100DaysofBeing
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19. Language (Non) Skills
Very often at these family dos, I’m usually the only non speaker of the Nigerian language common to the South West which most of the family speaks. This, in addition to my Enneagram 5 tendencies, often means that I am on the periphery of conversations. Once in a while, someone might catch themselves, announcing loudly… Continue reading
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18. Comparisons
When a reasonably large number of (successful?) people gather, what one does, or has done for work inevitably comes up. Sometimes (as at school reunions perhaps) it is about blatant competition – who succeeded, who didn’t, who stayed mid – at others (such as family reunions) it masquerades as catching up. For my sins, I… Continue reading
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17. Cheat Code
One small mercy it seems of travelling with little children, particularly a loquacious one, is that they are conversation starters which helps with glum, over worked border agents once in a while. My experiences of travelling to Trumpland before it became that are mixed, with more than one weird conversation around my reasons for coming… Continue reading
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16. Bedlam
Best descriptor of the day! Bags, trolleys, cabs, airport transfers, negotiations about what to watch and when, moaning about airport food. Take the chaos of two adults and two kids traveling, and add to that two teenagers, sprinkle on that inability of Nigerians to travel light, and bedlam underestimates the outcome. Overwhelmed. Continue reading
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15. Heatwave
Stepping out of the door just past noon to get my hair cut, it felt like a wall of heat hit me, in all its energy draining weight. The key driver for the long overdue haircut is the small matter of a family wedding in Trumplandia, for which a full assortment of family will be… Continue reading
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14. Aging, Again
Aging seems to be a theme on my mind, if two posts on consecutive days can be called a theme. On this occasion, an invitation to a friend’s 50th birthday bash in a city I used to live in is the trigger. Like all Nigerian parties there is a dress code, the start will inevitably… Continue reading
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13. Half way there…
Source The spectre of being a mere ninety days away from turning forty-seven is chilling, primarily in the sense of causing me to pause, and wonder where all the time went. It seems like it was only yesterday when I was a young, bright chap starting my first day of proper work. If the Office… Continue reading
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12. St Catherine’s…
Passing through Feltham again, I paused to take a picture of an interesting building: a church spire somehow attached to what looked like office buildings. With the benefit of time on the train, I got a-googling and discovered it’s what is left of St Catherine’s which was closed in 1974, converted into offices in 1981… Continue reading
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11. Re: Upon This Rock
This week Pádraig Ó Tuama poses the question: “What is a rock I’ve got a memory with?” in his newsletter. For whatever reason, the first place the question took me was Nigeria, specifically the northern bits of the small state I trace my origins to. Some of my earliest memories of growing up are of… Continue reading
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10. On Mentorship (and Representation)
Once in a while, my friend K and I get into terse conversations, usually something related to politics. In spite of our very similar backgrounds, he is as right-leaning as I am left-leaning. He is by all accounts a very successful Black Engineer, often making it on to lists of the most infuential UK Engineers… Continue reading