Just in case you’ve ever wondered how these articles come into existence each week, I’m going to describe a not atypical week of doings by yours truly. Somewhere along the line, and idea, or a few of them, “click”. Then, some get forgotten and remembered, sometimes more than once. Something triggers these notions, and often it’s obvious, but sometimes not. I’ll tell you at the end when the idea for this one occurred. See if you can guess it while reading. Of course I’ll spare you the minutiae of when I went to bed, got to work, ate, etc.
Since these pieces appear in Asbarez and The Armenian Weekly, I’m bound by the latter’s earlier drop-dead-deadline of Wednesday evening, eastern time. Sending off last week’s piece, I got home from work and got some bicycling in for exercise (one period of time where thoughts about articles flash through my head), then went to appear on Greg Krikorian’s local TV show focusing on various community issues. We discussed the opportunities for hiking and mountain biking available to Burbankers and Glendalians close to home in the Verdugo Mountains, a range these two cities share with Los Angeles. Afterwards, I raced to a Burbank ANC meeting that had already ended.
Thursday was a day with no opportunities for inspirations. Friday, I visited a friend from whom I was soliciting a donation for Burbank ANC’s voter registration project. Of course we chatted extensively. I was pleased to learn of his very positive experiences in Armenia. Since he first visited three years, a marked decrease in bribe taking is evident, at least among the lower echelons. Not that corruption has been eliminated, but he had no significant complaints as to its pervasiveness even though he’s involved in two construction projects there.
Saturday started early, and was very full. After some early morning biking, I was off to an event organized by Civitan in Burbank where the boys (girls are the following Saturday) show off their baseball skills. A short parade old of cars with various elected and appointed officials in them precedes the event. It’s fun exchanging waves with onlookers from the farmers market to the parents waiting to cheer their kids during the competitions. A brief ceremony of introductions and awards kicks off the day’s activities. From there, I was off, bicycling to an ARF meeting discussing our media. Thence, I went to a showing of My Big Fat Armenian Family, a full length film made by members of Glendale’s Homenetmen Ararat Chapter. It was funny, true to life, but perhaps a bit repetitive of the themes it presented. Finally, it was a long ride home. I figured it was a good opportunity to take a look at Glendale’s new downtown development, The Americana, which had generated a very heated special election a few years ago with heavy Armenian involvement. It’s good because it is a fairly dense development from a residential perspective. It’s not very bicycle friendly as I discovered, so I was unable to really see it all up close. It does suffer from wanting to be glamorous, a theme its developer proudly touts, but to me, it just looks gaudy form the outside. After several more miles, visits to two friends, and discussion rife with politics and personal issues, it was finally home to bed.
Sunday was likewise a long day of events starting with a fairly steep mountain bike ride. First stop was the ground breaking for Hollywood’s new Armenian center. It was quite humid, particularly by LA standards, a scout even passed out during the ceremonies. Of course these niceties are another opportunity for mulling over article ideas. Then, the San Gabriel Valley ANC was hosting an event for Cong. Grace Napolitano. She’s an interesting woman with strong opinions and a history of beating electoral odds. She’s been very supportive of our issues. Conversations with her are invariably interesting and informative. The final stop of the day was ARF Bureau Member Vicken Baghoomian’s discussion of current issues focusing largely on Iran-Armenia relations and their role in larger international interactions.
Monday night featured a Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Political Committee meeting and Tuesday night a local Burbank ARF meeting.
So, have you guessed when the idea for this article hit me?
It was Sunday, in Hollywood as I pondered how to work in the good news about decreased corruption in Armenia into an article. Then I realized this kind of piece might actually answer some questions posed to me about how I come up with this stuff. I’ve never had a very good answer, so this article of less than a thousand words was the best way to paint a picture. I was instantly enamored of the idea. Though I had some qualms since it might come of as way too self-important. But, I liked it, and did it.
Tell me what you think. Better yet, now that you know the “secret”, write and submit your work to our papers and other media, they will only become all the better for it.