BY PAUL CHADERJIAN

Once there were and there were not…
Trade winds keep the Tiki lounge overlooking Waikiki breezy and cool. Frozen and blended tropical drinks with rum, strawberries and bananas have made everyone giddy.
“To free and fair elections,” says one of them.
They laugh and drink.
“Wait, wait,” says another. “To the Genocide museum in DC.”
They take another [...]

On this small island in the middle of the Pacific, you’re bound to eventually run into someone you know or run out of land if you just keep going. You’re bound to speak pidgin and start saying ‘howzit’ and ‘bra’ and see the cast and crew of “Hawaii Five-O” in action. Or you may be forced to stare right into the dark eyes of the Armenian Genocide.

We call them cancer, and for several weeks now, not a day has gone by that I haven’t had to write about cancer at work, interview cancer patients, hang out with friends when talk turns to cancer, or see a movie about cancer.

A massive jetliner approaches Honolulu International. It is the size of a feathered crane from six miles away, wings spread, neck sticking out as it passes above a miniature Coast Guard Cutter that’s gliding across the sun-drenched, orange and blue harbor

This afternoon I pulled off the two-lane Kamehameha Highway on the North Shore of Oahu to watch the mighty Pacific and the brave surfers riding her waves. When I reached for the ignition to kill the engine, I became mindful that blasting on my stereo was Karnig singing “Leran Lanchin.”

You press the record button on your camera, and through the viewfinder you see the relic, an ancient spear bathing in golden light. You zoom in, pushing past its glass casing, and you realize you are inches away from the object that Christ felt tearing open his body.

Some days the Sun seems closer to the Earth. Rays push down like a hundred pound weight. Temperatures soar past 99 degrees. Circulation, respiration, neurons, and cells work overtime, in concert, to keep us functional. We thirst for water, for ice. We crave for shade, for air-conditioning. We want to slow down, to sleep.

Hundreds of visionaries, philanthropists, government and church officials, and community leaders will gather at the ancient Tatev Monastery in Southern Armenia on Saturday, October 16, 2010, for the launch of the innovative and forward-thinking Tatev Revival Project.

It’s a picture perfect Sunday morning in Tatev, a serene and remote corner of Southern Armenia. The beauty of this place is so stunning that you have to remind that you are not looking at a computer-generated Hollywood backdrop or an image on an HD screen. This is the real deal. This is the Armenia many will soon discover and want to experience. Sitting in the morning sun, on a green hill across the gorge from the majestic Tatev Monastery Complex is 16-year-old Seryoja. Next to him on the ground is a pick axe, and he’s carrying a burlap sack.

Once there were and there were not golden, grand, palatial, marbled malls of commerce in modern-day Dubai that are incomprehensibly surreal and amazing. But this column starts with the premise of the more conventional malls of commerce in our incredible and bountiful American nation.

Once there were and there were not … a fashionable shoe that is now known as “the world’s oldest shoe found in an Armenian cave.”

And what was found in a cave in Armenia this week was not just the world’s oldest shoe, but there were scarves and pots and pans and two skulls with missing jaws. This story feels like Armenians have just put on a pair of new shoes, and everything feels alright (Nutini 2007).

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Katcho Achadjian has been at the helm of running this picturesque county on the Central Coast of California for the past 12 years. As a local businessman, Katcho’s reputation and passion have made him one of the stars of the region. Now Katcho is leading a campaign to be elected to the State Assembly as a representative of his region in Sacramento. The 58-year-old businessman, husband, father of two, and community activist with multiple honors for his decades of service wants to take his message to Sacramento to help heal California’s devastating economic crisis.

And Where Else Shall We Go?
BY PAUL CHADERJIAN

Once there were and there were not … a people so ancient and devoted to their culture and identity, that their sons and daughters can be found in the most unexpected places in the world.

It’s graduation season, and my niece Ani (who was just born yesterday!) is heading [...]

Once there were and there were not … a people so ancient and devoted to their culture and identity, that their sons and daughters can be found in the most unexpected places in the world.