Monday, June 22, 2009

MUSE

I've got a near addiction for at least two foods - bread and Coca-cola. I probably could go days on end with just both of them. You know the popular question they ask of "what three essential things you'd have with if you were deserted on an island"? I'm almost tempted to pick Coke over water. Yeah. That bad. But, then again, simple and common sense and the acknowledgement of water as the element that saves lives, knocks me back into reality. Which just makes me become conscious of the fact that certain things are really not essential for our existence, and therefore makes addiction to them totally unnecessary. I still love my Coke, though. And yes, the dough too!
My brother loves fries. Sometimes, I almost think he breathes fries. He can have fries for breakfast and for dinner as a constant. So, there's always a nearly limitless supply of potatoes available. As I cut and sliced last night, I bagan to take solace in the fact that mine was not as bad as that yet. And hopefully not ever. The hard part? He prefers fresh potatoes being cut up by hand than the processed and packaged chips/fries. (sigh). Things we love.........
Shakira was in church yesterday. I stood singing and dancing to God's praise, and she just walked past me, clad in a very bright yellow outfit. I must say, she was far from anything I'd ever imagined or seen on tv. I never thought she even knew God....... Ok. It wasn't Shakira. Just some girl in her blinding yellow outfit with a black inscription of "Shakira" on the back of her skirt.
Well, it just made me wonder and marvel at the obscenities of some clothes learned people wear to a house of worship - cuts, shapes, inscriptions, and all - the inappropriateness and the whole shebang. It doesn't happen in just some churches - all! So, nobody goes thinking it's just in some new-generational churches. I remember being in my family's orthodox church, and during the communion, this dude walks past me to the altar in a black T-shirt with a huge picture of THE finger on both the front and back! I stared at him in sheer horror. Unbelievable sight. My mind immediately began to try and decipher the reason behind his waking up, grabbing that Tee, and pulling it on. I didn't know what conclusion to come to; whether the finger was at folks who would or had dared to say anything he deemed as wrong, or at the Reverend who offered the communion, or at G...... dare I say it? If it was........ HIS wrath not on me.
And so, it is safe for me to say that, along with many other wrong things and doctrines which have entered the church, obscenities is a new and almost welcome addition to the family. At least, no one's saying anything about it yet. Not that I'm aware of, anyway.
So, again, Shakira was in church yesterday. She was short, dark, and brightly coloured.
Does this whole write-up sound sorta disjointed or is it just me? Maybe it's because of my over-full stomach..... Or maybe it's my annoying neighbour with his nerve-grating singing voice, who just doesn't know when to stop!
I guess I'll just stop then. 'Narf!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Writer's Block?!

Yeah.... ok. Uhmmmm.... This is almost frustrating! My fingers remain poised above the keyboard while I just keep trying to reach into my head to fetch the words out, but it almost feels as if they're stuck with some adhesive in the shelf of my mind.......... I've been stuck on this line since like forever. I HAVE to write a blog today. I promised myself I'll write as often as I can on my blogspot this year.... And I must! Now, it looks like I'm having what I have come to know as the dreaded WRITER'S BLOCK! (This is where you hear that dreadful piano sound from horror movies and thrillers boom right behind you).
Ok.. I didn't major in English or literature or creative writing... I'm just one of those people who discovered my love for writing and developed my talent/skill as I grew. So, maybe that does permit me to have a brain freeze, does it? Please I need sympathisers! I wanted to know what writers should do when they experience momentary or periodical brain freeze - sorry - writer's block, and so I checked out some well-known writer's website. She says, in times like that, you need to take time out to refuel. Some of her suggestions? Read and absorb books that inspire you... like the Bible, autobiographies of your favorite people..., Watch movies (that make sense! What with all sorts of stuff out now, called movies!), take a walk, play golf (hmph! Ok, maybe other sports like tennis, bowling, puzzles...), sit in the mall and watch people (someone once said "wisdom is not in buildings, or pages of all books. Widom is in the streets, on the faces and actions of people". So get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. So, be inpired!).
So, in the end, I think I should probably stop struggling and racking my brain, trying to scrape stories and words that are tightly adhered off the walls of my brain. If I should just take my time to refuel, it will all come back, and the stories will come out like peeling weak plaster off the walls. "If you build it, they will come!".......Bruha-ha-ha-ha! (evil laugh. :-))

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

From Within

Last week, my friend's - she is more like my sister - father was kidnapped. A ransom was demanded. He's back home now. He's ok. Everything is fine and back to normal. Supposedly. Was the ransom paid? Maybe. Maybe not. But that's not the issue - or all of it, entirely. The good thing is that he's alright. Right? So, naturally, we should all just heave a sigh of relief, mutter thanks to God under our breath or have a lavish thanksgiving service in church (which naturally will follow the order of things in this great countryof ours), then be grateful for the life spared, and not bother about the riff-raffs who apparently have no future (there is not a bright or dim future in a case where there is no future in the first place), that gave a whole family and friends the scare of their lives. Life is as it was. Business as usual. Welcome back the pasted smiles on painted faces, and talks through clenched teeth. S then, I should be ending this piece here, right? Wrong! This nonsense has gone on long enough! They just messed with the wrong family! Maybe I am a little angered. No, not a little - a lot. It will pass...... just give me a minute. It will pass. I should not m\be mad, I think. I should feel sorry for them. Yes, i do feel sorry for them. And pity too, for these imbeciles; because if they had known, they wouldn't have. if my friend's family pocket is lesser and theirs is fatter, they have just received and eaten their seed of destruction. Not because I say so, no. Not some charm or juju thing, never. But because I know the ONE who backs us - this family. The ONE who showed and will always show HIMSELF strong and LORD of our lives; HE who was and is our Comfort and Strength; our HOPE and REFUGE. The LORD will bring to book anyone who dares to touch HIS own. They dared. Now, it is payback time. No worries. I am sure you will know about it when it happens.
Now let me say this. I'm sick! Sick and tired of all these kidnapping ransom-demanding fools! All of them! Niger-Delta militants. No-Future-Ambition individuals. Political tyrants. People with the darkest, blackest, and 'wickedest' of hearts!
Interestingly, this incident happened in an area with not so much as an oil pipeline running through it - Benin. Notorious Benin. Wild and crazy Benin. My friend's father has nothing to do with petroleum and it's products or oily politics. So why was he kidnapped? What was the motive? To me, it was one built from envy and beef for a man who worked hard to build his empire from scratch! I'm not entirely sure of why he was kidnapped, but behind such wicked scheme has to be envy, jealousy and strife.
My friend's father is blessed and favored (I don't believe in luck). When I think of those who haven't been so fortunate, in the end, all we can do is thank God with all our hearts. But, will life just be as it was? I can't be so certain. Somewhere, a part of me thinks and believes that my friend's father will be extra-careful. Maybe bodyguards. Maybe extra security guards and a more complex security system. This is a good man. Why would anyone in their right senses and even the teeny tiniest of believe in God, want to put his life at risk? I said once and I'll say it again- God will definitely visit them; and trust me, it will definitely not be a visit they'll be looking forward to.
All this talk about militants nd terrorists for this our own Naija..... but no sign of it slowing or even ending soon. I just wonder... how did people who were relatively nobodies just get a break in fame and become well-known? How on earth have they been able to finance for the sort of and number of arms they carry? How do they have access to boats and other vehicles of mobilisation? How? Who is the miserably depressed and sadistic animal that backs them up? Questions..... Maybe I need a little more enlightenment. Maybe I'm still a little naive about this whole thing. But the truth still remains... It's so not right. But, everyday for thief \, one day na for the man wey get house. Just so they know; that 'one day' is closing in fast. Be careful, because if you open the door and peer around the corner, you'll se HIM fast approaching. Vengeance is HIS. I pity you. Tsk, tsk!
I have vented. I have poured it out. In anger. In pity. Now all that's left is a feeling of justice looming, waiting on the edge, to be executed swiftly.
My friend's father was kidnapped. Life will not be what it used to be. But thankfully, God's got our back. He's back home now. He's ok. Thanks be to God Almighty.
'Nuff said.