Life
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72. First Saturday of Summer
We spent the day – a mild and leisurely one – up in Birmingham, a return to the city for a second niece’s graduation. The main event was on Friday which left us to our own devices for today. To Cannon Hill Park we went, to take in its sights and sounds and get L… Continue reading
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71. The End of the Beginning
The last day of school before the summer break and the start of the new school year was a great time to pause and celebrate just how far L has come. She had to miss the first two months of the (reception) year, which left her struggling to make friends and connections in class. The… Continue reading
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56. On Becoming a Tactical Slacker
Someone, a Black-British celebrity/ intellectual of sorts, who I follow on Twitter posted a link to a substack article which hit far too close home. The article, I did no work for a year and no one noticed, delves into the crisis of meaning which is apparently endemic to corporate life and the author’s experience… Continue reading
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53. Collectivist v. Individualistic?
Of my X/Twitter follows, @eldivine tweeted something which caught my attention. Whilst I am not entirely sure I agree, there is a kernel of truth there. One could argue that it is the black tax writ large, with all its negative connotations. That does not account for things like the Igbo system of patronage in… Continue reading
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31. Life In A Song – Golden Motorcycle
I had a snippet of this song in the back of my mind, the “I got the gold motorcycle” part of the bridge being all my mind could grasp. Neither Spotify nor Gemini could help: the song it would appear is not on Spotify, whilst Gemini assumed I wanted it to generate a song for… Continue reading
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29. Of Language and Of Words.
Two conversations – one in person and one over on Bluesky (if that counts) – brought words and language to mind for me today. First off was a work conversation in which a Venezuelan expression, Donde ronca el tigre, no hay burro con reumatismo was used. The wider context was a work project which is… Continue reading
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26. Numbered Days
For the fourth time in a month and a bit, I have been reminded of death, and dying – particularly dying young and what those who survive are left to deal with. The first of these was listening in to a thanksgiving service for S, someone I had only loosely known from church over the… Continue reading
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22. Aftermath
The aftermath of a proper Nigerian party is stupor. The less said about that the better. In our case, after the exertions of the past day, most of this was spent in bed till the persistent calls from W resulted in a rushed attempt to get to the Atlanta History Museum. That done, the evening… Continue reading
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21. D-Day
And so to the main day. First order of business: breakfast, for which there were at least forty people spread out all over the cafe at the hotel – cousins, nephews, nieces and a fair few friends of the family all making up the lot. Nigerian weddings are a village affair after all. I shudder… 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
