The closest anyone has come is Taiye Tuakli-Wosornu, with this awesome article. I identified with the characteristics and struggles he (she?) describes so strongly. Folks, I am Afropolitan. Are you? Read the article and then let me know what you think. I'm interested to see who identifies or doesn't.
Thanks Wande!
Afterthought: I was so excited about the Afropolitan article that I failed to metion that it is a part of a sort of anthology of articles, some written by familiar names, that attempt to answer the question "Where is Africa now?". Read the others if you have time as well. Peace!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Good Friends Are Hard To Find, I Think I'll Keep Mine....Thank You Kesingsheen!
Ok...funny title I know, but does anyone who grew up in Naija remember that ad for the hair cream, Kesingsheen? "Good hair is hard to find, I think I'll keep mine. Thank You Kesingsheen". Well, I do! So I modified it a bit cos y'all I have me some good friends and so it really should be, Thank You God!!!!!!
A lot has gone on since I last graced these pages with my presence. I was on a roll for a while but I told y'all it wouldn't last, didn't I? LOL. Anyhoo, the past few weeks have been a roller coaster of fun and hard work. Amidst studying for my GMAT, and work and life, I had 8 family members visit from London which happily took up a ton of my time. I had a blast spending time with them, especially the kids ranging in age from 4 to 15, and showing them Atlanta. They were here for about 8 days with one full weekend so I rented a minivan for the weekend, rounded up the troops and we visited Zoo Atlanta, Atlantic Station, Lenox, Phipps, (what, you didn't know they were local attractions....lol), and best of all, the MLK National Historic site. I had never been, and when I say that the experience was the most memorable and heartwarming thing we all experienced together, I am not exaggerating. Even the little ones somehow felt the magnitude of the man whose life story we were experiencing....no joke. It was amazing!
We weren't able to squeeze in the Aquarium, the World of Coke and Six Flags so there's a lot left to do next time they come.....or at least that's what we told them anyway. LOL. On their last night, I took the grown-ups downtown for dinner at Gladys Knight Chicken and Waffles, and ran into the coolest chick ever, Leona Lewis, the British girl who won X Factor in the UK. She was the nicest and we chatted and she told me she's in ATL recording with Ne-Yo. We took pics and left her to her meal. I think I'll be stopping by GKCW a bit more often now - never know who I might run into next!
The fam left the next day and then it was back to studying and having some fun as well over the long weekend. I hit up my first Final Fridays (TiwaWorks) party in a long time, and had an absolute blast, VIP style! The Naija crew was in town for the weekend and represented well. Also my friend's sis had a baby who was named after me....LOL. Not really, we just have the same name - so I spent some time with them as well. Then fast-forward to last weekend - my BDAY weekend. I was expecting it to be very low-key. On Friday, the boo made sure I got some flowers since he couldn't be here to celebrate with me and I had dinner with my girl Cris at Cheesecake Factory.
Saturday was spent with family and at a shindig at another friend's place. We had a ton of fun dancing and playing musical chairs. Note to people - musical chairs as an adult can be brutal!!!!! The people I played with were taking absolutely no prisoners...LOL. My bum still hurts from falling on the floor. LOL. Anyway - my friends made sure I stayed till midnight and sang to me and put a candle on a piece of cake for me. The we stayed and gisted till the early hours. On Sunday, I went to church and it was just ALL about thanking God and giving Him praise.....I didn't ask for anything. I just sang, and danced and praised Him. Then I met up with my friend Michael at Sal Grosso for what I thought would be a quiet dinner, only to find my friends from the night before and more at the restaurant. It was a blast and I realized even more than ever that I am so lucky and blessed to have good friends - people who I consider family now. I was also spoiled with gifts by them, as well as all of the phone calls, text messages and FB messages I received.
Me being serenaded at my birthday dinner. I got serenaded twice too. Once in English and once in Espanol! Who's a lucky girl then?
Just to take a moment to reflect, this time last year, I was lamenting about this. It's amazing the difference a year makes. I spent most of last year reflecting, making decisions about who and what was important to me, making changes that would move me forward and closer to the life that I have envisioned for myself and hopefully closer to my life's purpose. Last year was spent cleaning out my closet and this year, I have seen the benefits of doing those things. I have seen God's goodness just manifest itself in my life in ways I could not have imagined and I am ever so thankful. As always, I am still a work in progress, but the progress is happening and reaping rewards. The biggest change has been the QUALITY of people I now surround myself with. It is really true that you attract who you are, and it is wonderful being surrounded and loved and cared about by good, like-minded people. So to the boo, and to T, S, W, D, T and M especially - thank you so much for being there and for being such amazing friends.
So, this is the end of my gist o. You all have a blessed week. Make it count for something, you know? Make it count! Love Y'all and I hope to be back soon with another Changing the World article. Peace!
A lot has gone on since I last graced these pages with my presence. I was on a roll for a while but I told y'all it wouldn't last, didn't I? LOL. Anyhoo, the past few weeks have been a roller coaster of fun and hard work. Amidst studying for my GMAT, and work and life, I had 8 family members visit from London which happily took up a ton of my time. I had a blast spending time with them, especially the kids ranging in age from 4 to 15, and showing them Atlanta. They were here for about 8 days with one full weekend so I rented a minivan for the weekend, rounded up the troops and we visited Zoo Atlanta, Atlantic Station, Lenox, Phipps, (what, you didn't know they were local attractions....lol), and best of all, the MLK National Historic site. I had never been, and when I say that the experience was the most memorable and heartwarming thing we all experienced together, I am not exaggerating. Even the little ones somehow felt the magnitude of the man whose life story we were experiencing....no joke. It was amazing!
We weren't able to squeeze in the Aquarium, the World of Coke and Six Flags so there's a lot left to do next time they come.....or at least that's what we told them anyway. LOL. On their last night, I took the grown-ups downtown for dinner at Gladys Knight Chicken and Waffles, and ran into the coolest chick ever, Leona Lewis, the British girl who won X Factor in the UK. She was the nicest and we chatted and she told me she's in ATL recording with Ne-Yo. We took pics and left her to her meal. I think I'll be stopping by GKCW a bit more often now - never know who I might run into next!
The fam left the next day and then it was back to studying and having some fun as well over the long weekend. I hit up my first Final Fridays (TiwaWorks) party in a long time, and had an absolute blast, VIP style! The Naija crew was in town for the weekend and represented well. Also my friend's sis had a baby who was named after me....LOL. Not really, we just have the same name - so I spent some time with them as well. Then fast-forward to last weekend - my BDAY weekend. I was expecting it to be very low-key. On Friday, the boo made sure I got some flowers since he couldn't be here to celebrate with me and I had dinner with my girl Cris at Cheesecake Factory.
Saturday was spent with family and at a shindig at another friend's place. We had a ton of fun dancing and playing musical chairs. Note to people - musical chairs as an adult can be brutal!!!!! The people I played with were taking absolutely no prisoners...LOL. My bum still hurts from falling on the floor. LOL. Anyway - my friends made sure I stayed till midnight and sang to me and put a candle on a piece of cake for me. The we stayed and gisted till the early hours. On Sunday, I went to church and it was just ALL about thanking God and giving Him praise.....I didn't ask for anything. I just sang, and danced and praised Him. Then I met up with my friend Michael at Sal Grosso for what I thought would be a quiet dinner, only to find my friends from the night before and more at the restaurant. It was a blast and I realized even more than ever that I am so lucky and blessed to have good friends - people who I consider family now. I was also spoiled with gifts by them, as well as all of the phone calls, text messages and FB messages I received.
Me being serenaded at my birthday dinner. I got serenaded twice too. Once in English and once in Espanol! Who's a lucky girl then?Just to take a moment to reflect, this time last year, I was lamenting about this. It's amazing the difference a year makes. I spent most of last year reflecting, making decisions about who and what was important to me, making changes that would move me forward and closer to the life that I have envisioned for myself and hopefully closer to my life's purpose. Last year was spent cleaning out my closet and this year, I have seen the benefits of doing those things. I have seen God's goodness just manifest itself in my life in ways I could not have imagined and I am ever so thankful. As always, I am still a work in progress, but the progress is happening and reaping rewards. The biggest change has been the QUALITY of people I now surround myself with. It is really true that you attract who you are, and it is wonderful being surrounded and loved and cared about by good, like-minded people. So to the boo, and to T, S, W, D, T and M especially - thank you so much for being there and for being such amazing friends.
So, this is the end of my gist o. You all have a blessed week. Make it count for something, you know? Make it count! Love Y'all and I hope to be back soon with another Changing the World article. Peace!
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