Vacay: like a Bigz Girls

picture from here

I have never liked or admired any one single woman espoused to any of the leaders in my country. Having grown up in an academic household where my earliest memories include parents embroiled in heated debates with their co-academics over the future/demise of their beloved country, I just always viewed our leaders and their wives/women as a bunch of poorly educated, thieving vagabonds who were ruining the possibilities of my country.
The first woman in a leadership position that I truly was fascinated by, besides my mother (ell actually, when i was younger I was more scared of her than anything else) was Winnie Mandela. This chick had to fight by herself for 27 while her husband was locked up for doing nothing more than ask to be treated like a human being on his own land. Yeah, the marriage broke up...bla, bla, bla but this chick was the original freedom/human rights gangsta that I was aware of.
picture from here
The next person was Hilary Clinton. By now, I was in my teens and trying to figure out how I was going to become a powerhouse in a culture extremely hostile to progressive thinking in a woman. This woman had academic credentials to make your head spin; political connections to make you disappear if she wanted and still managed to marry and have a kid. I thought to myself, "I can be either just as good as this woman or even better sef".
Even though, she royally pissed me off when she stood by her husband's side after the Lewinsky debacle ( cos I felt it was endorsing of philandering men and the notion that a woman is always supposed to forgive), I forgave her instantly when i realised her renegade thinking when the man endorsed the sege out of her presidential campaign. I was like, yeah man, that is how it's done...it became clear that with all their yanga, Americans were not ready for a woman to lead them but by the time that was blatantly apparent, her points and impact had been felt to the marrow. That is why some people in the republican party drank too much and thought, ah-ah, if Clinton is there, let's bring out Palin and that one just came and nakeded their yanshes and cost them the election.

Which was not a bad idea because it introduced to u...Aunty Michelle.picture from here

Now, I was like, gen-gen. See person...Educated, self accomplished, articulate, stylish and a very fit physique. Yes, she married the president but she has her own portfolio and two gorgeous little girls. I compared her to the former First Ladies', late Miriam Babangida, Miriam Abacha and the late Stella Obasanjo and could not find one thing I could hold in comparison as aspiring. And when Mrs. Yaradua made her "Obey your husband's ..." comment in 2009, I was done with Nigerian first ladies.

So why did I write this long post? Well, look at the first picture. Aunty Michelle is (or was in Italy; depending on when you read this post) on vacay. People are in arms cos she stayed in a luxury hotel, used the secret service etc on taxpayers money when the country is in a "recession" and looked amazing and luxurious doing it. While, I am a bit fatigued by all the vacations she has been having; I think this summer alone, the family has had four--I feel like, what is a Big Girl to do? She needs to rest her brain between meetings and campaigns and projects where she is trying to get American children off the obesity track. Also, she has two little girls who will not understand why they cannot go to Disney Land with their parents...

So, I say, carry go Aunty Michelle. Next time, abeg, take me with you...

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Though hate is such a strong word, I think I can safely say that I hate the word "whatever". Used inappropriately, it can come across like a flippant dismissal of what has just been said. Wars have been started over less....

Shuo: Kidnapping is the new armed robbery?

Sometimes, I just wonder the new low levels that crime can schlep to in my country. Kidnappings have now infiltrated out of the Niger Delta to other regions...

When will people understand that just because someone is driving a car does not mean that they stole the money to buy it

Just wondering...

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I have been wondering if African immigrants living in the US are classified as African-American. Most of people, I know, don't classify themselves as such. What is the politically correct term for someone who is first generation African, living in the United States?

Celso Fonseca makes my day so much better

Soap Carving

Apparently in Thailand, it is not enough for soap to smell good, it should look good as well. Check out these soap carvings...i just want to look at them all day long. They would make a lovely gift basket and no one would even question that it might be LUX or IMPERIAL LEATHER

New month...new outlook...new food

picture from here
I am an avid observer of things and one of the many issues that has consumed my brain functions over the time I have spent here in the US is why, unlike some other cultures, Nigerian food has not been elevated to the status of public patronage as say other African cuisines (Ethiopian) or Asian (Thai, japanese, korean, chinese, etc).
I came out with a few deductions.

1. Value
We Nigerians don't see the value in eating out, our own dishes. When you have a wife that will slave in the kitchen for hours to make you the food that you want, why would you go and spend $40.00 on the same thing. As a result, whenever anyone asks to sample Nigerian food, there are never any restaurants to take them to; you simply invite them over.
Unlike us, Ethiopian foods are a group effort. Portions are presented on a huge platter and expected to be shared. So also for most Asian cuisine that is built around the same concept. Also, remember in the case with most Asian urban areas, space is limited and for an apartment housing 15 people, cooking might not be a good idea, so they go outside. Hence, public eating. Hence, the growth of their restaurants.

2. Presentation.
Here, I move the Ethiopians out of the way and settle on the Asians. For them, presentation is as much a part of the dish as is the taste. I mean, there are generations of royal chefs whose jobs were to make the royal dining experience as much a visual spectacle as much one for the palate.
Nigerian food, not so much. The portions are bulky. Some move, some don't. We have not yet figured out a way to present our foods in a way that is comparative. Maybe because, we don't care. I have been taught to cook but i was not exactly taught how to arrange jollof rice on a plate to make it look like a mound of yellow surrounded a piece of meat. Part food arrangements are done more out of making sure the plate of food does not topple over.
Take a look at these fruit carvings from Thailand. Each one takes about two hours to complete


3.
Although, the picture at the top does look a bit like a design but you see where I am going with this

Consistency
This is both a good and bad thing. Because our style of cooking is a bit subjective, the outcome is not the same every single time. We don't employ thermometers, stop clocks and measuring bowls for the ingredients. We use a flick of the wrist and the eye of experience which can sometimes be off. Thus, we cannot guarantee that the dining experience will be the same. But that also means that if we blow your mind once, we can rock your world in another way.

I might be wrong...what says you?

On my mind

1. Wondering what is going to happen as deadlines loom around the corner, taunting me with their existence

2. Wondering why I have not been encouraged to stick to any work out regimen that I have started. I believe the reality is that I am not doing what I really want to do but what I can do...

3. Wondering how I became so addicted to sugar. Before I came to the US, I was perfectly fine to accompany all meals with water and now, I almost feel like I have to have a cold, sweet liquid with every meal; which means I am downing Soda all the time.
Not good, when you come from a lineage of diabetics.

4. Boys...or more specifically, men

5. Clothing and shoes....wondering about the cut of that jacket in that Korean Drama

6. Korean Dramas

7. My own stories....how to bring them to life

8. A new template for my blog. Will I have to re-save all the links on the right as I change over?

9. Time

10. A lack of it

11. An abundance of it doing stuff you don't want to do while there is stuff that you need to do but cannot do or are not doing

12. Silence

Kisses

Have a great weekend.

The right name

Every story has a title. It is its identity. It can be indicative of what the story is about or what the morale to be learned will be. It can also misdirect, letting the audience to believe that the story will go in a particular direction only to turn them on their ears and force a concept through.

I spend a considerable amount of time, giving titles to my stories. Like naming a baby, you feel you have to get it right. Not really realising that that child can grow up in future and be known by a pseudonym, a symbol or a nick name. No, you don't think that. You have to get right, get it perfect...

My latest film project: Score

A few months ago, I took a video production class where we were asked to each pitch an idea to the class with the best idea becoming the class project. I wrote SCORE, inspired by music from Jesse Chui and i got to direct it as part of the class project.

It is about a woman's relation ship with her piano.

Written & Directed by: Me
Produced & Edited by Ishu Krishna
The Advanced Video Production Class
Cast: Peggy Nichols
Torsten Spitzka
The Piano

Score from Ishu Krishna on Vimeo.

What I want right now...

Nights and Days: Summer Heat recaps

Stating that summer is here is quite redundant at the moment; the heat makes sure you never forget even if for certain periods, you may be ensconsced in the comfort of an air conditioned space. The heat lets you know that summer is here, barely clad women of varying shapes, sizes and fashion sense let you know summer is here and the movie theatre's constant line ups of comedies and exposion-heavy action flicks pander to the change in weather.

So that's why, I dragged myself to the movies. The last time I was there, I had earned myself a free film and with great flourish, I presented my coupon to the person at the ticket to redeem my prize only to be told in the LOUDEST of voices that my free ticket voucher was not valid for new releases; that I had to wait another two weeks to use it. I looked at the girl, looked at the long line of bored Caucasians watching me without looking at me, hisses inwardly and forked out the $8.00 to see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in KNIGHT & DAY.

.

Now, I am not particularly a fan of Tom Cruise. I am always suspicious of an actor that is way too good looking and ALWAYS plays the GOOD GUY. And one cannot help but forget him trying out for Cirque Du Freak on Oprah's Couch. But I could not help watching him with a healthy dose of longing.

The man is fiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnneeeeeeee.

One more time: The man is finnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haba!

I wonder what I would do if a man that looked like that suddenly thought the sun rose and set on my head. Would I even hear anything that comes out of his mouth, or would I be staring at him with my mouth agape and drooling.

I won't even be jealous if other women are staring because, let us face it, who wouldn't.

To me, he is just one of those people that make you marvel at God's Work. Like, a sunset of even a smiling, toothless infact. He is visually perfect.

The movie? That is another issue. I cannot even tell you what it was about because I zoned out too many times. There was no theme that I had not seen before, except maybe that Cameron Diaz was not a silly, clumsy chick all the time. There was one scene where she threw a punch and I was like, "Chineke!!!!"...cos that joint looked like it rearranged/damaged some brain cells on the guy.

That was how I spent one of my Summer Days. I will be keeping you posted.

Summer...the time for love....or just plain, blistering heat

It's 10:51 pm

...and I am a good thirty minutes walk from my apartment, having dragged my already weary bones out in search of a place to connect to free internet. I went to about four places, each of which was just closing and as a final resort, I walked into Tryst in Adams Morgan and plopped myself down on one of their soft couches, ordered an overpriced smoothie and spent almost twenty minutes trying to connect to their internet. My lovely vista laptop did not fail to disappoint...as usual, what everyone else was doing with ease was giving me drama. For the life of me, I could not connect.

So, I paid for the lousy smoothie..it was one of those healthy kinds that taste like laughter fled the kitchen...packed up my gear and trudged out once more into the warm DC night.

Went into a used book store... no show

walked into a Sake lounge...no show...shouldn't have since I was in flip flops and faded work out clothing...

Then, someone said to me "Try Cali Yogurt"

I had passed it by, not wanting to go in with my weakness for frozen yogurt but now, I was a bit desperate. I had alot of work to do, no internet connection at home and no clear time frame on when I could change that. In fact, it was an attempt to change that, that was pushing me online...so, i went in.

Purchased a 5 oz original recipe, with mango pieces as toppings....

Took a bite...

and felt like someone had knocked me back to Kaduna

Flashback Catwalq Moment: My mum used to travel to the north quite a bit and she would try to bring us fresh, sweet yogurt when she came back. Also, I had been in Kaduna at some point, attending an Eckankar seminar and spent most of the time, gouging myself on fresh northern yogurt...

Back to now: It's a taste you have to have had to know what I am talking about...that fresh yogurt taste...tangy and sweet...not the nonsense that Yoplait packages for you or Activia tries to scare you into buying by implying that you will be constantly constipated if you don't have it...no, I mean, fresh, sweet yogurt....topped with sweet, RIPE, mango...

I think I'll have another...

It's a Monday....

and I have had a fight, a meal and a worry. I am so in need of a vacay!!!!!!!!

I am in love

People, meet Ricardo Darin. Argentinean veteran actor starring in the award winning cinematic beauty, The Secret in Their Eyes. All I can say, is yes, Ben-hah-meen, I am yours...forget Irene.
Go see it and tell me what you think

Information

Food...

Picture from here

I am on a quest to kick my current dependence on food as a pick-me-up. I think there can be a healthy way of enjoying good cuisine without my gut hanging over my belt buckle. For once, I would like to reach for an item in my wardrobe and not worry of it will still pass over my man-like shoulders which always seem to be expanding at the rate of the current oil spill in the gulf...

The world through our eyes

picture from here
I was returning from a guilt-laden trip to Bed Bath & beyond where i had picked up a pack of my current addiction, Tazo Passion Tea when i saw something that both amused and humbled me at the same time.

A little girl of about four was walking with her mother through the mall and they go to the escalators. She panicked for a few seconds as she tried to understand how to place her foot on the first step without falling down as the steps, which would be considered a moving nuisance by some, moved on its automated way. She clutched at her mother, who took her hand in a vice like grip to stabilise her stance, lest she go flying. The little girl tried again, each time not quite so sure of her self. This all was just a couple of seconds but already a line was beginning to form and irritation was beginning to appear on the faces of those who could not seem to believe the audacity of a four year old who was confused and disoriented by an escalator. Finally, her mother sensing that the lesson on overcoming her fear of moving objects would have to wait another time, lifted her in one fell swoop and carried her the rest of the way. And the little girl, held on to her mother for dear life. But she did not take her eyes off the escalator steps.

I imagined what they looked like to her; or what the world looked like either.

It took me back years when I hated sitting in my mother's mazda because it was a small car. Then, we lived in Benin City in Ugbowo Estate, which was across from the University of Benin, an illustrious institution whose front gates were some kind of automobile depot because all kinds of cars were either zooming past, turning in or parked out there. Any time, my mother waited at the intersection to make a turn into the campus, I would have small panic attacks because I was convinced that her car was so small and that people would not see us there. Or that the wind from speeding trucks would lift us into the air and into our next incarnations. Everything was huge and fast and crazy looking.

I pinch myself sometimes when I can cross a street in just a few strides because when I was little, I would run across, convinced that the road was so wide that I would not be able to reach the other side in time.

I remember sitting in my father's reading chair to measure how close to the floor, my feet were because that meant I was growing and that when I sit, my scrawny legs would not be poking over the edge.

When we are little, things are sometimes alarming and when I say little, I don't mean just your physical size, it can also be your outlook on life. When you feel like circumstances or experiences dwarf your abilities, you panic and flail and it all seems crazy. But there is always someone who has your hand. That someone (whoever you believe that to be), waits a it to see if you have the hang of it and if you do, you triumph and move on and if you don't, that person lifts you up over the issue; with the knowledge that you will still have to learn your lesson but next time, hopefully you will have other experiences under your belt that the speed of an escalator would be minute in comparison.

Take the time, to appreciate how far you have come. Remember, there was once a time, when you were no larger than a loaf of bread....but look at you now....

Feriado...

This song has been on constant replay for two days straight because this is how I am feeling....