And after a long hiatus on this blog, I have a very random question that has absolutely nothing to do with my normal posts, but occupied a good bit of my thoughts on a recent 3 hour road trip.
I noticed all these ants crawling around on the dashboard of the car and on me. And I wondered... what happens to these ants when they get off at my destination? Do they just join other ant colonies? Or do they wander around confused and die? Do the 5 ants who were in the car just happen to get off together and make a new nest together? What happens to them? I don't know very much about insect behaviour, but I have heard that someone could move a bee hive about 20 miles away and the bees could reorient themselves. But what about one bee that happens to get into a car and travels away from its home?
I could probably turn this into some kind of metaphysical meditation/poem on home and belonging, and in fact maybe I will, but for now, it's just the question: "what happens to ants who leave home?"
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Monday, June 08, 2009
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
This is how we do it....
So, I'm running off to Zamfara state for an Association of Nigerian Authors convention this weekend and will likely miss all the election hype on blogs and television this weekend, sniff, sniff,
but before I leave,
just wanted to say....
"Lets flip the track, bring the old school back...
THIS IS HOW WE DO IT..."
(absentee vote, baby)
"all hands are in the a-a-i-r"
Thursday, September 11, 2008
A week of (mostly) blessings
Some encounters I’ve had this week:
I meet a woman on the bus who tells me she was inspired to study special education from an Indian film she watched. She tells me the story—about a blind girl who was able to achieve great things from learning to read, and then she tells me about a blind professor she has at BUK, who asked how many of the students in the class would marry someone who is blind. Only 13 stood up, and he said only 3 of those were probably telling the truth. But his wife married him. “Some people don’t pick education as their first choice,” she tells me, “but I did.” Her passion is obvious in the way her face shines when she talks about how “everyone has a disability. It’s just that some are more obvious than others.” She continues on about Helen Keller--how much she contributed to the world.
I sit with the sister of one of my friends whose husband divorced her two weeks ago and would not let her take any of the children, two boys and a girl, 6, 1, and 5. Come back with me, and say you are a lawyer from abroad, she half jokes, half pleads, as she shows me their pictures—healthy beautiful children, laughing into the camera lens. Her co-wife refuses to take care of them, so they were given to the grandmother to take care of. “But she’s blind. She can’t even see to wipe their noses…. I asked him, even just give me the baby to take care of until he is three, and I’ll give him back. But he refused.” She sits in a corner, hugging herself. She wants to take her husband to court to gain custody of the children. Her sister advises her against it. “He has money, and you don’t. You know the courts will side with the one who pays them…” Whenever I visit my friend, she is there, smiling sadly. I ask her about the children, “To, suna can.”
Last night I sha ruwa (lit. "drink water"; break fast) with a friend, while watching Antz from a DVD. She tells me how much she likes cartoons, and how they teach you to live in peace with nature. Now the children whenever they see ants make sure they don’t step on them because they remember the film. “Even now, I don’t like to eat eggs because I think what if I were the hen and my child were taken away…” She tells me she has thought of becoming a vegetarian…
On Tuesday, I sha ruwa with a studio full of musicians, actors, directors, and film editors. They bring bags and bags of food, oranges, kosai, roasted chicken, koko, pure water, and put it in the middle of the office. We descend upon the food. I am delicately finishing off my first orange slice, when I realize that if I don’t hurry up, I will miss out on the food altogether. In about 5 minutes, there is nothing left but bags of peels and bones. I finish off the night with the Bollywood film Chalte Chalte on a borrowed laptop. A singer watches over my shoulder, tells me he did a version of one of the songs in Hausa. He sings along with Shah Rukh Khan in Hindi.
Last week, I sha ruwa with a friend in the old city. We go to greet his elderly grandmother. He thinks she’s around 118. She cannot see or hear, but recognizes him when she touches his face, and holds on to his hand, shaking it with every blessing she gives him. When she takes my hand, she can tell I am a visitor. She blesses me too.
I meet a woman on the bus who tells me she was inspired to study special education from an Indian film she watched. She tells me the story—about a blind girl who was able to achieve great things from learning to read, and then she tells me about a blind professor she has at BUK, who asked how many of the students in the class would marry someone who is blind. Only 13 stood up, and he said only 3 of those were probably telling the truth. But his wife married him. “Some people don’t pick education as their first choice,” she tells me, “but I did.” Her passion is obvious in the way her face shines when she talks about how “everyone has a disability. It’s just that some are more obvious than others.” She continues on about Helen Keller--how much she contributed to the world.
I sit with the sister of one of my friends whose husband divorced her two weeks ago and would not let her take any of the children, two boys and a girl, 6, 1, and 5. Come back with me, and say you are a lawyer from abroad, she half jokes, half pleads, as she shows me their pictures—healthy beautiful children, laughing into the camera lens. Her co-wife refuses to take care of them, so they were given to the grandmother to take care of. “But she’s blind. She can’t even see to wipe their noses…. I asked him, even just give me the baby to take care of until he is three, and I’ll give him back. But he refused.” She sits in a corner, hugging herself. She wants to take her husband to court to gain custody of the children. Her sister advises her against it. “He has money, and you don’t. You know the courts will side with the one who pays them…” Whenever I visit my friend, she is there, smiling sadly. I ask her about the children, “To, suna can.”
Last night I sha ruwa (lit. "drink water"; break fast) with a friend, while watching Antz from a DVD. She tells me how much she likes cartoons, and how they teach you to live in peace with nature. Now the children whenever they see ants make sure they don’t step on them because they remember the film. “Even now, I don’t like to eat eggs because I think what if I were the hen and my child were taken away…” She tells me she has thought of becoming a vegetarian…
On Tuesday, I sha ruwa with a studio full of musicians, actors, directors, and film editors. They bring bags and bags of food, oranges, kosai, roasted chicken, koko, pure water, and put it in the middle of the office. We descend upon the food. I am delicately finishing off my first orange slice, when I realize that if I don’t hurry up, I will miss out on the food altogether. In about 5 minutes, there is nothing left but bags of peels and bones. I finish off the night with the Bollywood film Chalte Chalte on a borrowed laptop. A singer watches over my shoulder, tells me he did a version of one of the songs in Hausa. He sings along with Shah Rukh Khan in Hindi.
Last week, I sha ruwa with a friend in the old city. We go to greet his elderly grandmother. He thinks she’s around 118. She cannot see or hear, but recognizes him when she touches his face, and holds on to his hand, shaking it with every blessing she gives him. When she takes my hand, she can tell I am a visitor. She blesses me too.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
abbreviated:
Jiya, saurayina ya rabu da ni. Ba dad'i ba ne. Kuma, shekaran jiya, na rubuta waka 'din. My old poetry professor said there are some poems you need to write but should stay in your journal. This is probably one of them, but then.... that was in the days before blogs where things that should stay personal and melodramatic works in progress are displayed for a public to see.
abbreviated:
(for an American philosopher)
[In this space a poem once lived that was too personal and too melodramatic to remain on a blog that is open to the general public. It now lies in the safety of a folder on my computer, to be taken out and obsessed over every once in a while.]
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Adrift
We are drifting, my dear. It was to be expected. The Atlantic is a big ocean, as big as the sky, and time has many currents. Be well, love. You are in my prayers.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
random blurbs
outside sleet chases hail at a 45 degree angle interspersed with random snowflakes that float above the fray. Above the snow-dusted roof the tips of skeletal trees sway, and curtains of snow sweep from the gutters.
on my cd player, Issa Bagayogo croons to a writable beat, followed by Brenda Fassie.
i attempt to induce my brain to begin labour of a dissertation proposal.
And I wonder about the mandatory charity tax imposed by shari'a in Bauchi....
last night i tried to listen to the state of union address while simultanously skimming a dissertation someone else finished in 2005. I could only make it about half way through the address before my annoyance superseded my desire to be an informed citizen. who were all those idiots applauding and cheering? and has there ever been a president of this country that sounds as absolutely unintelligent as GWB?
on my cd player, Issa Bagayogo croons to a writable beat, followed by Brenda Fassie.
i attempt to induce my brain to begin labour of a dissertation proposal.
And I wonder about the mandatory charity tax imposed by shari'a in Bauchi....
last night i tried to listen to the state of union address while simultanously skimming a dissertation someone else finished in 2005. I could only make it about half way through the address before my annoyance superseded my desire to be an informed citizen. who were all those idiots applauding and cheering? and has there ever been a president of this country that sounds as absolutely unintelligent as GWB?
Monday, December 24, 2007
Never fly United Airlines if you can help it
Christmas Eve. Sitting in my apartment on the phone with a computer that enjoys hanging up on me. Flight to Los Angeles has been cancelled now twice. They called me the first time at 6am this morning and rescheduled my flight for 10am tomorrow. I prided myself on being extra nice, since I knew that most customers on the cancelled flight were probably pretty irate. I didn't mind the extra day because most of my family is flying in tomorrow anyway.
The second cancellation they didn't call me. I just went to check online before going to bed so I could get some sleep before my 1am taxi to take the 2:20am bus to get to the airport I need to fly out of, and noticed that it said "cancelled" before my flight, and that the new time was 8pm tomorrow, to arrive at 10:30pm.... and the trip to the airport from where my brother and cousin live is at least an hour. Since then, I have talked to a variety of agents, one of whom kept giggling and sounded like he was on pot. Have been hung up on at least 10 times. The first person I talked to confirmed that this was a "crew" problem, not a weather problem. So, when I asked if there was some sort of compensation, she talked to her supervisor, and they told me I could get a $25 voucher on United. "For two days worth of cancellations!?" I ask her incredulously. "That's the best we can do, maam," she says. "All right," I say, "I know it's not your fault. Have a Merry Christmas...." My brother tells me I should call back and insist that they put me on another airline. My dad tells me that I should insist on talking to supervisors if they can't help me. And thus continues the saga (great swell of organ and piano on the staticky "hold" music)...
Now, if this last agent can't help me, I'll take it as a sign from God that I am supposed to spend Christmas studying for my prelims....
......
So, (and I type this live) I finally talk with this very nice agent, who tells me that THAT flight, apparently in the few minutes in which I had been trying to change to an earlier flight, has ALSO been cancelled due to "crew" problems (THIRD flight cancellation today), and that the only flight she can get me on is an American Airlines flight that will get into Los Angeles at 11:10pm. I take it, along with another $100 voucher. But, do I dare ever actually use the vouchers?
I look forward to American Airlines...
I don't think I shall ever fly United again if I can help it....
So, Christmas prelims studying... here I come...
At least I'm at home and not in the airport. We thank God for small blessings...
My conversations with the computer tonight (recorded from memory) at 1800-United1:
Welcome to United Airlines. Please listen carefully. Press 1 to make a reservation. Press 2 if you already have a reservation." If you need time, please say, "please wait," if you don't know it, say "I don't know" Please say the reservation number, since some numbers like B or V are hard to tell apart, please use them with common first names such as "M" as in "Mary."
I have a "v" in my confirmation, so try "v" as in "valentine." They don't get it. I think of names with "v." "Vera?" "Violet?" "Van Damme?"
Got it. What's the first and last name of the passenger. Would you like to confirm the trip, change it, request seats, request a wheel chair, or speak to an agent.
After the 10th time, I consider requesting a wheelchair.
Let me get a reservations agent for you. I'll make sure the agent gets the information you've already given me. Thank you for calling United Airlines, we apologize for the delay. Please stay on the line....
I am on hold for about two minutes and then I hear a polite canned voice (for the upteenth time)
I'm sorry for the difficulty. Rather than take up any more of your time, I'm going to go ahead and end your call....
So be it.... and so ends my relationship with United Airlines.
Photo Credits: http://www.bloggossip.com/index.php?cat=160
Friday, December 14, 2007
Ron Eglash on Fractals in Africa: art, design, and philosophy
Ok, Dr. Eglash is definitely talking to a Western audience, but his subject is absolutely fascinating!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
pet peeves
(written in the order that I think of them and not necessarily in the order of most annoying, although number 1 is one of my peeviest pet peeves.)1) People walking on the sidewalk and smoking (or sitting in a crowded area and smoking as the case may be). Pisses me off. Especially in the winter when you are in a hurry to go somewhere and you have a cold and have to breathe through your mouth and these people walking in front of you are earnestly smoking their lungs to a crisp and you can't get away from the smoke. So, today i'm standing on a street corner with about 7 other people waiting for the light to turn, and this one guy is smoking. I see everyone's nose crinkle. One girl puts her notebook in front of her face. I begin to feel sorry for the smoker in his outcast aloneness. Even hours later, the smoke still lingers in my hair.
2) Little petite girls who self-referentially dwell on their daintyness and how they can't lift things and how small they are and how they need help with this or that and subtly make tall independent-minded women who lift large unwieldy things, whether they should or not, feel like giant uncouth amazons.
3) People who walk in the bike lane rather than in the walking lane of the bike path.
4) Young women are too tan and too blonde (and too made up) in the winter (you know what I mean...?). The same sort who wear pajamas with university logos across the butt to class... I think this is an American thing?
5) Drunken people who shout what they think are clever witticisms on my street at 2am.
6) AT&T.... Internet was supposed to be transferred three weeks ago, and I'm STILL have no wireless. I have been on the phone with them for at least 6 times, and was placed on hold for two and a half hours one night before the system hung up on me and an hour and a half another night. Tonight I JUST found a very weak wireless signal wafting in from somewhere (most networks in my building are secured), and I pray it sticks around for a few more days.
7) Overly flirty people....
8) Condescending/patronizing/smug people...
9) People who are just generally unhelpful...
10) People who start dating someone after a lapse of about five months of being out of a relationship and two days later are sighing about and saying things like "it's so wonderful to be in a relationship. i don't know how (you) single people do it. you really should try having a boyfriend sometime".... erm....
11) Married men or men in serious relationships who continue to hit on women
12) HUMMERS!!!! (the vehicle, not the people who hum. I like a little hum here and there, myself.)
----
And what am I doing these days of no internet and no time? Teaching, preparing for teaching, and here and there trying to get a bit of reading done. Will try to be back when I have some more interesting things to say, when my computer that is in the shop is fixed, or when I think of some more of my pet peeves
Photo credit: http://blog.gruby.com/2006/08/
Saturday, August 18, 2007
garage saling in the rain
I was set and determined to go to garage/yard sales today to find things to replace household items that belonged to my former roommate and which I no longer have, so when the rain slowed today, I ventured forth on my worthy steed (read: newly basketed bike) to seek those items on my list.
Items bought in the light (and then heavy) rain from those hardcore garage sale merchants who didn't close down in the rain:
1. cookbook: Practical Thai Cooking (50 cents)
2. ceramic soapdish (75 cents)
3. small handmade pottery jar to hold toothbrush (75 cents)
4. green glass candle holder from Pier 1 Imports (50 cents)
5. red leather gloves with cashmere interiors ($3)
6. small 8 1/2 by 11 inch television to use with the VCR I bought at a garage sale last year ($7)
7. Brita filter (50 cents)
8. computer speakers ($7.50)
9. Japanese teapot ($1)
10. small plastic dustbin (75 cents)
11. large no stick frying pan ($1)
12. homemade cookie (25 cents)
13. homemade muffin (25 cents)
Total = $23.55
Items on my actual "need" list: 3
Thus I add more crap to my possessions which I will have to deal with in February when I move again.... but, at the same time, it's a lot easier to get rid of things that I got for 50 cents than things I paid $10 for new at a store.
What I love about garage saling (even in the rain) is the human contact, the neighborly feeling, the idea that you are getting something from someone near you (at greatly reduced prices) rather than an impersonal store. And I like having things that have been used before--the idea that there is a history behind them. Unlike my grandmother, who goes out at 6am every Saturday buying junk to give to people... (it runs in the family...), I'm not very good at bargaining, though I did get the speakers down from $10, but that's ok. The people who sold me the television, the computer speakers and the baked goods were nice enough to bring my things by later in their car. I love that.
Items bought in the light (and then heavy) rain from those hardcore garage sale merchants who didn't close down in the rain:
1. cookbook: Practical Thai Cooking (50 cents)
2. ceramic soapdish (75 cents)
3. small handmade pottery jar to hold toothbrush (75 cents)
4. green glass candle holder from Pier 1 Imports (50 cents)
5. red leather gloves with cashmere interiors ($3)
6. small 8 1/2 by 11 inch television to use with the VCR I bought at a garage sale last year ($7)
7. Brita filter (50 cents)
8. computer speakers ($7.50)
9. Japanese teapot ($1)
10. small plastic dustbin (75 cents)
11. large no stick frying pan ($1)
12. homemade cookie (25 cents)
13. homemade muffin (25 cents)
Total = $23.55
Items on my actual "need" list: 3
Thus I add more crap to my possessions which I will have to deal with in February when I move again.... but, at the same time, it's a lot easier to get rid of things that I got for 50 cents than things I paid $10 for new at a store.
What I love about garage saling (even in the rain) is the human contact, the neighborly feeling, the idea that you are getting something from someone near you (at greatly reduced prices) rather than an impersonal store. And I like having things that have been used before--the idea that there is a history behind them. Unlike my grandmother, who goes out at 6am every Saturday buying junk to give to people... (it runs in the family...), I'm not very good at bargaining, though I did get the speakers down from $10, but that's ok. The people who sold me the television, the computer speakers and the baked goods were nice enough to bring my things by later in their car. I love that.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Une histoire amusant, dont j'ai fait traduction
It is raining and I have been stuck in various coffee shops and library computer labs today. I did a schmucky thing this afternoon. Biking (in the rain) to my French exam, I realized (well, previous to biking, actually) that I was extremely unprepared for this translation/reading knowledge exam, and could quite possibly fail it, despite having spent my entire summer translating an article. Having spent the past two days going back over the textbook, I had found that although I had spent a lot of time translating a specific text, I hadn't spent that much time actually studying my textbook. It's been at least four years since I've taken an exam, so I had not prepared so well. When I got to the exam, I asked the instructor (a super nice lady) if it was too late to take this on another day (there are multiple exam dates), and she said that of course I could if I felt more comfortable taking it next week. (I repeat... a super nice lady). So, despite really hating to do things like this and prolonging the agony, I decided to spend a few more days doing a more comprehensive review.
Sitting at a coffee shop where I spent four hours downing pots of tea and translating various passages from my textbook, I came across this little story that so delighted me, I decided to post it on the blog. Voici un histoire que j'aime. (And this is a French -> English class, not the other way, so pardon my French... hehehe.)
A Quick Wit
Once upon a time there was a king who was superstitious but did not want to admit it. He learned that in his kingdom lived a certain man who pretended that he could read the future in the stars and predict what would was going to happen.
The king believed himself very talented, and he grew angry at this astrologer who did that which he, the king, could not do. He summoned him to come to the royal palace, having resolved to put him to death and, at the same time, to show the courtiers that his pretences were false.
Following the orders of their master, two soldiers stood ready, when the king gave them the signal, to throw the astrologer out the window. Turning round toward the poor man who had just entered the great hall of the palace, the monarch said to him:
"You pretend to know that which will come in the future. Well then, can you predict when you will die?"
The astrologer suspected the king's intentions and after reflecting for a few seconds, he responded:
"Sire, I am not able to predict the day of my death, but I know very well that I will die exactly three days before Your Majesty."
The two soldiers waited in vain for the signal. The king quickly changed his mind, and instead of killing the astrologer, he asked him to stay in the palace, to take care of himself and to run from no danger. It was necessary to take the greatest care with a life so precious.
ma traduction de "Un Esprit vif" au livre: Reading French in the Arts and Sciences. Fourth Edition. Ed. Edward M. Stack. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. p. 73
Image credit: Hans Holbein, Les simulacres de la Mort
Friday, August 03, 2007
4am calls
My dearly beloved brothers and sisters, friends, and acquaintances, who reside in Nigeria,
I am always delighted to hear from you. I am touched and honoured when one of you spends your money to telephone me in the U.S., and I really appreciate your efforts to stay in touch. However, a request, if any of you happen to be reading this. PLEASE look at your watches when you call. The Central Time Zone in the U.S., where I live, is currently six hours behind the time in Nigeria. That means that when it is 10am in Kano, it is 4am in my city. In a few months, our time zone will switch back another hour meaning that Nigeria will be 7 hours ahead of us, which means that when it is 10am in Nigeria it will be 3am here. While I am delighted to hear from people, I am usually not delighted to be woken from a sweet sleep at 2, 3, or 4am etc, especially when I have been struggling with insomnia. Additionally, it, quite rightly, pisses off my roommate, especially since this has happened at least 10 or 12 times in the last year. This is a landline, not a cell phone; therefore, a call at 3 or 4am wakes up not only myself but everyone in the house.
Therefore, while I love to hear from people, please, don Allah, don Annabi, look at your clock before you call and only call me between the hours of 9am-11pm Central Standard American time.
Thank you. Na gode.
I am always delighted to hear from you. I am touched and honoured when one of you spends your money to telephone me in the U.S., and I really appreciate your efforts to stay in touch. However, a request, if any of you happen to be reading this. PLEASE look at your watches when you call. The Central Time Zone in the U.S., where I live, is currently six hours behind the time in Nigeria. That means that when it is 10am in Kano, it is 4am in my city. In a few months, our time zone will switch back another hour meaning that Nigeria will be 7 hours ahead of us, which means that when it is 10am in Nigeria it will be 3am here. While I am delighted to hear from people, I am usually not delighted to be woken from a sweet sleep at 2, 3, or 4am etc, especially when I have been struggling with insomnia. Additionally, it, quite rightly, pisses off my roommate, especially since this has happened at least 10 or 12 times in the last year. This is a landline, not a cell phone; therefore, a call at 3 or 4am wakes up not only myself but everyone in the house.
Therefore, while I love to hear from people, please, don Allah, don Annabi, look at your clock before you call and only call me between the hours of 9am-11pm Central Standard American time.
Thank you. Na gode.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
OD-ing on Airborn
Ok, this will be quick and filled with typos because I have to catch a bus in approximately twenty-three minutes. I'm terrified that I'm getting a summer cold/flu because my friend came to class on Monday coughing and sneezing. Normally, I'm laid back about that sort of thing. I don't want to get sick, but things happen. But because of this upcoming trip, I DO NOT want to get sick, so every time she would blow her nose I would wince and then feel terrible for wincing. So, I immediately went to a drug store and bought two things of generic Airborn, and ever since then I have been OD-ing on Airborn and multivitamins trying to fight it off. I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and voice, and I am praying, in the name of Jesus, that he will bind that demon of summer cold. Bind it, Jesus! Amen. I'm starting to become paranoid and have been washing my hands more often than usual. Anyway, I now have twenty minutes before my bus leaves and I need to go find some water so I can take some more Airborn. Adieu to my twenties. Alas, Adieu.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Dearest One
There is a distinct sense of Victorian melodrama or perhaps more... Nigerian video-film about this. The orphaned child (alternately girl and boy: a symbolic Esu perhaps?). The evil betraying uncle. The prescient father who knows his business associates will poison him... Rena should try his/her hand at a screenplay....
From: rena_konan01@yahoo.fr
Dearest one,
Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you. I am quite aware that my message will come to you as a surprise because it is indeed very strange for someone you have not met before to contact you in this regard.
I am Rena konan the only son of late Frederick Konan. [T-C: NOTE IT'S A BOY]
It is sad to say that my father passed away mysteriously in France during one of his business trips Abroad year 12th.Feb. 2004.Though his sudden death was linked or rather suspected to have been master-minded by an uncle of his who travelled with him at that time.But God knows the truth!
My mother died when I was just 4 years old,and since then my father took me so special.Before his death on Febuary 12 2004 he called the secretary who accompanied him to the hospital and told her that he had a sum of this money is USD 9.5 million American Dollars and the money is in a bank here in Abidjan the capital city. left in fixed / suspense account in one of the prime banks here in Abidjan,that he used my name as his only daughter [T-C: NOTE IT'S A GIRL] for the Next of Kin in depositing of the fund.
He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates. That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose such as real estate or hotel management.
I want you to assist me in clearing this fund into your account overseas as a beneficiary of the fund,and also use it for an ivestment purpose.
I am just 20years old and high school certificate holder,really don't know what to do.Now I want an account overseas where I can transfer this funds. This is because I have suffered a lot of set backs as a result of incessant political crisis here in Ivory coast.The death of my father actually brought sorrow to my life.
Dearest one,I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards Your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded,so that I will know I'm going to come over to your country since the bank made me to understand that they can be able to make the transfer to any country of my choice.
Now permit me to ask these few questions:-
1. Can you honestly help me as your son [T-C: NOTE IT'S A BOY!]
2. Can I completely trust you?
3.To serve as a guardian of this fund since I am only 20years.
4. What percentage of the total amount in question will be good for you after the money is in your account?
5.To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and also to secure a resident permit in your country.
Besides, I'm corresponding with you from my country here in Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa and moreso there is great political war going on here in my country, that is the main reason why I contacted you to help me in getting me and my only inheritance out of this country so that I may not lose my life and the inheritance to war in this country, infact I'm facing difficulty at the moment in this country.
Furthermore, please indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within seven (7)days you signify your interest to assist me. Anticipating to hear from you urgently.
Please,consider this and get back to me as soon as possible.
Thanks and God bless.
My sincere regards,Rena
From: rena_konan01@yahoo.fr
Dearest one,
Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you. I am quite aware that my message will come to you as a surprise because it is indeed very strange for someone you have not met before to contact you in this regard.
I am Rena konan the only son of late Frederick Konan. [T-C: NOTE IT'S A BOY]
It is sad to say that my father passed away mysteriously in France during one of his business trips Abroad year 12th.Feb. 2004.Though his sudden death was linked or rather suspected to have been master-minded by an uncle of his who travelled with him at that time.But God knows the truth!
My mother died when I was just 4 years old,and since then my father took me so special.Before his death on Febuary 12 2004 he called the secretary who accompanied him to the hospital and told her that he had a sum of this money is USD 9.5 million American Dollars and the money is in a bank here in Abidjan the capital city. left in fixed / suspense account in one of the prime banks here in Abidjan,that he used my name as his only daughter [T-C: NOTE IT'S A GIRL] for the Next of Kin in depositing of the fund.
He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates. That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose such as real estate or hotel management.
I want you to assist me in clearing this fund into your account overseas as a beneficiary of the fund,and also use it for an ivestment purpose.
I am just 20years old and high school certificate holder,really don't know what to do.Now I want an account overseas where I can transfer this funds. This is because I have suffered a lot of set backs as a result of incessant political crisis here in Ivory coast.The death of my father actually brought sorrow to my life.
Dearest one,I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards Your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded,so that I will know I'm going to come over to your country since the bank made me to understand that they can be able to make the transfer to any country of my choice.
Now permit me to ask these few questions:-
1. Can you honestly help me as your son [T-C: NOTE IT'S A BOY!]
2. Can I completely trust you?
3.To serve as a guardian of this fund since I am only 20years.
4. What percentage of the total amount in question will be good for you after the money is in your account?
5.To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and also to secure a resident permit in your country.
Besides, I'm corresponding with you from my country here in Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa and moreso there is great political war going on here in my country, that is the main reason why I contacted you to help me in getting me and my only inheritance out of this country so that I may not lose my life and the inheritance to war in this country, infact I'm facing difficulty at the moment in this country.
Furthermore, please indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within seven (7)days you signify your interest to assist me. Anticipating to hear from you urgently.
Please,consider this and get back to me as soon as possible.
Thanks and God bless.
My sincere regards,Rena
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Meltdown
Ok, I am about to have a nervous breakdown and am for the first time in my life considering taking an incomplete in a class. If anyone writes me or is waiting for an answer from me on this blog or email, please don't be offended if you don't hear from me in a couple of weeks... Just need to get these three long papers and four short papers written in the next two weeks. (AAarrgghhhh!!!!) If I can just make it through this, I will be officially done with all of my required coursework, although I'll probably take another couple classes next semester to maintain fulltime enrollment while TA-ing. This is my official notice of withdrawal from the blogsphere for at least two weeks--if not three. If you see me roaming about making comments, feel free to take me to task
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Ba humbug
I am becoming old and grouchy. Harumph. Harumph.
Or maybe i just need a little more sleep. church was good. when riding home on the college van with mostly undergraduates, it took over an hour to get home because we were checking out the new church site and people were just taking their time. then we got lost on the way home. no one's fault, but i feel grouchy. so here's an unchristian grumble.
grumble. grumble. harumph. ba humbug.
Or maybe i just need a little more sleep. church was good. when riding home on the college van with mostly undergraduates, it took over an hour to get home because we were checking out the new church site and people were just taking their time. then we got lost on the way home. no one's fault, but i feel grouchy. so here's an unchristian grumble.
grumble. grumble. harumph. ba humbug.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Delta Flights from Atlanta to Lagos
My brother just forwarded me some fantastic news. As of December 2007, Delta will be flying nonstop from Atlanta to Lagos. I've generally enjoyed flying through Europe, but since I rarely stop off for a few days, this should make things much cheaper and save a lot of time! Yay!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Mad Astronaut alert
Ok, I haven't really been commenting on much news. But this is such a bizaare story, that I had to join the tabloid trash to gawk. The woman wore DIAPERS on a cross-country trip to kidnap and murder a woman she believed was romantically involved with another astronaut she fancied. This is the stuff of great science fiction thriller novels. I bet someone is already writing one.
Here is Lisa Nowak, astronaut and would-be-murderess (so they claim) with the object of her affection, the dashing William Oefelein. (Photo credit Times Reporter)
Poor woman. Imagine all the teachers who will be scrambling to take her photo off of the list of "great women" posted in elementary school classrooms. In keeping with the spirit of this post, I'll end with a good cliche: The higher you fly, the further you fall.
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