For the past five years, I have celebrated Valentine's day in a variety of ways, and looking back now, it's almost amusing. In 2007, I wrote an article posted in school, condemning the frivolity of the occasion partially because, I was in a pseudo-zealous mood then, all burning with 'the Fire' and uhm, also because I didn't know what to buy for my girlfriend..(Yes! I admit it now, was a kid then, sue me).
2008's Valentine's day, was blurry. The morning started with me going to class like every normal day. Everybody was in shades of red; I wore blue jeans and a black shirt. I was completely oblivious of the celebration. Somehow, the very knowledge that it was Feb 14 had escaped my mind, and like some Ogre or Grinch, I forgot the day of love. Ironically though, I got gifts from a couple of friends, something that wasn't to happen again for a really long time.
In 2009, it was different, I remembered well ahead of time; I actually organized a Christian Youth program to celebrate the occasion. It was a rainy day, and attendance wasn't really in the hundreds, but after the show, I remember walking home and thinking it was a success. Then, I called my girlfriend(a different one). Suffice to say, I got no gifts that day, not even a kiss or a peck, but then again..*shrugs*
In 2010, a good year, Valentine's day was very simple, and plenty fun. Yours truly was in the after-effects of a nasty break-up, and you can say, I was antagonistic of the very notion of love. In fact if Cupid had dared show his face around me, it would have been a gory sight: blood-spattered burnt wings(extra crispy), naked disemboweled babies, bloody smiling heads on a pike (with the halo stil intact, an arrow piercing through the ears) and so on. Such was my anger. Anyway, I went on a drinking binge with friends(not all male, in fact most were female), and we had some adventures. Till this day, we still remember that night when we sit and tell stories. The experiences drew us closer I guess.*wipes eyes*
In 2011, one of my most memorable years, Valentine's day was different, to say the least. Then, I was working as an IT student in a Brewery(do not ask). As you can imagine, there was going to be a party after work, right there, in the Brewery. So, I got ready, I had nobody to share the day with so I might as well, sit around with co-workers and swig illicit beer. Then, I got a call: would I be available to talk to a couple of teenagers on the issue of Valentine? It was like wafting a sausage under the nose of a mad dog. If there is one thing I love almost as much as writing, it is talking in front of people, "Oh the bliss..". So I accepted, and while the beer was being swigged at work, I was talking to kids. (P.S: never before had my pedophilic urges been so tested, but more on that another day).
This year, 2012, Valentine's day started out boring. I was alone at home, watching cheesy romance movies and flipping through annoying love songs. There I was, curled up on a sofa hugging a pink pillow and watching Richard Gere promise everlasting love, certain that I had reached the lowest of lows, when I received a text. It was from my Pastor, he invited me to a Valentine's day service in church. I have never been so enthusiastic to go to church. It was a sort of dinner, and as I went home, tummy full of 'church food' swimming around in gas and communion wine, I was almost bent double from the effort of keeping my tummy in. It is a miracle I didn't throw up somewhere. The service had been fun, the people more so, now perhaps, it was time to sleep. Then I got home and there was a dinner table set out in the middle of the compound, right there in semi-darkness, muted lights wafting down through the tree branches; dinner for five. There was some food and there was wine. They had been waiting for me, Mum, Ivie, my Uncle and Tati. While we sat and toasted, Mum and my Tati brought out gifts, it was like Christmas again, and I did feel loved.
Then, I called my girlfriend.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Oliver Twist...
If the most stupid question in the world is, "Is there GOD?", I heard the second most stupid question today. Someone actually asked me, "Why do you want the things you don't have?" What a moron.
But, he got me thinking. Not of the extent of his stupidity, just thinking of the fact that, that's what we always want; what we don't have. It's my final proof of the insatiability of man.
Rich men don't pass through needle eyes, (or was it camels?), spouses never stay faithful, and Oliver keeps wanting more. That's the state of our world, as it has always been since the beginning of time. And someone says that even the Bible allows us this insatiation, in the book of Proverbs, "..in all thy Getting, Get understanding..".
Now we ask ourselves, with the words from the Holy Book still ringing in our ears, is it therefore a vice to want more?
Too much of everything is bad. That's an adage or admonishment as old as any, and true too. I can remember, very clearly, the last time I went against that sacroscant law. It was beginning of this year, and this story involves me and a 4litre jar of ice-cream. Now, I loooove ice-cream, and half of the angels of Heaven would be needed to stop me if I get to that ecclesiastical place and there is no ice-cream!, and on that fateful day, here was I with a 4litre jar.
At nature, I'm very conservative, a tad of a miser sometimes, but that day, I just wanted mooore! This was something I had! 4litres of vanilla cream all for me, but I just kept wanting another taste., just one more. I finished the jar that day, and my tummy told the story, very badly. (Don't blame me, even Eve couldn't say no to an ordinary fruit, and she had the frigging Garden Of Eden). It doesn't hurt that, the bakery I bought the ice-cream from is called "Wan' more" either, but that is another story.
We always desire more. It's a part of our genetic make-up, it is only after subjecting those hormones and desires that we impose control(keyword being 'impose'). That's why we have sex-offenders, obese people, murderers, thieves and so on, people who were unable to say no to the desire for more. In the world today, however, this 'More syndrome' is actually welcomed. Corporate boardrooms, bank floors, marital bedrooms, concert stages. Encore!
And the man said to his wife;
Man: More?
Wife: Yes! Yes! Yes!*moan*
But that again, is another issue.
How does a man improve if he does not want to?
I think, this is the question the Creator was addressing when he integrated the 'More factor' into our genomic sequence. The desire for more is the very basis of Competition, and like any kid would know, Competition begets success.
So therefore, I'll say it proudly, I'm an Oliver Twist, and I always want more! Desire, Get-to-work, Achieve, then you Desire again. Never forget the 'Get-to-work' step though and who knows, we may achieve whatever we want, Babel-style.
Encore!(Read again).
But, he got me thinking. Not of the extent of his stupidity, just thinking of the fact that, that's what we always want; what we don't have. It's my final proof of the insatiability of man.
Rich men don't pass through needle eyes, (or was it camels?), spouses never stay faithful, and Oliver keeps wanting more. That's the state of our world, as it has always been since the beginning of time. And someone says that even the Bible allows us this insatiation, in the book of Proverbs, "..in all thy Getting, Get understanding..".
Now we ask ourselves, with the words from the Holy Book still ringing in our ears, is it therefore a vice to want more?
Too much of everything is bad. That's an adage or admonishment as old as any, and true too. I can remember, very clearly, the last time I went against that sacroscant law. It was beginning of this year, and this story involves me and a 4litre jar of ice-cream. Now, I loooove ice-cream, and half of the angels of Heaven would be needed to stop me if I get to that ecclesiastical place and there is no ice-cream!, and on that fateful day, here was I with a 4litre jar.
At nature, I'm very conservative, a tad of a miser sometimes, but that day, I just wanted mooore! This was something I had! 4litres of vanilla cream all for me, but I just kept wanting another taste., just one more. I finished the jar that day, and my tummy told the story, very badly. (Don't blame me, even Eve couldn't say no to an ordinary fruit, and she had the frigging Garden Of Eden). It doesn't hurt that, the bakery I bought the ice-cream from is called "Wan' more" either, but that is another story.
We always desire more. It's a part of our genetic make-up, it is only after subjecting those hormones and desires that we impose control(keyword being 'impose'). That's why we have sex-offenders, obese people, murderers, thieves and so on, people who were unable to say no to the desire for more. In the world today, however, this 'More syndrome' is actually welcomed. Corporate boardrooms, bank floors, marital bedrooms, concert stages. Encore!
And the man said to his wife;
Man: More?
Wife: Yes! Yes! Yes!*moan*
But that again, is another issue.
How does a man improve if he does not want to?
I think, this is the question the Creator was addressing when he integrated the 'More factor' into our genomic sequence. The desire for more is the very basis of Competition, and like any kid would know, Competition begets success.
So therefore, I'll say it proudly, I'm an Oliver Twist, and I always want more! Desire, Get-to-work, Achieve, then you Desire again. Never forget the 'Get-to-work' step though and who knows, we may achieve whatever we want, Babel-style.
Encore!(Read again).
Thursday, February 9, 2012
For better, for worse...
This line scares me more than anything else whenever I think of marriage, and believe me, the very idea of wedding rings, confetti or bouquets sets me on panic alert. Now, naturally, I'm a bit of a traditional; I believe in the sanctity of marriage, fidelity and all that jazz. I'm anti-divorce and pro-family planning, so yeah, you can say I've given the topic quite some thought. But the phrase, "For better, for worse.." scares the socks off me.
By nature, again, I am a fleeting personality. I hardly ever get completely committed to anything. I may get absorbed by a notion for a while, but as soon as it gets boring, my mind shifts. Some say it's my artistic temperament, those people make me smile, I think though, that it's just a bit of a psychological deficiency; 'committophobia' [hahaha], but really though, I have a bad track record and looking back at it, I wonder how I'll manage to keep up with my professed traditional values of fidelity in marriage.
And for the record, I am most definitely not considering marriage anytime soon. That said...
I had a dream, some weeks ago, maybe if I was Wilde, I'ld have written some really bizzare poem about it. Anyways, the dream was some sort of a Christmas Story spoof, with my present and past girlfriends meeting at a table for lunch while I eavesdropped frm behind a curtain. Naturally, table talk was centred on yours truly. After some, [entirely flattering] comments on my 'bedside manner', and romanticisms, they naturally diverted to my flaws and mirthlessly thrashed out the foolish reasons I had given for breaking-up with each of them. The girlfriends of the Present laughed as they heard and then realised that already, I had began to lay ground for creating more such excuses. At the end of the lunch, (or was it my dream), the concensus was that, I am fleeting, childish and shallow. This would have hurt me deeply, even in the dream, if they had not been sending me surreptitious texts and iMs proclaiming love through the lunch. But that is another story.
I wonder and ask myself whenever I can; what am I going to do about my case of 'infideliousness'?
I've tried prayers. It's either I don't have enough faith, or I didn't pray properly or perhaps, this is the divine plan. I tried 'Infidelity Anonymous' once,[lol], the organiser was a hack! B**ch tried to screw me, literally! I've had a spell of psychology sessions and I'm not really going very far there, but considering that I'm examining myself from a bunch of textbooks, I'm not surprised.
Years ago, when I was a wee lad, I did say I would never marry. Unfortunately, (or is it fortunately), the resolve was not because I was certain of a life of infidelity, but because as a product of some foolish childhood eccentricity, I just wanted to be a bachelor till I died. I forget I'm my mother's first son, the destined one to carry the family name [rolling my eyes].
But anyways, I remember a cartoon I watched as a kid in primary school. "For better, for worse" was the name and it was about a family and the trials that each member went through as they grew older and wiser; Emo-issues, finance issues, marriage issues etc. Maybe that's what I need to do; find a dvd of that cartoon, getting a bag of popcorn and watching the whole thing. Who knows, I might learn something. But whichever way, "For better or worse, things would turn out right".
By nature, again, I am a fleeting personality. I hardly ever get completely committed to anything. I may get absorbed by a notion for a while, but as soon as it gets boring, my mind shifts. Some say it's my artistic temperament, those people make me smile, I think though, that it's just a bit of a psychological deficiency; 'committophobia' [hahaha], but really though, I have a bad track record and looking back at it, I wonder how I'll manage to keep up with my professed traditional values of fidelity in marriage.
And for the record, I am most definitely not considering marriage anytime soon. That said...
I had a dream, some weeks ago, maybe if I was Wilde, I'ld have written some really bizzare poem about it. Anyways, the dream was some sort of a Christmas Story spoof, with my present and past girlfriends meeting at a table for lunch while I eavesdropped frm behind a curtain. Naturally, table talk was centred on yours truly. After some, [entirely flattering] comments on my 'bedside manner', and romanticisms, they naturally diverted to my flaws and mirthlessly thrashed out the foolish reasons I had given for breaking-up with each of them. The girlfriends of the Present laughed as they heard and then realised that already, I had began to lay ground for creating more such excuses. At the end of the lunch, (or was it my dream), the concensus was that, I am fleeting, childish and shallow. This would have hurt me deeply, even in the dream, if they had not been sending me surreptitious texts and iMs proclaiming love through the lunch. But that is another story.
I wonder and ask myself whenever I can; what am I going to do about my case of 'infideliousness'?
I've tried prayers. It's either I don't have enough faith, or I didn't pray properly or perhaps, this is the divine plan. I tried 'Infidelity Anonymous' once,[lol], the organiser was a hack! B**ch tried to screw me, literally! I've had a spell of psychology sessions and I'm not really going very far there, but considering that I'm examining myself from a bunch of textbooks, I'm not surprised.
Years ago, when I was a wee lad, I did say I would never marry. Unfortunately, (or is it fortunately), the resolve was not because I was certain of a life of infidelity, but because as a product of some foolish childhood eccentricity, I just wanted to be a bachelor till I died. I forget I'm my mother's first son, the destined one to carry the family name [rolling my eyes].
But anyways, I remember a cartoon I watched as a kid in primary school. "For better, for worse" was the name and it was about a family and the trials that each member went through as they grew older and wiser; Emo-issues, finance issues, marriage issues etc. Maybe that's what I need to do; find a dvd of that cartoon, getting a bag of popcorn and watching the whole thing. Who knows, I might learn something. But whichever way, "For better or worse, things would turn out right".
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