The Homeless Singer

I just stopped by at the local post office and noticed a homeless guy whom I always try to help out when I see. He didn’t notice me, in fact he wasn’t even himself, it seemed like. He wasn’t walking around talking to people, and he definitely wasn’t playing his guitar as he usually does. He was sitting with his back to a wall, talking to a man standing next to him, almost whispering, while staring at the ground.

I walked towards the post office only to hear the man next to him exclaim:

Come on man! Steven Tyler and Jimi Hendrix didn’t believe they could sing either! You can’t be thinking that…

It was then that I heard the guy say:

I don’t know anymore man. It’s really nice of you brother but I have to be realistic.

He didn’t believe in himself. It actually got to me. The fact that not only does he have to go through being a homeless, but the only thing that he thought he had (or does,) he now believes he doesn’t.

Help out people like that. Some people really need it. Those who don’t show it are the ones who need it most. Yes he does ask for help, but he never mentions insecurities. That’s the sign of a human being who has gone through both the ups and downs and is humble.

Buy someone lunch the next time you see one. You might stop the pain for a day, literally.

Thanksgiving Thanks

I grew up thankful.
Today, besides being thankful to the power of God and my family for being taken out of the war zone and for me to still do what I love to do, I want to tell you all something:
I’m thankful to you. I’m thankful for having you.
All of you who comment, like, retweet, and share any of my work on any platform. There are thousands of you and I truly appreciate every single one of you. You allow me to do what I do, and although I am too-much-of-an-egomaniac, I am appreciative. I give credit where it’s due, and I can honestly say that you fuckers keep me going.
Enjoy the holidays and spend it with anyone/anything you love.

Have a wonderful day,
Apo Avedissian

This Black Path of Mine

I left my dark room and headed out to the black road and rode the black car onto the black street, dressed up in a black v-neck and black skinny pants with the black Converse shoes. I drove on the black road until I parked in the very dark, almost pitch black parking lot and proceeded walking to the black store, I walked out of the store holding black bags, back to my black car through the black road. I got to my car while I’m on my black phone and noticed something bizarre with my black eyes. I saw a white piece of chalk on the floor.

WHY THE FUCK WAS THERE A WHITE PIECE OF CHALK ON THE FUCKING FLOOR!?

Your Silence, Their Approval

Your silence, their approval, are two views of the same idea.
Let a person do something you’re not fond of, and wait to see if they’d do it again. Chances are you’ll go through it again.

I’ve always disliked people who say they have no luck. Those are the same people who put themselves in bad relationships, do work they hate, and associate with people who aren’t their types, and then complain that the outcome is far from what they should’ve gotten.

Act. Based on your feelings, talk.
It truly changes your world when you let the ones around you know you for once.

If a person annoys you more than once, think about whether they have been notified about you disliking what they do.

Your silence is their approval.

Apo Avedissian

My President is Back

I recently posted about pessimism and optimism (you’re welcome pessimists, I listed you first), and now I’d like to show how appreciative I am of the changes that have happened.

President Obama has brought change.

• Osama Bin Ladin - Gone.
• War in Iraq - Done.
• Health care - About damn time!

Bush, on the other hand, started every problem you could possibly start, and still managed to get re-elected. So you know what, President Obama’s win is well deserved, for those of you who actually think that way.

Bush cut your taxes, and with not enough funding the whole world is about to collapse, if it hasn’t already. Why not share a little more of your income to bring that situation to a better position? People complain left and right and do nothing about it. If you think your education isn’t being paid off, maybe the taxes you’re paying aren’t really matching your education’s needs? How about you research what taxes mean before you bash and attack every tax and “break”?

A woman, if raped and impregnated, is legally forced to keep her baby? And that same woman, if lived a happy, safe life and wanted to adopt a baby through planting an egg/sperm, is not allowed to do so? That’s idiotic. Now I’m not saying everyone should have sex and have babies and then turn to abortion, but I sure as hell don’t agree with the fact that not only does a woman have to deal with the rape itself, now she has a baby she hasn’t planned for, from a man she probably hates the most in her life: her ABUSER.

And to those who did not vote and say the reason is so that when the President messes up, they get the right to complain because they didn’t elect him, I’m glad you didn’t participate in voting, because the voting privilege “right” is too much for you to have anyway. Next time grow some balls and research issues and go and vote. When your President lies, blame him. There’s no need to be a Facebook hero and post ten statuses in twenty minutes about how the President (the rest of the people elected) is messing up. You should have voted - you didn’t. Now you have no right to even get in this discussion because you’re undeserving and also abusing the system that was created and handed to you.

Enjoy what you have and also think about all of those people who did pay taxes who funded your life before. Now it’s your turn to be that person to other kids. This is not an informative post, this is a plea for humanity to be human beings for a while.

Congratulations, Mr. President!

May the next four years have half of your great accomplishments and your work ethic. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is long over-due, by the way.

Apo Avedissian

Pessimists - Are They Really Sad?

I’m all for wanting good things in life and working to achieve those good things I want. I do however have those Armenian Genocide survivors’ pessimistic tendencies (and rightfully so).

The so-called ‘positive’ thoughts people have tend to help them tell others how positive they are. I’m not buying it, however. Those same people tend to be the saddest, most mentally-fragile human beings I’ve came across.

Positivity, if a word, seems to work like a cheap, dirty bandage. You ARE indeed telling yourself that you’ve got the wound covered, but what you’re hiding from your-poor-self is the fact that you just found the dirtiest, cheapest rag and you wrapped it around your wound. That’s positivity. In my dictionary, that’s ignorance. No, not any type of ignorance -which you tend to NOT KNOW ABOUT- this, you do know and keep lying to yourself about.

Pessimists, those filled with ‘negativity,’ tend to be more cautious. Liability is taken care of much better, and the risks of any task are calculated. It is good to have a clear mind to love the birds’ chirping in the morning and smelling the roses, but it sure doesn’t work daily. As much as you need some clear thoughts, our brains are made to work. If you don’t plan for risks and liability, you won’t plan for anything else that’s as good. In fact, your other options are recalling a television episode of some show and laughing at it.

Our schools of life have narrowed the ideas of optimism and pessimism to the “glass is half full” and “glass is half empty” quotes we always hear about. Why not think of it this way, realistically?:

Glass is half empty - greedy.

Glass is half full - accepting.

Glass is half empty, and will soon be fully empty - pessimistic.

Glass is half empty, but will soon be full - optimistic.

Glass is half full, but will soon be empty - pessimistic.

Glass is half full, and will soon be full - optimistic.

What are the chances of you drinking that glass half filled with water before it fills up?

Now, what are the chances of someone pouring more water in that glass half filled with water before you drink what’s left of it?

Compare both. Will you be drinking the water, or will it be multiplied before you do need to drink it?

That’s pessimism and optimism. Preparing for the worst, yet accepting the best after analyzing any risks involved in accepting it.

With people collecting their crops and working their fields while singing traditional songs, an army swiped through after creating laws to un-arm the people of the land, and killed the leaders and the citizens and deported the rest of the people they could deport. A million and a half Armenians -living human beings- were killed in the 1915-started Armenian Genocide. The survivors have never settled peacefully, nor have their minds. Pessimists only plan for the worst. Idiots sit and wait for it.