Flitting Through my Mind This Week

There's a little book that I carry with me always. I call it my little book of awesome. It's the one where I write incoherent beginnings and even more incoherent endings. It's the one where I write down feelings, and other bits and bobs that will probably never see the light of day. I do it because there may lie in a sea of rubbish a phrase or a word that I do not loathe. This book is now lost and I am all the worse for it.

The word on the grapevine is that I am better than I was when I first started. The sentiment is one delivered with surprise and I don't understand why. Did you think that I would stay the same? We must never forget that life doesn't stop for anyone. The people you write off in Winter may rise victorious in Summer.
 
Believe it or not, I have thought of many more things this week. I will now share them with you.

Christmas in Lagos or London...

This was the bitter question that filled my thoughts this week. I wanted so badly to spend Christmas in Lagos, but after a lot of thinking, I decided that it would be better if I remained here. I will not enjoy the bite of winter, but there may be a new experience waiting somewhere out there. The Lagos Christmas is one that I'm incredibly familiar with. I would hate for my familiarity with it to breed contempt.

Music:
I found two songs as I patrolled through youtube this week. It's surprising how useless I am without a soundtrack to my life. There's a song for waking up, and a song for drinking coffee. When I write, I need something with a steady beat. The beat guides the words much like it does you when you walk. The first is Romantic by Korede Bello and Tiwa Savage. It is easy in the way that Lagos Nights are. When you dance to it, you sway.

The Second is Soldier by Falz and Simi. It's really quite beautiful. I love that he's telling Nigerian stories. As fun as popping champagne is, that isn't all there is to life. Sometimes, girls get harassed by Soldiers. These stories are valid too.

Film:
I'm tempted to say Star Wars, but I haven't seen it yet. I probably will soon, but I can't talk about it in any way that adds value until I do.

Instead of Star Wars, I'm going to go with Love Actually. I watched it to get into the Spirit of Christmas. It's the Christmas Romcom to end all Romcoms, complete with Hugh Grant and a convoy of British actors and actresses.

The old blog you should read...
If I were to write a Christmas message it would probably say what this blog said. Be grateful for the little things. 

 The Article that made me smile
Stuart Heritage is one of my favourite writers in all the world. I love his work so much that I talk about it incessantly. I'm proud to say that my preaching has done much good. Mama Afam now looks out for his articles on the Guardian. Anyway, he's got a column on the guardian called Man with pram where he writes about his adventures as a new dad. It's the sweetest funniest thing you'll read this year.

His latest column is called Christmas isn't baby friendly - though I see an upside to the festivities.

And that's it!

Happy Days,
Afam