Comedy beyond the curtain drop, Choreg/Չորեկ, quarantine tapes, sidewalk robots, and more

Seven links to worthwhile thin(g/k)s

Hello dear reader,

Today, I’m making Choreg (Armenian: Չորեկ). Tomorrow, I’m getting jabbed. A year from now, who knows.

Here are seven links to bits of the world I have been exploring this week, shared with the hope that you will find them to be an inspiring springboard for deeper thinking.

1. Listening: Naveen Kishore and Annie Zaidi on The Quarantine Tapes podcast. From the episode notes:

   “Annie and Naveen share stories about life growing up, particularly in India, and what kind of effects archaic laws of censorship, and little support for the arts, have on communities. The two discuss the interesting role theater plays in a culture, and how important it is for artists to find solidarity and gather together for collective action, to build communities, and form new ways of growing, together.”

2. Comedy beyond the curtain drop

3. Viewing: Louvre’s digital database of 480,000 works of art. Without a doubt, the digital viewing of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Portrait of Lisa Gherardini” was the most peaceful and stress-free viewing experience I’ve thus far had, given the absence of selfie-crazed, camera-holding crowds huddling for their photo-ops. Anyone care to comment on the role physical museums play in our modern lives? I slightly poked this subject when discussing John Berger’s ideas on originals vs. reproductions.

4. Quote I am mulling over: “Perhaps the immutable error of parenthood is that we give our children what we wanted, whether they want it or not” — by way of Andrew Solomon’s Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, [affiliate link]* which I am exploring as an audiobook, now that I’m done with Stephen Fry’s Mythos* on Audible. From the very little I know on Carl Jung, it may pair nicely with Jung’s idea of raising children through the faulty lens of the ‘unlived’ lives of parents. In paperback, I’ve started Carl Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections* and will provide book notes soon.

5. My sense of ‘play’ this weekend: Choreg (Armenian: Չորեկ), an emblem of Easter and close-knit family gatherings for Armenian families around the world, in the form of sweet bread akin to the Greeks’ tsoureki, the Italian pane, Russians’ kulich, and the Portuguese massa sovada, among others. I will be attempting it thanks to my sweet friend Lena finding a recipe (shout out to Andrew Janjigian’s awesome guidance). Key points of observation: (1) use of mahleb—small, ground-up St. Lucy's cherry seeds (Prunus mahaleb) from trees native to the Mediterranean, Iran, and parts of Central Asia; (2) the idea of Կաթնահունց / Katnahunts (“kneaded with milk”), which is another term for choreg, is nestled in what this holy trinity-braided bread symbolizes to me personally—familial nurturing, sense of tradition, and good food; (3) Andrew’s use of the tangzhong (yukone) technique; and (4) memories from my Armenian parochial school, where our Armenian language and history teacher—Digin Ashken—spent the entirety of her tenure perfectly depicting the image of a stern instructor, only to cave in on one particular day the year of our graduation, when she imprinted in us the memory of sweet grandma-esque vibes during a one-off baking class. “Now that you are graduating, young grasshopper…”

6. Films emphasizing the best in humanity. I’m eyeing Nomadland and wishing The Dig would have been part of this list. I don’t think I can pass up the opportunity to watch Ralph Fiennes or Carey Mulligan (also highly recommend An Education). Both invite such depth of character into their craft.

7. Sidewalk robots get legal rights as "pedestrians:" Really? But no, really.

   “Fears of a dystopian urban world where people dodge heavy, fast-moving droids are colliding with the aims of robot developers large and small — including Amazon and FedEx — to deploy delivery fleets.”

*For the sake of transparency, such markings are indicative of affiliate links to my storefront, from which (should you choose to purchase) I get a small nod of financial support at no additional cost to you.

---

Readers’ Circle

I’d love to share input from you.

If you’d like your response to be shared anonymously in upcoming newsletters, in the spirit of connectivity in this digital landscape and to recover from pandemic blues, drop a line (or a few!) via email to anielizaveta@gmail.com sharing where you are from or how you would introduce yourself.

---

Warmly and until next week,

A