Friday Reflections

1.) Crickets!

2.) Ha, it's been so long since I did this. **Dusting cobwebs**

3.) No, I did not run out of one line quips and ramblings.

4.) The last time I did this was May! Don't blame me; summer was busy!

5.) Fall is here!!! All that excitement is because my shows are back.

6.) Why do people cheat folks of their hard-earned money? This is a developing story but yeah I'm currently really angry at how unethical some Nigerian small businesses can be.

7.) Remember how I used to love Don Lemon's show? Yeah. No. I have not watched in months. I am tired of CNN bringing on racist, bigoted, misogynists on air in the name of some faux-neutrality. Miss me with that nonsense, please.

8.) I started Whole30 on Monday. It deserves an entire post on its own. Plus it's just day five, who knows how much longer I'll last?

9.) On fear, anxiety, and nervousness: a discussion with M.

10.) I read this article on getting to your "30s" and all of a sudden: the veil is removed; you can see clearly since the rain is gone; and you know, you are now mature. I thought:  "either this is some real BS or I'm extremely precocious, cos I'm just in my mid twenties and this pretty much describes me".

11.) The West Wing is pretty gooooooooood!

The People's House: A White House Tour

"The White House is the only building in the world that is free museum, an office, and home to a head of state. But this isn't simply a place for Presidents. It's 'The People's House'—so it's your house, too" - President Barrack and Mrs. Michelle Obama

I'm gonna confess now and say these heavy-photo posts are part due to me being so busy (thanks to a new schedule) I can't properly edit a post for the blog. I'm pretty sure I will have a book of the month though, so there's that.

My sister and I, despite our insanely hectic schedules, took the time this weekend for a White House Tour. We almost decided to forget about it when we got the email from our Congressman's office (MONTHS after applying) that our request to tour the White House had been granted. Unlike other museums and public places, you can't just walk into the White House for a tour. You have to go through your Senator/Congressman months in advance and then you are either rejected because no space, or accepted. We were rejected earlier this year, but my sister never quits. Good thing she doesn't because the second time was a charm.  I did not plan on blogging about it, but I figured not everyone gets to tour the White House, so why not?

Well here goes:

Chronicles of the Billy Goat Trail

I went hiking yesterday. First of all, it was a terrible weather to go hiking. I could have sworn I was going to faint from the heat. But that was not the real problem; the real problem was just how difficult the hike was. If I had done just a little research of the trail the day before, there was no way I would have gone. I'm certain I would have opted out. So yay for being too busy to research the trail spontaneity. It was also a group thing so that mollified things a little bit. I took some pictures, of course. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the really difficult paths of the trail. Your homegirl was too busy surviving, plus I had to protect my phone from falling. It got to a stage I had to go on all fours to climb; it's a miracle I  did not sprain an ankle or bruise myself. Thank the Lord with me. Also, the great conversations with my friend, Ene helped a great deal. I don't know how I would have gone through it without her. If you think I'm being histrionic; I'll put things in perspective for you. The hike itself alone was about two hours thirty minutes!

Anyway, it was the Billy Goat Trail at the Great Falls Park. Enjoy!

How To Ruin Your Labor Day Weekend And/Or Make a Colossal Mistake

In the summer of 2014, while preparing for graduate school, get a PC. Decide that the PC is not good enough for you, so get a MacBook. Be oblivious to the fact that you just used your money to buy yourself a whole lot trouble in advance. Rather, tell yourself you just bought computer security for numerous years.  Finish graduate school with your computer still intact. Be thankful that your computer is solid. Quirky, but solid. So keep living life.

Two years later. Wake up on a beautiful Saturday morning; grab your laptop and start working.  Make substantial progress, because it’s morning and you are most productive in the morning. Be cogent, clear, concise, and very analytical. Keep typing and tying your arguments together like a boss. Think about getting coffee or tea just to be bougie, and then remember you react terribly to caffeine. Respect yourself and keep working. Then…cue people from your village*.

Remember this rockstar woman doing rockstar research you recently met. Google her [for the umpteenth time]. Think about a personal statement you once wrote to remember how ambitious you once were. Open this personal statement. Get inspired all over again. Decide to close it and continue working. Click “x”. See “Do you want to save the changes made to document11?” but READ “Do you want to save the changes made to SOP?” Assume you mistakenly typed something while reading the personal statement and click “don’t save” because you don’t want any changes to that genius statement.

Click on the Word icon in your computer to continue working and get a blank document. Squeeze your face and turn up your nose in confusion. “Where the hell is my work?” Ask in confusion. Minimize every page in search of your work.  Squeal in horror at the realization of your stupidity and colossal mistake: you just deleted your WORK.

Scramble over to Google to try to pick up pieces of your broken heart and mind, because honestly you gave your freaking all to that work and do NOT know where to begin. Try everything Google tells you. Scurry over suggestions upon suggestions: remove one eye; remove one ear; insert one tooth inside your system preferences; nothing. Ask your Dad if he knows what to do. Hear him ask you why you did not save it in the first place. Ask yourself why you did not save in the first place. Rush over to your sister who is usually very resourceful. Stand with her in the bathroom—yes the bathroom—till she comes up with something. Try more solutions and read people talk about solutions that worked, and watch your idiotic computer not respond to the suggestions. Realize your computer was a waste of money. Because really why are Macs so freaking annoying and hostile to anything not made by Apple?

Go to your BBM and post your misery. Watch people respond, with kindness to your stupidity. Take their (you guys rock, by the way. Really) suggestions and again witness your computer’s idiocy.  Be grateful for the love you receive.

Call Microsoft. Call Apple. Sigh.

Eat.

Accept your fate.

Start your work all over.

That, ladies and gentlemen is how to ruin your perfect weekend. Or, How to Be Dumb 101.

Love

I

*I do not have a village, but that sounds like the only logical explanation for my daftness on Saturday morning.

Book of the Month: The Nightingale

"In love we find out who we want to be. In war, we find out who we are."

I can't really say what drew me to this book, because I'm not a war-type-girl. I don't do chaos. Lol. This book tells the story of two sisters as they navigate war-torn, German invaded France. I know that we already know this, but war is a devastating, heartbreaking, and senseless phenomenon. While whenever I found my crying (while reading) I consoled myself by reminding myself that it was all fiction, the truth is there are millions of people whose lives in 2016 have been shaped by the dire consequences of war. There are people who have found themselves in wars they don't even understand. Wars that have been fought for so long that the causes are now long forgotten.

Without giving too much away, one sister had to part with her husband who headed to the front and would later become a prisoner of war. Another sister, impetuous, and somewhat naive was desperate to resist the Nazis. Although in different capacities, both of them displayed massive amount of bravery and courage.

The very unique aspect of this book was telling the story of a war from the perspective of women. The women's war. They had to survive, and provide for their children during the war. Both women went through unimaginable, despicable, and outrightly dangerous circumstances all through the war, and came out strong. Vianne, the older sister was married to  and had a young daughter with a man she had been in love with since she was a teenager. All was good and well till Antoine, her husband was mobilized for the war despite her optimism that there would be no war. As if that was not enough, faced with the despair of never seeing her husband again, months after the war began a German soldier was stationed in her home.

On the other hand was Isabelle, the younger sister. The rebel. After being expelled from school after school, Isabelle finds her way to Paris where she would in a bid to surmount her restlessness and helplessness lead hundreds of men to safety.  I found Isabelle annoying sometimes, but her courage obscured that eventually.


Kristin Hannah was a wizard with her stroytelling; you could literally picture every character and live that war through them. Despite the fact that the it was purely fictional, the emotions were raw, which made the book a pageturner.   I would never forget the scene in which Vianne was trying to help her friend Rachel escape the Germans. I would never forget the wave of sadness that overwhelmed me, just from reading what transpired in those pages.

This book will make to you think, it will make you empathize, and it will make you angry. During my book club discussions, there were arguments that it was a bit slow at the beginning. Although I agree at it being just a tad slow, coming from my last book of the month to this, this took off way faster than that.

This was a great book, I would recommend everyone reading it. If nothing, you would get a peek into history. You would further understand the place of war in our society and how women fit into into. You also would enjoy the love stories intertwined in it.

#MESItakesToronto

Okay maybe it's a bit cheesy to have a vacation hashtag. Sue us. Haha.

I'll be honest; when I decided to visit M in Toronto, I wasn't expecting very much from the city itself. The plan was to have a good time with each other in the form of food, idle chatter, and lazying around. That would have been fine enough for me. I gotta say though, the Greater Toronto Area is a fun city to visit. Barring the complex and expensive public transportation system, and the excruciatingly painful long lines, it has a LOT to offer. It also is quite diverse. So let's get down to the nitty gritty of the week. If you can't already tell MESI comes from the first name initial of four of us. Four girls on vacation can really be a blast; lots of laughter!

I'll try to narrate the experience, and then conclude with about a gazillion pictures (so get ready). However, it would probably be hard to describe and explain just how amazing some of  these experiences were. Nevertheless, I hope you are able to vicariously feel the vibrant city of Toronto. Enjoy.

I got into the city on Saturday, August 13  at about 3:25PM after a thunderstorm caused us to land over an hour later than the expected time. Saturday was pretty chilled; the crew wasn't complete yet. So we went around the city, went to get some ice cream, went grocery shopping, and went to the salon. Oh, and we got a chance to catch up with our old schoolmate. It was so good to see you again, Tiwa!

Sunday was the actual beginning of the fun. Just before church, we picked up the final member of the crew from the airport. Later in the evening, my friend Ugo took us to Toronto island which we got to by taking a ferry at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. The journey to the Island was beautiful; just as we began approaching the Island on the ferry, we could see downtown Toronto and it was a sight to behold. After walking around and enjoying the sights of the Island, taking a bucket load of pictures, and pumping ourselves full of sugar, it was finally time to head home. Just before going home though, we visited Dundas Square and Nathan Phillips Square. To say we were exhausted would be putting it mildly. We could barely walk. But we had fun.

The next day was for Niagara falls; what I would personally consider the highlight of the trip. We almost missed the bus that would take us there; on account of the fact that the probability of four girls getting ready on time is low to nil. So yeah. For much of the about two hours trip, we fell in and out of sleep on account of fatigue from the previous day. But nothing like the magnificent sight of the Niagara Falls to jolt us awake. I can't even describe that sight. We took the horn blower tour right in the MIDDLE of Niagara Falls. God is great! Unfortunately, we couldn't take too much pictures here because of the fear of water destroying our phones. We also got a tour of Niagara on the Lake. And then we went wine tasting. It was then time to go home. We would usually end the night talking with Jenifa's Diary (which is insanely funny) playing in the background.

Tuesday began very late because of a heavy rain. We started with the Ripley's Aquarium and ended with the Museum. Later that night we visited this very bunz suya spot for some suya and asun which hit the right spots. It tasted exactly like those you get from Mallams on the road side in Lagos. Okay I did not do enough justice to Ripley's Aquarium. It felt like we were inside the ocean with Sharks and Fishes; it was that real.

Wednesday was for Canada's Wonderland, which I'll admit I was not too thrilled about. I'm just not a dangerous-about to die-scream off your lungs-rides type of girl. And I was not alone. Two of us love that thrill and really wanted the rides; the more dangerous, the better. The other two of us; let's just say were not about that life. We settled on splashes and water rides/slides, which let me tell y'all was NOT funny; those curves and bends and black holes. AH. It was fun though. We did two other scary non water rides, ate some food, fed our eyes and headed for the grocery store because the next day was a games night we were hosting, and we had to plan. In retrospect, my small regret was not taking any of the non-water scary rides.

Thursday morning started with us cooking the food for the games night happening later that evening. Sometime in the afternoon, we left for the CN Tower, which at 1815ft stands as the tallest building in North America; a fact M did not fail to drum into my mind every moment she got. We went to the very top and stood on a scary glass top through which we could see about 1800 ft beneath us. Crazy. We then went to Casa Loma but could only take pictures. One, they were about to close. Second, we had guests coming over soon.  Games night was super loud and fun. Oh, I mustn't forget froyo! HAHA.

On Friday, it was time to leave. I really had lots of fun. Thanks to M, an amazing host. And the entire crew, MESI for being Directors of Photography for this post. Hahaha.

"Take this shot for your blog."

"Oh that will be great for your blog."

Thanks ladies!

Alright folks, let's get to the pictures.

Love,
I

How Simone Biles Inspires Me

The Final Five.

These five amazing young ladies are representing the United States in gymnastics at the Olympics and have really got the whole world excited about gymnastics, which interestingly has always been my favorite Olympics sport. We all already know just how great these girls are. They really are all pretty exceptional. But you will have to excuse my bias while I focus on just one, Simone Biles. She’s 4’8 of magic. And she inspires me a great deal. I’ll tell you why.

First,  I am super proud of the chic, like she’s my own younger sister. She has been called the greatest even by historically great gymnasts. In a short video about her on New York Times, she was said to now be competing against herself. Since no one could beat her, and she was technically in the lead by a whole lot, it was fair to indeed say she was competing against herself. She doesn’t lead by one tenths or three tenths like it usually is in gymnastics. No, Biles leads by a whole point or even two sometimes. There is a technique called “The Biles” that can only be done by…you guessed right, Simone Biles. Most gymnasts are usually exceptional in just one aspect. Not Biles; she’s phenomenal on the floor, on the beam, and on the vault. She is all shades of awesome. She is extraordinary. And she is just nineteen. As if all that was not enough, when people tried to compare her with other great athletes like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, she responded: “I am not the next Usain Bolt or the next Michael Phelps. I am the first Simone Biles.” Boss. Magic. Excellence. Yeah uhhh, Black women did that.

Her life is full of great lessons and like I said she inspires me a lot.

You see, we are only seeing the final outcome. We are only seeing the well-crafted finesse and that elegance with which these girls contour their bodies into different shapes while hanging mid air, before a perfect landing. What we seldom see is the years and years of efforts that have gone into practice. While talking sometime last week, my brother mentioned some of the weaker athletes in the Olympics who are doing poorly in contrast to their U.S counterparts. I remember reiterating that we must NEVER forget that some of these U.S candidates have enabling environments and countless resources that set them up for victory. Some of them have spent every waking moment of the last four years focused on honing their craft.

What Biles and her teammates teach me is that there is no way you put that much dedication and commitment into one thing and you don’t succeed in that thing. Now combine all that with a natural flair for the thing. You’ll get excellence. You’ll become extraordinary. When she was asked how she is usually so confident, Biles responds that her confidence comes from years and years of insane practice; of spending no less than six hours per day in the gym; of working insanely hard. Most times, there are rarely shortcuts to success. Rarely. Biles said people tend to forget that although they may only perform for about a minute and thirty seconds or sometimes less, hundreds of hours have been invested in practice. We are sometimes not confident because we have not worked hard enough.
There is a video where one of Biles’ teammates, Laura Hernandez was about to do her thing and she said “I GOT THIS” before starting her routine. That was not just a mumble jumble she recites before each routine. No. She actually GOT it. She has worked hard and was therefore ready.

Another salient factor is making mistakes. Although they are the dream team, they are not infallible. However, Biles said something in an interview that has stayed with me since I heard. (If you can't already tell, I have invested hours into this girl's life. ) Anyway, she said that when she starts a routine and she makes a mistake, she NEVER lets it distract her from continuing. According to her, if she focuses too much on that mistake, the entire routine might end up being crap. If however, she continues her routine as usual, there is a huge possibility of redeeming herself from that mistake with a perfect conclusion. Rather than dwell too much on how something could have been, how about focus instead on what can still happen.

One last thing Biles taught me is to just have fun while doing ya darn thing. Legend has it that if Biles starts a routine by being too serious; if she starts a routine without goofing around or grinning, she would most likely stumble. Don't take life too seriously. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.

Oh and don't forget to have a celebratory pizza, The Final Five style ;-)

So while I LOVE Biles and admire the FINAL FIVE, they are reminders that if I have the grace of God (which I do) and I commit to something, there is no stopping me (or you). The sky would be the only limit.

Love,

I

P.S: Shout out to every Nigerian representing us (Nigeria) at the Olympics. That anyone can give that much to a country that has literally given them nothing is true heroism. We see you and we are proud of you, despite the shameless Nigerian sports ministry. We see you. Thank you.