It started yesterday, dry and itchy throat, loss of appetite, nausea and a hint of diarrhoea. Later followed headaches, chills, and me feeling muscles I hadnt previously acknowledged existed.
I had been telling my sister that i was steering clear of anybody sniffling, sneezing or coughing in a ten-yard radius, saying that since many of those who were said to die from swine flu had immunity compromising conditions, i didnt want it to be said in reference to me that 'she had an underlying medical condition' a la my sickle cell genotype.
Anyway, yesterday, i found that despite my best efforts- which included covering my nose with a tissue and banishing politeness when on the train, a woman sneezed next to me- i matched about six of eight swine flu symptoms.
I am fine still and hope to remain so. And i have called my GP who advised me to monitor it today and not use tamiflu too soon because it might cause me to puke my intestines. I do not plan to let swine flu or whatever this nonsense is get the better of me; at least i havent started racking up my lungs in coughing fits yet, and neither have i started blowing my brains out of my nostrils, so i'll be fine!
But to all my friends (who needs enemies, when they've got you. lol!) who have been laughing at me, crowing that i have swine flu, refusing to visit like planned, and threatening to not let me into their houses if i show up on their doorsteps this week; what can i say... watch your backs oh! the way this swine flu thing is flying around you may not be crowing for much longer or be lucky enough to get my kind, which for now seems to be as gentle as swine flu goes.
But despite all, i pray that God rids my body of this flu and brings me back to health again.
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Monday 13 July 2009
Koko Mansion: And Lilian left first!
I admit, I wasn't such a fan of Lilian but I see no reason why D'banj should have chosen that contrary, snooty, little bird called Chioma over her. And if D'banj says Chioma is passionate about her singing career- even if in my opinion she wouldn't be able to sing if she was ailing from cancer and singing was the cure- then what did he think Lilian was with her dancing? I can't count the number of times I saw that girl going at her dancing even (and this is important) when she didnt have an audience.
D'banj, this one you no try oh! Dont let it repeat itself. Please send the ones with the issues away and leave the ones that actually stand a chance of fulfilling your ideal of the ideal woman.
One warning: Leave my Chidinma there for me! If she ever comes up for eviction, which I pray never happens; you had better save her pretty neck. Otherwise...
D'banj, this one you no try oh! Dont let it repeat itself. Please send the ones with the issues away and leave the ones that actually stand a chance of fulfilling your ideal of the ideal woman.
One warning: Leave my Chidinma there for me! If she ever comes up for eviction, which I pray never happens; you had better save her pretty neck. Otherwise...
Last Week!
It's been a while I posted last; I've been busy taking a creative writing course and working to strengthen my creative juices, hoping that I'll catch sight of the muse one day. Meanwhile, I just received bad news that a favorite blogger of mine Is leaving me out in the cold on the edge of my seat but I guess she has her reasons. I'll be posting one of the short stories i was able to write in the course of my course (pun intended) as soon as i'm able to quit procrastinating the editing of it.
It rained quite badly last week but's sunnier and warmer today, Thank God! Though I know British weather isnt to be predicted and that as I write, the nice twilight coming on might give way to hailstones. You see, I think I am afflicted with Seasonal Affective Disorder, that condition that makes individuals depressed in the cold dreary months, and lively and productive in the summer. So this rain that is infringing on my summer is not at all tolerable.
Basket Mouth came to London last friday and I missed it because by the time I wanted to buy my ticket it was sold out already. I'm sure he gave a good show though. He's the best.
I've been a skinflint lately. I got a bus ticket to attend my one-week course rather than spending double the amount buying a week tube pass; and did my body pay what my pocket had refused to with approximately five hours of commuting on bus the distance it would have taken me only one hour to cover daily. Am I penny wise or pound foolish or what? Never again will I in MI's words "spend my life to buy money" because i now know i can't "spend money to buy life"
I met up with my classmates from secondary school yesterday and it was nice seeing them and getting complimented on my improved looks- I admit I was no belle back in those days. But speaking with those two made me realize that I had missed out on the whole secondary school dating thing while I was busy being a growth-challenged ugly duckling- To think that both of them I met up with had dated each other back then and then gone on to date each other's partners again. Mehn a lot happened in high school oh! A lot I missed for having always been immersed in the mills and boons collection I was so fond of reading while more exciting things were taking place around me unnoticed. I hope I wont look back on my life in a few years and realise I have made the same mistake.
Have a lovely week!
It rained quite badly last week but's sunnier and warmer today, Thank God! Though I know British weather isnt to be predicted and that as I write, the nice twilight coming on might give way to hailstones. You see, I think I am afflicted with Seasonal Affective Disorder, that condition that makes individuals depressed in the cold dreary months, and lively and productive in the summer. So this rain that is infringing on my summer is not at all tolerable.
Basket Mouth came to London last friday and I missed it because by the time I wanted to buy my ticket it was sold out already. I'm sure he gave a good show though. He's the best.
I've been a skinflint lately. I got a bus ticket to attend my one-week course rather than spending double the amount buying a week tube pass; and did my body pay what my pocket had refused to with approximately five hours of commuting on bus the distance it would have taken me only one hour to cover daily. Am I penny wise or pound foolish or what? Never again will I in MI's words "spend my life to buy money" because i now know i can't "spend money to buy life"
I met up with my classmates from secondary school yesterday and it was nice seeing them and getting complimented on my improved looks- I admit I was no belle back in those days. But speaking with those two made me realize that I had missed out on the whole secondary school dating thing while I was busy being a growth-challenged ugly duckling- To think that both of them I met up with had dated each other back then and then gone on to date each other's partners again. Mehn a lot happened in high school oh! A lot I missed for having always been immersed in the mills and boons collection I was so fond of reading while more exciting things were taking place around me unnoticed. I hope I wont look back on my life in a few years and realise I have made the same mistake.
Have a lovely week!
Monday 6 July 2009
To all of my Michael Jacksons: Vitiligo or not!
We all thought Michael Jackson would live forever or at least outlive our passion for him such that in the event of his passing, we'd be able to earnestly pay out respects to the music icon and proceed with out affairs.
But news of his death almost two weeks ago, hit the world hard. and many hearts (like mine) are still bleeding at the suddenness of his death and the sadness that took up a lot of his highly successful life.
While it is tue that the planned 50 concerts with o2 in london might have worked to revive his career, which had been put on a back burner due to the child molestation accusations, his reclusive lifestyle thereafter, and the increasing public attention to new acts like diddy, usher, fifty cents and akon among others; it has served to increase the grief at the resurrection that wasn't to be.
I mourn Michael Jackson, the talent that was, and the new phase of his career which we hoped would take off after his london concerts. I mourn his gentle, giving soul, his love for children and his shy smile and soft voive.
I mourn him as the young dark skinned, snub nosed boy with the soprano voice who sang his heart out to the ABC song; and I mourn him as the paper skinned effeminate and almost anorexic man he was at his death; and all others in between.
Even after his death the question lingers about his drastically altered physical image: was he really diagnosed with vitiligo, that rare condition that causes a gradual, patchy lightening of the skin? Or was his fairer than white skin a result of the various plastic surgeries he was alleged to have undergone in the efforts to renounce his black origin? (The same black origin he proudly proclaimed in the 1993 interview with Oprah, while he beat his white chest and declared himself a proud black man.) Or maybe his whiteness was a result of the efforts to unify his skin colour after vitiligo had unleashed its patchy, variegated wrath on the once black man's skin.
I and many others are resigned to never knowing the truth behind Michael Jackson's fading colour but we continue to be in awe of his talent, kindness and tenderness. we will continue to hold the fonest thoughts of him, as the smiling, afro haired, brown skinned boy of 'gimme one more chance'; as the curly haired, shy voiced, adolescent boy of 'thriller'; as the handsome mullato of 'beat it'; and the pointy nosed opaque skinned effeminate waif of 'rock my world'.
We miss you MJ, we miss the innovational dances like the moonwalk and anti gravity lean; we miss the yells that punctuate your music. we miss the passion in your music, we miss all that you've been to us for four decades. And we regret what the world put you through.
But news of his death almost two weeks ago, hit the world hard. and many hearts (like mine) are still bleeding at the suddenness of his death and the sadness that took up a lot of his highly successful life.
While it is tue that the planned 50 concerts with o2 in london might have worked to revive his career, which had been put on a back burner due to the child molestation accusations, his reclusive lifestyle thereafter, and the increasing public attention to new acts like diddy, usher, fifty cents and akon among others; it has served to increase the grief at the resurrection that wasn't to be.
I mourn Michael Jackson, the talent that was, and the new phase of his career which we hoped would take off after his london concerts. I mourn his gentle, giving soul, his love for children and his shy smile and soft voive.
I mourn him as the young dark skinned, snub nosed boy with the soprano voice who sang his heart out to the ABC song; and I mourn him as the paper skinned effeminate and almost anorexic man he was at his death; and all others in between.
Even after his death the question lingers about his drastically altered physical image: was he really diagnosed with vitiligo, that rare condition that causes a gradual, patchy lightening of the skin? Or was his fairer than white skin a result of the various plastic surgeries he was alleged to have undergone in the efforts to renounce his black origin? (The same black origin he proudly proclaimed in the 1993 interview with Oprah, while he beat his white chest and declared himself a proud black man.) Or maybe his whiteness was a result of the efforts to unify his skin colour after vitiligo had unleashed its patchy, variegated wrath on the once black man's skin.
I and many others are resigned to never knowing the truth behind Michael Jackson's fading colour but we continue to be in awe of his talent, kindness and tenderness. we will continue to hold the fonest thoughts of him, as the smiling, afro haired, brown skinned boy of 'gimme one more chance'; as the curly haired, shy voiced, adolescent boy of 'thriller'; as the handsome mullato of 'beat it'; and the pointy nosed opaque skinned effeminate waif of 'rock my world'.
We miss you MJ, we miss the innovational dances like the moonwalk and anti gravity lean; we miss the yells that punctuate your music. we miss the passion in your music, we miss all that you've been to us for four decades. And we regret what the world put you through.
Random Things About Me
1) I imagine that inanimate objects have feelings and i try to be kind to my clothes, car, books, photo albums... anything at all.
2) I am not scared to die now, but i fear that as soon as i find something to live for, it'll happen
3) I love my brother more than my parents or sisters
4) I dont like people around me to be on a diet; so i always try to sabotage their efforts
5) I am mostly melancholy, partially phlegmatic and slightly sanguine
6) I am totally unambitious
7) I think i lost my virginity at age 6 from falling off a table
8) I am attracted to sexually adventurous friends
9) I have a great big crush on Banky W and often fantasize about being his kele. (hook us up somebody!)
10) I was a late bloomer, i started menstruating at 18 and grew breasts at 19 but my body has more than compensated for the delay- i wear a double D cup now
11) I like to play with sand and I eat it even, it tastes really nice. I thought I had outgrown it but i just ate a scoop of fine, golden sand and does it taste good! I know I ought to lose my appetite for it though, because at my age it's beginning to seem rather retarded
12) I have a fetish for pens and shoes
13) I'm a quitter who knows she needs to persist
14) There are some things i'd rather steal than buy with my money eg cups, trays, q-tips, facial wipes
15) I injured my tongue badly as a child, and can only be grateful that i can still taste
16) I'd be taller but for my slightly bow-legs. I'm 5'7" now
17) I give a long rope, i have a temper and i find it very easy to apologise (contradictory???)
18) I remember many things others cant (maybe cos i eat a lot of eggs) and i often have to remind my siblings of things that happened to them or friends they had before.
19) I thought babies were born through the clitoris (where you pee from) till i was 19... guess i never fully grasped the reproductive system in biology
20) I am at a stage in life where i've grown weary of praying... i dont seem to have had many of my prayers answered in recent years (forgive me if i'm wrong, Lord), so i do not bother to speak with the Man above so much anymore.
2) I am not scared to die now, but i fear that as soon as i find something to live for, it'll happen
3) I love my brother more than my parents or sisters
4) I dont like people around me to be on a diet; so i always try to sabotage their efforts
5) I am mostly melancholy, partially phlegmatic and slightly sanguine
6) I am totally unambitious
7) I think i lost my virginity at age 6 from falling off a table
8) I am attracted to sexually adventurous friends
9) I have a great big crush on Banky W and often fantasize about being his kele. (hook us up somebody!)
10) I was a late bloomer, i started menstruating at 18 and grew breasts at 19 but my body has more than compensated for the delay- i wear a double D cup now
11) I like to play with sand and I eat it even, it tastes really nice. I thought I had outgrown it but i just ate a scoop of fine, golden sand and does it taste good! I know I ought to lose my appetite for it though, because at my age it's beginning to seem rather retarded
12) I have a fetish for pens and shoes
13) I'm a quitter who knows she needs to persist
14) There are some things i'd rather steal than buy with my money eg cups, trays, q-tips, facial wipes
15) I injured my tongue badly as a child, and can only be grateful that i can still taste
16) I'd be taller but for my slightly bow-legs. I'm 5'7" now
17) I give a long rope, i have a temper and i find it very easy to apologise (contradictory???)
18) I remember many things others cant (maybe cos i eat a lot of eggs) and i often have to remind my siblings of things that happened to them or friends they had before.
19) I thought babies were born through the clitoris (where you pee from) till i was 19... guess i never fully grasped the reproductive system in biology
20) I am at a stage in life where i've grown weary of praying... i dont seem to have had many of my prayers answered in recent years (forgive me if i'm wrong, Lord), so i do not bother to speak with the Man above so much anymore.
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Koko Mansion: I Take Back My Words!
Now i know why and how a girl like Rita could have gotten into the Koko Mansion. She has the important ingredient called Confidence. She may still misplace her 'h's and disregard all the rules of grammar; but she is bold, humorous and possessing of a certain fierceess that can make her a force contend with, if, only if, she can make use of the self development platform that Koko Mansion might be turning out to be.
On a presentation exercise, during which some of the her comtemporaries literally lost their voices for the apprehension of standing before the Koko Master and his panel of judges, Rita controlled her environment and ended up turning the session into a lively episode while requesting that they (the judges) ask her questions. She also asked D'banj to do her the 'favour' of removing his famed stunners and looking her in the face.
She mada a final impression before exiting the interview room by enjoining D'banj to 'appreciate with all his heart' the gift of a statue of a chief she was presenting to him.
Wish I that Rita had the gift of oratory to match her bold humour... then she'd be MY winner!
I'll leave you now to return to Koko Mansion; and of course to make myself a good helping of humble pie.
On a presentation exercise, during which some of the her comtemporaries literally lost their voices for the apprehension of standing before the Koko Master and his panel of judges, Rita controlled her environment and ended up turning the session into a lively episode while requesting that they (the judges) ask her questions. She also asked D'banj to do her the 'favour' of removing his famed stunners and looking her in the face.
She mada a final impression before exiting the interview room by enjoining D'banj to 'appreciate with all his heart' the gift of a statue of a chief she was presenting to him.
Wish I that Rita had the gift of oratory to match her bold humour... then she'd be MY winner!
I'll leave you now to return to Koko Mansion; and of course to make myself a good helping of humble pie.
Crab Talk
"When we walk backwards, we move forwards"- Douglas Hofstadter
What do the following words have in common? Hannah, Madam, Level.
Or even more interestingly the following statements:
"Was it a car or a cat i saw?"
"If I had a hi-fi."
"Never odd or even."
"Red rum, sir, is murder!"
They all read the same whether read forward or backwards; and are all examples of palindromes. Palindromes can be formed with characters eg A, B, C; or with words or even with lines. And the above are examples of character palindromes due to the fact that all the letters are read backwards to give the same meaning.
Examples of word palindromes are:
"Fall leaves after leaves fall"
"First ladies rule the state and state the rule: ladies first"
"Girl bathing on bikini eyeing boy sees boy eyeing bikini on bathing girl"
Here, a word is taken as a single unit, and when each line of sentence is read, last word first, the meaning remains the same. Word palindromes disregard punctuation to retain their meaning while character palindromes disregard spaces between words.
Perhaps the most creative and amusing use of palindromes is the line palindrome as used in the poem 'Doppelganger' by James A Lindon below:
Entering the lonely house with my wife
I saw him for the first time
Peering furtively from behind a bush-
Blackness that moved
A shape amid the shadows
A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes
Revealed in the ragged moon
A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have
Put him to flight forever-
I dared not
For reasons that i failed to understand
Though i knew i should act at once
I puzzled over it, hiding alone
Watching the woman as she neared the gate
He came and I saw him crouching
Night after night
Night after night
He came and I saw him, crouching
Watching the woman as she neared the gate
I puzzled over it, hiding alone-
Though i knew i should act at once
For reasons that i failed to understand
I dared not
Put him to flight forever
A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have
Revealed in the ragged moon
A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes
A shape amid the shadows
Blackness that moved
Peering furtively behind a bush
I saw him for the first time
Entering the lonely house with my wife.
In the beginning of the poem, the husband is with his wife being watched (and knowing this) by another man in the bushes, wondering why he isnt acting to find out the strange man's identity.
The poem is momentarily flipped in the second verse, and now is told from the point of view of the man in the bushes who watched from his hiding place as the husband checked on him every night.
The last three verses are told in the husbands voice again, watching this time the strange man with his wife. The husband remained hiding in the bush knowing he should come out to confront the 'Cuckold' but watching intead as the man went into his house with his wife.
A bit confusing, I guess, but really creative as the poem read forwards and then backwards, the lines changing their meaning slightly to continue a story which had already begun.
What do the following words have in common? Hannah, Madam, Level.
Or even more interestingly the following statements:
"Was it a car or a cat i saw?"
"If I had a hi-fi."
"Never odd or even."
"Red rum, sir, is murder!"
They all read the same whether read forward or backwards; and are all examples of palindromes. Palindromes can be formed with characters eg A, B, C; or with words or even with lines. And the above are examples of character palindromes due to the fact that all the letters are read backwards to give the same meaning.
Examples of word palindromes are:
"Fall leaves after leaves fall"
"First ladies rule the state and state the rule: ladies first"
"Girl bathing on bikini eyeing boy sees boy eyeing bikini on bathing girl"
Here, a word is taken as a single unit, and when each line of sentence is read, last word first, the meaning remains the same. Word palindromes disregard punctuation to retain their meaning while character palindromes disregard spaces between words.
Perhaps the most creative and amusing use of palindromes is the line palindrome as used in the poem 'Doppelganger' by James A Lindon below:
Entering the lonely house with my wife
I saw him for the first time
Peering furtively from behind a bush-
Blackness that moved
A shape amid the shadows
A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes
Revealed in the ragged moon
A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have
Put him to flight forever-
I dared not
For reasons that i failed to understand
Though i knew i should act at once
I puzzled over it, hiding alone
Watching the woman as she neared the gate
He came and I saw him crouching
Night after night
Night after night
He came and I saw him, crouching
Watching the woman as she neared the gate
I puzzled over it, hiding alone-
Though i knew i should act at once
For reasons that i failed to understand
I dared not
Put him to flight forever
A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have
Revealed in the ragged moon
A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes
A shape amid the shadows
Blackness that moved
Peering furtively behind a bush
I saw him for the first time
Entering the lonely house with my wife.
In the beginning of the poem, the husband is with his wife being watched (and knowing this) by another man in the bushes, wondering why he isnt acting to find out the strange man's identity.
The poem is momentarily flipped in the second verse, and now is told from the point of view of the man in the bushes who watched from his hiding place as the husband checked on him every night.
The last three verses are told in the husbands voice again, watching this time the strange man with his wife. The husband remained hiding in the bush knowing he should come out to confront the 'Cuckold' but watching intead as the man went into his house with his wife.
A bit confusing, I guess, but really creative as the poem read forwards and then backwards, the lines changing their meaning slightly to continue a story which had already begun.
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