Meeting a blogger + The big picture

It's a new week and I'm positive about how great it's going to be.

One of the highlights for blogging for me has always been meeting fellow bloggers face-to-face and I think it gets a lil more interesting when you see a familiar face and you wondering where you knew the person from.

So I saw a fellow blogger last week. Yay! Precisely Feyi (@msdawari) and I was shocked at first, cuz it was a bit dark at that time and I probably did not expect anyone to recognize someone you haven't met physically that easy at night. Twas fun really. Can wait to meet the rest of you in blogsville...(you know yourselves shebi ;-)  )

About that trip to the Equity Resort...Yah it was another round of fun again.

I think I'd define my weeks so far as a bit on the edge as I've been overwhelmed with things to do.

But in all I learnt something from a book I'm currently reading 'Thinking for a Change' by John Maxwell. It called the 'Big Picture thinking'.
It sure helps you put things in perspective as you tend to have the big picture in mind which might be a goal we want to aspire to reach in life or a dream desire. Big picture thinking helps you engage in activities that are productive in achieving that goal.

Big Picture thinking would make an aspiring writer find time to read and write in the midst of 'activities'.
Big Picture thinking would make an aspiring fashion designer start scouring fashion mags and blogs to widen his/her view.

Thing is we could get so muddled up with activities that we forget why and what we were called to 'be'. That is actually the big picture. It must always be in-view.

Here's one of the pinshurs...

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MIA Series: Pt 3 - Beach Resort Trip

So this will be the final in the series I started in my last two posts.

You guys totally have given me another name based on the forgetful act I executed on my friend's wedding. Hehe, it's not as bad as it may have seemed though. And don't change your mind of inviting me to your wedding. Noooooo! Jellof wice must not pass me by.

Throughout last month, I was operating on a funny dimension where I engaged in a lot of activities but just couldn't find reasonable time for the things that mattered. I felt exhausted almost everytime when I just think of the fact that I had blogged over a month ago.

So I had this opportunity to join a group of people in church for a trip to Eko Tourist Beach Resort (a.k.a. Akodo beach) which lasted for 2 and a half days. Twas the definition of F.U.N.!

Day 1
The hyper side of me couldn't wait to extract all the fun so I dashed to the football pitch as we arrived...in hot Akodo sun...
25 minutes later, you should have seen me panting like a goat that just drowned.

On the pitch few minutes after arrival

Just so you know, the picture below shows how hyper I was...:-D



Me on ze right in ze air catching ze wind!

At evening time, my tummy had started singing the Symphony of Beethoven in Waffi language. Luckily, lunchinner (lunch + dinner) was about to be served...

Me with ze striped Tees...

Day 2 (Saturday)
Early morning aerobics, Beach jogging, team build activities and many more took place. I learnt one aerobic routine that dealt with my thighs for a week. Gush! Exercise is gewd I must say!

One of the Team build activities on 'Trust'

Here you had to blindfold someone who was your partner in front and the person was meant to fall backwards with the assurance and trust that you'll catch him/her.

I learnt a lot from this exercise. Sometimes in life we just have to learn to trust people...over time.

In the night, we had camp fire, ate barbeque (stole from people's plates while being chased around), danced through the night, sat on the sand with new-found friends, gisted a lot and collected contacts.(Yes...contacts *wink*)

We visited the site where Obafemi Awolowo was kept under house arrest in those days (before independence I guess, not sure). But I saw the clothes he wore, his shoes (nice leather ones), the bath tub he used then...everything well-preserved.


The Fashola-refurbished site where Awo was kept

Asides the fun and visits, we also had the chance to give stuff to the people around the Akodo community. Things like school bags, food, blankets, mosquito nets and the Word was shared with them. I felt fulfilled atr this point. The high point was where I was selected to conduct an interview with the Onilekki of Lekki alongside the organizers. I held the mic with a camera facing me and delivered. Hehe, I hope I can have access to the video to share with you guys.

The sea-side

 

 

The goodies shared

Day 3 (Sunday)
Departure :-(

Saw a movie, packed our bags and set out for our various homes. I HAD FUN.

As a follow-up to this nice experience, I would be visiting the Equity Resort (Ijebu-Ode) soon and visit somewhere I've never been to outside Lagos. *fingers crossed*

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MIA Series: Pt 2 - The wedding and forgetfulness

I must say with all sincerity that the highlight of my week was reading the comments from you guys on my last post.

You people sha know how to make someone's head swell ehn. Okay lemme confess small: When I put up the post, I felt like it just did not sound right to just badge in, out of the blues and be expecting comments. But you all just proved that blogsville still remains a family. Family always accepts you.

I've been to some blogs and hope to visit more to know what y'all have been up to.

So I was given the cherished privilege to this wedding where I was asked to be on the grooms train (second time doing that *wears bad guy shades*)
Before the D-Day, groom had called series of meetings (about 3) with the guys & ladies on the train to discuss plans and all. You can guess that I didn't attend any. I really would have loved to with all sincerity.

Anyways, to cut long story short, I had set reminders on my BB, added the calendar, though I could not join the BB group cuz of my inactive BIS (been away for months, can't keep up with that thing. sheesh!).
In my head o, I sha knew it was August 18 and I relied on my phone who happens to double as my PA, to remind me.

Friday, August 17, best man calls me to remind me of the wedding by 9am tommorrow. I was happy.
But I think in the midst of my excitement, I mistook 'tommorrow' as 'next week'.

So I woke up on this beauriful saturday, checked the time...8am...checked the date...18th...somethinng didn't feel right...na so reminder just pop up! SEYI'S WEDDING - 1hour to go. I.WAS.MAD. 8:10am already

1 minute - Brush
2 minutes - Baff
7 minutes - Look for shoe all around the room
2 minutes 32 secs - Wear cloth (Luckily, I had those ready as I'd ironed for the week)

(8:22am)

28 secs - Rush out of out house
1 minute - Rush back to grab address (Luckily again I had checked directions on Google Maps the previous week)

Discovered the place was just 15 minutes drive from Ikeja. I.WAS.HAPPY
8:40am. I was there! Just in time for the pictures:

That's me walking in. Mr Latecomer

Has this happened to you guys before. Forgetting about a very important event? Or getting late to a very important meeting or date. Would like to know if this has happened before or I need to go for therapy. lol.

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MIA Series: Pt 1 - What I've been up to.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Where do I start from sef. I know right! You don't need to say it *dodges shoe*

I was at at point beginning to think it was some e-curse that I had contracted which actually is part of the reasons I've been inactive for quite a while. I truly missed blogging and I will tell you in actual fact that I made attempts to blog but end up dumping it as the words didn't just always feel right.

(Did I mention I have perfectionism tendencies?)

It's a strength and a big weakness and I've decided to write something however it may sound (to me).

Highlights of where I've been, what I've been up to and what I've learnt; which I'll be talking more in-depth about in series include:

- Finishing 1 and a half books ('Rules of Work' - Richard Templar & 'How Stupidity Saved My Life' - Okechukwu Ofili)

- Hanging out at a beach resort for a couple of days

- Attending September Edition of the 'Loudthotz Poetry Reading'

- Visiting the Boys' Remand Home in Oregun with an NGO

- Being on the groom's train on a wedding

Anyways these are just about the major events that I have been involved in which I'll just talk about with the aim of sharing some things with you.

Hopefully, the writing jinx is broken. I feel the rush already and I'm optimistic about what lies ahead on the writing horizon. (LOL! I made that up, sounds cooool).

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Happy New Month! + 2nd Anniversary Audio Shoutout

Happy New Month to y'all!!! May this August bring you all the good things you desire. Amen.

As you all know, today marks our 2nd year anniversary at Mikesfrequency. Here's the Audio shoutout below. :-) Enjoy!

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My Awesome weekend + Blog Anniversary

Yes! Just as the title shows, I had an awesome weekend! Not exaggerating.
Highlight of it was that I finally met Myne Whitman.


Myne and I @ the 'Book N Gauge' event

Friday
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I concluded on a project that I'd been on for a while which was a big relief. Headed to a friend's house only to find out that Olympics Opening Ceremony was showing.

Did you guys see the epic jump by the 'Queen'. LOL! Tim Berners-Lee's appearance (Inventor of the WWW)! Mohammed Ali's appearance? Mr Bean's performance... O_O *faints*, David Beckham on that boat.?

Sports sure unites nations. It was a sensational opener (Sure you know that). And what do you guys think of our Team Nigeria Athletes? They looked gorgeous shey.

So I hear D'Tigers have made a statement win by beating Tunisia in the Basketball while a couple of other athletes have dropped out in some events. Watch out for our first-ever Nigerian canoeist, John Akinyemi.

Saturday
----------

At the Book reading

I met Shai and Kaycee of Naija Stories at the book reading event 'Book 'N' Gauge' where I also met Myne Whitman.
After this, I visited this techie place with a couple of friends...Co-Creation Hub Nigeria. Awesome for techies with startup ideas who need a space to work or just resources to collaborate with. You should check out their website. Cool place.

After this, I had Sharwarma I'd been looking forward to devouring after such a long while. Sorry no pictures. :-P

Then it was a lovely ride home listening to Andrea Bocelli, arguing about who loves him more, talking about other things friends talk about when they meet. I had fun.

Blog Anniversary
---------------------
We shall be two years old on August 1 by the way. *fireworks* *applause* Sankyo Sankyo!


Mikesfrequency is 2!

Any suggestions??? I'll appreciate it. Thanks. If I haven't visited your blog in a while, watch out for me this week.

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Updates so far on the comic + other news

Okay, I've missed so much activities in Blogsville. Hope your weekend's going great?

Did I miss Myne's visit to Nigeria again? *sigh* Second time running. Just checked her blog and saw the pictures. Hope not to miss the next one though. In other news, we shall be 2 years old a few weeks from now. :-D

Last year we did a video shoutout and a song also. This year I guess I could use some ideas from you guys. Something out of the normal. Suggestions are welcome please. Sankyo!

Okay, Its basically been a bit clogged up in my head with the numerous daily activities. We're currently experiencing some challenges with the printer for the 'Hidden Ville 'comic who from my understanding did a very poor job. That's the reason I haven't updated you guys since.


Do you know MIT and Harvard have collaborated to launch an online learning platform with the same quality of course materials at both institution accessible to over 1 Billion connected people FOR FREE? This for me is a major milestone in E-Education. You could read about it to get a better feel.

In other news, what do you guys think about the current situation in Nigeria. I don't even know where to begin from. Do you think we still have a chance to make things right irregardless the numerous predictions so far and the ailing situation of the state?


I'd like you to visit this link in the flyer below to view this awesome content distribution website that's hitting the NIgerian scene.

Cheers!

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Missed you guys! + Skydiving

Apologies for keeping my peeps hanging for this long. It was due to some unforeseen circumstances such as my expired internet subscription amongst other things.

If I haven't visited your blog, I will try to do so very soon. Missed this space much.

In the mean time, I hope you read the piece I dedicated to the victims of the Dana aircrash.

Also, I personally have gotten my own copy of Atilola's book, 'Antonyms of A mirage' at the June poetry reading.

Grab your copy nowwww...

The quality is just excellent and I'm so proud of Atilola.

We are definitely not ignorant of the happenings around us and all I can say is there is no other wise thing to do than to keep praying for Nigeria and its citizens plus those in diaspora. Sometimes I'm tempted to just blank out everything media-related (radio, TV, etc) as I know its just full of negativity/junk. I've been off BBM for two months now and I can clearly say my life has never been easier.

So much information is at our disposal with so many tools that technology has enabled to help save time and make life easier. Sadly enough, the reverse is the case. More ignorance, Lesser time for the things that count. There's so much to be concerned about but nonetheless...

I find consolation in words from the bible which say:

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." - Phil 4:6-7

May we experience peace in all we do.

I stumbled on this video on Facebook and just couldn't help laughing till my tummy hurt.

LOL! Patrickkkqqueeeee!!!!!

While I was laughing, my thoughts drifted to how much I would love to bungee-jump or skydive someday (would have written my last testament by then sha). I then stumbled on this awesome video. Please watch and know that there is a life after Lagos hold-up. (for those in Lagos)

All I can say is Bliss...

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...A sad day in Nigeria...

Sad Sad weekend here in Nigeria. Refreshing webpages, Twitter timelines, Facebook updates and I just can't seem to come to terms that all these have happened in one day.

This morning was the reported news of a bomb blast in Bauchi killing 12 people.

Hours later, I hear over the phone that a plane has crashed in the Iju-Ishaga area in Lagos State.

Rescue operations
Photo credit: SaharaReporters

Minutes later and people are spreading rumours of the death of the 96-year old wife of the late Awolowo.
It's really sad the way we react in times of crisis. I've seen various bashings, comments against the President, system and the usual everyday reactive responses. However nothing would be as comforting as praying for the involved families.


A friend spoke of a family of 6; father, mother and 4 children being wiped out.



News report on Channels TV says, "They were 11 nautical miles from MMA*". i.e. approximately 20.372km from landing.

Scene of the crash site
Photo credit: Y! Naija

Plane was seen not to nosedive as is the common type of crash but actually struggling and moving in a zig-zag manner with the nose facing up before landing with its belly on the 2 storey-buildings.

On May 10, 2012, this same Dana Air was reported to have initiated an emergency landing for some technical reasons.

My heart goes out to the families involved. May God comfort their hearts.

Manifest of the passengers on-board the flight can be found on the Y! Naija website.

Photonews of the rescue operations can be seen on the Sahara Report website.

Here are some comforting scriptures I found that I'd love to share with all concerned:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - John 14:27
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." - Rev. 21:4

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Experiment with imagery + Comic updates

Happy to be posting something finally. My internet had some issues during this weekend although, I had typed out this post before.

Last week was filled with so much to do and the good part is I'll be taking some days off this week to focus on the upcoming comic project.

Really would like to thank Myne for helping with the publicity on her blog. I was really happy and encouraged when I read the post.

We were supposed to have a proper launch event for it on June 2nd but when we did a cost-benefit analysis of that, it just did not appear right.

I just finished reading Chimamanda's 'The Thing Around Your Neck' and it's been fun so far. Her use of imagery and powerful description is just awesome.

I tried to experiment and here's what I came up with:

'Charles stopped and looked at the map again. The tall Mahogany trees did little to occasionally shield the oncoming sunrays from his eyes. Rivulets of sweat trickled down the side of his face as he stared hard again into the dog-eared map with blurry lines and text.


He mumbled some words to himself and finally made a loud sucking noise as his face creased into a frown; eyes squinting.


The same sucking sound he made when he discovered all the trees looked the same; the same sound he made when his pair of glasses was washed away rapidly in the currents of the Pulumba stream that he hoped to find again; the same one he would make when he met a native that spoke the 'Kachoki' dialect he never understood; and the same sucking sound he would make - this time with a sigh of relief and glee as he heard the sound of a rushing stream in the distance.


Tucking the map back into the back-pocket of his blue mountain shorts, he ran his thumb through the strap of his backpack and hunched his shoulder to adjust it into position; continuing the search for familiar landmarks.'

So what do you think guys?

What did you understand from the story?

What can you say is the current state of the main character?

(I'd appreciate feedback *big grin*)
So this week, I'd definitely update you guys on how you could help support the comic project on your wonderful blogs.
Have a great week...!

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