Antonyms of a Mirage

First of all, I want to thank everyone that helped me with suggestions and advice in this post. I don’t really know what I would have done if I were not on blogger. In fact, if I were not on blogger, I don’t think my book project would have been possible, because I wouldn’t have been able to develop my writing skills.

So, according to 100% of the opinions, I will be dropping the name ‘The Write Lady’. I will really miss you though, we were best of friends, but I need to leave you to your legal owner. I have already taken it down from my twitter handle @hattylolla, using my real name for the main time, that is till I find an untaken pen name.

As for the book title, though I love Curious Cases, after Myne discovered the issue with Curious it, I disliked her for the next 10 seconds and then after much deliberation, I decided to drop the name and wait for another 7 months for the next nice name to drop in my head. Fortunately for me, I waited for just one day and something struck.

The title Curious Cases really captured the concept of the book, not exactly the content. So I told myself, ‘I can either go the concept way or the content way. What if I look at the contents and name the book that way?’ That was also hard sha because of the nature of the book, which you all know by now. I then asked myself again ‘What is the common factor of all the entries in the book?’ The obvious answer to that was REALITY. The truth is that the common man can relate to all the entries, even though a single person might not have personally experienced every story (I hope so sha, or else the person will be pretty messed up). Apart from the reality factor, I don’t think there’s any common factor.

Obviously, even though the common factor is Reality, I can’t title my book Reality, it is just too boring and not catchy at all. Imagine if I said, ‘Hey Ginger, HoneyDame, buy my book, the title is Reality.’ What will be your response? So I asked myself ‘What is the opposite of reality? The title of my book will be the Opposite of the Opposite of Reality.’ I hope you get the concept. In maths, they said - × - = +. This means that the Opposite of the Opposite of Reality = Reality.

Another word for Opposite is Antonym and there are so many antonyms of reality in English language. I went for Mirage because it also captures the concept of the different changing characters in the book. So my dear readers Reality = Antonyms of a Mirage. There goes the book title, ANTONYMS OF A MIRAGE.

In other news, the book cover and character drawings are not ready. I am so sad, because my graphic designer was on his way to me for an appointment and guess what happened, he was robbed and by who? By fake policemen. They took his laptop, iPad and phone. He had my number in his head, and borrowed a phone from a passerby to call me and tell me about the situation. He said he was going to a police station to report the situation. People, I have not heard from him since then o. He hasn’t replied my mails but I was able to ascertain that he’s safe. I am not happy at all because this has drawn me back in my target time by 2 weeks. Anytime I remember the situation, I just get really pissed. I pray I get to see him very soon.


Have a great week

My First Poetry Reading - Myopia

Good day people. Today's post is not one I am really proud to share, but must share all the same. If I knew I was gonna be on camera, I would have composed myself and gesticulated better, instead of standing like a statue. It was my first poetry reading ever. I recited my poem, Myopia. It was on blog last year and generated a lot of comments but it has been taken down.

Apart from my 10 year old birthday video when I was jumping up and down, I have never really watched myself on camera. I don't think I like the way my mouth moves sha, lol. I watched it and was like 'is this how I talk in real life?' I just had to cover my eyes.

This is a poetry reading session is called Loudthotz Poetry reading. It takes place every second Thursday of the month. I attended in January and really loved it, but was too ill to go for February's own. By the grace of God, I won't miss that of march. Join me there, if you can. I believe anyone that writes poems should be there to meet people of like minds. It is organized by Independent Poet Concerns.

Enjoy the video.

Your opinion is really needed

Hi People, sorry for the absence on my blog. I was really ill. I don’t know if you could tell from the one-word comments I was leaving on your blogs, but thanks to God, I am getting better.

I want to run something by you guys, just to get your opinions. I wanted to brand myself sometime last year, so I started calling myself The Write Lady. I made sure people identified me that way and attached the name to me. I was going to design the brand and then changed the template of this blog to conform to it. In the process of doing that, I found out that there was a female ghost writer who already calls herself that same name. In fact, she had already registered the name. I was really pained cos I really love the name. My question therefore is, will I be doing wrong to still address myself by that name and still let people refer to me that way, even though I am not going to legally own it. All I want to do is brand myself and everything about my writing and editing that way. So what do you guys think?

If you don’t think I should keep holding on to the name, what other name close to that can you suggest?

Finally, I think I found a name for my book. Can you imagine that my book has been with the graphic designer and the person doing the trailer for one month and it had no title? I didn’t even have the effrontery to rush them as I was the major culprit. The ailment didn’t make it any better. Anyway, I have decided to call my book Curious Cases. Wow, such a relief... after about 7 months of looking for a title.

I decided to go with Curious Cases because it’s an anthology with each page unfolding a very unexpected write-up. It is a book of split personalities, a total of six personalities dragging you into the book and all of them fighting for your attention, thereby kicking each other out of the pages. I really cannot explain, but when you see it, you will understand.

It has poetry, prose and drama. It has comedy, tragedy and serious stuffs all in it. It also has both animations and real life experience in it. One thing is sure, you will be able to relate to every single page.

Also, the book is going to be in volumes, because I will keep writing these sorts of things. That also delayed my finding a title cos I wanted a catchy title that will be able to retain its ‘catchiness’, no matter how the content might change and how long it will be required to stay in the market.

So the second opinion of yours I need is what do you think about the title, Curious Cases? Does it draw you to want to know what the book is about? Do you think it is a good enough title for an anthology with multiple volumes? Does it reflect a split personality? If you think you have a better title that reflects these things, please, can you suggest it?

Thanks in advance, as you try to address the two situations stated above.

Before and After (The magic of editing)

So... I have been working on my book for a while and that involved taking down some posts from this blog and editing them. Just in case you did not know, I took down over 30 posts from this blog in October last year. If you notice, whenever you click on any of my poems link in the poem tab, you will realized that they are all missing. In fact, that is the answer to the giveaway question I asked in my welcome back post, which no one got till today.

So, as I was saying, apart from the new entries for the book, which have been featuring in the entry game, I brushed up old ones and made them book-worthy. In the process of brushing them up, I realized that I had actually been putting up utter rubbish. In fact, while editing, I felt really bad for my blog readers. I was like ‘Why were they praising my writing? What the hell was I thinking putting such unprofessional works on blog?’ so I now officially apologise to you guys for putting up a shoddy job of some of my poetry and prose.

In case, you are not convinced, check out the poem below and let it speak for itself. It is a poem that was on this blog for a very long time. It is titled Already Taken

Need I say more? That, my readers, is the difference between a shoddy work and a well edited work. In case, you did not know or might have forgotten, I am not only a writer, but an editor (Terms and Conditions are here). Apart from editing fiction and other articles, I also edit poems, without allowing it lose its context, getting rid of unnecessary padding and clots in the process. This is a very sensitive process. I for one would rather edit fictions and regular articles, but if I have to edit poems, I won’t reject the offer. After all, I have to put food on my table.

So let me know... what do you think?

P.S: Thanks to all my new followers. I hope you like the blog. Thanks for dropping by

Maybe...

Woooww! For once, I wish I could be a corrupt politician and rig the entry game on my blog. The ones are I like to put up always have a hard time winning. From the last entry game, I really wished my Interview with corruption would win, but 'Maybe' won by a lead of one vote. If I cheat by counting wrongly, someone can go and count it on the comment section and If I cheat by removing someone's vote, the person would know when he/she sees that his/her comment/vote has been deleted. I think politicians all over the world, especially in Nigeria should adopt this method. Transparency is key.

I would like to say that Interview with Corruption is currently the first entry in the book. So for people that voted this, do not despair about not reading the animation article, it will be coming to your doorstep soon.

Let me warn you before you read, 'Maybe' is not like my usual retrospective poems, it one of the most ordinary poems you might ever come across, so don't expect too much. This is the edited version, so please, you are allowed to criticise and point out errors. Thanks

Here goes it

source

SORRY! THE POEM HAD TO BE TAKEN DOWN AFTER 28 DAYS IN ORDER TO SERVE ITS INTENDED PUBLISHING PURPOSE.

THANKS FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.

I appreciate your comments. Thanks

Defining My Previous Years

Sorry people for not posting since, the subsidy issue scattered my posting plans, since I wanted to do the protest thing and sort out myself. Last week wasn't pretty at all for me but I am better now. Can't let the devil steal my joy, cos he didn't give it to me in the first place.

So to continue the post I was to finish last time, please, click this link in case you missed it.

After the annual stock taking, I also label the year based on how it went. Last year, I decided to do something different. I named my year, based on how I want it to be, based on what I saw that year bringing to me (also tied to the goal). Funny enough, how I named it at the beginning of the year was how it played out in reality. 

So I have done that this year again. This is a list of how some of the year was labelled based on how it actually played out in reality.

2005 – My Year of Darkness (The darkest year of my life)

Everything just went bad this year. It started badly, when they sent us away from school in January then cos some idiots burnt the DSAs house. School was rough when we got back, my Dad died, Pastor Bimbo died and so many terrible shizzles happened to me. In fact, at the end of the year, I prayed that I would never ever see such year in my life again.

2006 – My year of good beginnings.

I think it was just an okay year. I had peace of mind, school was looking good. Industrial Attachment was good and my future was generally looking bright. Nothing compared to the previous year at all

2007 – My year of Drama.

This was a mixture of very good and very bad at the same time. One minute I was blazing all A’s in my final year, the next minute, I was dealing with a terrible break up. I mean God really made me shine in this particular year but I suffered, no be small. The drama was just too much.

2008 – My year of Transition

Nothing ‘gen gen’ happened this year. It was just there, but it was a transition stage between two major phases of my life. I just took life as it came.

2009 – My year of Increase

What I actually transitioned to from 2008 manifested. I mean, the difference between my life in 2008 and 2009 was crystal clear. God just increased me, just like that.

2010 – My mirror image year.

One of my best years ever. I say mirror image cos the first half (Jan – June), which was terrible was the direct opposite of (July – Dec). I mean on June 30, my life was in a state of confusion, mess and shambles in all areas, but July 1^st, life suddenly became unbelievably good. All the bad things (including an accident) happened in the first half and all the good things happened in the second half

2011 – My year of upliftment.

This is because God actually lifted me up and let everyone know that He lifted me up. I suffered some disappointments, but I counted them as nothing because they were not really important to me and my destiny. The things I really counted important, God did for me and that’s what matters, though they are material stuffs.

2012 – My year of....

As I said, I have written how I want it to be and that’s what it will be at the end of the year. Amen

To the next set of entry games,

1. Interview with Corrupy: This is sort of an animation article, where I actually had the opportunity to interview corruption and ask him some serious questions about him and Nigeria

2. Maybe...: A poem of maybe statements. Maybe this... Maybe that...

3. Waiting for your downfall: A poem about the fact that at every point of your life, some people are actually plotting your downfall and you progress actually irks them out.

So, please, vote for the one you want. If you vote for all, you vote won’t count o, lol.

When I posted the winning entry of the last entry game, I noticed from the comments that some people did not understand it. I am working on my book and it has several entries (comedy, reality, tragedy, poetry, prose, drama and loads of more things). I am therefore posting some of the sample entries on this blog as a kind of preview and to get feedback and suggestions. The entries are all ready and only the winning entry will be posted. If peradventure, the entry you voted doesn’t win, you will have the opportunity to read it in the book. I will have a couple of giveaways, so it’s still kinda fair. And if your choice did not win this time, it might win in the next set.

Let the voting begin. Thank you all for the love and support. Happy subsidy times...

GEJ + Subsidy + Protest

I think this is gonna be a short post cos I don't feel too good. I have been going through some things and I don't have the strength to rant.

I am breaking the no-politics-zone-blog protocol, this time, in order to join the blog protest. I drove today without AC, like I have been doing for the past one week because when I budgeted fuel money, I didn't remove subsidy from it. Jona pulled the rug under my feet so I had to cut some things and in the end, it looked like I had just taken my bath in my car, I am not finding it funny at all.

Maybe the reason I can't complain too much is because I never expected anything from Jona. I actually saw all these coming and refused to vote for him, even when Christian leaders were campaigning for him. I made my decision because of the way he treated the whole campaign thing and never partook in any debate. He only had eyes for D'Banj. I was convinced he had nothing to offer me and would have been surprised if he had actually done good. I also think he should stop talking, cos he doesn't know how to talk.

I told some people that I wish this guy would be asked to leave cos as long as he is there, only God will ensure that something good comes out of this country. Even if the subsidy is removed, loads of other issues that he won't be able to solve will come up. But my friends told me that I am just wasting my time and not being realistic, as it won't happen. I for one don't believe he can govern us or he is the right man for the country but the truth is that what is done is done. I also know that he is not the one really leading this country, which makes the whole thing worse because it means the protest won't have effect as fast as we want. It will have its effect, but not just as fast, so we have to be ready for that.

I am sorry if this is not the typical protest post you were expecting, but as you might have realized before now, I am not a typical reactive Nigerian,  I am a proactive one. Next time, let us not be blinded by ethnicity or religion.

I remember that in 2008, I told people that it will get to a point when Nigerians will protest and fight back, but no one believed me, that said Nigerians can't fight. I then used this illustration. When a big man holds a small child to the wall and punches his continuously for months, no matter how small or weak that child is, one day he will hit back. It doesn't matter how weak his punch is, he will still try to hit back because there's an extent to what suffering any man can take. I wish I could see the people that told me it would never happen and tell them, 'I told you so'.

For people planning to protest, please, don't let tear gas turn you back to your houses. Government knows that Nigerians run away at every little thing, and they will do what they can to disperse us but now is not the time to run away, let us stand sown. If we don't get it right this time, I doubt that we will ever get it right.

I am also sorry if this post looks scattered. One again, I don't feel too good and am sorting out a lot of things personally. Thanks for reading

Resolutions and Goal Scoring

Happy new year to you all. I wish you a blessed year of 2012. I spent 5 hours in the kitchen yesterday, but I did not complain cos i was prepared for it. At the end of the day, it was a good day.

2011 was a good year for me. I don’t do New Year resolutions. I wrote a post on New Year resolutions last year January about why New Year resolutions fail most times. I think it is quite insightful and you can read it here. What I do is to set realistic and measurable goals and score myself later. So, after doing my stock taken based on the annual goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year, I scored 38.6%. Yeah, I know it is low, but at least, it is better than last year’s 36%. The irony is that the more I achieved in life, the less I scored.

Funny enough, I don’t think the reason was that I set goals that were too high to attain. I think one of the reasons was that I focused so well on achieving one part (e.g career and finance) and neglected so many others and at the year, it affects the average, because the goals I usually set encompasses so many parts of life.

Other times, I set goals that are beyond my control. An example can be ‘To go to India.’ What if I am denied Indian Visa? You see, I will automatically score 0% that goal there cos even my efforts will not count, as the goal did not put my effort in consideration. So if I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot, I can say ‘To take concrete steps towards travelling to India’. Though, this particular one is more subjective and gives room for laziness. Since I am setting the goal for myself, I’ll rather be strict with myself and set the first one.

One other reason why I scored low was because I wasn’t going back to check the goals monthly, so it was the ones I considered more important, which apparently, stuck in my head more, that I ended up achieving. This also causes one to chase other goals that were not initially set. There is nothing wrong with this, as long as you achieve most of the ones set before. What I have done to combat this is to set monthly goals, feeding into the yearly goals so I achieve as much as possible.


We practice this at work, so I am kinda used to this thing, though I started this before I started working. I feel have started boring you guys. Niways, see some of my scores below


2008 – 48%


2009 - 57.5%


2010 – 36%


2011 – 38.6%


I have looked at the goals for 2012, and I think the scores will be more impressive this time around cos I have changed strategies. I think I also set goals within my control. Let’s see how it goes sha.

I haven’t finished, but the post is getting long. I think I have to continue in another post