first :)

6. Be informed

Try to discuss the latest tech news with her.. like facebook’s new feature, or google… but try not to argue much :)

If you know that she’s an Android-er.. chances are that she hates everything about the “fruit” company and iPhones. Don’t bring that neverending “Android vs. iPhone” topic up :)

If you made a gadget/app choice because of her advice – let her know about it. You’ll get your plus points :)

7. Don't play too much

You know what games i mean :) don’t leave her uncertain about your feelings and intentons for a long while. She might get pissed and take some steps. Like writing a kinda pissedoff letter, then publishing it in her blog :)

I know this list is not comprehensive and there’s still a lot to say and a geek girls can be very different… so in the end i want to give some bonus advices in case things don’t work with her after all :) or maybe you weren't meant to be together actually.

So “how to remove someone from your (digital) life” (without burning bridges, going brutal like unfriending)

Limit the accesses - -put her in limited profile friends list, so that they don’t see your activities etc, and also hide them from your newsfeed as well. The less you get reminded of the failure, the faster you get over it.
Untag from the pics that had you once connected..
Disable notifications for checkins in Foursquare
Hide/remove/block from messengers
Filter the emails (so they are marked as read and archived)
Delete her number from quick contacts, or just remove from contact lists at all, in case you get drunk and want to text..
… if all this doesn't work – simply do the inevitable:

Delete all old emails and get rid of their email address (clear it from the "autofill" in your email)
Delete their number out of your phone
Unfriend them on all social networking sites
Block/Delete them on your messengers

Good luck! :)

Here's the presentation file:

p.s. a tip from @netcrash - buy her a domain name if she doesn't have one already :)

if you have comments or more tips, write here in the comments, i'll update the post with them :)

update 1: Lusine Barseghyan has translated my post into Russian, thanks, Lusine! :)
update 2: My presentation went viral and became top presentation of the day/week and most tweeted on Slideshare! THANKS everyone! :)))

Victor Ambartsumyan's legacy and my trip to Byurakan Observatory

2011-04-30T22:15:00.001+05:00

I have already told about my passion for astronomy in my blog more than 2 years ago. This April 16 has been a very remarkable day for me. I had a tour in the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory. It was a press trip organized by the Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS); a step for promoting science and journalists came for help :) [note: i'm not a journalist currently, but how could i resist not to go there, with the excuse that i work for a news organization... and am a blogger? :)]

here i'm actually outside (on the balcony) the biggest (2.6 m) telescope

The trip included several presentations about the Obeservatory and Victor Ambartsumyan, contemporary issues of astronomy, science journalism and more. They were held by Areg Mickaelian - the man who organized the trip (co-president of the ArAS) and Hayk Harutyunyan - the director of Byurakan Observatory.

We learnt some amazing facts (Gayane Mirzoyan has outlined some of them in her blog (Russian) about the observatory, the telescopes etc. Here's my pick:

When first installed in 1976, the 2.6m telescope was the 7th in the world, now it's 45th...
Couple of years ago a small observatory was set up for educational purposes in Stepanakert, Artsakh Republic.
A number of international astronomic conferences were held in Armenia throughout these years,
In 1964 and 1971 conferences on extraterrestrial civilizations were held in Byurakan Observatory. The meeting of 1971 was the first international symposium on the problem of Extraterrestrial Civilizations and Communication with Them. Many prominent scientists, including astronomers, physicists, chemists, biologists, philosophers, and specialists of other related fields participated in the symposium.
Victor Ambartsumyan has been promoting Armenian language within the science academy institutions and in his will he even wrote that "everybody, regardless the percentage of Armenian genes in their blood, should study and master the Armenian language" (source in Armenian).

Areg Mickaelian, Leading Scientist and Head of research group at the BAO

Hayk Harutyunyan, director of the BAO

There were also talks about astronomy and astrology (turns out even some journalists didn't know the difference!).. For those who don't know me well -- I absolutely hate everything connected with astrology and get frustrated to hear people confusing it with astronomy!

Here are some pics from the Ambartsumyan's worplace:

Victor Ambartsumyan's desk

the amazing portrait by my former colleague William

After the presentations we had a tour in Ambartsumyan's house, which is now a museum. Then we went to see the pride of the observatory - the 2.6m telescope. I've been there couple of times by night and never seen it in the daylight. Turns out it was possible to get out to the balcony.

2.6m telescope. pride of the observatory

here is it - the largest telescope of the observatory

the control panel of the telescope

me and Gayane, to whom I am grateful for learning about the press tour

the group of the press tour

...........

This week I watched The Contact again. I have almost forgotten how I loved that movie. And the next day I read in the news that SETI suspends its search for alien life :(

.. and I just finished translating the first Armenian TED speaker - Garik Israelian's talk about the spectroscopy and search for extraterrestrial life. Soon the Armenian subtitles will be published here. Here's the talk:

Organizing the Foursquare day meetup in Yerevan #4sqday

2011-04-14T23:56:00.000+05:00

When writing this post about a year ago, I could never imagine that I'll become one of the "ambassadors" of Foursquare in Armenia. Being an early adopter and a geek willing to try everything new, I'm somehow influential in the tech-related things among my friends and they often consult with me for new services and gadgets (like Kindle, Android phones, apps, tablets, geolocation services, etc).
Throughout last year, I made a presentation on Geolocation services and Foursquare during the BarCamp Yerevan 2010, appeared on Yerevan.ru promoting Foursquare, and Banadzev production's Interactive program, then my own PanARMENIAN.Net interviewed me about the meetup.

It somehow happened that I became the organizer of the annual Foursquare Day meetup in Yerevan (4sq Day).

Celebrated on April 16 of each year, Foursquare Day (4sqDay /4 squared = 16, hence 4/16!) is a chance to get out and connect with others in your neighborhood and around the world.

I began following the official 4sqDay twitter, read the blog and howto's for organizers to make the most out of the meetup. I created a Facebook event, since it was easier to promote than the meetup page, in our case. I submitted the information about our meetup in the local meetups database. I also set up a Twitter account for coordination of our Foursquare activities in Yerevan - @4sqYerevan.
I also filled a form to request a swag from Foursquare, even though in order to receive it, we had to have 50 confirmed participants on the meetup.com page by April 4.
Couple of days ago parents called me in the afternoon to say that I've got a package delivery home from Fedex. Turns out it was full of Foursquare goodness! A huge banner, stickers, badges as buttons and other stuff.

By the way, Foursquare has been encouraging the meetup organizers to approach our city mayors and ask them to proclaim the April 16 an official Foursquare Day in our cities.
Today we learned that mayor Bloomberg Proclaims 4/16 as Foursquare Day in NYC!
Somehow we thought that it won't be possible in our case.. and could take forever to reach our mayor, but maybe we should try next year? ;)

In case you are interested to learn more about the Foursquare, there's no better chance than coming to the meetup on Saturday, April 16, 19:00 near Cascade.
71 people are already "Attending" according to the FB event and 38 people confirmed participation on Meetup page.

If at least 50 people check in at the same place around the same time, everybody will get the "Swarm" badge for the first time in Armenia! and of course, the special 4sq day 2011 badge too.

Confirm your participation on the meetup page: http://www.meetup.com/foursquare/Yerevan-AM/88180/
RVSP on the FB event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200849073282283
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/4sqYerevan and the hashtag #4sqDay.

there were 2 "4SQ Day" t-shirts in the package and i reserved one for myself:) who wants the 2nd one?

story of one personal letter

2011-03-21T02:56:00.000+04:00

I've got 10 theories. Pick one or more that suit you and the reality the most.

1. you're an ass, that's it. a big fat ass and nothing more
2. you hate me and try all the small stupid tricks just to let me know about it
3. I'm just a dumb little thing making a big story out of that just one unreplied email, one stupid Sunday evening, one clearly harmless "missing in action" thing from that day in the cafe and a stupid chat message on the stupid March 8 day and I've annoyed the hell out of you already!
4. you're awfully too busy to drop me a line that you are, in fact, busy, and we may reschedule the things we needed to discuss for next month/year
5. you heard somewhere that i bite and kick asses of men and decided that you better ignore me than be beaten up by some geek chick
6. you feel that you've been an ass not to notify me that you are busy when you were supposed to, then you had a sorta guilt feeling and decided to avoid me and the topic whatsoever until we both remember it when we accidentally meet again in few years
7. you had a strange dream and woke up feeling that I have some hots for you, and I'll be chasing you all around and decided that you better avoid the whole story in a gentle ignoring way since you're just not into me
8. you know that you were supposed to let me know that you're not coming and you were kinda sorta very busy these couple of weeks and were actually going to write me.. just now! but I was quicker..
9. you feel oppressed and miserable when talking to me since I'm so much informed in some things that it makes you feel like a loser. and unless i dye my hair blonde and erase half of my brain's hard drive, I will you make feel like some douchebag everytime you communicate with me
10. you are reading this thinking WTF! since you've sent me several text messages, called few times, wrote on FB, commented on my foursquare checkins and got not response. must be that it's me ignoring you.

Action Items

if you feel that theories #1, #2 are more like you, then you should probably just ignore this message as well and we'll both live happily ever after and hopefully never see each other again.

if you feel that #5, #9 are closer to the truth then you have some clear problems with confidence and your feminine hormones are just overwhelming you right now and I better leave you alone dealing with this, not to make it worse. just forget, ok?

you're convinced that #3 is the case and oh, I'm a drama queen ya know.. I think I need some assistance here.. any chance you know a good shrink? [let's rule PMS out, not the case :)]

If #4 and #6 are close to reality, then it's better that we really flush all this story out to the toilet and go back to the day when you added me on foursquare or I friended you on FB and leave it as it was before. no reply needed to this obviously stupid message.

#7 Here I'd only say - "Duuuude, you're so not my type.. so calm down, it's just business and maybe I was that stupid to suppose that we could somehow be friends", well sorry to disappoint you then. I'd recommend you reading the following 'cry of my heart'.

if you feel that theories #8 and #10 are more like you, then you can come and talk to me this Sunday, 2pm at *****. no need to write a reply or anything.

**If you feel that I've gotten too far writing this smartass message and forgot to mention THE OBVIOUS, which shows you completely guilt-free and me (and my imagination) the sole reason for everything, then again you should probably come join me on Sunday and make me blush and cry and beg your pardon on my knees.

What was this?
my friend got an Android phone and is slowly becoming a geek. there has been some social media miscommunication between us since then. of course social networks made it easier to reconnect, however between all the Likes, Comments, Check-ins, comments on Check-ins, text messages, chat conversations, etcetera we kind of lost contact and it was actually harder to keep in touch :-D

at some point I got confused, as I didn't hear from him for a while. Since i had no clue what was happening with him and I was worried, i decided to let him know about it and at least get his attention :)
* I'm publishing the letter with some modification and with his permission :)

So, if you were him, would you go? :)

my astronaut's diploma

2011-03-11T01:55:00.000+04:00

Նրանք, ովքեր այցելել են մեր տուն վերջին մի տասը տարվա ընթացքում, գրասեղանիս վերևում տեսել են այս դիպլոմը: Իսկ մնացածը կարող են տեսնել այստեղ`

Ի հեճուկս Արթուր Պողոսյանի, այս մեկն իրական է, ստացել եմ Նիդեռլանդներում, որտեղ 9 տարեկանում մի ամիս ապրում էի: Հա, ու ես էլ մանկուց աստղագիտություն շատ էի սիրում ու Գագարինը իմ հերոսն էր :)

on friends and needs

2011-03-06T02:57:00.000+04:00

Winter has gone for good and seems like I've survived it! The sun was turned ON as the calendar spring started on March 1 and me, the solar-battery-powered being, has been recharging quite successfully these days.

Finally had some thoughts I decided to share with my blog's readers...

I've been thinking that it would be good to have more people around me that actually care for me rather than needing my knowledge, connections or stuff like that. Every day I get emails/messages/calls asking for information or some kind of assistance and I'm gladly satisfying them within my capacity. I'm one of those pathetic beings that have hard time saying "no" and tend to put others' interests above own convenience and needs. That's how I'm programmed and I can't do anything with that. It's being very stressful, however, to notice how some people take advantage of it, sometimes maybe unwillingly.
Sometimes, with this struggle to help those who need me for business, I neglect those who truly need me in a more emotional kind of way. There might be people who need to talk to me, share and discuss things, just see me... they might think I'm so busy that I can't be spending time with them and so never approach me for that less serious stuff. If you identified yourself with this - I'm truly sorry.

I do really really really need to feel that there are people who like me and care for me and could just call in the middle of the night to hear my voice. Or just ask for a meeting just for the sake of seeing each other, and not discussing business.

Sometimes I'm meeting people whom I need in this emotional kind of way because obviously there are things that bother me and I'd like to tell them to someone and ask opinions.. It occasionally happens that I'm meeting a new person and I feel I could tell my life's story to them, but what happens in reality is that I can't even get a chance to meet them in person.
Here I'm usually becoming a victim of those "games we play" and stereotypes and can't just explain people why I need them, because what it's turning to be according to them is - that I'm fallen for them :) this kinda sucks.

I want more people sharing their knowledge, discussing things and daily learning with me.

I need more smart, meaningful and beautiful people around me, because that actually affects me, what I'm becoming!

I don't want you to have an impression that I have lack of friends or that I have any kind of problems with them :) I do have many friends and I love them all. Even those whom I haven't communicated to for ages and those who usually need me for fixing their computer related problems.

I have several amazing people around me that are always there for me and this I appreciate greatly.
Most of these people receive long emails from me from time to time (usually on new years eve) and sometimes I can't keep it to myself how I love each of them. I put aside my shyness and turn the sincereness mode on the maximum level and use my writing skills to tell what I can't express otherwise.

Fight Club. my feelings about the book, quotes and some kinetic typography

2011-01-21T02:04:00.000+04:00

While I was reviewing my 2010, I happily concluded that the Kindle was one of my best acquisitions of the year. Thanks to it, I read so many books, I wouldn't normally read due to my stirring life. However with some geeky touch - it became possible!

One of the most notable books I've read during summer was the "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk. It was an awesome read.

Actually, I've been hesitating whether I should confess this embarrassing fact, but to be fair I will. I hadn't seen the movie... till last month. But I love the fact that I saw it after reading the book and that the movie was cooler than the book. Even the author Palahniuk has stated that he found the film to be an improvement on his novel.

At first, I was unsure if it was a right choice for me to read this book. I'm generally against violence and I hate watching that kind of movies, and especially reading about it. I prefer to get some positive emotions from those things I occupy myself to give my brain some rest. But the book got me thinking about lots of stuff and even affected some of my beliefs. This is a cult movie indeed. It contained a great amount of notable quotes that were carefully copied with my Kindle's "Notes" feature :) Here are my favorite ones. I'd bold almost every quote here.

this 'warning' flashes in the DVD version of the movie before the FBI warning

"This is how it is with insomnia. Everything is so far away, a copy of a copy of a copy. The insomnia distance of everything, you can't touch anything and nothing can touch you."

I loved the part when the author was describing why they were attending the various support groups.

"I never went back to the doctor. I never chewed the valerian root. This was freedom. Losing all hope was freedom. If I didn't say anything, people in a group assumed the worst. They cried harder. I cried harder. Look up into the stars and you're gone."

...

"Marla's eyes narrow. She never dreamed she could feel so 'smarvelous. She actually felt alive. Her skin was clearing up. All her life, she never saw a dead person. There was no real sense of life because she had nothing to contrast it with. Oh, but now there was dying and death and loss and grief. Weeping and shuddering, terror and remorse. Now that she knows where we're all going, Marla feels every moment of her life."

"Marla's philosophy of life, she told me, is that she can die at any moment. The tragedy of her life is that she doesn't".

About perfection

"Sometimes, you wake up and have to ask where you are. What Tyler had created was the shadow of a giant hand. Only now the fingers were Nosferatu-long and the thumb was too short, but he said how at exactly four-thirty the hand was perfect. The giant shadow hand was perfect for one minute, and for one perfect minute Tyler had sat in the palm of a perfection he'd created himself. You wake up and you're nowhere. One minute was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection. You wake up, and that's enough."

...

"I just don't want to die without a few scars. I say. It's nothing anymore to have a beautiful stock body. You see those cars that are completely stock cherry, right out of a dealer's showroom in 1955, I always think, what a waste."

...

"At the time, my life just seemed too complete, and maybe we have to break everything to make something better out of ourselves."

...

"If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't
May I never be complete.
May I never be content.
May I never be perfect."

...

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all a part of the same compost pile."

...

"Nothing was solved when the fight was over, but nothing mattered."

...

"I'm breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions, because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit".

...

"Its only when you've lost everything, that your free to do anything."

by ~theWickeDesign

I was thrilled by the scene with the supermarket guy (in the book it was in a bus). Here's the big quote from the book, better to read it entirely or watch the scene from the movie see below)

"Raymond K. K. Hessel, your dinner is going to taste better than any meal you’ve ever eaten, and tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of your entire life."

Here is the actual movie scene in Italian, in case ))

My sweetheart Jared Leto has a small role as "Angel Face". His character gets terribly beaten by the "Narrator" and the following line just made me think. A lot.

I felt like destroying something beautiful.

Here are some wonderful animations - kinetic typography videos made with some epic moments from the Fight Club.

“Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.” — Tyler Durden

Yeah, and I have to mention that I'm now pretty terrified after realizing how restaurant waiters can mess with the food :(

in case you want more quotes. Here's a fair collection on wikiquotes.

My 2-day road trip. the interesting Artsakh (part 2)

2011-01-14T01:40:00.000+04:00

You may read the first post about the trip here, and the beginning of the post about Artsakh here.

Here I will show the images from Vank village and nearby locations. I was really very surprised to see things like that in Artsakh and my friends too, when they saw the photos, were amazed by the creativity of those architects and designers out there.

So, after visiting the wonderful Gandzasar Monastery we went down the hill and continued by the road further. There was this very original rest house named "Sea Stone" that... well, better watch it yourself.

the rest house, general view

these interesting creations are the first to impress

"single" view

view from the back

sunbath

a totally wrong posing with this statue

the peeing mermen

closer look to the mermen (male mermaids)

look at his face expression

details of the exterior.. nose, brains, eyes, mouth...

more details..

this guy's expression is.. well, the mermen are peeing on his head

a lion carved in a hill!

the sign reads "Caution! Angry lion. Don't tease!"

rRRrrrRrRrr

a unique piece of art :)

guess what's this? restroom! named "Очко"

Restroom entrance

Here are some images from the amazing Vank village.

Restaurant "Eclectica"

License plates of the enemy's cars from the war time

I always dreamed of having my photo taken here

a kindergarden

a statue in front of the kindergarden.. no comments

It's difficult to show in photos everything that has to be seen there. Pick a chance and just GO!

In the end, photos of the St. Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi.

Yerevan shopping guide for girls: New Year Sales edition 2010

2010-12-27T03:51:00.002+04:00

Today I spent about 5 hours wandering on the streets of my byuuutiful festive Yerevan, doing my favorite money-spending activities: shopping for wearables and gifts. At first I was by myself, but I didn't feel alone, since I incidentally met dozen of friends on streets and inside stores. Some of them joined me for several stops. Others were following the same route so I kept seeing them behind the coats stand in one store and trying on some shoes in another :-D

Yes, I'm a shopaholic and it's not news. It turned out that I've become some kind of a Yerevan shops guide for my friends. I'm constantly being asked where to buy shoes, or dresses or where are sales in the city. Not that I go and constantly check out every store :) It's just that I walk a lot and communicate with lots of people and since it's an area of my interest, I'm kinda more informed than average. This is why I decided to share this information with my readers, hoping it might help them!

a tiresome shopping in Italy :))

Taking into account my recent trip to Rome, which was also successful in terms of shopping (there were no sales just yet though :( ), my appetite is still quite full now. I haven't been eagerly waiting for the sales this year and just needed to refill my footwear collection (which can never be enough, you know :D) and buy something new for the NY parties :)..

Enough about me and let's proceed with the tips that will include some FAQs I get from my friends considering shopping.

Today, during my 5 hour shopping trip, I managed to visit the following stores (there is the discounts info, not entirely precise however). If I knew then, that I'll be blogging about it, I'd be more attentive to the numbers.

Benetton (no sale)
Next (up to 30% partly)
Promod (up to 50% partly)
Mango (Tumanyan, Abovyan) (up to 50%)
Mexx (up to 30%?)
Motivi (up to 50%)
Debenhams (25% sales were just for Dec. 25, 26)
Chocco (up to 30%?)
For Love 21 (no sale)
Papagallo (50% but were limited to this weekend i guess)
Basic House (up to 50%)
Terranova/Oggi (up to 50%)

Stores I missed but are also worth checking: Morgan de Toi, Punto Zara, Giordano, 3 Suisses, Bossini, Kira Plastinina, Extyn, Josef, Guess, Garderobe, Max & Co, Ecco & Clarks and also Steve Madden and Paolo Boticelli for shoes, those several boutiques on Parpetsi street, that do not fit to my style and pocket, but you might want to check them too.

Now, some words about several boutiques.

Benetton, the United Colors of

Possibly my all time favorite brand. Keywords: mystyle, italian, colorful, expensive. Benetton's shoes and boots are my (wallet's) guilty pleasure... :)

The store
The store in Yerevan is far from being nice for a shopping experience. I don't like the staff - they are never helpful. If you pick some clothes to try on, then you have to hang them somewhere yourself, no one comes for help. They never tell about the possible discount options and sale dates. It's a challenge to ask for shoe sizes too. I've been asked to go and check one by one myself (even on mannequins!)
Besides, these days I was about to write a petition or even write to the Benetton's general management, because of the wrong management strategy of the local franchiser.
They only bring very limited sizes and colors of the shoes so that there's practically nothing left in weeks. I suffer for weeks, deciding whether I should buy those extra expensive but uber stylish shoes and when I've finally made up my mind - all I get is just the least nice color and several options for 40+ sizes. Most footwear models disappear in all sizes before the sale date comes. I see they are very popular among wealthy Yerevan citizens and they would have noticed this too! Would it bother them to bring some more pairs??! Oh yes, I'm frustrated :|

What to buy

Holiday greetings on Benetton's FB page

Cute and quality shoes, underwear, trendy tights, shirts, and almost everything else from clothing.

Sales, Discounts
The bad news is - there is no holiday sale currently. If i'm not mistaken, last year a 20% sale started sometime around January 20. So hold on, if you can :)

But there's some good news ! A year ago I signed for a bonus card, which was also advertised in Benetton then, and it provided a 10% permanent discount on everything. Quite a meaningful discount especially for some 80K shoes :) Check bonus.am for details.

They provide a 10-15% discount card if you make a 150K+ shopping at once. I've been told that one could also keep the checks and collect them to make 150K for getting that card.

There's some 10-15% discount when buying with credit cards of certain banks like HSBC, Converse Bank, Ameriabank etc.

Else

Benetton cookies that look like delicious octopuses :))

Benetton has always been one of the most creative brands in terms of marketing and advertising. If you go to their website now, you'll see some goodies, like for example these cookies. I'm going to cook them soon ;)

Next (co.uk)

This UK brand's store is quite popular in Yerevan. What's particular to this store is their gift suggestions. Current you can buy some nicely gift-wrapped nightwear and slippers. The staff is generally nice and helpful. Not very full these days.

What to buy

some cute slippers in Next

Shoes, bags, purses and other accessories, socks and tights, slippers, and jeans.

Discount, sales
Their sales dates are not very predictive and the current holiday sales are limited to shoes only. At least it was where I saw the 30% sign.

No info if they have discount cards. There are nice gift cards, though.

Mango (since 1984)

This is my favorite brand for practically everything. And I guess it's the favorite one also for the major part of females in Yerevan. The first days of the sales is a total madness, to say the least. There are long queues at the fitting rooms, checkout and even at the doorsteps. Everything gets messy inside and some shoppers (a big part I'd say) become like zombies (a swarm of locusts is a more precise definition), going through others' heads, stepping on anything to pick the desired thing just TO SEE it.

What to buy
I'm generally dressed there. I buy the basics like dresses, skirts, shorts, tops, glasses, sometimes coats, suits and shoes too.

Sales, Discounts
The sale was announced on December 23 (I'm subscribed to the newsletter, of course :) and I got an SMS on that day (I guess I've left my contacts there when they had those subscribe cards at the checkout).
So the best way to be notified about the sales is to subscribe to their news.
They always start their sales before NY holidays (sometimes from 25%, however this year it was < 50% right away). The sale will continue for weeks, turning to 70% at a point. It's still possible to find goodies by then :)

I have no idea if they have discount cards and it's likely that they don't. If they do, why don't I have it yet?? If you know anything about it, share in comments :)

Some precious tips

#1. Mango is the only brand I know that has their entire collection on the website for browsing and online shopping (limited countries). (go to mangoshop.com and select a country, i usually go for Italy/English/)
You can easily navigate through various garments, check the collection and find out that other colors can the current item have. You can find the major part (if not entirely) of what's displayed on the website in our local stores.

#2. Since their sales dates are quite predictable, I'd suggest you to go check out the collection in the store once in a while. If you don't have something you have to buy immediately, you might want to try on things you like and leave them for buying when the sale comes. Since their collection is huge, chances are you'll be able to find your desired item in your size during the sales. And while it's almost not possible to wait in the line for trying them on, you might win a valuable time and precious nerve cells skipping that part. I have never waited in the line for trying on things during this sales shopping period. Partly, because I know my precise size for everything and mainly because I've tried on enough things to be sure that I won't regret about buying them like that, right away.

Mango Newsletter

#an interesting fact: During the recent years of shopping, me and my sis have collected an unbelievably crazy amount of branded paper bags, in their excellent condition :) for some unknown reason we didn't trash them immediately. During this new year ~~spring~~ cleaning, my sis sorted them by brands, and those that counted a few dozen (Mango was the absolute winner), she decided to take to the store. We didn't believe they would accept them, but it was worth the try. My sister came back from Mango really happy, because they not only accepted them back, but also gave a small reward in the form of a winter handbag :) The Mango staff is great (they even do recognize my face, you know :D) and we definitely LOVE MANGO.

Promod (nouveau!)

This French brand's recently opened boutique was won my heart. It's very favorably located and can be compared to Mango with prices and partly also with style.

What to Buy
Scarves, bijoux, fashion tights, jackets, dresses, jeans...

Sales
The sales started few days ago and they are up to 50%, however not on the entire collection. Actually, I was walking with my friend, passing the Promod store couple of days ago wondering out loud if they plan to start their sales. We had our spiced tea in ArtBridge and when we were walking back, we noticed that the % signs were already sticked to the glasses. THEY HEARD ME.

Debenhams (in front of Eritasardakan metro station)

Debenhams is a department store from UK that was just recently opened also in Yerevan. The store is quite big and not very crowded. They have a big choice of shoes, handbags and lingerie. Strangely, I didn't buy anything while i spent about half an hour there today. They are a bit overpriced and the collections' style is not really mine. When you go, check out the "Home" section (very small though) on the 2nd floor. There were really nice bed linens, shovels, candles and other stuff.

Sales
The Armenian store has a Facebook page, where they announce about sales. 25% discount was for December 25,26 only, however they have announced on the page, that there will soon be a NY sale also.

...
Benefit from discount cards

I've had this terrific idea since long ago, now i'm finally sharing it. I think to create a FB group where we could share our discount cards and coupons for shops. Declare the ones we have and lend to others when they need it. It will especially be great for accumulative cards. For example, I have 10% discount card for Mexx and 20% for Motivi and I'll be happy to lend them.

As I have mentioned in Benetton's case, there is this bonus.am that might be handy :)

Some banks like HSBC, Converse Bank, Ameriabank have fixed sales with their credit cards. Be sure to check with your bank for them.

Check also fashionsquare.am. They have information about sales in several boutiques and gallery of the items.

One more tip

If you doubt to buy *it* or not, I have a tip for you. What I usually do in those cases is - going out and watching other stuff for a while (can be some hours or days, depending on the probability of it to be sold out during that period). If I still remember about it and it's on my mind - I should go and get it ASAP! It has been several times that I was checking the store's opening hour and rushing there in the morning to buy the thing that had occupied all my mind at night :D

This one is from a piece of writing that was meant to be published written back in March, 2009. However I changed my mind limiting its audience to my friends only then. Needs editing but some stuff is not yet outdated there :))

Some more shopping tips from Averik on Yerevan.ru (in Russian).

You may share your information and tips on the subject, I'll update the post with them :))

Happy shoppppiiing!

"Every Path is the Right Path". Mr Nobody, the movie

2010-12-26T03:15:00.001+04:00

I can't watch movies at home in the recent months. When I have the luxury of a spare time, I prefer reading or writing. Even when I try to force myself to watch one of those highly recommended movies, i stop when i realize, that after watching it, the direction of my thoughts will change and my brain will be occupied analyzing it. Sometimes I don't need new thoughts and ideas, because I still need to deal with the existing ones.
Last week I got sick and spent more than 2 days in bed. I couldn't read, write or even watch a movie. I did nothing but suffering from a headache and cold. When I felt a little better, I realized that it's THE time. And Mr Nobody was it.

the trailer:

This is one of the greatest movies I've seen in life. It's dealing with some of my favorite topics and featuring my favorite musician, actor and sweetheart Jared Leto and the fabulous Diane Kruger.

I'm a Jared Leto 'witness'

Here are my favorite quotes from the film.

still from the movie: Nemo (Mr Nobody) and Anna (one of his choices)

“There comes a time in life where everything seems narrow. Choices have been made. I can only continue on. I know myself like the back of my hand. I can predict my every reaction. My life has been cast in cement with airbags and seatbelts. I've done everything to reach this point and now that I'm here, I'm fucking bored. The hardest thing is knowing whether I'm still alive.”

The movie brings the hope that no matter what choice we make it is not the consequences that make our decision the right one. It is US. And the appreciation and the gratitude of what we have experienced. No matter if it is bad or good, positive or negative. We need to appreciate our feelings for the sake of feeling.

Every path is the right path. Everything could have been everything else and it will have just as much meaning.

I often start imagining various possibilities like "if I'd done this instead"... various outcomes of my choices. Sometimes I can feel those experiences just by imagining them in details. It's when I realize that I didn't miss anything and I never really regret about my choices.

Before he was unable to make a choice because he didn't know what would happen. Now that he knows what will happen, he is unable to make a choice.

If you liked The Butterfly Effect, Vanilla Sky and Wicker Park, you'll definitely enjoy this movie! The futuristic scenes on Mars and on the way to it are just awesome. It's also worth seeing how the world in 2092 is described.

We cannot go back. That's why it's hard to choose. You have to make the right choice. As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible.

My new passion: VESPA

2010-12-06T03:11:00.000+04:00

this post has been draft for more than 2 months, I couldn't get myself finish it the way I wanted and was about to cancel, but changed my mind just about now :)

Sean Jordan's Vespa and me!

Derek Sivers, in a hilarious short talk from the TED stage, says that we should keep our goals to ourselves.
I do truly believe him. Even though i have always thought that if I am telling someone about my plans, i'm feeling sort of a responsibility towards my plan and accountability to the person I'm telling. But every often when planning something it happens that I'm visualizing it so well, squeezing all the possible positive emotions from just the thought of it, that I no longer feel the need of actually realizing it. Like I have got enough joy just even thinking about it, that after now i have less motivation to accomplish it in reality.

But here, I'm gonna reveal one of my plans, which I'm accountable to few people. These are kind of friends, whom I won't be trying to disappoint or let down.

As someone who's known of loving everything Italian, I must state that I have found another proof of greatness of my favorite nation. They produce awesome scooters! and Vespa being the greatest brand of them.

Carlo's scooter back in 2008, in Genova

It all started when I noticed the strange (for Europe) lack of bicycles in Italy and the plenty of small vehicles that looked different from motorbikes and easier to ride. Then on my 2nd trip to Italy I met Carlo and we made a "giro" on his scooter around Genova and across the Ligurian sea shore... That was truly unforgettable. The first thought I had after that ride was "I'm gonna get one at home!".

My sister has been convincing me to start saving money for a car. I knew i can't save that much money and besides, one car won't be enough for the two of us. I don't like cars much, but for the recent months I've started to feel the terrible lack of a personal vehicle. and I remembered Vespa... started a basic research and found out that there are no Vespas in Yerevan. No one imports them, because they are expensive. There are scooters of Chinese production that are currently in use by local pizza/shaurma delivery services but are not reliable.

Just in the middle of this research i got to meat Sean. A Canadian from Hungary traveling around the world on his old-style Vespa. I told him about my passion and he convinced me that I should definitely get one. When we met, he offered me a ride around Yerevan, so that I could feel how it is to drive a Vespa in Yerevan.
Needless to say, that experience was plain awesome! Of course we got some attention (maybe I shouldn't be wearing those heels :D) and probably it will be much more intense when I drive it alone, but it was not as difficult with local drivers as I thought it would be.

Vespa is a very popular brand.
in La Feltrinelli, buying Vespa merch. :)

During my trip to Italy, I saw so many Vespas, that I couldn't help but wonder: how much time will it take until scooters become a popular transport mean for Yerevan residents? Sooner of later they will, because of the increasing traffic. Inevitably. Maybe I should contact Vespa for establishing a local dealership :)

in Trastevere..

this was the most awesome Vespa I saw in Rome

This one is just the best!

My 2-day road trip. Day 2 - the free Artsakh welcomes us (part 1)

2010-11-27T02:59:00.001+04:00

You may read about the Day 1 here then go on with this :)

I'm not the same person after this trip.. I've got lots of answers to questions about that territory i had in my head, but also, more questions popped out in my head...

I've always felt guilty and underprivileged for not having visited the historical Armenian land of Artsakh. It wasn't that hard to do, and there have been many occasions. The majority of my friends has been constantly going there, but somehow I wasn't lucky with it. I've been encouraging the tourists to visit it, while myself... well.

Now I'm actually glad that all the other opportunities to visit Artsakh before didn't work out. I'm happy I visited it in November for the first time and with someone who had lots of details and stories about these places to tell.

The first thing I saw in Artsakh was the Lachin/Berdzor corridor.. long, curvy road we passed by the dark, seeing the "Free Artsakh welcomes you" signs which made me feel very positive :)

source: Wikipedia

There wasn't much to be seen in the dark and it took about 2,5 hours to reach the capital Stepanakert. We stopped at the Armenia hotel in the main square, just near the newly reconstructed Parliament building.

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's Parliament building

The hotel was really nice and comfortable with almost all rooms occupied.

Hotel Armenia

In the morning we had a small walk in the city center...

A cute elderly couple strolling on the square

it was really touching

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's Government building

a new fancy park with free wi-fi in the center of Stepanakert!

And here I finally met THEM. Grandmother and Grandfather (Տատիկ և պապիկ). The landmark, the symbol of the high spirit of this brave nation. Also known as the "We Are Our Mountains" monument representing the mountain people of Karabakh.

We Are Our Mountains

me and Papik :) (tatik didn't mind)

We left Stepanakert to go deeper into the beautiful and forested mountains of Artsakh. The weather was perfect. It was much warmer than in Yerevan. I've been regretting that I didn't wear a plain thin shirt.
The whole way I was staring at the autumn landscapes and layers of endless mountains all around... The roads were in a very good condition (North-South Highway constructed with the help of Armenians of the world).
Most of the time I was just smiling to the contrary wind and sun through the open window, sometimes taking pictures right during the drive.

The whole way I was hearing stories from the war, about the land mines, about the battles. Even though there are not so many evidences left from that bloody time, you can feel the cost... the reason why this land was worth fighting for and liberating.

Our destination was Gandzasar.. A truly magical place. A magnificent 13th century monastery located on the hilltop near the Vank village.

a cemetery. graves of those who gave their lives for liberating their land

On the way here I heard the story about how the monastery's priest solely protected the church when the enemy attacked it before our soldiers came for help during the war.

Vank village seen from the monastery

On this image you can actually see the holes made by enemy's bullets. The monastery stands still and reaffirms firmness of faith.

the monastery had amazing and unique carvings

The one thing that amazed me most about this place was the overwhelming feeling of sanctity - peace and silence.

Chilingaryan family tree

i had a very peaceful time on this bench for a while

inside the church

Second part of my (mostly photo) story about Artsakh is here.

My 2-day road trip. Day 1 - the longest aerial tramway in the world and Tatev

2010-11-26T23:44:00.001+04:00

I just realized several of my favorite wishes.

A long road trip with nice people and music
Visiting south of Armenia, Tatev Monastery and getting on the world's longest aerial tramway
Visiting Artsakh - the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The Road Trip
I love long journeys. On a plane, train, car.. whatever. I always enjoy the way, the process of getting into the destination. Especially having things to do (listening to music, reading, writing etc) or people to chat with.
When the way is longer than the stay, you have no choice but to enjoy it, otherwise - it's not worth the time spent.

This time we managed to travel to Artsakh and back in 2 days.

It was very intense. Too many hours of rapidly changing scenes, new places, experiences and feelings. But I've enjoyed it all.

Reviving Tatev

the ticket (roundtrip costs 3000 AMD)

I've always felt myself something between retarded and underprivileged for the fact that I've never been to south of Armenia (further south than Noravank) and never been to Tatev Monastery. Now I feel special and quite privileged. I have been on the Guinness certified world's longest aerial tramway "Wings of Tatev" only couple of weeks after the opening.

The aerial tram was quite nice, not scary at all. The journey is 11-15 minutes long and the highest point is about 300m. The tram can fit 25 people at once and when we were there, it was full with villagers who are allowed to travel on it for free.

the Halidzor station

view from the tram

the second tram on its way back to Halidzor

an old road as seen from the tram

Then we arrived to the Tatev Station.

Tatev station of the aerial tramway

...and I finally saw it. One of the most magnificent sites in Armenia.

Inside the monastic complex

It was nice to see many restoration works being carried out there. They were restoring the old oil mill and visitors had the chance to see a 3D model presentation of how it used to work.

visitors in the old oil mill watching the video

This place is becoming a trending touristic zone due to the "Tatev Revival" project. "The wings of Tatev" was the first step towards the implementation of this major project which includes also:

(1) Restoring the monastery structurally, spiritually, academically
(2) Developing community-based tourism in the six villages surrounding the monastery
(3) Building tourism infrastructure - a hotel across the valley from Tatev and the world's longest aerial tramway spanning the Vorotan River Gorge

A friend of ours who was there a week before, had told us not to miss the cafe that is located inside the Tourist Information Office near the monastery. Yeah, just like that. Why not? :) By а strange but pleasant coincidence we met our friend right there, while trying to locate that Info Office. There we had an amazing homemade dinner in a cozy atmosphere, then some great gingerbread-like cookies.

Then we traveled back to Halidzor station on the last tram for the day (departing 17.30).

And then we continued our trip to Artsakh.

Breaking: an Armenian guy found a big security hole on Google

2010-11-21T03:41:00.000+04:00

I'm kinda proud and happy to share this while it's trending!

Vahe G. (an Armenian 21yo guy), installed a JS code in his blogspot blog (now closed by Google) and if you visited it while logged into your Gmail (even from an incognito window), you would receive an email from him. Creepy?

He has tried to reach Google for this but got no response. Then a friend suggested to write to Techcrunch, so he did. Now he's making headlines all over the interwebs.

Google has already shut the blog and responded: “We take potential security issues very seriously, and our team is actively investigating this one. We’ll share more information soon."

I don't personally know him, but he's been following and commenting me on buzz and twitter, for which I'm now pretty proud! :D

Seems like Google will have to hire him finally. Or maybe Facebook?

Hey Google, know Armenian guys ! Hovik, your brother is really cool! :)

on friendship and coins (spiced with some Italian memories)

2010-11-11T03:40:00.000+04:00

When I first found myself in Rome, it was August 15, 2006. I was standing at the Termini train station with a feeling that I can't describe. My first trip to Rome was incredible, just unforgettable. Not only because I loved everything about that city and country. It was actually the first place, where I was all alone, all by myself. I've traveled to different countries before, but I've always been with someone, or someone was waiting me somewhere there.
I found myself in Rome, with no clear idea what i want/can do there, having just 3,5 days until my departure to Yerevan. I had a place to stay and there was someone I knew from internet that I could meet. Yet, I was all by myself.

during my first trip to Italy. August 2006

It was then and there I discovered that I'm not the panicking type, and moreover, I can orientate myself quite well in new, unknown places. I can find my direction and never give up when lost. I felt that I could take care of myself and it was a strange feeling. I had thoughts like.. i could get lost somewhere and no one could be able to find me, and some gruesome stuff...
There I discovered that I'm fine with myself. I can trust me-myself and be okay in my own company, just walking, seeing things, enjoying my time.

But Rome was very hospitable. When started walking in the streets, I instantly felt like home. I got a map in the nearest "i" point, and started walking towards the "Colosseo".. It must be that I was too focused exploring the map, that I didn't notice how i came SO CLOSE to it. So when I raised my head, it was right THERE in all its grandeur. I was in my own movie. Or dream.. whatever.

My next landmark stop was the Trevi Fountain. Since months I've been keeping a small 100 dram coin for throwing into it. It was long before I had even thought that I'd come so close to it...

throwing of this coin was sponsored by Haykush :)
ciao amica! (pic from 2010)

It was very crowded (it wasn't so on the photos of it i've seen before) and everybody was taking pictures while throwing the coins. I don't want to go into much details here and will just say that i had couple of lacrime on my cheeks. Both for happiness and sadness. There was no one to take picture of my amazed face. No one to share the moment with. No one who could understand the reason why i want to cry.
There i started to write a text message to the first person I thought of. It was my friend Bagrat - another big fan of Italy (even more experienced than me!). He had never been there...

"Kyanqum chei mtaci vor Hromum arajin angam menak khaytnvem.. u aranc fotoaparati.. Trevii mot em, 100 dramanocn em gcum.. Hesa klacem.. " /16.08.06/

Translation: I would have never thought that I'd come to Rome for the first time in my life all alone and without a photo camera. I'm at Trevi, throwing the 100 dram coin. I'm about to cry. (August 16, 2006)

~~~~~

Exactly 4 years and 2 months and 5 days later I'm again at Trevi. Not alone. Moreover, with one of my best friends - Bagrat. Eating the best gelato I've ever had in my life.

It couldn't be any better.

Bagi and me

And here, I guess, I want to use my time travel machine to go back to the August 16, 2006 and tell that girl who's standing in tears, that she's not alone. I want to pass her what I know now and I'm sure she'll feel it. She DID feel it. Yes, I know for sure ;)

P.S. Bagrat, ti voglio bene!

Encounter with the Tyrrhenian Sea

2010-11-07T21:46:00.000+04:00

This is not yet THE post about my recent holiday in Italy. I still have some information, lessons, experiences, feelings to digest before I can write about it.

Being travel-sick is one of most serious obstacles for enjoying my current life. I need a travel -- a change of scene, new emotions, experiences at least once a year. Before, I always thought that I can't ever save enough money for a trip and it's so much hassle to get the visa so it's not worth it. Now, i realized that i am able to give a break to my shopaholic self and overcome the bureaucracy just taking a deep breath and doing it all step-by-step. This trip had not only realized my dream, it also gave me wings. It's realistic! I can do it and my will is the only thing that's needed.

This post is a post about gratitude. One the plane back home I've been writing a special note, naming all the people, events, circumstances, every and every thing that has been supporting me in this journey (not just those 8 days).

So this is dedicated to you. I've had an amazing time thanks to you my dear friends!

a taste of military

2010-11-03T02:16:00.000+04:00

One sunny October afternoon PanARMENIAN Media staff took a day off (the news editorial works 7-days/week) and went on a team retreat to a... military polygon. Being a pacifist and all that stuff, I had announced that I won't be taking a gun, and would just stand there and watch other people shooting (I had even missed a preliminary training on how to load the gun, how do hold it, what/where are the targets, etc)

The only required thing was not to wear skirts (please:). I gladly put on my black patent boots and jeans, someone arranged a special rambo-style make-up so we arrived there, at the Nubarashen military polygon (in a Yerevan suburb) fully prepared.

initial preparations

the required make-up :D

beware! I can shoot!

We got the full cartridge and signed in a special list. There were some military servants standing nearby, enjoying this scene with the mostly female group that was laughing, making fun of each other and holding a real kalashnikov for the first time in their lives. Then they were cheering us and giving advices on how to hold it so it wouldn't hurt the shoulder and to open the mouth not to hurt the ears.

Turned out I was the 2nd one in the list and as I usually do in these kind of situations, i did the opposite of getting into panic. Meaning, I got concentrated and really up to doing it. I just love new experiences in life.

I took the gun, asked the instructor to make sure it won't hurt my shoulder and barely seeing the target I started to push the trigger.. one, two... three.. not even close :) then I got the round. puf, puf!

can you see the target? me neither :D

To me the target was to overcome myself, not to hit a physical object. Yeah, it was deafening, my untrained shoulders felt the kickback and i smelled the gunpowder to the extent of getting used to it.

Overall, this was a remarkable experience and I got a souvenir in the form of a cartridge case to remind me of my first gun experience in life.

the souvenir

P.S. Foreseeing questions like how did we organize this kind of a team retreat, I must say that the idea belonged to our editor-in-chief Marina, who wrote an official letter to the Minister of Defense and got the approval. All the security measures have been taken in the polygon and special preparations were done in order to host us that day.

our team

A photo to be proud of. Me, my colleagues and the Prime Minister

2010-11-03T00:47:00.000+04:00

So here's the famous "Running Prime Minister" photo which was captured by our newest staff addition - Tigran. The photo became viral and in just 2 days was shared more than 500 times on Facebook, printed in newspapers and spread quickly by word-of-mouth.

Today, PanARMENIAN Photo staff had the chance to visit Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan for this shot and a quick chat.

Nanik, me, Tigran, PM Tigran Sargsyan, Vahan and Sedrak @ PanARMENIAN Photo