Books of 2013

Hi all, Today, I am going to very briefly review a few of the books that I read in 2013. I think I read more Nigerian books this year than I have all my life - put together - hence four Nigerian books and one American.

1. Half of a yellow Sun: With this book, Chimamanda Adichie solidified her previously semi solid status as the new undisputed queen of Nigerian literature. Usually, when a book is that long, it has the ability to very easily become boring, especially for me. I find a lot of things boring. You've written a great book if your readers cannot forget your characters, and she did that very well. I have a crush on 'Kainene' as a matter of fact.

2. The Great Ponds: Elechi Amadi is Elechi Amadi and he will always be. He writes the way he wants to write and I think that's cool. I have a problem though, with the way this book ended, and to be candid, I did not find it extremely appealing - the whole package. Maybe that's because of the setting, I am not really entirely cool with the whole village thing, However, I thought it was a nice story, a very important story.

3. The Joys of Motherhood: I finished this book today. I thought it was nice. Buchi Emecheta's appealing writing made a book I would have found boring, quite interesting. I also did not like the way it ended, I didn't think she needed to die. I don't know what the writer wanted to achieve with Nnu Ego death at the end. The book would still have made sense if she did not die.

4. The Concubine - I read The Great Ponds before I read The Concubine so I knew what to expect. I must say I feel that The Concubine is up there among the top books I've ever read, not just because of the way it was written, but also, because of the story. As a writer, you can't go wrong with a good story. Big ups to Elechi Amadi.

5. The Brethren: I started reading John Grisham's works late last year, he's a genius and The Brethren has to be the best novel I read all year - and believe me, I read lots. It's a classic definition of two different stories colliding and then walking hand in hand, like a confluence. And, it ended very well too; you can choose the future of the brethren that is preferable to you. It does not get better than that.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone. Celebrate responsibly and remember the reason we celebrate in the first place. Peace!

AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY

Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Mali, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Lybia, Niger, Angola, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South

Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar... These are only a few countries in Africa.
You may be wondering why I'm doing this - naming all these nations - well, it's because still, in the 21st century some people still think of Africa as a big space that contains the same people - black people -, that do the same things and have the same cultures and speak the same language, unfortunately for these people, fortunately for us - Africans - this is not the case.
I was watching TV(cos I do that), and there was a conversation between a black woman and I white one; The white woman asked the black one where she was from.
'Zimbabwe.' The black woman responded.
'You're from Africa?' This white woman said surveyed with her eyes this black woman; Probably trying to find proof of her 'African-ness'
'Yes. I am from Africa.' The black woman responded.
No! You are not from Africa lady, You are from Zimbabwe. Though Zimbabwe is in Africa, you cannot say that you are from Africa. That is wrong.
If for example, the black woman had asked the white woman where she was from, She would have said she was English, or she was from England. She won't say She's from Europe.
Now, let's talk about 'Mean Girls', Yes, the movie - where a bunch of little girls were trying to be cool, and yes, I said little girls, no more than 17. I get that it's an old movie, made over a decade ago but I just cannot look past the way Africa was portrayed in that movie - we were more or less animals, in fact, Africa was portrayed as a 'jungle'. More than once, Cady, the new teen girl (who by the way came from Africa - not South Africa, not Zimbabwe, not Kenya, not Nigeria - but Africa.) referred to the backward behaviour of her unruly schoolmates as the behaviour of animals in the 'jungle', she never said she was from the jungle, she said she was from Africa, and then suddenly bad behaviour could be likened to those of animals in the 'jungle' - it's ridiculous.
Mean Girls is a good movie but the guys who made it could have given a little more dignity to my continent - to Africa, I have never seen a more adept definition of ignorance than was displayed in that movie.

Africa is not a country, It is a continent, containing very any countries - just like Europe or Asia.  

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Love You.

 “Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn't have the time to sit around and talk about you. What's important to me is not others' opinions of me, but what's important to me is my opinion of myself.”
― C.Joy Bell.

My gums are black, 60% of my smile are my teeth, the remaining 40%, my gum(s). I don't hate myself for that, I think I'm sexy as heaven when I smile. Maybe I am not a model example of greatness, But I'm not half bad, I assure.
I've never understood why people pay so much attention to the thoughts of other people. Life is awesome when you mind the things you can control and let go of what you cannot. One can't control the thoughts of others, so one does not have to mind them.
It is important to like one's self and to be comfortable in one's own skin, because, otherwise, one stands the risk of becoming 'fake', becoming exactly the opposite of what one really is. Why would you want to be another version of somebody else when you could be the original version of yourself? It's criminal!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

LOST: Becoming an Addict!

I recently wrote an article for a local magazine and I thought I'd share it here. It's about addiction, the start of addiction, any kind of addiction, not just the one represented. We find that we always have a choice. 

Take a look: 

LOST

How I became an addict: A fictional tale.

The place was dark; the light was very dim, the music was loud, very loud, too loud. I thought I would go deaf. Julius and Andrew and everybody else there, did not seem to mind, they were comfortable with it. When I entered with Julius the first time, I had to run back out. But Julius laughed at me, and called me a Jew and then forced me back in.

When I entered again, the people that were not on the dance floor, dancing to the loud music that made no sense, were laughing at me. They had glassy stares, like zombies. Andrew was shaking his head in disgust at me, the chest pocket of his grey long sleeved shirt bulged out.

‘What did I do?’ I wanted to ask, but I thought even if I did, there was no way he would here me.

Julius then went to a corner and sat on one of the raffia woven chairs, there were 6 chairs there, surrounding a short table, I walked sheepishly to join him, as if, if walked purposefully the ground would open up and swallow me. I sat next to him, quietly, staring at the chair opposite me, wondering what genius designed it. Andrew joined us. He sat opposite me and laughed hysterically, I wondered if there was something wrong with my face, I wanted a mirror, to look at myself with, and then he shook his head and mumbled a few words. I did not hear him, the music was too loud.

Julius brought out two bottles of cough syrup from his blue jean trouser pocket; I thought it was strange; he had not coughed even once since that day began. I wanted to ask him if he was sick, but I did not.

Andrew gave him a thumb up, and then brought out two of his own, from his shirt pocket, Oh, that is why the pocket bulged out, I thought. But what were they doing with cough syrups, what was going on? I wondered. Then the music stopped.

Before long, the three unoccupied chairs became occupied; one other boy and two girls joined us, sweating profusely, as if they had been running under the sun, but no, they had only been dancing.

Julius handed me one of the bottles, I cringed, what was I supposed to do with it? I did not have cough. I looked at him, and he looked right back at me, ‘Take it,’ he said.

‘But, I am not coughing.’ I said. 

They all laughed, all five of them, including the girls, I felt embarrassed.

One of the girls collected the bottle from Julius, opened it and gulped. Half of the purple liquid was gone. Andrew nodded in pride, and then said to me: ‘Jew, look at a girl doing it. Prove that you are a man and not a child.’

Julius dropped an empty bottle of the syrup on the table, he had poured the content into a cup that contained sprite, and then he drank it. I watched his eyes slowly enter into its socket. Andrew had challenged me, and I had to act or lose my reputation, as if I had any. I collected the bottle from the girl and slowly started drinking, it tasted like honey, I finished the remaining. Suddenly, I had become a man, in their eyes. They cheered!

Andrew gave me another and I finished it. I felt everywhere become hazy, people became shadows. That was when I slipped away. Now, I no longer have control over it. I am addicted.

But every time I think back to that day, I realize that I had a choice. I am lost now, today, because of something I could have avoided. I can easily blame Julius and Andrew, for introducing me into this life which I now find mellifluous but really is the opposite, into this gaol of drug addiction, but that would be cowardice. It is my fault; I wanted to be a man, I wanted to be cool, I wanted to fit in.

 That boy had a choice, you see. You always have a choice, no matter what.
 Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Hi

It's December, normally at this time, we should be experiencing the harmattan season, but we are not. the harmattan mornings are cold, and the afternoon's aren't as hot as what is the norm. but there is no harmattan yet. i was discussing with a friend in another part of Nigeria, it's the same according to her. The heat is consuming, I am almost too scared to go out because the sun looks vicious.
In other parts of the world, it's cold this time of the year, but not hear, not now.
I can't wait till the weather is cold again, and the rain begins again, that's months away though. For now, I'm stuck in the heat.
lucky you if you are not.
Hi. Really had nothing to talk about so I thought I'd ramble about this immense heat. bye!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Perception and a sprinkle of Stardust

"All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power, not truth.
- Friedrich Nietzsche.

Hi. How're you guys? I have been busy. Sorry. Before anything else, let me just say - Right now, I'm watching one of the greatest movies ever, Stardust. It's absolutely fantastic. The last brother just died and the evil one is all like, I'm King, I'm King. But he's reminded he isn't King just yet because he does not have the stone. Well, eventually he'll find out there is another heir to the throne, who, by the way, is/was just an innocent bystander who was unfortunate at the time to be chasing stars and the star holds the stone. So the young innocent bystander then becomes a part of a battle, a big battle, and stuff. Anyway, stardust is awesome, that's all I'm gonna say.

Anyway, I wasn't planning on talking about Stardust today, matter of fact, I wasn't planning on talking about anything, but since I am here, whatever. Oh Robert De Niro is absolutely rad in Stardust. Okay, no more stardust.

So, Africans. What's your perception about Africans?? You know I actually googled this, you should try it sometime. Google 'perception about Africans', oh and by the way, in Nigeria, right now, the time is 1:10AM. So here I am, googling perception about Africa at 1 in the morning - I hardly sleep these days anyway, I digress.

So what I've been trying, not so succintly to say is, the perception of most people outside Africa is so, so extremely bad, like, in their minds, Africans are weird people that walk about naked during the day, looking for water, and then at night, they all gather around under the moonlight and dance, lol! Well, that, my friends, is not very far from the truth, especially considering that I'm on the internet right now and I'm watching Stardust, and I'm in Africa. Okay, seriously though, maybe some parts of Africa still walk around naked during the day looking for water, and gather around under the moonlight and dance and then tell uninteresting stories, maybe, but most in most parts, we've gone past that. Like, we're now nearer to our European and American neighbours/friends.
We don't walk around without shoes, and it's not all red sand here, we actually have tarred roads, maybe not very tarred, but tarred.
We don't all speak Swahili or Afrikaans, or whatever it is certain foreigners think we speak, even though those as essential parts of our culture, we also speak English and French and Spanish and Portuguese, and stuff.

The African press have done an impeccable job in exporting only the bad part of Africa to the outside world, the part where we are gun slinging maniacs that kill each other, the part where we are hungry and frail and dying. The part where we have no shoes - and would you believe it, the current President of Nigeria actually used that as a campaign strategy - he basically won because he told people he had no shoes, idiot!
Anyway, Africa really is not that bad, well, we are no where near the place we could be, however things are looking up, and in the not so distant future, we'll be up there. So next time you think of Africa, don't think of it as someplace where the people there are naked, moonlight dancers, but as a place with potential, and a place that will eventually become something big.

Meanwhile in Stardust, The innocent bystander is now journeying back towards the falling star for the final battle, one that he will win of course, and then eventually find out that his mother is the daughter of the dead king, and he's about the only heir left, every other one is either dead or about to die. And here's a classic line: "'I know father, you are strong and courageous.' And cunning, most importantly, cunning!"

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Chain Message

This is an example of a chain message, copied and pasted:

"About 6 years ago in Indiana, Carmen Winstead was pushed down a sewer opening by 5 girls in her school, trying to embarrass her in front of her school during a fire drill. When she didn't submerge the police were called. They went down and brought up 17 year old Carmen Winstead's body, her neck broke hitting the ladder, then side concrete at the bottom. The girls told everyone she fell... They believed them.


FACT: 2 months ago, 16 year old David Gregory read this post and didn't repost it. When he went to take a shower he heard laughter from his shower, he started freaking out and ran to his computer to repost it, He said goodnight to his mom and went to sleep, 5 hours later his mom woke up in the middle of the night cause of a loud noise, David was gone, that morning a few hours later the police found him in the sewer, his neck broke and his face skin peeled off.

If you don't repost this saying "She was pushed" or "They pushed her down a sewer" Then Carmen will get you, either from a sewer, the toilet, the shower, or when you go to sleep you'll wake up in the sewer, in the dark, then Carmen will come and kill you."

LoL! Really??
I think its absolutely ridiculous, and I thought we had gone past the era of chain messages, until I got one yesterday, I was so pissed at the guy who sent it: "No, I'm not going to have bad luck for 7 years becaused I refused to share your stupid chain message." I texted him back - it hurt me more than it hurt him, I assure you.
And for the example, if there really was a Carmen Winstead who died after being pushed through a sewer or whatever it was, I'm sure she is somewhere in heaven, resting, and having fun. I'm pretty sure she's not going about murdering people who did not share a chain message.
Anyway, that's really all I've got to say, I really don't know why people send them.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Ted Cruz and Other Disasters.

You only fall for the ploy of these shameful, utterly disgraceful, hungry e-mail scam artistes if you are gullible, greedy and stupid.

We have all heard - I think I'm right, I don't know of anybody in the world that has not heard of, or worse off, fallen for -, these e-mail scammers, popularly referred to, in this part of the world as 'yahoo boys', what they do is simple, they cast their seemingly attractive nets in a pool of internet users. At first, they try to establish a relationship with their prey - telling you how they would like to be your friend, how lonely they are, how they need new friend and how you are a perfect definition that term. Their goal at that point is to get you talking, and replying their e-mails, and once they feel they have your trust, they tell you of their rich uncle, or somebody, who had lived abroad, but died from a car accident, or something, I really am not sure what is said exactly, but, their ultimate goal is to get you to wire them some amount of money, with which they will 'untrap' their fictional money that has been trapped somewhere, and then give you a percentage that extremely outweigh the amount you initially 'invested'. So its simple really, 'give me 1000, so I can pay the people at the bank in Panama, in order for them to release to me the money my dead uncle left, which is somewhere in the realm of 2 million, and when I do that I will pay you back, with 50% interest'. I actually cannot beleive that people are stupid enough to fall for this: as I said earlier, you have to be greedy and gullible.

Now, that being said, Ted Cruz, the American senator... Wait, before I talk about this man, let me say, even though these scams are not always perpetuated by Nigerians, we/Nigerians are often the most talked about when issues regarding this type of fraud is brought up. No Nigerian with any iota of decency, moralty or self worth is happy about it, but then again, most Nigerians are hungry, most things aren't working so they have to do something to get something - never minding how fraudulent what they do is. No sane Nigerian is a fan of it. But impressions count for a lot.

Now, for an American senator to make a joke, or whatever the hell he thinks he was making with such an issue is just straight up stupid - for lack of a better term. Nigerians are not scammers, Nigerians are not fraudsters. I am not a scammer, matter of fact, I don't know anybody who is, and I know a lot of Nigerians.

The senators exact words were.. "You may notice, you know those nigerian e-mail scammers, have become a lot less active lately, they all have been hired to run the obamacare website". I wholeheartedly take offence to this statement. Such inflammatory remarks further dampen the already extremely little glow of Nigeria in the world's eye.
I expected a lot more from an American politician, I expected that they would lead, like America does the world. But apparently I was wrong. Apparently, some of them, like Ted Cruz don't even know what it means to 'lead', instead, he prefers to run his mouth and say things he should not, in front of a cheering crowd like a teenager. I really don't care about what his motivation is. You do not make comments that is capable of getting people angered, especially if you are an American senator. I really respect America, but when I hear things like this I'm tempted to wonder why, its unfortunate.
The man insulted Nigeria in a bid to castigate obamacare, and that is stupid of him.

Bye!

Addiction 1

"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism..."
- C. G. Jung
Hi.
Thank God its Monday, I hope everyone's weekend was awesome. I've always wanted to blog about addiction and its grim consequences. Addiction to whatever, and I still do. Being an addict is being totally dependent on something so that one feels he isn't totally himself yet until he gets that thing. It could be anything: from alcohol to cigarettes to junk food to naked women to naked men to whatever, being addicted means you are excessively committed to one thing which means some other aspect of your life - very often a more important one is left to suffer, which therefore reduces productivity - naturally. So one's productivity diminishes in the presence of an addiction.
Every human being deserves to be independent, don't be hooked on something you cannot control.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Hello,, Hey!!

Before anything else - that is if there is anything else, which I highly doubt - let me apologise for my unannounced sabbatical. I should have announced - even if not by means of a megaphone - before I went away, I did not do that - even by means of a megaphone - so sorry about that.
Anyway, I have been working on something, as I said the last time I was here, and unfortunately I'm not even almost through with it. In percentage I'll say I am somewhere between 4 and 5%. I know, what have I been doing all this while right?? Well, its a really big thing, especially for me. But that does not mean I am going on another sabbatical - unfortunately for me you only get that once - but I would not be as frequent as I used to be - at one time -.
By the way I've been away from the entire blogosphere, not just this blog, and I see I missed a lot. Catch up time.
Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Live for Today

"Each morning when I open my eyes, I say to myself; I, not events have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it can be. Yesterday is gone tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."
Groucho Marx.

That has to be my favourite quote on happiness. There's just nothing more to say. Live for today because tomorrow isn't here yet. When tomorrow comes, trust me, things will work out. But make today as perfect as you can.
Some people live in regret of the things that have happened yesterday, they worry, as if that would change anything - it will not. Regret leads to depression and unhappiness, so what's the point??
Regret nothing and live for today. Yesterday is gone, it will never come back, but today, you have a chance to right your wrongs of yesterday while you wait in anticipation of a blissful tomorrow. Live for Today.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Whatever!!

"Why does the rest of the world put up with hypocrisy, the need to put up a happy face on sorrow, the need to keep on keeping on??... I don't know the answer, I know only that I can't!"
- Elizabeth Wurtzel

A hypocrite, as most people know, or not, is a person who pretends to be someone they're not. Or a person who puts up a false virtue of religion or morality. Usually they play the 'over-righteous' card, and exhibit what is known as the 'holier than thou' attitude, 'thou' in this case, being you and I, except of course, if you are also a hypocrite which changes the whole complexion of what you're reading, but I'm pretty sure you're not. Moving on, imagine finding a preacher in a beer palour, in front of him a bottle of beer and a few couple more - some dead, some alive - so there's no pretending that he was there preaching the gospel. Now imagine that preacher has been the one bugging you about your lifestyle and why you need to change it, and perhaps he's also been giving you some scriptural reasons why you need to stop drinking.
Now imagine again finding that same preacher - possibly a day after - with the holy book, preaching the gospel, maybe to your friend. What will you do?? I just asked you a question but I'm gonna answer it, of course - I'll simply walk up - or down in this case - to him, shake his hand and happily say - "I thought you were gonna pay for my drink last night at the beer house, but you disappointed me, you just payed for yours and walked off, that's unfair."
Anyway my point is this - nobody has the right to tell a person not to do certain stuff, that they themselves cannot live without. Why should you tell me not to drink, when you are a drunk yourself?? Or the nearest thing to it. Why should a preacher stand on a pulpit - God's alter - and call adultery, or fornication a sin, when he/she engages in it himself/herself. I'm saying this because I recently read a story or a... I don't really know, I recently read something like that, a preacher slept with a 'preachee' lol! I'm pretty sure that word doesn't exist, but the important thing is that my point has been passed.
But the trouble is, people defend hypocrites, and I wonder why. Like, in that story, (or whatever) that I talked about, people are defending the preacher, you see?? Why should you be content with having a hypocrite preach the gospel to you?? I mean, I know we are all humans; but we are not all preachers. There's a reason not everybody in the world becomes a man or woman of God, and that reason is that it takes consecration to be that, you cannot stand on God's alter and be just 'another human' like the rest of us, there's something that should make you different, otherwise, we will all just go and establish our own church and stuff. Now, I don't know if the story (or whatever) I've heard is true, frankly, I don't care, it's not my church, the girl is not my sister, girlfriend or wife or whatever. But the truth is this kinds of stories constitute the main reason why I have nothing against people who don't believe in God, there are just too many facts that can confuse a person, for instance, how does an unbeliever react to that kind of story (or whatever)?
'Nuff said. Don't be a hypocrite. It's bad for you. By the way, I had no other title for this post, so whatever!!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Why I... Love The Arsenal

Lack of ambition has been the number one bane of The Arsenal! It's the reason our best players opt out - Cole, Cesc, Nasri, Van Persie, Song, Henry and maybe even most importantly Patrick Viera all those years ago - players tend to know when their club lacks ambition, and the dream of every player is to win titles, you therefore cannot blame a player for wanting to go somewhere else to win those titles. You can however blame the manager, for blatantly lacking ambition, selling his best and replacing them with mediocres like himself.

Sorry for starting like that,, I was pissed. Anyway hope you guys are doing alright?? How has our week been?? I've been away for about a week. I've been working on something, which you may get to see at some point. So, today is Wednesday, and the topic is Why I... Love The Arsenal!

I needed to write this not just for the blog, but also to remind myself. I've been an Arsenal fan for a long time, since I was a little boy and I remember the good old days, the days of Viera, Ljunberg, Pires. The days of Henry, Kano, Bergkamp. The days when we could win against a team that barely survived relegation the previous season, the days when we didn't need a playoff to make the champions league group stages, those days when we won the league without conceding defeat, not even once. The days of the invincibles, the days of Arsene Wengers 'youth', and hunger and thirst for success - The good old days. Those days are gone now and The Arsenal is just another team that toils to make 4th spot, while we watch the foes of our past bask in the euphoria of victory. We've been relegated to a team that fights - tooth and nail - to make 4th spot, the fight is so hard that when we eventually make it, we celebrate, like it's a title. That is what The Arsenal has become. From a team that was within a whisker of winning the champions league to a team that struggles to get into the champions league. The fans are consistently made to see their best player dawn the jersey of another team, Cole left for Chelsea, Nasri left for City, Van Persie left for United - Cole has won the league, the FA Cup and The Champions league since he left, Nasri has won the League and FA Cup, and Van Persie has won the league - The Arsenal lacks ambition - But still I love the Arsenal - it's true we've not had anything to be cheerful about in years, unlike other top clubs. All we've had/heard is news that the club is making profit, that really doesn't concern most of the fans.
I love The Arsenal still though, mostly because of the happiness I get just from watching The Arsenal red play, I can't explain it further, it's love. Only love. That's the only sane reason why Arsenal fans remain Arsenal fans even after consistent heartbreak, we still stay, and next week there we will be, still, cheering, hoping, believing.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Time Changes Yesterday

My little 9 year old cousin had been over at our place the past 2 days, today we were going through his math work, I was tutoring him and it was really frustrating because he wasn't getting a grasp of it, at some point he was just absolutely clueless, and I was going all "OMG who in the world doesn't know that, this is simple, to the extreme.

Buh eventually I calmed and I imagined what it was like when I was in his shoes - I wasn't a lot better - Most things in life change with time. I now get math - elementary math - not because I was a genius growing up, but because time has altered in such a way that I can now understand it.

Time changes everything. Yesterday is only yesterday because of time, only time has the ability to change yesterday to today.
Time changes Yesterday!!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Why I detest Smoking

Today is Why I... And today's topic is Why I detest Smoking.

Okay, that topic gives an impression that I am or I used to be a smoker - lol, no. I'd rather be a male stripper than be a smoker.
It's easy to just puff a little, isn't it??
Let me rephrase that, it's easy to just puff a lot, isn't it??

You see, my problem with people who smoke is that most of them don't smoke a 'little', when it comes to smoking cigarettes, there's no such thing as 'little', smokers smoke - a lot. But this isn't about smokers, I hate judging people, this is about smoking!

Okay, it's a little bit about smokers as well, but just a little bit. I always wonder why they do it, even when it's written on the packs of cigar and on every cigarette billboard that 'smokers are liable to die young' - though it's stealthily written in very small fonts so that it's barely legible.

Why I Hate Smoking.
- It disrupts fresh air.
This may not seem as extremely bad but wait...
Imagine you're in a park listening to your favourite tune, admiring life, admiring earth and admiring God's creative genius, and then from no where a cigarette walks by, and your fresh air automatically disappears, paving way for the stench of the smoke of a stick of burning cigarette - it just spoils everything, doesn't it??

- Cigarette makes people die.
Believe it or not with every stick of cigarette you smoke, your lifespan reduces, it's scientifically proven, science does not lie. Okay, so you say you know somebody who is a solid smoker yet still alive, but then, it will definitely take more than some sticks of cigarette to set your lungs on fire, wouldn't it?? The truth is always the truth, and right now the truth is - smoking kills.

- Smoking Diminishes A Persons Attractiveness.
A person who smokes cannot be attractive, even though she looks attractive, the moment she places a smoke between her middle and fore-finger, she has lost every iota of attractiveness she had, it's gone. The mere thought of female smokers depresses me, but they exist, and I hear they are even usually more female chain smokers, a classic case of 'what a man can do, a woman can do better'!

- Poor People get Drained from Smoking.
It's amazing, especially in these parts, how the people who are the most financially incapable are the ones who spend more on cigarettes. Therefore, after having a pack of cigarette - or more - they can no longer afford to have themselves a good enough meal, so all they have in their system is smoke. No food, just smoke. How disgusting is that?

I guess smoking is an addiction, and I know addictions are difficult to stop, but the fact is smoking kills, so whenever you feel like picking up a cigarette, just imaging your a room filled with smoke, such that you are going to get suffocated if you do not find your way out of there, now imagine that room to be your internal body system. That ought to scare you enough, cos it scares the shit out of me.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Dating Sites.

Can you imagine going on a date and not knowing who you're going on a date with?? Wait it gets worse.. Let me paint a scenario to try and help you understand how a dating site works, that is if you do not already.

There's a dating site - it's major purpose is to bring two people together for a potential romantic relationship, hence the term "dating site". Now a guy, probably 'life deprived', decides to join one of these sites, because he wants to date. So, he gets lucky and meets someone. Now this is where it gets complex, so I'm going to try my best to break it.

9.00AM - He meets the girl online, ofcourse he's never met her before in real life. They get chatting and he finds that they both live within the same town. He gets excited. And asks to meet her. Now pause, back to the real world.

How does that work?? How do you ask to meet a person you've only met online. You don't even know what they look like - perhaps you've seen a profile picture that was crafted in a photoshop laboratory for well over 48hours, in other words, she looks the polar opposite of the profile picture you saw -, you don't know what she's like, you've only been talking online for an hour or maybe 90minutes. And you wanna meet her. Okay let's go back to our scenario shall we??

10:00AM Strangely, she agrees to meet with you - she's probably as 'life deprived' as you, or maybe more - you guys are set to meet an hour later. You go on and on and on about how you can't wait. Forcing yourself to imagine that she's as pretty as her profile picture falsely paints her to be.
The meeting time draws nearer and you begin to prepare.

11:00AM You are at the place she asks, walking aimlessly like dust particles.
11:15AM: At this point you're already beginning to feel stupid. You didn't even ask for her number, so you can't call. You know that awkward moment, when the only sane thing to do is just to stare at your phone?? Yes, you've gotten to that point now. So you just stand there looking at the blank phone like a complete retard.

11:30AM A really beautiful girl begins to walk towards you, you almost begin to jump for joy, but you've been acting like a retard all day, jumping for joy is only gonna prove that you are. Well she gets so close to you and you could swear she smiled at you.. Just as you're about to stretch your hand to shake hers and say the 'nice to meet you' that you'd been rehearsing all day, she walks past you, unfortunately for you, she's not the person you've been waiting for.

11:45AM You begin to wonder what the picture you saw earlier looks like. You're getting more and more confused.

12:00 She arrives. She looks like the twin of the profile picture that you saw, the evil twin that has done so much evil that she has lost her looks. You're heartbroken but you smile anyway, 'hi, nice to meet you' you say, with not as much swagger as you'd planned. I can't blame you men, cheer up. At the end of it, you find that you are completely opposite to the person you found attractive.

But then again, I can blame you, you're the one who wanted it right??. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I don't understand the concept of a dating site, and I don't know why people use them, but that's just me saying stuff though, And I say a lot of stuff. I've heard of relationships that began through a internet sites and still exists, different strokes for different folks I guess. Bye!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

What you were not taught.

Christmas Smells.. Okay that came out wrong. What I meant was: I smell christmas. A happy August to you all, may this month bring happiness to every reader.

So, to the topic I've been thinking about: What even is education?? So I went to the dictionary for some insight and she answered thus:
Education (n.) A process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills.

Then I had another question: How does one get an education?? The dictionary couldn't give me an answer to this, but someone else told me: in a school, and from then on, I had a whole plethora of questions.

Question 1: What even is School??
Answer: A place where people go to be educated.
But my most important question was and is: Do we truly get an education in school?? Do we acquire the skills we need? When I say 'the skills we need' I really mean what we need to know in order to prevent life from screwing us over. If I remember correctly, which I most certainly do, I was forced to take most of the classes I took in school, cos I honestly felt I needed non of it, can one therefore conclude that I was forced to get an education?

We are taught in school to be nothing but robots, to be seen, not heard, to shut the hell up when the teacher speaks - infact, I painfully have a vivid recollection of the way our I was taught when I was little, in primary school, when the teachers didn't want to be disturbed, they made us hold our upper lip to our lower one with the use of our thumb and fore finger, a sure fire means to make us seen and not heard, this was called 'hold your lips', you see, seen and not heard.
Even in higher school, my classmates and I were constantly told not to make any sound, regardless of the constructiveness of the sound we made, sounds like slavery to me, yes slavery. Is school slavery?? Thinking about it now, that system of education prepares you for one thing - your boss. It doesn't prepare you to be a boss, it prepares you for a boss, because if I was a boss, that's exactly the kind of assistant I'll want to hire, someone who is not allowed to even have an opinion, talk less of a contrary one from me, 'Say one more word and you're fired'.

Imagination. I wonder how I even ever got to understand the concept of imagination because I know I was never taught that; except one day in art class when the teacher told us to close our eyes and draw whatever came to mind - I ended up drawing what I meant to be a dog, but actually looked more like a table with a head - I was 5, don't judge me. But that was in grade 2 or thereabout, after that, I was never told to imagine anything, even through the university. I never got to ask why what was, was. It was and still is regarded as a stupid question.
Imagination is what Bill Gates came up with - microsoft, not education, he had not really completed school. Imagination is Mark Zuckerberg's facebook, he had not finished from Harvard.

Most importantly, Love. We aren't really taught to love in school are we?? Isn't it important enough to be taught, isn't it important for a person to know that our neighbours indeed are our friends?? School is a competition, a competition to know who's smarter, a competition to know whether or not your future is brighter than that of the kid sitting next to you, a competition to know who the dull kid in class is, to know who isn't smart enough to be promoted to the next class; a competition. But is life really a competition?? Is it??
I should let you be the judge of that.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Why I find driving uninteresting.

I decided to start a weekly topic to talk about some of my little, scary idiosyncracies and see if I can explain 'Why I' do them.. I started last week wednesday with 'Why I blog'. This week I intend to try and explain 'why I find driving uninteresting and nerve wrecking'.

I learned the skill of driving a car for the best part of one year, if not more - I know, it's crazy-. That's why it's funny to me when people say they can learn to drive in less than a week, like: "so what am I?? A retard??" At first, I found driving interesting and felt that I would get a hang of it in the shortest possible time but I was soooo wrong. Not that I didn't understand it, cos I did, but subconsciously I found myself losing concentration and forgetting what I'd learnt. My instructor was constantly saying: "is that how I taught you?? You want to get yourself and me killed?. It was really depressing, then I stopped going for driving lessons for a while cos it felt like I wasn't going anywhere with it, I think that pleased my instructor - He must have been relieved. But trust me, I wasn't about to waste all that money I paid him - so I went back a couple of months later to continue, at the end, the best lesson I learnt of driving wasn't even from my driving instructor, it was from someone else, you know how they say people learn different things in different ways? That is very true, the instructor taught me the way he taught everyone else - which didn't work for me, I needed someone who would just hand me the keys and tell me to do whatever the hell I want. I'd say driving most accurately defines the cliche - 'practice makes perfect'.

While I'm not as bad a driver as I used to be, I'm still not a big fan of driving, I'm always thinking crazy thoughts, like, what if my car decides that it wants to act up, and then skids off the barricade and enters into the other lane?? **insert: final destination 2* lol. But seriously, driving gets complicated sometimes, especially if you're driving a manual car, where you have to press down the clutch to change gears, thank goodness manual cars aren't as common as they used to be. You have to keep the clutch and the accelerator at an equilibrium to get started, you have to change your gears higher as your speed increases, your clutch is you feet's best friend, honestly, its exhausting, and nerve wrecking, your mind always has to be on the road, you need maximum concentration, and I'm the kind of person that gets bored very easily.

I've always imagined fallen asleep on the steering wheel while driving, that is one scary thought though. Another disadvantage of driving is, driving can be perfected through constant practice, and once you perfect it, you'll never have to walk anyplace else for as long as you live, and then you stand the risk of becoming overweight, like Gilbert's mother in that movie - what's eating Gilbert Grape. You see, so maybe walking sometimes instead of driving is a good thing, no??

Lol!! I'm just kidding, driving isn't that bad infact it's quite interesting, especially if your car stops in the middle of the road because you pressed down the accelerator pedal too fast, and there're like 1million people behind you, all honking their melodious horns and creating blissful music for your listening pleasure, making you feel like you should have taken a stroll instead of using a car. Yea, so driving is really fun, if you practice enough you'll get real good at it.
That's really all I've got to say, if you're thinking of learning to drive, I hope I haven't scared you, cos honestly, it's nothing, it will take a lot more than just a 100 angry drivers screaming at you can't hurt your ego.:)

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Why not lie??

Mark Twain once wrote "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on it's shoes"

Lets face it, lying is so easy and convenient, that it's difficult not to tell a lie, what will you rather do?? You know, the truth is exhausting attimes, and complicated too, for instance; it's a lot easier to say "I won't come for the party because I caught the flu" than to say "I won't come for your party because I do not like you and I am 190% sure that it's not just gonna be boring as hell but also a complete waste of my precious, dearly beloved time", you see, now that is the truth.

I've read a few times where the writer says "I'd rather be hurt with the truth than be comforted with a lie" honestly, I think that's just bull. Sometimes the truth can kill, so you're telling me you'd rather die from the truth than just hear a simple lie that makes everything better?? I know I'm sounding weird, but it's fact.

Another reason people lie is to make other people feel better, going back to the last example, any human being is much more comfortable believing the first reason, it's simple "I cannot come because I am ill" and the response most times is - "oh ok, sorry about that makes sure to take drugs and keep yourself warm, take care of yourself, okay??", but the response to the other "I can't come cos I detest you", most times is heartbreak and a very likely "I hate you more, and I hope you get hit by an airplane" and before you know it, tantrums are flying all around and then you have two people that hate each other as against the initial one person that hates another, so wouldn't you rather avoid all that drama??

Another reason for lying is to protect ourselves and the people around us from the hurt and the pain that the truth may cause: in our example the truth may cause immense hurt "I am not coming to your party because I detest you" now, that could make a person intentionally swallow just enough matchboxes to get himself/herself killed, don't you think? So by lying we are actually protecting. Cool right??

That being said, fact is, honesty will always remain the best policy, in most cases, we're better off telling the truth. The earlier instance happens very rarely, lets face it, its not all the time that you hate a person so much. Even though the truth gets complicated attimes, its much better to stick with it as one lie almost always leads to another, except of course, if that lie is "I can't come to your party because I'm ill". But seriously, be honest.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Why I do this

I needed to write this short piece, not just for you my dear friends to read, but also for me, to remind myself of the reason I do this. I started this blogging journey exactly 5 months ago. March 24th, it's July 24th today. The plan was simple at first, just write. I'd say that's still more or less the plan, and even though I'm not as active as I know I can be, I'm grateful to you guys, cos I never expected that so many people will be interested in this, but you are.

I always thought to find a place where I can put my thoughts down, a place where I can just write in a way that 1. I'd be doing it for myself and 2. At least someone else order than me will be reading. But well enough, now, it's not just 'someone else' reading, it's 'some people else', so thank you.

To be honest I didn't even envisage that I could keep it up for this long, but I have, and right now this blog is something that is very close to my heart, it's now part of me, it's something I'm constantly thinking about, and I'll continue to constantly think about it, even though I do not post anything for a full month - something I'm not planning to do anytime soon -.

One can argue though, that my unwavering interest stems from the fact that I'm not as occupied as I used to be, or that I have more free time than before, that may be true, in fact, I can't guarantee that by say November, life will not serenade me away with some of it's other mellifluousness, but the truth is I'm now so attached to this blog that I will always find a way, come what may - or what November, in this case, lol!-.

I do this cos I love to do this, it brings me happiness. And I do this because you're involved now, it's no longer just me.

Anyway, that's really all I've got to say, I'm very grateful to all of you for your continuous interest. Thank you, thank you very much. God bless you guys. Bye.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Power of Positive utterance

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your
words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habis become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.” - Mahatma Ghandi

One cannot over emphasize the need for positivity. Being positive is being a light in a world of darkness. When you are positive you attract friends. When you're positive you shine. You become the most attractive.

I came across a story yesterday, I think it's just a folklore anyway, about 2 men who visited a seer - those people that claim to see the future - so they will know what destiny holds for them, so when they got there, the seer's prophecy was that the first man will become a king, while the other will become a servant. The first man felt so elated by the seer's utterance that he started jubilating and throwing parties, the other man, who the seer said was going to become a servant was distraught. He then decided to move to a neighbouring village and work very hard. He got a farm where he worked on tirelessly, with every stroke of the cutlass on the farm, he uttered - "I am not a servant". His utterances worked for him as eventually his farm became really big, and at about the same time, there was a big famine in the village where he came from, the village where the seer told him he was doomed to become a servant. People of that village heard about him and went to him, they asked him to give them some food, in exchange, he will become their new king. So the man who someone said will be a servant became a king, all because he refused to be a servant, and he said it out loud.

My point is, your utterances determine how far life will take you, I hear people say a lot of negative things, the truth is this - negativity kills.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

When Love Is Not Enough 2

 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” -Bible



I asked what the  meaning of love was the last  time, I really don't know, what I know is we all need love, every single one of us, it doesn't matter how macho you think you are. love is essential, Iit is the sticky stuff that keeps us all together. It's what restrains us from tearing apart some persons we have a different view with.

I don't know much, but I know we need to love more, we need to acccomodate more, to smile more, to enjoy life, to live, to be happy.
I don't know much, but I know love breeds happiness, a person who loves freely, is a person who is happy. we all need love.

Love isn't just tennis, no.. It's much more, way much more. Love is what drives out hate, they aren't compatible, love and hate, therefore, to get rid of hate, you need love.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

It shouldn't hurt to be a child

source

Usually, I try not to get involved with issues pertaining to my country, Nigeria, here because it gets exhausting for not just  me, but for you too, believe me, i know what I am saying. that being said, sometimes, I have no choice.

Some time ago, on this blog, I talked about child marriage, about how some countries see nothing wrong with childrren getting married, well unfortunately, my own country has joined that league. Quite disgusting, though I have nothing to say to the  lawmakers who support such barbarism, I think social media has said enough to them.

What I'm interested in knowing is why? Why will a sane, able bodied man concsiously decide that he wants to marry defile a 13 year old? What joy can you derive from it? Childhood is sacred, Childhood is when you learn right from wrong, childhood is when you learn to become a person. When you tell a child to get married you are asking that child to bypass the most sacred stage of her life, asking that child to automatically become an adult, taking the child's rights away, stealing her right.

There is no excuse for this  backwardness, these people hide behind religion to do things that aare wrong, they contort their religion to justfy their perversion, there is no excuse. Only paedophiles are interested in little children, and I'd hate to believe that Nigerian lawmakers are paedophiles. The more I write about this, the more it annoys me. #childnotbride

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

When love isn't enough 1

"I've been thinking a lot lately. A lot about you and I, about us.
I don't know if you love me as much as you say..
I mean, I know, you tell me you love me, but do you, really?"


That's an excerpt from a short story, the speaker eventually asks the subject to come away with him, to which of course, she refuses, and yeah, he confirms she doesn't really love him as much as he 'wants'.

Isn't that pretty much the way things work? Can we really, truly be loved as much as we want? And is there a limit to love?

I'm not even concentrated on two people in a relationship, I'm talking more of neighbourly love, brotherly love. I mean, do we truely, honestly have each others back? Will you stand behind your friend even if it puts you in danger?? Will you even stand behind your friend irrespective of whether or not there is eminent danger? Do you even have a friend to stand behind? Is your 'friend' really your friend?

Now, I've met some really loyal people, at the same time, I've met people who really don't care, I can't blame them, I mean, what's the point, What is the guarantee that these people you decide to love and give your everything will do the same for you if the tables turn??

What is love??
Affection? Fondness? Like? Friendliness? Acquaintanceship? Pretence? An Achilles hill? Hate? Or is it nothing but tennis?
I think I should let you be the judge of that. I'll continue next time?

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, basically, means the death penalty, i.e, legally killing a person who has committed a crime, mostly murder, but in some countries rape and treason are also considered to be capital offences.

The idea of killing another person in the name of the law is difficult for some to take in. Honestly, it really is extreme, and that is why there are so many advocacy groups against it. Their arguement being that it is ethically wrong to take another persons life, no matter what he/she has done. I agree with that to an extent, but not for too long.

We all know the world is not always filled with the kindest and friendliest of people, there are certain individuals that are bad - for lack of a more substantiative word. Some folks just aren't good people.

Talking about bad people, The Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting readily comes to mind, I'm not American but I was left cold staring at the tv screen on the day of that fatal incident, it just made no sense.

But imagine, what if the monster that killed all those blessed little children had not turned the gun to himself? What if he had been arrested by police? Will any sane person advocate for him to remain alive?

Certain offences just aren't forgiveable, some families are still distraught over that incident up till this moment, almost 8 months after.

Children bubbling, with their whole lives ahead of them murdered in cold blood by a psychopath and someone will say it's unethical to sentence him to death?? No, that can't be right. We need to look away from liberty a few times, else, we lose those very ideals we enjoy from it. Wouldn't you agree?

Aluu4 is also a another reason why capital punishment cannot and should not be overlooked. It's the story of 4 young boys studying in the university of Porthacourt, Nigeria, gruesomely murdered by some citizens/animals of the aluu community in Rivers state, for an alleged crime - they said they stole a laptop computer - just imagine. How trivial. They were murdered in the most horrific fashion, suspiciously it was all caught on camera (you could google 'aluu4' if you want, it's not a pretty sight though, it's gory). Even God knows - and may HE forgive me if I'm wrong - that anybody who could murder another person in such a horrible manner, does not deserve to be called a human being.

My point is, certain crimes are mild, and it is ridiculous to imagine that anyone will be sentenced to death for them, but then again, certain crimes are just sad and painful and extreme, that nothing else will suffice except the death of the criminal.
This is what I think about capital punishment.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Skill Over Swag.

This is something I had to address eventually, I just feel it's one of the responsibilities I owe this extremely weird generation of ours, seeing as I own a blog, and I'm young, relatively anyway.

Nothing annoys me, or okay, Not much annoys me more than seeing or hearing or reading of young people go on and on and on about how much swag they've got, I mean, seriously? You have all that swag? Wow! You must be like a millionaire or something.

I don't even know what swag means and the dictionary does not help either, it tells me it's a LOOT, I'm pretty sure these folks aren't bragging about how much they've stolen. But based on the context of popular use, I'd say it may mean: an illusion of style, emphasis on the word 'illuson'. Flip side, skill is the ability to do a certain thing with the finesse it requires to reach perfection. A skilled person is a person with the ability to do a particular thing and do that particular thing very well.

I think it's heavy misplace of priority to rate swag over skill, imagine you're given a choice between the two options, honestly, which would you pick??

This is the reason why these older folks think that we are a lazy generation, they even pity our future, and who wouldn't?? Despite the fact that we have things ten times easier nowadays, we still waste all our time on trivial, undistinguished and irresponsible acts. I've read somewhere that swag will not pay your bills in a few years time, it most definitely will not, only the skills that you acquire over time will.

Your style does not, and cannot, and will not complement your skill, however, your skill can and will complement your style. You can only claim to have something that you actually have, you know??

Which would you rather be remembered as?? The guy who had all that swag or the guy who had all that skill? Choose wisely.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Wrong Kind of Thirsty.

Hi
So I came across this really awkward but extremely funny story that happened years ago.

About a man who on one of those days when men tend to feel extremely falsely fly, decided that he'd join one of those sites where people enter to meet other people, of opposite sex, in order to eventually have coitus - a word by far milder than it's 3-lettered cousin.

So anyway he joined the dating site, advertised himself and what he needed - we all know what that is, so it's no point trying to explain, besides, this isn't cracked.com. He later got replied by 5 different women, each of which he planned a seperate rendezvous day with - talk about 'falling' into some luck?? No??

Wait.. I kinda forgot an extremely important part of the story - the said man was a married man - in other words, his wife became insufficient or inadequate for his new found lustful desires.

Unfortunately for him, lucky for the wife, she found out his seeming perfectly clandestine plan and then she made a call to the women her husband had planned to meet up with, and we all know what happens when women come together to make a man's life miserable, right? If you don't know, well, allow me to prescribe to you a movie - John Tucker Must Die - Men, watch that and learn why you shouldn't mess with women. Women, watch that and learn what to do when a man messes with you. Lol. Pardon my digression.

So one of the women from the dating site called the man and asked him to meet her up at some motel or something, he was probably thinking Christmas came early. He got there, made himself comfortable, he had probably taken off any trace of civilization he had on and was already beginning to imagine things. But then, trouble reared it's... or in this case, 'her' ugly head in the form of another one of the women from the same dating site. I don't know how best to explain what happened next, so I'm just going to skip that part.

Minutes or hours later, the man was in a hospital, precisely the surgery room trying to seperate his man-part from his stomach. Apparently, the women, stealthy as they were, had glued the man's penis to his stomach, how cruel. I don't even want to imagine what it felt like.
Well, maybe he deserved it. This is a true story though, I wonder if the man still has the scars, so that anytime he takes a bath he remembers when his penis was glued to his stomach, because he was thirsty, the wrong kind of thirsty.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Politics and English Language.

I was recently going through a summary of George Orwell's essay POLITICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE where he discussed language and writing. He discussed what he felt was wrong with how the language - English is being used. He pointed out two 'weaknesses', the second of which is what I'm more interested in - lack of precision - using too many 'big' words to describe something you can with smaller, more precise, simple everyday words. A lot of people are guilty of this, including myself. We just want to speak with big words, maybe we think it'll make us look smart or intelligent.

These two passages were carefully examined in the essay, from the bible and reads:
"I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all".
-Ecclesiastes
Simple and concise and understandable. Now here is the same passage but in a style often used by an educated person in the twenty first century:
"Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account"
The second passage is unnecessarily 'wordy' and 'abstract'; it's meaning is less direct - but it is, unfortunately, the sort of writing likely to be found nowadays.
The first passage contains forty-nine words but only sixty syllables, the second contains forty-eight words and ninety syllables.

We like big words, we know we do, but big words don't always make for good english, concise and consistent is the way to go.

Orwell concludes his essay by providing some rules, below:
1. Never use metaphor, smilie or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active (an example of the passive: 'I was knocked down by a bus', the active: 'a bus knocked me down').
5. Never use a foreign word, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday english equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Even though the essay was written in 1946, we still find a lot of what Orwell speaks about occurring.

**Parts curled from George Orwell's 'Politics and English language'**

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Anger with A Tribute to The King

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: For every minute you're angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.

Anger is corrosive, having rage withing you kills. But fortunately, anger is a choice. You can choose either to get angry about something or to just let it go.

If you let anger consume you, then you let the door open for regret to come in.
A person almost always regrets any action he makes in anger, this is why we need to let go of anger, of rage, of regret.

Moving on:
Rest in Peace to the King of pop. He died exactly four years ago. June 25, 2009, We lost arguably the greatest musician that will ever grace the earth!!
Legends never die..
RIP M.J.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Big Trouble!

I honestly have nothing against polygamy - a man having more than one wife. I see nothing wrong with it as long as one of your wives isn't taking your picture to a witch doctor, a man with a red scarf and one of his eyes partially covered with talcum powder, who will eventually soak the picture in boiling water and ask the wife to call your name thrice, stabbing the picture each time, meanwhile you suddenly start feeling a burning sensation all over your body and then you painfully realize that your belly is leaking blood, you're dying/dead..
As long as that hasn't happened a polygamist is cool.

What I have a problem with, is when a partially employed person, who can barely afford to feed himself and another decides in his obvious 'wisdom ad infinitum' that his one wife - who perhaps already has 4 children bearing his name next to theirs, is no longer enough for him, can no longer satisfy him. *insert BIG trouble**

How do you take care of two wives when you can hardly take good care of yourself?? Emphasis on 'good'. And those two wives will eventually bear your offsprings, say, eight, they will all be educated, be clothed, be fed, be sheltered - they will all want to be treated as every other child, not minding the fact that their father makes money that can hardly even take care of a sick laboratory animal.

When men have their two eyes wide open and do things that seem like they have them wide shut.
That is for the men doing crazy stuff, honestly y'all need to stop. If you're not bloody rich, with a ridiculously fat pocket, don't get a second wife. Even if you are bloody rich, with a ridiculously fat pocket, don't get a second wife, because, although your first wife may say she's cool with it, but she really isn't. Unless you want a practical example of that first paragraph, don't do it.

Now, I've always wondered why some women decide to act like they are... Please wait while I search for a perfect word... Stupid?? No, stupid isn't even almost good enough, but I'll manage.
You know how very, very, extremely poor he is (I know it's tautological, just let me make my point). You know he cannot afford to feed himself well, you know you feed him sometimes. You also know he already has a wife at home, and you still decide in your obvious 'stupidity ad infinitum' to be his wife, to be his second wife.

What really do you expect? For a miracle to happen? For him to become a millionaire just after you enter into his house, with a snap of your finger? For him to love you more than his first wife so you can help in throwing out her baggage on the streets?? Is that what you think will happen? If that's what you think, then you have quite an imagination and I will gladly hire you to chair my dream company. And then, at the end of the day, you have the audacity to complain that your husband does not love you and that he is planning to bring in a third wife and that your children are suffering, they're not in school, they're hungry. See, you haven't seen anything yet.

So I just felt like ranting about polygamists, especially the poor ones. Thank you for reading my rant.
Back to the witch doctor and your picture, No??

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

A Work in Progress

It's the 21st day of June, and it's not just another day. It's my birthday, and I am thankful. I am thankful not just because it's my birthday but also because I can say I have experienced things that others my age will find scary to say the least.

I have stared death in the face more than a couple of times. But still I am here. I am grateful to God for loving me, because I know he does, he loves me. My life is a testimony.

I know I am not where I could be, but also, at the same time, I know how far away I am from where I used to be. I am a gorgeous work in progress. The unfinished work that the sculptor brags about.

Life plays it's own drum beats, you can choose to dance to it, or, you can choose to superimpose life's sound with the sound you desire. It's all about perception.

I am on my way, I know that, more than anything else. I know it's only a matter of time before the sculptor completes his work.

Thank you Lord for loving me..

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

When Evil Becomes Cool.

It's amazing how all of the things we referred to as 'very very bad' back when we were little kids growing up have all of a sudden become 'cool'.

It seems as if the definition of good and evil evolves and metamorphose as one grows older. We tend to see things a tad differently.

For some reason, evil is not evil anymore. Bad is not really as bad anymore. Life deals with us such that all our little rantings about what we want the world to be like becomes nothing but childish naivety.

Right now I'm wondering to myself. "where is this coming from? Am I making this up??"
But thinking about it, I really am not.

If memory serves me correct, we learnt about drug addiction in grade 4 at 'social studies', the oldest of us in my school then couldn't have been more than 11years old. We all found it crazy that someone will actually overuse drugs. It just didn't make any sense. It was stupid.
But fast forward 10 years letter. Is it still stupid?? You are not a cool person in this day and age if you're not hooked on drugs or if you're not an alcoholic or a party animal or one kind of narcotic or another. All you are is boring.

What do we see on TV everyday when we put it on? What does the internet preach to us?
Seriously, what is the 21st century turning us into??

I'm at rest though. You see, when we were kids, we were saints. But fact is, you can't be a saint all your life. Life offers us way too much.

I fear for the growing kids. The teenagers. These people see things, they get curious and a child is never content until he satisfies his curiousity. And you may think he has no idea where or how to satisfy them but remember he has peers. That's what their there for. That's what peer pressure is.

I am at rest because life itself doesn't force anything on anyone. We have a choice. We always have a choice.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Little Girls for Sale!

Hi.
The stats are crazy frightening. 1 out of 9 girls in developing countries will get married before 15. I read about a girl, 17, she was stoned to death for refusing to marry a man. A man who was old enough to be her grandfather.

It's heart breaking to imagine that these families sell off their little daughters like farm animals, to the highest bidders, just to make themselves a few buck.
In Niger, stats show that 75% of girls are married before they turn 18. In Bangladesh it's 66% and in Chad and The Central African Republic it's 68%.
14.2 million girls annually and 39000 daily are forced into extremely early marriage.

In some countries in the middle east, Saudi Arabia for example, I learnt there isn't even a minimum age for marriage, therefore, poor parents can easily sell off their daughters at any age they want. In Iran the minimum marrying age is 13, in Yemen it's 15.

Child Marriages exposes girls to all manner of danger including maternal mortality - You can imagine a 15 year old child conceiving and trying to bring a new baby into the world. A baby giving birth to a baby.

I'd say the best defence against this is an education. But that's another problem. If people see their daughters as commodities that they'd sell off eventually they will not bother taking that daughter to school, would they?? It therefore borders on the readiness of the government in these nations to make education free and compulsory for every one.

We also have to keep drumming into their ears, how pathetic the concept of child marriage is, maybe just maybe we can stop it. And I am in!
A girl is just as useful as a boy, if not more.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

30 truth!

Yea. Hi. So I found these 30 questions somewhere and I thought it'd be fun to try and answer them, here.

1.When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

- What does the future hold??

2.How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
- emm. A thousand and five hundred naira, about $11. I think.


3.What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?

- More??

4.Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cellphone?

- Judith.

5.What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?

- I don't know, The Nokia tone? Lol!

6.What are you wearing right now?
- Black shirt, White 3/4short.


7.Do you label yourself?

- Not really.

8.Name the brand of the shoes you currently own?
- I have no idea.


9.Bright or Dark Room?
- Dark Room.


10.What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?

- A Great blogger that blogs alot about her personal life.

11.What does your watch look like?

- Black leather, Gold frame, Dior, and as old as time itself.

12.What were you doing at midnight last night?
- Sleeping. Deservedly.


13.What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
"Inform the brick layer that the windows should be 6ft. If practicable".


14.What's a word that you say a lot?
- Damn. I think.


15.Who told you he/she loved you last? (please exclude spouse, family, children)

- A friend on christmas day, last year.

16. Last furry thing you touched?
- My dog.


17.Favourite age you have been so far?

- Current age. I've had more time for myself.

18.What was the last thing you said to someone?

- "Oh really?"

19.The last song you listened to?
- Rihanna - Stay.


20.Where did you live in 1987?

- In heaven!

21.Are you jealous of anyone?

- No. Absolutely not.

22.Is anyone jealous of you?
- I don't know. Maybe.


23.Name three things that you have on you at all times?

- My glasses, My wallet, My cell.

24.What’s your favourite town/city?
- I've never really lived there, buh I kinna like Lagos, Nigeria.


25.When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
- I've never mailed a letter before. Yea I know, what planet am I on, right?


26.Can you change the oil on a car?
- Unfortunately, No.


27.Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
- I'm not gonna say her name, cos she might be reading this. And ya, the last I heard was She's alive.


28.Does anything hurt on your body right now?
- No!

29.What is your current desktop picture?

- A picture of my family.

30. Have you been burnt by love?

- Lol! Nah. Not yet. And I hope never.

That's it. This is my 100th post by the way. Thank you all for consistently reading my thoughts. Love all y'all.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!