From Temi Otedola to Taylor Swift: Our Dangerous Obsession with the Rich

Over the past couple of weeks or so, it came out that Otedola's daughter, Temi Otedola, had gotten married to Nigerian musician, Mr. Eazi. Honestly,  that's really all you need to know about this whole thing. The pictures were on Vogue. Of course, I did not actually go to the website (nor did I do so even now as I link for you all) because I did not care. I saw the photos everywhere else. They looked elegant and beautiful and expensive, I said to myself and kept it moving. That should be all, right? Wrong. Then came the deep-dives, the analysis, the obsession, the comparisons, the "ahhhh this life, JUST HAVE MONEY" comments. Or "THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT." Or "Ahh why am I poor." Or "is this how I will die in Abule Ijesha?" The last one was, in fact, a real comment. I did not make that up. 

Book of the Month: Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

Welcome to another book of the month on the very last day of the month! The book of this month is Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. It’s a book about a group of employees working at a retail store in a small and declining town in upstate New York. The novel focuses on members of the Movement team, who resume at 3:55am every morning to unload trucks, stock shelves, and deal with an odd, self-conceited boss. Through the course of telling this story, we meet a cast of characters: from the ex-convict seeking redemption to the girl who’s holding on to the faded glory of being a “cool kid” in high school to the older lady who’s literally too old for this mess, among others.  When a rare opportunity for a promotion presents itself, this divergent group of people must work together to engineer an outcome for their own goal(s). They do this through surmounting personal hurdles, navigate cliché and irritating corporate structures, and the frustration of low-wage work.

Friday Reflections

1.) The Church doesn't talk enough about greed and the evil that come from money.

2.) At 90, Wole Soyinka visits his younger, more optimistic self.

3.) A writer's quest to find the con artist (Yahoo Boy) who duped his mother.

What's in a Legacy? On Life and How We Want to Be Remembered

What is in a legacy?

How do you want to be remembered? 

Everyone's heard it now: Charlie Kirk was brutally murdered on Wednesday, September 10. And events that followed will probably be stuff worthy of history's retelling. However you feel about him and his murder is one of the more contentious issues of this week (month? year?). I will leave that to you.

In hours that followed when he was first killed, people took to social media and expressed all kinds of things. As with most things that are the rave, I wanted to stay out of this one. I just vehemently believe that one does not need to have an opinion about everything. Then I saw too many people, Nigerians especially (some of whom I even respect), glorify an idea that was at best incomplete and at worst a complete lie. 

Too often, lies speed, jump, hop, but truth just comes crawling behind and it's left to us to push it a little. So I wrote the below.

Some Books I Read...

Hiya folks! Welcome to another post about books. I'll be posting a bunch of notable books I read recently below. Enjoy! 

Book of the Month: Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler

Welcome to another book of the month! We're going all the way back for the book of this month; talk about an oldie but goodie. I love when a book tugs deep into our hearts and reminds us of our humanity, but not through something profound but in the ordinary, in the normal.  This is an amazing story of sacrifice, quiet devotion, love, and ordinariness. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Book of the Month is Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler. I'm a little new to her work but completely blown away so much I just want to consume everything she's ever written. 

Saint Maybe is set in 1965 when the Beldoe family is living an idyllic, quintessential American life in Baltimore before they are struck with a tragedy that transforms their existence forever; but especially the life of their youngest son, 17-year old Ian Bedloe, who assumes the blame for this tragic event. Even as I type this and remember him, my heart breaks just a little again. That's what fiction does. It expands your heart and show you realities you never knew existed. In any case, we follow through Ian through a great chunk of this life (several decades, I believe) as he tries to redeem himself. Through the process watch the Bedloes transform from their nauseously happy status quo to dealing with extraordinary calamities. The New York Times said Anne Tyler likes to break America's heart. They weren't wrong.

The Myth of Being 'Too Late' in Life

 This post is inspired by another post I saw on a Mommy Page on Instagram. The poster said:

"I turn 40 today and instead of feeling joyful, I find myself feeling a little wistful. I didn't get married early and now here I am, caring for a toddler and a newborn at a time when many of my mates are hitting different life milestones. While I'm grateful for my journey, there are moments I feel like I should be in a different space by now...pursuing something more. It's hard sometimes, doing motherhood alongside women in their late 20s or early 30s. I celebrate them, of course, but if I'm being honest, it messes with my mind. I question whether I'm behind in life. I know every journey is different but today I just need to hear from other mums. Can anyone share some words of encouragement with me?"

When I first saw this, perhaps it was being stuck at the airport somewhere in Europe, almost missing my connecting flight, but I was just incensed. I went back to read it a few days after and while I empathized a bit more, I still had strong feelings about it.