Blogged and Found

I believe one of the hardest things for bloggers is to blog and be found by readers and other bloggers. Over the last couple of months, I have stumbled upon quite a number of special blogs and what I usually do is add them to the speed-dial list on the right hand corner of the blog. I thought it was time, I gave them special recognition. Blogs which are not featured below and appear on the speed dial list are not recent finds.

Solomon Sydelle – I think mothers who blog are a special breed but SS is doubly special…she managed to keep up the momentum of blogging while expecting bomboy who arrived this year and while all this was going on she was also chasing the rambunctious twosome –The Enforcer (TE) and The King (TK). Here’s a taste of what you would find in her household, as told by her–

The King is in quite a state these days. Husband decided to enforce proper manners and TK ain’t havin’ it!!!!
Daddy insists that TK say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, which TE does all the time. TK instead, grunts at you.
Well, in response to his daddy’s pressure, my son is now on the defensive and mad as hell. He screams in protest, cries until he’s red in the face and produces massive amounts of snot in his nose. It would be funny except for the fact he’s like this all the time. In the morning, in the afternoon and at night.

Also check out her other blogs – Nigerian Curiosity and Commercial Maniac

Lost: The TV series – Some people might say it does not quite qualify as a blog but I think it does. My one guilty pleasure on TV these days is Lost. The other day, I remembered how I discovered the TV series- it was just after the furor over the final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy had died down and I found myself longing for those cuddly adorable hobbit characters…there was a rumor making the rounds on the internet that the producers of LOTR were planning on making the movie version of the Hobbit and I was keeping my eyes open for this when one day I was watching TV this little hobbit appeared on the screen but this time he was one of the passengers who had survived an airplane crash and was lost on an island. Dominic Monaghan who plays Charlie on the series, has said in interviews that he joined the cast in order to shake off the hobbit persona and I have to admit that after watching him play Charlie for as long as he has, I can’t even remember the name of the hobbit he played so he has achieved his goal. Back to the Lost blog…that is exactly what it is – a blog about the TV series Lost which I am totally addicted to…and because these days it airs at 10.00pm which is the time my body turns its lights out, I usually catch episode summaries on the blog.

The Wanderer – The Wanderer is the reincarnation of the Wonderer who writes about listening to geckos singing from a balcony wall and sometimes goes by the name of Omoalagbede but is actually Tolu Ogunlesi who in addition to being shortlisted for the Guardian Books(UK) / Ziji Publishing Short Story (Nanotales) competition conducted interviews with ordinary Nigerians and came up with this from a butcher

The worst thing about being a butcher is when all day you chop meat and cut meat and slice meat and the whole world stops to price your meat and buy your meat and even mosquitoes included and you get home and your soup is all empty and all water with no islands and your wife says its nobody’s fault its government’s fault its SAP’s fault and IMF and you are annoyed at nobody in particular and its not her fault after all they didn’t complain in her family when you were dragging two cows to their compound as her bride price when your father was dying of protein deficiency at home and you storm out to eat in a buka and they say no beef only snail and bushmeat and you shake your head and say no give me four fufu no meat because snail meat is one whole day’s profit and…

Omosewa – The Work of the Lord can NEVER spoil. You know how you have a friend who always has gist. This is the friend who speaks your language – simple and straight to the point and you are always in the mood for her no matter how good or bad you are feeling because she is just the person to bring sunshine into your day. Well…may I present Omosewa. I found her blog on a day when all was not going particularly well for me and I just wanted to go to my Happy Place which turned out to be her Happy Place…and within two minutes completely lost the directions to my sad place. And all it took was reading this particular blog entry

To get more of a taste of her writing please read the following recommendation on the Naija Bloggers Book Project from her to fellow bloggers and readers –

I know i’m very late and the whole of blogger and beyond prolly knows already, but i gorra do my own too, e fi mi le. Laspapilolo, has an interesting project going on, please if you know you’re not in that category, be like me:D, and just wait to buy the book lol.I’m looking forward to getting my copy. Find out more on his blog

I actually disagree with that and would hope that she would grace the pages of the Blogger Book with some of her anecdotes on life. Readers might also want to check out the long list of wedding websites which Ms O was kind enough to share with us on her blog, please click here to feed your eyes.

IjebuMan – One of the blogs I found on the comments section of laspapi’s blog. The name caught my attention, what can I say…a LagosGirl married to an IjebuMan…I had to see what my husband’s peoples had to say. I found IM during the days of the famous Nigerian Elections and had a good laugh at the following top ten list reasons for the failure of the attempt to sabotage the recent elections by using a tanker to blow of the electoral offices

1. The tanker was filled with water instead of petrol (as there was fuel scarcity)
2. The tanker was actually empty as someone had stolen the petrol and sold it on the black market.
3. The detonators were fake.
4. Someone got ‘settled’ and sabotaged the plan.
5. Its “Gods” will…
6. Someone had a vision, then fasted and prayed to prevent it from happening
7. The detonators were not set up properly but they decided “make we manage am like that”
8. The tanker was full of adulterated petrol as real petrol is too expensive
9. Actually it wasn’t an attack, the tanker’s brake failed and the driver lost control..

10. This is Naija nothing works

Chickpea – Found her by way of EverChange and have been hooked since. Her blog is a battle of faith and love…here’s her reflection on summers past

Summer 2003 was one of the best summers I’ve ever had. After my discharge, I hit the streets looking for a job for the summer. The job that I got ended up lasting for 21 months, at an office in Midtown East. From having a new lease on life to enjoying new freedoms, I lived it up, maybe a bit too much. I was younger and a lot more immature and naive four years ago, but even so, I like to think that I was ahead of the curve compared to my peers.
Summer 2004 introduced me to kayaking, and I got a great tan from being out in the sun all summer. I was also in great shape – that’s what happens when you’re out paddling nearly every day.
Summer 2005 rivals Summer 2003 for greatness. I was a bit older, smarter, and a bit more mature. I started a new job working at a non-profit, and I was halfway done with school. This was the summer that I met Ivan, and it was non-stop fun.

And if you want to know about her and Ivan…you just have to read the blog

La Lectrice – A Blog in French!!! And about books!!! What could be better…I was so thrilled I spent the good part of a half hour skimming through. I just wish she’d update it more often. Here’s her review of Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Extrêmement fort et incroyablement près)

Je n’ai lu aucun des romans parus sur le thème du 11 septembre. Je pense que c’est mission impossible que d’essayer de se mettre dans la peau des victimes alors que l’horreur de leur fin dépasse l’imagination. S’il n’y a qu’un livre à garder autour de ce thème, c’est celui-ci. Non seulement il traite de “l’après” et de ceux qui doivent continuer à vivre sans leurs proches, mais il le fait avec toute la créativité que J.S. Foer insuffle à ses romans, en dépassant le stade de l’écriture pour introduire le graphisme jusque dans le texte.

Jola translation not mot pour mot* – I never read any of the novels whose plot centered on the events of 9/11. I thought it was an impossible task to try to walk in the shoes of the victims whose horror was beyond human imagination. However, if there is one book which has tackled this theme, it is this graphic illustration by J.S. Foer which deals with the aftermath and the lives of those who have to move on without their loved ones.
* not word for word

1,000 days at sea – I have blogged about them before but just wanted to give another shout out to Reid and Soanya – still at sea on their journey of a thousand days. Here’s an excerpt from Soanya describing Day 6 –

It was a beautiful morning. The temperature was near 70 and the sun burned away the fog making the water a sparkling turquoise color. Then we saw porpoises, at least five or six. They were swimming around the schooner and happily jumping and gliding through the water. I guess they were enjoying the weather too. I’m feeling a lot better. The boat is sailing smoothly without much rolling going on, so I haven’t gotten seasick all day today.

Rant Corner – And in case there was any doubt in your mind what this blog is about –

I’ll put it to you like this, your mobile phone is a sure way track you down, given that the signal it sends out will narrow you down to specific co-ordinates or at worst a quadrant of co-ordinates; what else… you’re driving down a road, and street cameras ensure you have a current tax disc, and from that current insurance and soon a current and valid UK driving licence! If only George Orwell was alive now, he’d be amazed to find that his book ‘1984’ has truly come to life! Scary! Remember the petition that was on No 10’s website in February, the one to scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy. Initially it was claimed by the government that would reduce traffic congestion…. yeah right!

Pangolo Junction – If you find a blog and the author’s name is Atala Wala Wala and he is writing about Pangolo Junction, you know it has got to be fun! This is the place where Max, Nat and Zack hang out and argue about life while drinking kunu. When I am at Pangolo Junction, I find myself laughing out loud and still retaining the elements of seriousness from the underlying message that Atala Wala Wala is trying to get across. Here’s an excerpt taken from the most recent entry call the Gift of Philanthropy –

Zack (snorting): To say a rich man in Nigeria hasn’t made his money by dubious means is like saying that a night-soil man has been able to carry out his duties without ending up with a bad smell about him. Of course they were ill-gotten gains!

Jonah: So… you’re saying that you would have less of a problem if Chief Onitiri’s wealth was acquired legally? Not, of course, that I’m saying that it was illegally acquired.

Zack: No – they’re both wrong. Stealing money is bad enough – but to rub people’s face in it by lavishly spending it is to add insult to injury.

Nat: Of course it’s wrong to steal money, but I don’t understand your problem with people spending their money as they want.

Jonah: Don’t mind your friend. He wants all of us to celebrate by eating groundnuts and gari!

Zack: Come on, Jonah! We’re talking about someone who is throwing a lavish party because his child was promoted from primary three to primary four! What is that supposed to tell those people who are struggling to make ends meet? I really think it is time that the government banned, or at least levied very punitive taxes on these kinds of lavish parties!

Atala Wala Wala also writes on Electro Magnetic Savannah

Grandiose Parlor – A dose of fluid writing on Nigerian and African socio-political issues is provided here by lmnakoya. I found this blog in the comments section of laspapi’s blog and in addition to the colorful photos of African landscape, flora and fauna which come up anytime you click on, you get to read a somewhat unbiased view of the goings-on in the Motherland and a few visual images like this

Nigerian Discussion Series – It started on Nilla’s blog, got hosted on a number of blogs and now it has evolved into a blog of its own. The NDS blog – is a multi-author blog featuring some of the best of Naija blogville discussing what makes Nigeria Nigeria. The most recent post features the following questions by Snazzy –

1) What do you think the next three high growth sectors are in Nigeria (after financial services, oil & gas and telecoms)?

2) If you were put in charge of the Niger Delta, what is the first thing you would do?

3) What are the three most pressing problems facing Nigeria (besides power & roads)?

4) If you were to ammend the constitution only once, would you change the immunity clause or the land use provisions?

5) When do you think the first issue based presidential and gubernatorial elections will hold in Nigeria?

A Nija Wife – People have said that wives sometimes suffer the worst kind of oppression which can lead to worst kind of depression…well this is a blog which gives you a chance to see life from the point of view of a Naija wife and from there you can make up you mind. Here’s an excerpt from her description of a recent naming ceremony she attended with her husband –

I got the hint of what the gathering was going to look like on our way to the venue,my husband was just in a funny lively mood-he kept on calling their friends to meet up there at the same time and after gisting with them,he will just say its a tripple.I didnt take all that as anything funny until we got to the venue and come and hear what guys were discussing-meen women dey see wee.I later got to know that the guy’s mistress gave birth to twins a week ago and infact yesterday was the naming ceremony-imagine that and the guy and his friends were joking about it and the poor wife was smiling and dancing as if she just won a lottery and this heartless man too was dancing and gallivating about saying its a tripple.Infact,i was so disgusted with the whole set up and the other wives too pretended as if nothing amiss.