An African Countess' Blog

That song says '...just like a single word can make a heart open...' (Fight song - Rachel Platten) Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. It is a double-edged sword. We can choose to use this force constructively with kind words of encouragement, or destructively using hateful acidic words. The same song says '...I might only have one match (tongue, in this case) , but I can make an explosion...'

That song says 'there are some things you can't put on a paper' (My Kind of Perfect -David Archuleta).  Love is one of such things ... Whatever the case, one thing I know is that Love picks the W over Hate any day.  Hate is a really strong force. Very strong...like fire. Just take a minute to think of all the havoc fire can wreck in a short period of time. But love is still a stronger force. Just like water is a stronger force than fire. Fire is easy to smother, needs fuel to keep burning, and has only one state of matter. Water, on the other hand, is hard to get rid of and has multiple states of matter. Even in fiction, Ice-man (with water-based powers) defeated Human-Torch (with fire-based powers)... Like water, a lot of us are yet to experience L O V E in all its fulness and glory. In the real sense of it though, the only way to experience this love we speak of is to encounter the Embodiment of Love, Jesus #selah. 'Never forget that the most powe...

I need your help... I feel particularly unhappy today, been feeling this way for the past 3 days at least... I like food, so when I feel this way, I would usually take myself out to binge-eat, and pack on all the calories, even if it's with my l ast-card (all the money I have left) but this time, I have zero appetite. ...And then I caught the flu... arrrgghhh I have had a really tough past couple of weeks at work and in my life as a whole. Well, as the 'absorber' that I am,  azzziiinnn  odeishi-dusted,  I have taken it in my strides (if I do say so myself);  but then this flurry of emotions have suddenly erupted... As much as we all want up-up days all the time, some days are just, you know, like this... The topic of this article is a line from one of my favorite songs 'my kind of perfect' by David Archuleta and I have no idea why it is the topic. Something like 'A Cry For Help' or 'SOS Call' would have been more apt, but er...

Words of a socialmedia purist - Lauretta Malaka It'd been a long day of volleying words in the boardroom. I was glad to be out. I headed for the bus stop. I was just in time. As I got on the bus, I was so relieved that my favorite seat at the centre row close to the window was empty. I sank into the seat exhausted. I plugged in my earphones and allowed Sam Smith to pour soothing music into my eardrums. I looked out the window (feeling like I'm in a music video) watching vendors trying one last time to market their wares before the bus picks up speed. As the bus eased into the traffic, I decided to log into Facebook to know what's new with my friends and check out the latest posts from pages I've liked.

I was stuck in traffic the other day and some drama ensued on the other lane (Lagos is synonymous with drama, by the way) . A commercial 'danfo' bus driver ‘pecked/brushed’ a ‘nice looking’ car and you already know… Grammar started and of course, the traffic situation there got worse... As soon as it happened, the driver of the commercial ‘danfo’ bus, jumped down and flew to the boot to obtain a bottle of ‘brake fluid’. There’s a general belief around here that brake fluid can ‘erase’ any scratch on any car. So, the driver profusely dabbed 'Oya Dab'  the brake fluid on the dented area and was mindlessly spitting some half-minded  ‘oga sorry joor’ in between the dabbing ; the Car Owner continued speaking Grammar.  I don't know how it ended, traffic eased up on my lane... When my Be n ze s arrive, I will buy a  koboko elenu mefa   and a ‘camo item’ in each of them, as they arrive. 'Koboko elenu mefa' means ‘horse-whip with six tongues/finger...

I am aware that Bro Makaveli, Mummy Maya Angelou,  and Sister Onika Maraj had had one or two things to say about this topic, but so do I now . Have you ever felt so deeply unhappy and insecure? Feeling as though the weight of the world rests on your shoulders and you’re losing your balance? Until about 4 days ago, I’d not slept in over 2 weeks (I had a few winks of sleep here and there…but I know a good sleep when I have one). My blood pressure was high. My immune system was bailing on me. I was very unhappy and insecure. I was in a position I don’t like to be: I was vulnerable.  If you know anything about me, you’d know that I like to have things figured out and to be in charge of ‘the situation’, but this time I was facing a situation I was so lost and clueless about. I don’t like to be broke, but I was brokenly shatteredly broke… Somebody said “you don’t look broke. You can’t be broke” and I said “AMEN” (may we never have to LOOK broke) . Anyway, on top of al...