"THE COMPANY YOU KEEP” - ANONYMOUS

It Is Better To Be Alone, Than In The Wrong Company

Tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. “A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.” The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate – for the good and the bad.

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don’t help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don’t increase you will eventually decrease you. Consider this:

· Never receive counsel from unproductive people.
· Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.
· Don’t follow anyone who’s not going anywhere. With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it.
· Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life.
· Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships.

Happy moments? Praise God
Difficult moments? Seek God
Quiet moments? Worship God
Painful moments? Trust God
Every moment? Thank God
If you see people without a smile today … Give them one of yours

I thought this was such good advice. We know this but fail to act upon it in our daily lives. Part of my New Year resolution is to always leave behind those that pull me back, not that I have many. But there are also those who you try hard to drag along with you, like a coach you try to make them keep up but really what you need to do is to let them keep to their own pace. Its always hard to let go, but you might be preventing yourself from moving ahead and not just physically or academically or financially but emotionally as well.

Bloggyy bloggggg! Its been so long. The Christmas festivities and fun completely messed up my routine. Blogging was the last thing on my mind. SO what happened since I last blogged? A lot!

I had a blast as usual. The office closed officially on the 22nd of December and I didn’t come back to work (well properly) till the 12th of January. There were just so many holidays including Sallah and Malaria! One was fun the other wasn’t. There were several ‘do’s’, I’ll give u some highlights

Beach Party: Woke up early and met up with friends at the boat club where we got on a boat with our hearts in our mouths and traveled for about 30 minutes to a little private beach somewhere just outside Lagos. Had fun, swam, drank, ate, socialized etc etc. The real ordeal was on the way back. These crazy ass boat men decided that although the journey would be paid for, the wanted their payment upfront. They therefore promptly stopped the engine and told us to either pay N1000 each (note that we were 15) OR bob around in the middle of the ocean which I was happy to do as they would be bobbing too but alas as I mentioned we were 15 so there had to be some janded/yankee scardey pants shouting ‘what’s N1000 to you anywayyyy’ like they had never had a Nigerian accent, probably a strong one at that. The point was that….U DON’T LET THESE THIEVES WALK ALL OVER YOU!!! Dumb asses, all of them. So we ended up paying, then the thieves smiled and started the engine and I was alarmed at the injustice of it all. Scrap the final part of the day and I had fun.

Foo’s bday: We danced till six in the morning at Tanjia’s, the latest craze. Started off with dinner and then as was written on the Menu of a 50 yrs old Bash, another ‘do’ I attended, ‘Dance, dance, dance’! Oh my, didn’t we have fun that night. We even went to the Vault, another club, midway through the party and then returned. Talk about dancing spirit.

Lunch/Dinner: Step’s bday at Debonairs, a new pizza place, lunch with the girls at Yellow Chili’s, a Nigerian eatery (how I hate that word!), good bye family dinner held for my brother at Pearl Gardens (he didn’t come cos he didn’t ‘feel’ like it, *^&%*$&&%, so we changed the occasion to plain old family dinner), Barcellos, Roberts Café….the list endless. Any weight I could have put on was lost cos of the malaria attack…silver lining….

Sallah: Celebrated the first day of Sallah at Baby’s place. Scrumptious food including a variation of baby’s specialty..Gizzard and Dodo which turned out to be goat meat and dodo. wasn’t the sammmeeeee, I look forward to the next time we have that. Second day of sallah, after being semi-stood up at silverbird, I ran to the ever loving arms of my girlfriends! We ended up spending the second night of sallah arguing with a bunch of guys, trying to convince them that all girls weren’t actually Gold Diggers, but we wouldn’t date a guy who works at a cyber café…WITH NO AMBITION..there’s the clause. I mean if this dude had plans to move up and I was feeling him….it could work. But on the other hand if the guy had all the money in the world and spent all day playing playstation…We wouldn’t date him either…these guys would just not believe us. We went home with sore throats!

So all in all the break was gggggreeaat! Lagos is back to being clogged up and busy and the foreigners have left making it seem like the past few weeks never happened. My phone is ringing off the hook (vendors, not friends), there is mad traffic (if ur lucky you won't get mugged) and a work related email just came in. SIGHHHHHH

ODE TO THE FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF THE SOSOLISO CRASH

My ways are not your ways
My understanding spreads far beyond this world
My plans have been laid out for you since time began

Fear not for I am with you
Share your burden with me
For now is the time to draw closer to me.

You grieve and I will comfort you
You pray and I will hear you
You sleep and I will watch over you

Some of you have three
Some of you have two
Some of you have one more angels, watching over you.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. AMEN

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

Highlights from a copy of the criminal information obtained yesterday by Vanguard reads in part:

• Maintained and operated foreign personal bank account number 10659347 with Barclays Bank Plc, United Kingdom with a balance of GPB 203,753.34
• Maintained and presently maintaining and operating a foreign personal bank account number 3239940 with UBS Warburg AG 1 Curzon Street, London WIJ5HB with a balance of $2.5 million
• Maintained and presently maintaining and operating foreign personal account number 338931 in the name of Falcon Incorporation as your nominee or agent with UBS Warburg AG, 1 Curzon Street, London, WiJ5
• Maintaining and operating foreign personal account numbers 7341553\734159 for US dollars and 7341588 for GB ponds sterling and 7341561 and 7341618 for Euros with Barclays Bank Plc at International Banking unit; 88 Dighemis Akntas Avenue 1644, Nicosia Cyprus Country
• Maintained and presently maintaining and operating foreign personal account numbers 5005220454-7 in Denmark with JYSKE Bank at Bseterbrogate, 9, DK-1780 Coopenhagen V with a balance of 500,000 ponds sterling as at November 17, 2005
• Maintained and presently maintaining and operating foreign personal account numbers 005482562491 with Bank of America US in the name of Peter Alameyeseigha with a balance of $160,000.00
• Failed to declare your assets known as Water Gardens, London W2 2DG bought at 1.75 million pounds sterling in the name of a nominee Solomon and Peters Limited and which is not fairly attributable to your income
• Failed to declare your property at 14 Mapesbury Road, London NW24JB bought at 1.4 million pounds sterling which is not attributable to your income
• Failed to declare property at 14 Jubilee Heights, Shoot Uphil, London NW2 2UQ bought at 241,000 pounds sterling
• Failed to declare property at number 68-70 Regents Road, London, N3 bought at 3 million pounds sterling
• Acquired property known as Chelsea Hotels Abuja at the cost of N26 million for which N1.56 million has been paid
• Acquired 2 blocks of luxury flats at Plot 26 Bashir Dalhatu Close, Abacha Estate, Ikoyi worth N450 million


Quite Disgusting isn't it. How many houses can one live in at one time? One account could do so much for the poor, could fix a number of major roads, could refurbish public schools and provide basic educational materials, could refurbish orphanages, motherless babies’ homes, could pay teachers.... Like my mum say's there are five fingers on one hand and all have different lengths.

This shows how greedy Nigerian politicians have become and how corruption has secured its roots deeply in Nigeria. Yes he is not the only one doing it, but there needs to be a scapegoat and I say...IMPEACH!!!!!

Through the rush of the day I sometimes forget to take a breather and thank my creator for blessing me with so much and for answering my prayers. A happy family, crazy friends whom I can turn to anytime, a job, the list is endless. So here's my own way of thanking him today.

So the past weeks have been a bit tedious, I went to Benin City two weekends in a row when usually I have to be dragged or enticed to go. My cousins came around from the land of the Scots for their dad's remembrance. He passed away last year after an illness. May his lovely soul rest in peace. I left on Sunday morning right after Dude's barbecue which was THE party of the year (I mean she’s my dawg and I wuv her, what else can I say). I flew with Aero contractors with my heart at the tip of my tongue..Those who know me know I hate flying although I've been places. I have the power to control the phobia especially if the person next to me is cool. The guy next to me was a commissioner of Edo State with his gold wedding band smack bang on his finger but still felt the need to toast me. He was funny though and made me forget I was in the air once in a while until the plane would dip or the engines would go silent making it seem like the plane had stopped and would fall out of the sky. I said a quick prayer of thanks as we landed.

The ceremony was short and sweet and I spent the rest of Sunday and Monday trying to ignore my mum and her sisters as they went into the "They are not hooked up or married and be careful you don't end up on the shelf" mode. They were taking it really seriously. My cousin who is a year older, a younger cousin and I had to endure this torture every time they gathered together. Sheesh! Besides that, I had so much fun chilling with the family and exploring the city that I went back the next weekend. This time, we went with the car. Phew! Both weekends were fun but I have missed my girls although I’m not so sure they did, not even a phone call mayuunn. I guess out of sight....

Today is my baby sister's bday. She turned 14, you should see her she looks 16 while I could pass for 12. It sucks. Happy Birthday my love. The whole family will be coming down this Christmas looking forward to it and then again I'm not and then again I am......

CYCLES

"Once a month, the lining of the uterus, acting on signals from estrogen and progesterone hormones, thickens with spongy, blood-filled nutrients. If the woman has had sex and an egg and a sperm join, this uterine lining (endometruim) will be used to sustain the developing embryo. If fertilization doesn't take place, the egg travels down the fallopian tube, through the uterus, past the cervix, and out the vagina. Approximately twelve days later, when the levels of estrogen and progesterone have dropped and the uterus has gotten the message that no pregnancy has occurred, the uterine lining - blood and mucus - simply flows out. In total, each period consists of four to six tablespoons of blood."

"The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation By Karen Houppert"

I can't touch you! That’s what he said!

My coach refused to put me through the usual exercise routine yesterday and today. I didn't know whether to be mad or just accept the fact that ignorance kills.

So I goggled and there it was right in front of me. In those days people believed menstruation could spoil meat!! Even medical practitioners did not want females admitted in the Medical Institution because with sound minds, these men reasoned that if women could spoil meat, they could spoil FLESH! Earlier than that male hunters thought a menstruating lady cursed them with bad luck. Gimme a freaking break.

In 1981 the authour conducted a survey in America

• More than one-quarter thought that women could not function normally at work while menstruating, with 8 per cent (that would have been 14 million Americans!) saying that women should make an effort to stay away from others when they're having their periods.
• 35 per cent said they thought menstruation affected a woman's ability to think
• 30 per cent thought women should cut down on their physical activities while menstruating
• 49 per cent said that women had a different scent at that time
• 27 per cent said menstruating women looked different.
• Half thought women shouldn't have sexual intercourse during their periods, and
• 22 per cent believed that swimming while menstruating was harmful.
• Two-thirds of those surveyed said that women should not mention their periods in the office or in social situations - that included veiled references to stomach pains or headaches - and more than one-third thought women should conceal the fact that they were menstruating from their families (for example, by hiding sanitary products).
• Interestingly, men were more likely than women to think it was OK to talk openly about periods (38 per cent, as opposed to 27 per cent).
• 31 per cent of the women surveyed reported not knowing what menstruation was the first time they had their period, and
• 43 per cent of the women had had negative responses to their first period, saying that they felt scared, confused, terrible, panicky or ill."

SO this was over 2 decades ago and I would like to think that people's ideas and beliefs have evolved concerning this particular issue. But alas I was taken aback by my coach who I had to inform that I was having cramps when one really bad wave seized me, to easy up on the stomach crunches. 360 degrees turnaround. This is the first time I have ever felt slighted for being a woman. He got up and went on to explain or more like blurb about spiritual realms and menstruating women stealing men’s powers and the blood being able to nullify the effects of protective shields to bring down the most powerful man. In my mind I’m like 'warrefarrrk'? If a menstruating woman is able to bring down a man with powers obviously not from God..More Power To You My Sista!

Anyway I really was annoyed by his reaction like I at that point in time I was unclean. There are even references in the first testament in the book of Hebrew about women being unclean and unholy at the time of their periods, another example of cultural beliefs evolving into religious beliefs. I refuse to believe that periods are evil and women suck the life out of men. A man does that to himslef by giving into his LUST for a woman....Man's age old weakness. Trust a man to look for a reason for the woman to have such power over him..A lightbulb pops up and he decides that the reason must be her period. She bleeds and she doesn't dieeee. God cursed a woman with pains of childbirth not Periods and PMS.

So ladies, lets not be ashamed or feel inferior. Lets walk up to those counters and buy scented pearly tampons (they are oh so convenient. We survive through the CYCLE, and still can do what a guy can and even better!

TGIAF



Can I say that I had a BLAST last weekend! It was tres fun. What was meant to be a meeting of 6 like minded girls turned out to be a CHORUS of about 12! We sang our little wannabe Whitney Houston vocal chords away, during an impromptu Karaoke Session. We had originally planned to try out the New koreana Restaurant as a part of a bi-monthly girly meeting the girls normally organise or should I say III organise. I've become event planner extraordinaire. Anyways so we get there and baby decides we should move to the Karaoke room as she's been there before..She promptly exercises her customer rights and gets the room for free (I think the guy just wanted to get rid of the young assertive lady loll. Baby you can fight for me ANYTIME). That’s when everything got interesting, soprano, alto, bass, squeak, scratch loll, we had it all. Sting, Natalie Imbruiglia, Spice girls, Boyz II Men and even an unknown Korean musician GAT nothing on us! We got so into the spirit of things that we put Omotola Jalade's Cd in and 'karaoke'd' to GBAAA, Naija lo wa…... She is dude's protégée. I must say I never imagined that a little evening out would turn out to be so much fun; all I can say is, girls we have a tough one now trying to beat that.


The week so far has been okay. The office is exceedingly excruciatingly HOT. Apparently the AC had problems and will be fixed by the end of the day. We have received an email to that effect since the beginning of last week. Trust me no one can work in this heat. Even updating my blog seems like hard work. The facilities department is on fire from the Management though. Lets hope tomorrow is much cooler.

So preparations for Dude's bbcue are on the way. I'm on the search for delicious ice-cream as my contribution. Where do I gooo? I asked this lady for a quote to come and serve a 100 people at a bbcue and guess what she quoted? 18k! After my last blog, I don't think I have the heart to be so frivolous in my spending, so I'm looking for alternative means to get ice-cream on Saturday.

Well seeing how hot it is and how I really cant do any productive work, I am going to see The Man at silverbird with my aunt who just got back and hasn't seen the galleria. We are going to paint the town a mild light red.