H N Arabian Blog - Random Tales

  A Short Story: The Smell of Trouble A Saturday Morning Inspection Saturday mornings had become something of a tradition for Fred and me. Every so often, we would meet for coffee, catch up on the week's political circus, exchange a few technology stories, and reminisce about the days when we worked together. Our careers had eventually taken different paths. Fred had gone into the medical device industry, while I found my way into manufacturing industrial equipment. Different products, different customers, but enough years in engineering to ensure that our conversations rarely ran out of material. This particular Saturday, however, something was different. Fred seemed unusually restless. He shifted in his chair, looked around, and appeared to be carrying a conversation in his head that he hadn't yet decided to share. "What's bothering you?" I finally asked. He paused. "Do you think I should have some calming Yogi tea?" I laughed. "That bad, huh?...

An Opinion: Elvis, America and the Making of a King From rock-and-roll rebellion to Las Vegas spectacle, from the Oval Office to the American Dream, the story of Elvis Presley is also a story about the country that created him. There is a photograph in the National Archives that captures one of the strangest moments in American cultural history. Richard Nixon, President of the United States, stands beside Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, in the Oval Office. Nixon looks like a head of state receiving an important visitor. Elvis looks like a celebrity who has wandered into the wrong government building—or perhaps exactly the right one. The date is December 21, 1970. Elvis has come to Washington with an unusual request: He wants a federal badge so he can help fight the drug culture and what he considers the growing disorder of American society. It is an almost unbelievable encounter. The young man who once scandalized respectable America with his music and stage movements is now ...

  Movie Review: From Adventure to Redemption:  The Unexpected Common Thread in Three Michael Douglas Films Three films, three very different journeys, and one recurring Hollywood theme: the discovery that life's greatest treasure is not wealth, adventure, or personal freedom, but the people who give our lives meaning. Michael Douglas has spent much of his acting career portraying complicated men. They are ambitious, confident, sometimes arrogant, and often convinced that they understand the world better than everyone around them. Yet three films made nearly thirty years apart— Romancing the Stone (1984), King of California (2007), and And So It Goes (2014)—reveal a more tender side of his screen persona. At first glance, these movies have little in common. One is an adventure romance, another an eccentric father-daughter treasure hunt, and the third a romantic comedy about two older neighbors discovering love. Look closer, however, and a common narrative emerges: a journey ...

  An Opinion: More Than Meat and Spices:  How Immigrant Families Preserve Their History Through Food From the Armenian kitchens of Urfa to the neighborhood shops of Bourj Hammoud, and from Calabria to Westerly, Rhode Island, recipes tell stories that history books sometimes overlook. There is a curious connection between an Armenian family kitchen in Lebanon and an Italian-American basement in Westerly, Rhode Island. One produces basturma and sujuk; the other, a distinctive dry-cured sausage known as Westerly soupy. Their ingredients and preparation differ, but their deeper purpose is remarkably similar: preserving a taste of home. I began exploring this connection through a simple question about Westerly soupy. What I discovered was something much larger than a regional sausage. It was a story about immigration, memory, family craftsmanship and the stubborn determination to preserve cultural identity. Consider the Armenian journey from Urfa, historic Edessa, in southeastern A...

A Short Story: The Six Coins of Tigranes A Short Story About an Armenian Family Heirloom The bracelet had spent decades in a family drawer, quietly waiting for someone to ask about it. It was not particularly large or ornate. Six round silver-colored medallions, linked together by little rings, formed a narrow band. Its clasp was old-fashioned, almost mechanical. The metal had darkened with age, and the faces on the medallions seemed to emerge from another century. When I finally laid it on the wooden table and examined it closely, I noticed something remarkable. The six medallions alternated between two different images. One showed the profile of a crowned king. The other depicted a seated woman, accompanied by a strange little figure beneath her feet. I turned the bracelet over. Six smooth, nearly featureless backs stared up at me. No inscriptions, no maker's name, no silver hallmark. Just the marks of time. It had come from Lebanon, where it had been in the family for more than ...

    An Opinion: From Kebab to Kochari:  The Armenian-American Story on Two Coasts From Watertown, Massachusetts, to Rancho Mirage, California, two church festivals reveal how an immigrant community keeps its heritage alive across generations. There is a familiar ritual at an Armenian church bazaar. It begins before you reach the food tables. Someone recognizes your face, asks about your family, and within minutes the conversation has traveled backward through generations, across oceans, and into villages whose names may no longer appear on a modern map. Then comes the food. The aroma of grilled kebab, the sight of trays of traditional pastries, and the familiar sounds of Armenian conversation have a way of collapsing geography and time. For a moment, the distance between the old country and the new one seems remarkably small. This autumn, two Armenian churches, separated by nearly 3,000 miles, offered different but complementary versions of that experience. St. Stephen's ...

  A Book Review: One Hundred Objects, One Giant Leap: NASA's Enduring Legacy of Innovation A Review of NASA in 100 Objects: Innovation and Exploration from Rockets to Rovers By Roger D. Launius There is something wonderfully revealing about telling the history of an institution through the objects it leaves behind. A rocket engine, an astronaut's spacesuit, a spacecraft computer, or a small robotic helicopter can tell us more about human ambition than a shelf full of commemorative speeches. In NASA in 100 Objects: Innovation and Exploration from Rockets to Rovers , aerospace historian Roger D. Launius takes readers on a journey through the machines, instruments, and technological achievements that transformed America's space program and changed our understanding of the universe. The premise is deceptively simple: examine 100 objects and, through them, tell the story of NASA. But these are not merely museum pieces. Each represents a moment when imagination collided with engi...

  A Short Story: The Terminator, Pop-Pop, and a DeLorean A Sunday Matinee Adventure It was a Sunday matinée, and the feature was The Terminator . The choice belonged to my teenage grandson, Timmy. His father had recently taken him to Universal Studios, and after experiencing the park's attractions, Timmy wanted to see the classic science-fiction film that had inspired so much of what he had seen. We left the theater impressed. Somehow, the original movie had delivered a more compelling experience than the elaborate 3D attractions at Universal. There was something about the original Terminator that even the most sophisticated special effects and theme-park simulations couldn't quite reproduce. Perhaps it was the story, perhaps the suspense, or perhaps there is simply no substitute for the original. As we walked along, comparing the movie with the Universal experience, we passed Dave & Buster's. Timmy suddenly wondered whether they had a Terminator arcade game. "We ...

    A Short Story: The Long Way from Harpers Ferry A Memoir – 1983 Our last day on the Appalachian Trail was approaching, and six of us, devoted wilderness enthusiasts and classmates from the Class of 1983, were making our way toward Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. We had come together to escape the familiar demands of work, family responsibilities, and deadlines, and to fulfill a dream we had carried since our younger days: walking beneath the canopy of old-growth forests, following mountain paths, and enjoying the simple pleasure of being outdoors. By the time we reached the Lodge at Harpers Ferry, our legs were tired, but our spirits were high. We settled around a table, ordered fresh meals, and soon emptied a pitcher of beer. The conversation wandered freely through memories of school days, youthful mischief, and the adventures that had somehow become funnier with age. We were no longer carefree students. We were fathers now, carrying the never-ending responsibilities of fam...