Decades: Chunks of Time

"Why are you so uptight?" she asks him, sitting opposite him to better view his face."I'm not uptight," he replies, but keeps looking at everything else but her. "I came here to talk to you, to see you and to ask you a few questions," she continues bravely, unable to hide the sadness at what he had become - a silhouette of himself. Taking his silence as an indication to continue, she asks, "Why are you irritated with me? What could I have possibly done wrong that I did right the last 20 yrs? I've been taking care of your assets, your children, your family, for the last 5 yrs. I've been standing up for you, defending you, and covering up for you all this while. What did I do wrong?" He sighs. He shakes his head. "People told me I was a fool to leave all my life's work in your hands, that you would go away with it in the end. They were right because now you are talking of leaving me, when all I ever wanted was to make life bett

Well, firstly, MERRY CHRISTMAS IN ARREARS!There, I know its late but better late than never, you know.I went to my mother's hometown, to attend my mum's cousin's housewarming party. They are wealthy, and I don't even mean Nigerian wealthy. I mean really wealthy but not filthy rich yet (the husband's 50th birthday party was aired all through Nigeria). So, they just finished their second house in their hometown, after building two mansions in Lagos. Its tastefully furnished and well - planned, something we have all come to expect from them. Now my cousins are really exotic - the girl barely stayed in Nigeria to finish her university education - she left in yr 2, went to London and made her mark, did her masters, and is now working for a reputable oil and gas company in ireland. She's got twin brothers, who are so similar and dissimilar at the same time. One schooled and now works in the US, while the other stayed home for his education, did [horrible] NYSC, and tr

MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE! I have been wondering at the sluggishness in the arrival of my xmas and New year packages, so I want to announce that I have extended the deadline for the submission is now 3rd January 2008! Hurry!

First of all, Happy New Month Everybody! I have been absent because I have been searching for a job. But I missed blogging so I ran back. I just finished watching Will Smith's "The Pursuit of Happyness" and I cried and cried, at the frustrastion illustrated there, then I cried tears of joy when he was given a ray of light in the midst of the darkness. I cried at his bravery in facing all the terrible things that happened to him head on. I cried when he had to lock him and his son up in a train station's toilet so the boy could sleep at night. I cried when he could not sleep. I cried when he beat the odds. Chris Gardner is one brave guy. Its a true story so I know he's out there somewhere. And I am grateful to him for telling his own story. No one would see him now in 2007 and think he had to fight to stay in line in a homeless shelter so he could get a decent bed for his son at night. No one would see his success and believe that he ever made an investment mistake

I decided that the answer to that question is national service some weeks ago. Now I have changed my mind. It is National delay. After posting us (four corpers) for three weeks [an old secretary tells us to 'come back' with four working days interval, each time] the Railway Technical School, under the auspices of The Railway Corporation, Nigeria, decided that they did not need us. So, I have been rejected from my place of primary assignment. Just when I had decided that I could try my hand at teaching (six footers with baritone voices), and take some certification exams as well, I am told that the Nigerian Railway Corporation cannot afford to pay four corpers five thousand naira, and so we have been rejected. Nigeria we serve! Now I am looking for a job - seriously searching for a job. I am thankful

Sorry, had to vent somewhere... Come Home "I am tired of all your lies," she said."I am tired of all your pretending, of what you have turned me into. I am tired of all the acting like everything is okay." "What are you saying," he asks. "I am saying that I have spent the last 25 yrs loving you, serving you, and being your wife. But I cannot continue to live the lie of the last five years. I cannot go on pretending that I know you anymore." "Are you saying its over?" he asked. "No, its not my place to say that. Its your decision." she replied. "Okay," he said calmly. "Bye." "Bye," she said, and dropped the phone in its cradle. Look back, think to the beginning, when they started off with nothing. In the beginning, when all they had was each other, when it was struggle and struggle. Look back to the middle, all the hard times, when they had to do without, when she lost the pregnancies, when the ext

I look out the car window and smile...Why am I thankful? I have just begun, really, but maybe....It is the end of something, and the beginning of another...I have just ended orientation camp, and have in fact come back loaded...with Malaria, Typhoid, Chesty cough and Catarrh. I am in the process of serving my country, for a year. And to make things more beautiful, I was posted to teach. But I am thankful..... I am thankful. Some people are serving their country at the war front. Some are serving their country by helping out at the tsunami relief spots. Some don't even have a country to serve, and are refugees who do not know if they would see the next meal. I am thankful. I have two eyes, two ears, two legs, two arms, ten fingers, ten toes, one nose, and one mouth. My mind is full of memories..... My life has been enriched with so many new friendships, so many experiences. I am thankful. I can still smile, nobody died in my absence, there was no coup to take over the government

I know this is a bit old here but, I had to do it! 3 things that scare me - not being successful , getting fat , and not making heaven . 3 people that make me laugh - Vicky , my father , and Olumide Lawyer . 3 things I love - God , reading , and writing . 3 things I hate - snobs , pride , and malice . 3 things I don't understand - life , women , and cars . 3 things on my desk - JAVA tutorials , Mobile Computing tutorials , and 3 Unfinished novels . 3 things I'm doing right now - writing , listening to music , and cooking . 3 things I want to do before I die - Birth and raise identical twins , write 50 bestsellers , create a multi - million dollar exciting JAVA game for Nokia phones . 3 things I can do - create websites , make bead accessories (from jewelry to baby teether to bags) and write . 3 things you should listen to - God , Pastor Sam Adeyemi (Daystar Christian Centre - google it. They even have life broadcasts) , and Positive thinking tapes . 3 things you should never l

I just watched a segment of 'So you think you can dance', and I got teary - eyed. There is this contestant that seemed, well, he sort of had no neck. The great part is that he made it to the final four.  The greatest part is that the whole crowd was touched by his performance - they were on their feet by the time he finished break - dancing to Christina Aguilera's 'aint no other man'. Even some of the judges were on their feet, and clapping. One of the judges was so wowwed that he has promised to put the young man in an upcoming movie. I was touched by his performance. I was touched by his courage to attend the audition. I was touched by his determination to do something for himself, and not feed off everybody's pity. I was touched by the crowd's response, a honest and encouraging one. I was moved by the whole thing - the fact that the youth of America can do, and be, without having to be typecast into the usual jobs - doctor, lawyer, architect, e

Life is funny. Life is fun. But, most importantly, life is what you make of it. At the end of camp I was really ill – high fever, chesty cough, blocked nose, and after blood tests, malaria and typhoid. At the end of camp, my life was enriched. I had made many, many friends, and had memorable experiences. I remember platoon members who were married women, all trying to be young again. I remember roommates who were so much fun to be with – I don’t think anyone had to leave the room for entertainment at any time of day. There was even a pajama party held in honor of a corper that was traveling for her wedding in the second week. They are all so endearing, when I was really sick, I would always meet my bucket full of water, someone would carry out my water for me to bath, and someone would wake me up gently in the night to change to my PJs. Someone would answer the soldier that came to chase us out that I was ill and I should not be disturbed. Someone would help me collect my food from the

This is the girls hostel area. You can see us in white white, and I was on my way back from the Dining area, after collecting jollof rice and chicken.

Now everyone except me knew about the marching, and everyone except me was prepared for the terrible conditions of the toilets, so I think a proper list of things to take to cam is in order. Sun screen: fine, you may think you don’t need it, but male or female, you really do. Even if you are black, even if you are posted to a cold area, the sun will always be there. The sun shines harder in cold areas, and flat lands. You need it to protect your skin complexion as well as to protect you from the sun’s harmful rays. BUY any lotion that has sunscreen as one of its properties. I left home with ordinary cream, with a fair complexion. I came back, black, with only one part of my body testifying of my former skin hue – the part that my bra covers everyday. The sun penetrates the white shirt (we call it tissue paper cos it tears like tissue during the first wash) and shorts that the officials give you. Pillow: they will never give you one, so if you know you cannot live without it then take y

Well, I didn’t go to camp to get hitched, as I already am, so I was out to make some friends, and hopefully tie some people together (Miss Cupid, as always). I made some new friends, and moved with the old. A particular guy felt that the fact that I “claimed” to be engaged, did not deter him from making his advances. I even went as far as facing him outrightly and telling him that there was no way I could consider him as a date: he’s NOT my type (notice the emphasis). He was not listening to me though. There was this scene at the kitchen that I didn’t find funny. Okay, the Camp Director had requested for a financial report of each platoon’s expenditure so far, and a budget of the future expenses. I prepared the report, and told him to tell the committee heads to prepare their budgets so the final one would be a compilation of all the others. But he wanted me to do everything – I put my foot down. I refused, then our platoon was helping out in the kitchen and he starts saying stuff like