Everything & Anything

When I was about eight years old, I found out that the past tense of "hang" was not only "hung" but "hanged" as well. I don't remember the details, but it was in the course of a conversation with my late father. He said something about someone being hanged. And I asked if he did not mean to say that the person was "hung". He said, no, he did not mean to say "hung" because it would not, in this case be correct. Not correct? Why? I asked, a bit confused. I was certain I had not heard or read the word "hanged" before. My father just said that when used in reference to the act of hanging a human being, the correct tense was "hanged". I wondered if that applied to animals too. He laughed and said I needed to find that out for myself. I accepted it but my curiosity was not fully satisfied then, nor is it now and, even after trolling through different internet explanations, I still do not know if it would be "han...

What comes to mind when we hear the word "cheerleader"? Pretty & perky young high school or college girls in extra-short flouncy skirts or minuscule shorts with pom-pons waving in the air, their sole purpose to cheer on whatever sports team they support with shouts and songs, boosting morale, encouraging the efforts, win or lose. At least, that's the picture I get when I hear the word. A cheerleader is - according to one Merriam-Webster.com definition -  a person who encourages other people to do or support something. That's a great person to have in your life and I believe we all need one. Or two. Or three, Lol! Having a cheerleader in your life is important, don't you think? Someone who encourages you, lifts your flagging spirit and lights a fire of determination in you, gets you to keep going even when it seems you have lost or are losing the game, while you are taking part in this sport called life with it's ever-changing rules. Someone who ...

I have been suffering from "blogger's block" on one hand and an ideas over-load on the other. Does not make much sense, right? Let me explain - there are so many ideas and topics that pop into my mind, at least 10 a day (the over-load). But as quickly as they pop in, they pop out because I do not get past writing more than two sentences before the idea/subject is discarded - why? I have no clue; I just am not able to write more than two sentences before my thoughts shut down, the flow of words dried up like a stream in a drought! I finally am able to go beyond the two sentences, thanks to "I Am Jazz". I have been getting a "broadcast" on the program "I am Jazz" from different people - friends on my Blackberry contact list, not-so-friends on my Whatsapp (can Whatsapp creators/administrators please come up with a more private platform? Anyone with your phone number thinks it is okay to send you messages and broadcasts or comments on whate...

I hope and believe that somehow, you'll read this. That somehow, you see us, even though we don't and can't see you. Somehow. I hope and must believe that we will all meet up again in the house of the Lord. It's been five years since you left. Did you say goodbye? I think you did, even though we did not realize that's what it was. The talk, five months before, about where you wanted to be buried. Saying that your work here was more or less done. Insisting on marking your students' scripts immediately even though you had weeks to get through them. Telling us to hold off on something that had been important and necessary. Little goodbyes. Wish we had seen them for what they were. But, we still would not have been prepared or ready to let you go. And on July 28, the event that started the journey of your exit from this plane on August 5. One week was all we had. Seeing you in Intensive Care, I knew you were leaving us. Hard to accept but... It seems like...

Listening to Michael Jackson's "Heal the World" always makes me question if I am doing enough to give back - making the world a better place, so to speak. Every day, we see and sometimes meet people who are in need - financial, emotional, psychological. Every day we walk past or ignore these needy fellow members of the human race. We look away hurriedly, sometimes guiltily. We give the less fortunate a passing thought if they are lucky, sometimes remembering to be thankful we are not in that condition, other times not caring really. After all, it is not your fault that they are not as fortunate as you are, is it? I believe in "passing it on" - God has blessed me, and He needs me to bless someone else. I believe in it, but I do not always do it. For various reasons - I'm feeling selfish, I am not in a good place at that particular time and thinking "I too need help nah!" or I am being a bit judgmental... various reasons. But, I believe. I believ...

Change. Some of us firmly believe that people can change, that we can change others in our lives. Others believe that humans can't really change. There are some who waver between these extremes. Everyone who makes New Year Resolutions or Birthday resolutions is a believer in the possibility of change. After all, are resolutions not about changing something about your person? Me? I think humans are  capable  of change. By "capable" I mean that humans possess the  ability to change if they so wished.  Whether they will or wish to or believe they can change is an entirely different thing. Change cannot be superficial or just external - it has to come from within to be sustainable and/or permanent. Wanting to go from a US 14 dress size to a US 6 dress size is certainly doable - diet & exercise or even liposuction/nips & tucks will get you there. But, if you have not internally decided to change your way of life, of thinking about food and chosen to ALWAYS ea...

Hey everyone. I have been fighting a bout of the flu so, just able to do Part 2. I hope Part 1 helped someone! So... Air travel used to be such fun for me. I would take the most convoluted route possible so I could visit as many airports possible, buy a fridge magnet for that country (after all, technically, I have visited that country nah! so what if I did not leave the airport?) and wander through the airport shops wondering how Murtala Muhammed Airport would look all glommed up. It also helped me decide which airports to avoid, by the way. Like Charles de Gaulle Airport - cold as a frozen hell! That was way back when, before the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks. That day heralded a change in airport travel processing that simultaneously made air travel safer and extremely bothersome. Travelling in the cold months is the worst - you're all bundled up, you know? And then at airport security, you're undressing. Everything comes off. I knew, at the beginning, that what they'd ...