Monday, September 24, 2007

BIRTHDAY SHOUT-OUTS


September used to be an eventless month for me. It was one of the most boring months…..unlike May….where almost every family, mine included, had at least one person born in May. So May was the best time for me to be in seclusion and conveniently be sooooo busy just so I wouldn’t run bankrupt! Birthdays literally started on 1 May….in fact, it starts with 2 people born 1 May, then 2nd, and 3rd…..and it goes on like that. Of course we all know bdays come with cards and gifts!

So yah….at least September was a good month to recuperate from all the February, March, April, May, June, July and August expenses.

But THAT was THEN!

NOW 3 of the best people I have ever met on this earth, and who I never really appreciated till I came to CPT, happen to be born in September. So yah, I have added September to my list of eventful months. These three have kept me company right from when I met them, through the toughest times and have stayed by me all through, especially since I came to CPT. I am ashamed to admit that we are still friends today, not by my effort but God’s and theirs. Because everyone knows how horrible I am when it comes to keeping in touch. But my friends, all guys, have realised this shortcoming, accepted me for it and kept in touch!

SO please
let me use this opportunity to wish 3 of my “bestest” pallies a very very Happy BDay!!! And of course drop a tiny gift.... (no I'm not a cheapo!)

(....hmmnnnn.....sorry it looks squashed...)

One thing I was addicted to when I was much younger….and I’m talking about early university days, was Internet Chat rooms. I would be online ALL NITE chatting to absolute strangers. The beauty about it though was unlike other people, I actually met a lot of these people…..in person. And these internet pals are 2 of the 3 I have been raving about!

BeeKay started out as just an internet pally till I met him….when…I cannot remember….when he came to Lagos. One of the first, he turned…..no I’m not telling …. on the 12th. He lives in the UK and I talk to him every day,….well almost everyday….He talks to me like I’m next door. And if you know me, you’ll know one of my hobbies is gisting! And boy…..can I talk on the phone!!! One of the greatest complaints I have from friends is the huge phone bills they get. If I had a cent for every text, every compliment, every word of encouragement and every laugh I get from BeeKay, the World Bank would be envious!

Anywayz, Beekay is an absolute blessing!!! I thank God every day that I met him. He really is a darling, a treasure to have!!!!!!!!!

Mukaila…..(actually his name is Michael) turned…..I’m sure you know by now I won’t tell…..on the 17th. He also lives in the UK. This is one guy who…..till tomorrow….it is amazing we are still friends. That guy disses me so much it’s not even funny…..lol… And he forever reminds me of how I lied to him the first time we met online. Really we had been talking for at least 2 hours and I really had to get offline…not because I was tired of talking to him but because I just needed to leave the PC then. Of course seeing that I’m NICE like that, I didn’t want him to feel bad so I told him the rice I was cooking was burning and I had to leave. Original eh?! Truth was……my mom had just come in and being online, that early in the morning, meant my arse was toast! And yah Michael, that is the truth!

Michael is absolutely fantastic!!!! You will laugh so much your sides will ache when you talk to him. I also speak to him really often. He is just amazing!!!

deDuke………(yah…..that's how it's spelt)..... Now what can I say about this guy…..Actually question should be what can I NOT say about this guy??????? First he was never an internet pally. We used to work together. Then he became a friend….and then a confidante. If I start now, I probably would go on and on. He turned……..on the 22nd. He lives and works in Lagos and when I don’t talk to him, which is like almost never, I get a text message…, which come when they are most appreciated. It is kinda freaky because when I think…..”hmmmnnnn……odd! I haven’t heard from this guy”, I get a text message like 2 seconds later!!! Scary eh?

deDuke is simply a fantastic person, with a brilliant sense of humour. His texts are different, some funny, some inspiring and some prayers. He never ceases to disgrace me because he always sends a shout-out before I ever get to do the same. Shame on me eh?

Now the best thing about these guys gurls is that they are all SINGLE!!!!! Wait…no Michael isn’t anymore. Shame! BUT….I’ll keep you posted if anything happens…

So yah….. BeeKay and deDuke are single and (though they wouldn’t admit it and would probably murder me for this), are SEARCHING!!! So if you’re interested, I can hook you up. TRUST me, you can never go wrong with any of them.

Why not take one of them you ask me? Truth is it’d be a battle deciding who to go for. Besides you know what they say about not wrecking true friendship……

SO………….1st bidding starts at.......???


You 3 have a wonderful year ahead and I’m wishing you lots of God’s guidance and blessings alwayz……

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Halle Berry Look-alike.......or NOT???!!! That is the Question!


OK!

I had my hair-cut!

YES it did cost me an arm and a leg! (I'm still very sober.....)

NO it looks nothing like Halle's hair cut!

YES I'm very broke!!!

NO, you will NOT get to see the new me with the new hair cut!!!

BUT YES!!!!!!!!! I look like Halle Berry's very distant cousin!!!


LOL!!!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

HALF TERM!!!

It’s half term people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Know what that means???

· No school for 2 weeks;
· No waking up early and rushing to school to beat the 9am roll call attendance for 2 weeks;
· No patterns to cut for 2 weeks;
· No tops to destroy….meaning no Mavrou (our name for our Senior Sewing Mistress/Lecturer which means "my friend" in Afrikaans…. though I don’t think that’s how it’s spelt) or Miss A (Mavrou’s assistant) telling me to “unpick” a stitch (how I dread that word)…. Or the words…. “Where’s your quick unpick?”
· No storyboards or figure drawing for 2 weeks; and
· I can sleep non-stop for 2 weeks (and sleeping is one thing I do best….but not better than my flat mate. She literally sleeps all day!)

So why am I not happier than I am now? Because I have a HECK of a lotta homework that’s why!

I have 3 major projects:

· a fashion show coming up in October;
· a history project where I have to make a costume depicting either the 16th or 17th century….or is it the 17th or 18th century??? I need to re-read the brief; and
· a “Hat – Making (Millinery) ”competition which we are all mandated to enter as part of our course marks; the only reason I am entering the competition.

The first thing we had to make as part of the costume for the fashion show was a WIG from scratch. My Academic Director, seeing he’s cool like that, decided his theme for the fashion show would be Shakespeare’s “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream”. Of course, seeing this project was due during my “phase”, I was so not in the mood. And of course, everyone knows a crap mood only produces crap work. So my wig was crap I have to admit. WORSE, I had to explain how I came up with a concept I never came up with. So NOT only did I waste a lot of money making the crap wig, I also wasted a lot of time and got crap marks because…..yah you guessed it, I have to re-do the wig because I got below 70%. SO whilst others who came up with such fantastic creations, I was weak, and who of course got above 70%, I have to add more baggage to my already excess baggage by re-doing my wig! Sigh……………

YAH…..so I have the wig, the costume, I have to look for a volunteer model, make the shoes, sort out the make-up, ensure the wig fits, and do all the running around for the show coming up late October. PLUS I have to start thinking of making my summer dress, using the 3D fabric I made, which is the end of term project, due mid-November or so.

Then the History Project, due the Friday before the Fashion show. We usually have 1 history project every module and everyone in my class would tell you our history projects are the most demanding projects ever. I don’t even need to tell you much about the project….just look at the title…..”Costumes from the 16th and 17th….” you know I’m not sure which it is….16th and 17th….or 17th and 18th….will recheck and get back to you. And my History lecturer is absolutely marvellous! He is a mountain of knowledge…… so you know you can’t give him crap work!

And then the competition…… I don’t even want to think about that. I mean I just made a hat in school and it was just hideous. But hey…..I take solace in the fact that I can make a hat! But you can’t submit a horrid hat for a competition can you?

So yah…that’s a snapshot of my half-term.

BUT NONETHELESS…….

I am so excited!!!!!!!! I’m about to have a hair cut! I get excited whenever I’m about to get a new hair style. BUT it is going to cost me an arm and a leg. Anyone in Cape Town would tell you that the beauty and hair industry (sorry for the unconventional term) is the most expensive industry here in Cape Town. You literally have to ask for a bank loan to get a decent hair style in this city…..or any other city outside Nigeria for that matter!

BUT….like I said earlier….with spring comes hope. And with hope comes a new outlook…..and…,you will agree with me, a new outlook deserves a new look. And what better way to get a new look than a new hair style!

Need less to say I have had the same hair style for 2 months now, I can pull out the corn-rowed-weave by tugging on it. And NO it doesn’t smell because I clean and condition my scalp regularly thank YOU!

And guess what style I decided on? The famous Halle Berry crop:




And I know it will suit me. Hey!....I’m allowed to be vain ain’t I?

Monday, September 17, 2007

The Truth……

Well the truth (which, as they say, will set you free) …..and the honest truth (like there’s any such thing as a dishonest truth) ….is that I was going through a phase…..an all-time low…..and if I had blogged, you would have felt it through the blog. And I didn’t want that…. SO I decided to stay away till I felt better. Needless to say that THE WORK was absolutely “hectic”….lol….that’s a new slang I learnt here. Hectic is the safest word to use when you can’t quantify/qualify anything … or have run out of words or the situation/product/service/etc. is just simply literally hectic! lol…

So yah…(another slang I learnt)…..I stayed away…. And now I’m back!

A lot has happened in what … a month ….. (WHAT??? 1 month) …since I have been away. Oh… lest I forget, thank you for the e-mails I received from people asking where I have been. Believe me, those e-mails went a really long way I tell you.

So yah where was I? The lot that had happened eh (and yet another slang)…? To be honest, I can’t really recall much of it. BUT one thing I do remember is the fact that I had the unhealthiest of meals during this period!!! I was just eating and eating it wasn’t even funny (lol…. and here’s a slang/phrase I learnt as well….) ….You name it, I had it….bangers, greasy chips, pizza, fizzy drinks, burgers, hot dogs …..goodness….. I should be smacked! Thank God, I walk a lot….. and ... yah ... I do walk a lot around here… seeing there’s no car!

So yah….lucky for me….I snapped out of my phase. Can’t really tell what it was but a lot had to do with the fact that I was bored….. and life was a home-school, the occasional movie/drinks/clubbing routine. People who know me would tell you I am an “all over the place” kinda person. I guess…that’s what you get for going to a place where you know absolutely no one! Sometimes I wonder why I came to Cape Town… but I guess it’s best to go to places where you don’t really know people…..that way you can really discover who you are without “influence”.

PLUS not only did I totally wreck my brand new 3-week old Nokia N76 (and NO I wasn’t drunk) but worst of all, I found out, by accident, that my neighbour had a set of keys to my flat!

How did this happen? Well…I’ll tell you.

I rushed out one morning without my phone and my assignment due that morning. Of course, there’s nothing worse than working all night on a project and then handing it in late…because that meant -25%.....or ZERO after 24 hours! My sister was around on holidays so she was with the keys to the flat, in the flat. I yelled and yelled, banged and banged and generally created a scene. But whilst every other person in the block heard my yelling and banging, I cannot for the life of me understand how my sister did not hear it. My knuckles are still sore from the banging! She claims it was the music I left on! Ludicrous I tell you, because I never turn the music on loud for fear of my neighbours. I was warned when I moved in about some guy who stayed above me and how he complains about the noise.

ANYWAYZ, this concerned neighbour comes out and asks if there was anything she could do. I told her I didn’t think so but explained I was trying to get in anyway. She comes out with this bunch of old keys she said she had and said maybe one could help open the door. I was still arguing when she tried the 2nd key and voila! The door swings open! My jaw LITERALLY hit the ground!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what could I do? I reported her to my agent who told me she’d sort it out. That was over a month ago! BUT how do I challenge the woman, who did me a favour that morning by asking for the keys back without making her feel bad?

I’m still stuck on what to do because I don’t want her to think I’m accusing her of anything. BUT I tell you I am really worried. NOW I sleep with my keys in the lock, whilst hoping no-one goes into my flat in my absence!

THIS… coupled with other matters just made me want to go back home! Wait….. could it be that I was actually home-sick? You know it never occurred to me that that could be the reason until NOW! One thing I do know is that I MISS not working … I mean I have been working even before I left university so being stuck as a full-time student is not easy for me.

But thankfully, phone calls and friends got me by. I still have a concern though… no I'm not telling on this one... but I’m working on getting it sorted.

BUT HEY!!!! It’s Spring now (though Cape Town is colder and wetter than ever)!!! I mean Jo’burg is in the late 20s and early 30 degrees with fire alerts but the lovely Mother City is still around 16 degrees, struggling unsuccessfully to get to 18 degrees.

BUT with Spring comes beauty and hope! So yah….I’m hopeful…..(reminds me of my alarm tone which I absolutely love but everyone is absolutely sick of….Twister and Faith Evans). PLUS I went for a church conference “Dare You To Move” or "Dare You NOT To Move" as rephrased by one of the speakers! I had a blast I tell you. What better way to start the season.

Before I call it a day, I’d like to wish all Moslems a “Happy Ramadan”. Eat for 2 whilst breaking your fast!

Y’all have a wonderful week ahead!

BACK!……..After a long break…………

Yes…yes….I know…….I have been incommunicado for a while. WOW! I just looked at the date! It's been over 1 month!!! How time flies......

Anyway....yah...I've been away. But for good reason, okay…. Why? Well… do you want the truth or something else…..?