I can smell Christmas

Hi guys!
I have already started smelling Christmas oh. 
Isn't it odd that November is almost over, and soon Christmas will soon be here and before you know it, it's January One 2015. Can somebody say whoop!whoop!.
2014! What a year. What a year indeed.
The year that....... Oh wait! Its not over yet so don't let me start soliloquies on 2014.
That will have to wait.
So what have we all been up to? I notice Harper has been off the grid? Guy!

 Ehn ehn! Did anybody know that you can make pounded yam with food processor,hand mixers and even blender?
Do I hear a Nope? If so, lemme be the one to inform you (teeth shining in happiness and all) that you don't have to struggle with that mortar and pestle ever again.
For people like me wey no know how to pound yam even though I come from Ekiti, it's a no brainer.
I have to get that food processor as soon as possible.
My colleague (after yabbing me very well for not being traditional) told me he saw one at Mr Price for N61,000. Kilode. For that price it better cook the yam, pound it, cook the soup and serve it. Hehe.

So everything in my house is #countdown to my cousins wedding.
I am thinking of even going on Saturday sef cos the engagement and wedding is on saturday.
Going on Friday means being among family( Aunties,uncles,cousins,nieces and nephews) and their friends and answering silly questions on when you are doing your own or worse having to say "Amen" to their prayers of "tie naa a de" aka your own too will come. I don't know who asked them for prayers?
 Smh.
Going on Saturday means arriving at the party venue by which time nobody will even have my time.
The only snag to my plan is that darn 'environmental sanitation'. Who fixes a wedding on a day when you can't be on the road until 9am?

 My cousin and my colleague. That's who.
 And it's about 2 hours drive so Its either we leave like 5am that Saturday in order to beat the sanitation thingy ,leave after the sanitation ( in which case I better be prepared for lots of side eyes cos we are gonna miss the engagement) or go on Friday.

Another disadvantage to going on Friday is accommodation.
I have already made a reservation  (thankfully i didn't have to pay to reserve a  room) in the hotel where the reception is holding that my sister and I can sleep in, but I have visions of my cousins eyes shining in happiness when they realise I booked a room,meaning that when accommodation gets scarce ( and knowing my cheapskate aunt, it's sure to get scarce) they can all just say " Shebi it's  just two of you,we will manage now".

Anyone who knows Nigerian weddings knows that "managing" means ten of you sleeping in one room, some on the floor, and as many as possible on the bed under the guise of "Shebi it's just till morning".
I remember when two of my friends  got married in Lagos.
It was hot and unventilated.
You can imagine how hot Lagos can be and about ten people cramped in the room. I just jejely took my position on one third of the bed and didn't move an inch oh. I had no intention of sleeping on the floor cos of one friend who pretended to forget that she had more than ten friends and only one spare room in her house.

I plan to have fun sha. And to make sure no food trays pass me by.
Thanks for checking in. Muahhhhhh.

Passion and Careers

Hi guys,
Hope you all had a rocking weekend?
I have had this post on my mind for a long time but haven't quite found the time to write it.
It's about people who have made a career out of something they are passionate about.

 There's no way it's easy to spend all those years at the University, reading a particular course, and then jettison it to follow your passion.
Such decisions often seem crazy and I can imagine the raised highbrows and incredulity that must have followed such pronouncements.
" You want to waste your law/medical degree to become a fashion designer/singer/photographer"?
 I have always being a fan of people that damm the consequences and follow their passion.
Ok no spoilers.
Lemme get to it and talk about some people who have followed their dreams and made a career out of their passion.

 First, is going to be a friend, Seyi Tubosun aka Seyi Turbo who dropped his Law Certificate by the side and followed his passion in photography.

I remember the time I met this awesome guy for the first time . 
And I remember how my mouth opened and couldn't close when he told me he was a photographer. You mean 'Foto'? I asked myself.

Imagine my further surprise when he told me he was a lawyer.

It was very hard to wrap my mind around the fact that someone could go to school in Nigeria, spend like 6- 7 years reading law, and then say him ' no do' again.

But, when I saw his face, I saw passion, I saw love for the camera and the pictures he took.

He went on and on about the joys of photography and the art form. And by the time I finished looking through the pictures on his Ipad, ( it was a long road trip, so we had ample time) I had no doubts or questions again.

Source

Now when I see his logo on pictures, I just smile, but inwardly I am jumping up and down screaming "I know him,i know him" He is my friend.lol.
  I am so local abi.
Check out his Instagram page on http://instagram.com/seyiturbophotography for more pics. I didnt want to post others cos i didn't have permission. 

I mentioned earlier that i have had this post in mind for a long time.
However watching Falz yesterday on an old episode of Tool's "The Juice" yesterday (he was the guest musician) motivated me to write it today.
 Yep! My newest crushee Falz. Lawyer turned Musician.

 His back story caught my attention.
He is a Lawyer turned Musician. He read law at the University of Reading. He is also the son of esteemed lawyer Femi Falana.
He is also cute and his music is not bad.

Here are excerpts from his interview with the Vanguard.

"My name is Folarin Falana but I am popularly known as Falz or Falz ‘The Bad Guy’. I am a musician, and an entertainer."

Q-"What is a Barrister doing, singing?"
A-"  A lot of people have asked me that and my reply is that when you are very passionate about something you must follow your heart. Music is my passion, that is why I am in music'.

Q-  "Given your father’s reputation, one would have  expected you to follow in his footsteps. Why tread another path?"

A-  "Initially, that was my intention. Looking at his life and how much he has achieved and the kind of name he has made for himself, I sincerely wanted to follow in his footsteps. I admired his monumental achievements,and his lifestyle. In fact that was why I went to study Law; to follow in his footsteps but along the line I just developed the love for music and music stole my heart and I decided to follow my heart."Note the magic words," follow my heart". You can read the full interview at http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/02/femi-falanas-son-falz-dumped-law-music/.

Thirdly, we have Omawumi Megbele.
Another lawyer turned award winning musician.
You people should not be jealousing us lawyers oh. hehe.  Although, on the flip side, there seem to be an awful lot of them changing careers.
She graduated from Ambrose Alli University with a Law degree. After graduating in 2005, she moved to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where she worked with her family's law firm called "O.S Megbele & Associates".  She is yet to attend law school but she has indicated interest in going to law school at a later date. 
Read a full interview at  http://m.museke.com/node/4360.

Fourthly, there's Ewemade Emokape, the owner of Shakara Couture.

Ewemade in one of her creations

A lawyer and fashion designer extraordinarie. 

She is also a blogger and her writing is so so amazing. She blogs at www.matildaschild.com .

 On attainment of her Law degree from the University of Lagos, she sought to follow her passion and attended the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins to be professionally trained in millinery, dress-making, fashion illustration and personal styling. 

Check out her line at http://shakaracouture.com/
Read her post on her journey aptly titled 'Bata mi a dun ko ko ka"

Some other people who have followed their passion include Funke Akindele (Lawyer turned award wining actress), Dr Sid ( Doctor turned singer) and Funke Bucknor Obruthe (Lawyer turned events planner).
 (Can you tell I am getting tired)

So my friends and peeps, That's it for passions and those who have made their passion their career.

It probably wasn't easy for them at the Beginning but they made it.
At least they have a success story. Not everyone who follows their dream always end with a success story oh.
But at least they are an  inspiration. 

So! Any resignation letters imminent? Lol.

Abeg no resign yet oh.

Just be inspired and think it through. Be sure you actually have the talent to support that dream.

FYI. My passion is Books. Books! Books and writing. So law isn't a bad profession. The analysis and legal maneuvering is right up my alley. The talking! Not so much.
My dream is to own a book store. Yep! A big, big store where I fill with lots of books and sell.
That isn't weird right?
When I was younger I wanted to be a journalist and write,write, write. However that Jamb brochure didn't gimme a university where I could study journalism and while I gave a brief thought to studying at the "Nigerian Institute of Journalism", I soon discarded it cos I knew my dad would think it was a waste of potential. Besides I wasn't sure if they awarded degrees or not.
I think that if I hadn't read law at the university,i would have still gone back to read it as a second degree.

Photo credits
Matildaschild.com
kemilfilani.com
Seyi Turbo Instagram 
Notjustok.com
passiontest.com

Hello! Hi!

Or should that be Wait! What! New post.
Hehehehe.
Sup guys!
How dey go dey go?

Hope you have all been awesome. I have been so busy, I haven't really found the time to relax and write anything.  It has just been Court this, Court that.

In fact ehn the number of times I have gone to court this month is more than I did last year sef.
Tomorrow morning again! I dey go another one.

So what have y'all been up to this last two weeks? Abi is it three?
Two weeks ago I was out of town to chill out and for some solitude.
Theres something about being away from it all that enables one to get some perspective.
The first thing I did was to call Inspector Duru and ask his opinion on reaching out to someone on her birthday. I am sure he must have been amazed,like kilode! Early monday morning. And out of the blue like that when I had pointedly said No to him all this while.

By the way his birthday was on the 12th. He is all of 23 years old now.
Duru! Agba ti n de oh. Lol.

Since I couldn't write a post on that day, lemme use this opportunity to wish him Happy Birthday in arrears. I am sure he is like" kilode Funmi? How many times you wan wish me happy birthday".
Bubba! As many times as possible cos you deserve it.
For being such a "ghen ghen", humble, optimistic, accommodating and peace loving person.
I think we all need an inspector in our lives to soften the hardness and cynicism that life brings our
way.

So what else have I been up to?

Hmmm! I decided to branch out of my yoruba cooking skills and step up my game.
Actually lemme not lie, it's not like I had an epiphany oh.
I ate 'Oha' soup during my trip. The last time I ate it was when I was in Abuja.
So when I got back, I just googled how to make it and got a recipe from Dooneys Kitchen which somehow made it all sound so easy. (Y'all should check out her website for more fabulous recipes and salivating pictures.
That was how I went on ingredients buying spree. Some of which I had never seen before in my entire life.
Luckily my boss assisted me to get it sha. She's not Yoruba and was excited to show me the ropes on how "her people "cook soup.
I also bought pepper soup ingredients so that I could make the ingredients myself as opposed to buying those ready made ones.
Those already ground ones always taste somehow to me.
My mum just gave me the side eye when she saw the ingredients. Like " I hope you are not marrying an ibo man you this girl".lol.
My sister was just happy that she was eating something different.
I made the oha soup ,and it was good although I used a little too much thickener, but the second time I made it,i aced it and made it in larger quantity and put the rest in the freezer.
I was just feeling like "national" cook.

My dad is so unadventurous when it comes to stuff like that. He prefers his efo riro and okra soup.
Shikena! No more no less.
I can't blame him sha. Most yoruba people I know like their regular yoruba soup.
Me! I am all for trying new things out.

I have also been in a baking/grilling mode. I just vex go buy electric oven cos the big gas one we have had for like 3 years now,  I haven't even been tempted to try it out.
I figured I could start with a smaller one. The downside is that it's electric only and when Nepa takes light , you are O-Y-O.

So basically, apart from work, that's what I have been up to.
Congrats to Esther and Eniwealth on their blog anniversaries (which happened sometime earlier).
To quote my dear Obiamaka," your inkwell shall never run dry in Jesus name".
Amen.

My cousin's wedding is in 2 weeks. My colleague is also getting married that same day, in the same town. Thank goodness cos I don't know how I would have divided myself into two to attend both if they were in 2 different towns.
Ok! lemme not lie, I would have preferred to go to my colleagues wedding.
Smaller, yes! More intimate,less crowded,less expensive  and more fun.She didn't even chose aso ebi.
Don't you just love nice friends like that? Easy on the pocket.lol

My cousin's wedding is however "a must" (to quote some Nigerians).
Because I am about four years older than he is. If somebody doesn't go like that they will feel you have bad belle or you are jealous or something.
Coupled with the four different aso ebi chosen for the event, of which I have three out the four ( his mum chose 2 lace material aso ebi oh, only for the dad, a member of Jonathan's cabinet to send free lace and ankara after my mum had paid her sister for the ones she chose) smh.
All of which I haven't even sewn yet cos  I don't even know which one to sew out of all 3.
The good thing is the two weddings both chose the colour blue.
Ain't I lucky? And in the same town? I can just stylishly leave my cousins venue and go to my colleagues own.

Lemme stop here for now.
Its your turn to gist me what you have been up to.
The good and the bad, I wanna hear it oh.

Shout out to Airnee. Thanks for the email.

Social media relationships and bias

Hi guys,
Happy new Month and week. I pray that sweet November lives up to its name for all of us.Amen.
For all of una that have to go to work, sorry oh!
I have a week off and I am just chilling.

This Monday, we are examining the bias some people have against love and friendship found via social media.

Now, most people have a very traditional view of where people find love. i.e Boy sees a fine girl at the mall, in college, or they are neighbors or colleagues, in a restaurant, introduced by friends or family,meet at events, in the bus,train, cab, (molue,keke marwa) hehe, he approaches her, she likes him, she agrees and they fall in love.
However this is the 21st century. And I have come to the realization that things are changing.
Love is now found in the oddest of places and even if not odd, at least via non traditional channels.

So let's take social media for instance. Some people still have a bias against what they term "facebook love". And even though I can't blame them it's a bit jarring.
When Mr Abuja came on his last "surprise " visit (otherwise called the one that broke the camels back hehe) He said his mum said "Hope it's not one of this facebook girls".

And I had to laugh. I have a facebook account,so do millions of other women.
Does that make me unmarriagable for her dear son and other mothers's dear sons  Or am I permitted to have a facebook account but finding love on it somehow makes me loose?
I am really puzzled.
And it's not just the older folks, I notice it among people in my age range too.
Somehow telling your friends that you met someone online is met with raised eye brows.
If you want to kill them just say you met him or her on a dating site.hehe.
Somehow even if they don't tell you, In most of their minds the relationship isn't going anywhere.
And if per chance shit happens like it almost always does even in real life, then they blame it on how you met them.

Now does how you meet someone determine how the relationship eventually end up?
A rough translation of a yoruba adage says that a lady you meet through dance will eventually dance out of the relationship.
So in short the adage coiners do not see anything good coming out of that scenario.lol.

All ye Nightclub goers. What say ye? Any experience in that regard?
Are all the people in a nightclub inherently undateable?
Aren't they the same people that still go to church and malls.
Same goes for Facebook,Twitter,Instagram and co.

Or could the fear some people have as regards to meeting people online be because they fear that social media bonds aren't as deep as those you have with people you met via traditional means.
Thus making it easy to cut off.
For instance one might be more inclined to make a relationship work if he/she was your family friend you have known for ages.

Note that this bias also applies to online friendships.
 For some people,friendship with social media as its foundation isn't as solid or as strong as real life friendships.
However the truth is real life friends also mess up. A friend who will mess up will do so irrespective of how they met.
On the flip side, there are also friends in real life who are like sisters or brothers to you and who have been with you at key points in your life. Those ones who know you better than yourself.

Another fear is that a lot of people hide behind the facade of social media and it may be difficult to know their real selves because they can chose to have any kind of personality.
When you get to know them better or meet them in person the illusion shatters thereby revealing the real person underneath such facade.
Social media tends to be an avenue for people to hide their flaws.
Many a woman has been aghast to discover that the Adonis she has been chatting to online is actually just five feet tall and not as handsome or as charming in person.

Personally,I have met a number of people both male and female online and through social media.
In fact ehn before facebook I had friends I met through yahoo.
I am still friends with some of them while time and chance has separated me and the others.
But I didn't notice any difference in them as a result of how we met.
They are still the same person that they would have been had we met through friends or in a cab or in college.

 It must be said that the spate of kidnappings,rape and murder that seem to happen nowadays through social media hookups don't seem to help the course of social media dating. A lot of desperate scammers, thieves  and unsavory characters seem to lurk in the deep alleys of social media seeking to lure some unlucky people to dire ends.
Most of them take advantage of the lure social media hook ups seem to hold for some men and women.

I read on a blog last week that a female student had been declared missing after having left a night club with a guy.
The Cynthia girl who was murdered is a facebook hook up with an unfortunate ending.
I am sure that other numerous cases of looting and rape as a result of on line hook ups abound that we haven't heard of.
However this doesn't still erase the fact that the internet,twitter, facebook and co have also done their fair share in linking a people together. Not only when it comes to love and casual hook ups but business, religion wise etc.
A lot of people are married now that met on social media.
They started an online relationship, met and saw what they liked (I assume),hit it off and now are married.
So Guys!

Have you ever dated someone you met through social media.
Would you marry someone you met through social media.
Do you have friends you met through social media?
How close are you to them? Is there any difference between how you feel about them and the real life ones?