Why I Love G___ (Borrowed after many a blogger!)

1. She's smart
2. She's sexy
3. She's gorgeous
4. She's very coy
5. She loves being coy, whilst underneath, she LOVES to be naughty (such a turn on!!)
6. she's a good mother
7. she's responsible
8. she's caring
9. she has VERY deep feelings for me
10. she called me up at 3am (!) to wish me "happy birthday!", because she wanted to be the first to do so
11. she's got such beautiful eyes
12. she's motivated
13. she's not ready to commit till things get sorted
14. she has funny dimples on her face
15. she has a rascally laugh
16. she often says/thinks "you look good!"
17. she's very discreet (in offering suggestions)
18. she shows considerable care for me
19. she thinks I talk a lot(!)
20. she thinks I'm a caring/loving guy
21. she knows my feelings for her transcends a simple liking
22. she likes it when I wear a tie
23. she trusts/asks me for (my) advice
24. she called herself "G__ Bensah" (a joke..for now!!)
25. she is bent on improving herself
26. she loves kissing me
27. she enjoys me touching her/holding her chest

Some Comical Mental Pabulum (that's food for thought for you and me!)

what's the monkey doing? this one's on a mission;-)  

An email forwarded by a good friend is this rather cryptic post. Suffice to say, I will never look at monkeys the same way!

Enjoy!

Beware of Plagiarizers!!!

A horrible case of blog theft, which I uncovered on Laura of Yellowcurious' website http://yellowcurious.blogspot.com/2005/04/internet-thief-fellow-bloggers-beware.html

Bloggers beware!!!

Thankyou for the Music...

I so feel like crying now.

Strange thing is I am not feeling particularly sad. Au contraire, I am looking forward to a great evening with G__. How on Earth could I be despondent?

Still...

I just thought it should be noted the effect the Bangles' song (circa 1986/87) has on me up to this day:

"(Close your eyes and give me your hand
Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand?
Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming
Or is this burning an eternal flame?)"

best to listen to it blasting in your room--or if at the office, from your earphones;-)

Heaven.

There are THREE particular songs that make me feel particularly reflective. I recommend them highly:

Nathalie Imbruglia's gut-wrenching "Torn"

Hooverphonic's very haunting "Eden"

The Bangle's soul-piercing "Eternal Flame"

And I equally recommend them to be listened one after the other--not necessarily in the same order.

Is this getting in touch with my feminine side??

Full Circle (Birthday Blues?)

I turned 28 only about twenty minutes ago. I know, cos I have always known—from my parents—the time I was born: 26 April 1977 @ 9.33am. That’s a bit of an odd time isn’t it I often wondered…

But, hell, today is MY day. As well as around 1 million-plus people in the world. We are after all around 6 billion people plus now.

How many people today will have the opportunity to celebrate like I will?
How many will have the opportunity to have ONE square meal?
How many people will be well enough to ENJOY the day?

Doubtless, not many. Yet here I am ALWAYS moaning and complaining that my life is bad. Could be better for ALL of us couldn’t it? It has to be better than this. The wars, the anger; the broken families; the misunderstandings…

It HAS to be better than this. We all know that.

I am not in isolation in believing this, yet I am equally guilty.

I aspire to have the SAME big car – yes, that nice, sleek BMW there – that everyone is praising, or that NISSAN, or that TOYOTA. I have flirted with a motorbike, because I am very keen to pollute the atmosphere and make the little clean air that we have less clean…

I aspire to MAKE more money. Regrettably, the more money you HAVE, the more you want.

Surely I should be comfortable with the money that I am making now—no?—yet I want more…

Because, as Lovely Linda of LIVEJOURNAL.com asked, is this what the middle class focus on?: “Middle class people focus on: security (life insurance, health coverage), hard work to get to your goals, etc.”

I hate to say it, but it’s true: I am not poor, and POOR is definitely one thing I do not aspire to be. But neither do I want to be wealthy, because if we take Linda’s argument, then they focus on:

“Political relationships, networking, and safety.”

I abhor political relationships—it will ALWAYS cost you in the end. Read Machiavelli.

As for networking, we all try to do it, but that costs you at some point too, when you are deemed to no longer be useful to those whom you have networked with.

As for safety, well, don’t we all want to be safe?

This throws up the question of whether I am middle class…

That I am: my parents made sure that both my late brother, Sam, and I obtained very good educations—and I want to put it for the record that it is thanks to them that I have maintained the “middle class” status.

Malcolm X once said that “Education is the passport to the future” How right he was.

A year ago today, I was in Belgium {strangely enough, I dreamt last night that I had returned to our old house in Schoolstraat, Overijse,

Belgium}—on tenterhooks, still working at the Secretariat of the International Coalition for Development Action (ICDA). I had been interviewed days earlier by my current employer, and I fretted and frowned over what I said wrong, what I said right, blah-blah, and why it was taking so long for them to reply.

Then they replied before the day was over.

The rest, as they say, is history.

So today, I raise my glasses to my parents for making me what I am today, plus my Maker for giving me the encouragement, and saving me from some serious snares. The Psalms that my maternal grandmother and my parents admonished Sam and I to learn have paid off dividends.

I know many people today shy away from religion—and I don’t blame them, but I know my faith has helped me make me what I am – warts and all. I need to strengthen it. I need to strengthen it. I need to strengthen it.

I also thank G__, my significant other for being such a caring, loving person. She’s working a graveyard shift at work, yet she made the time to call me at 3.07am! She said that she wanted to be “the first to wish you happy birthday”;-)

How sweet;-) May our care and love be consolidated, and may I continue to use big words!

I mustn’t forget one of the best poems out there :”If” by Rudyard Kipling. Neither should I forget Max Ehrman’s “Desiderata”.

'if' by rudyard kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!



Like a priest said to Scully in one Xfiles episode “sometimes, we must come full circle to find the truth”

It’s GREAT to be 28.

What If?

What if dogs, such as our family and much-loved pet dog Fenix, had lines in their paws that we could read (pls see palmistry post below)? Imagine that we could be able to predict, to a small degree, what their fate could be?


Fenix Bensah posing at Manetville, east airport, accra, ghana 

Think about how lame most of us generally are when it comes to reading our OWN palms, let alone that of our pets? What if those lines entrenched deep in our hands could really presage the future? Scary.

Yay!

37962 words Congratulations! You scored 114!

You scored as knowing approximately 37962 words and word meanings. This officially qualifies you as a "wiseguy."

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 26% on words known

Link: The How Many Words do You Know Test written by 476herschel on Ok Cupid

Too Funny--"Habemus Papam";-) It'ssssssssssssss.....

"Who are these that have taken a curse upon themselves for the happinness of mankind?"--some clever and esoteric doode (The Grand Inquisitor from "The Brothers Karamazov"--Dostoevsky)


there is a new pope! 

appropriate song on CITI-FM97.3: "I don't wanna know"...featuring Puff Daddy?

On Muscles and my Not-So-Final Repose

For once in a not very long time, I spent the weekend in Accra. Okay, Mum and Dad were here this time, and so I got to spend a lot of time clearing my useless junk of ICDA-related stuff that I had been hording like an eager beaver.

What is it with me and old books and files? I even saw a letter I had written to many on-line friends when I discovered the 'Net in 1996 at Vesalius College, Belgium. There was one from an Australian psychologist who was the age I am now, wondering why a guy like me doesn't have a girlfriend...

I wonder...

How things change, eh??

So, the stuff went ouside for the garbage collectors to come take this morning. It was a sight to behold. Boxes with my name written all over in code, along with the strange concatenation of roman numerals: "Emm's stuff xxiv.vii.mmiv" for example--just to show that I KNEW my Roman numerals.

Like anyone gives a shit...but hey, sue me!

Out with the old--in with the new.

The new being me trying to look good -- not just for G__, but also for myself. I have decided to turn my backyard into an exercise area. A huge heavy stone becomes my weight lifts; the crates in which stuff from Belgium were put in becomes the perfect thing, because the space between the grass becomes the PERFECT space for my big feet to lock themselves so that I can do some SERIOUS sit-ups.

I did twenty today. Fan-tastic It felt good. Pity I had to tie Fenix up in order to achieve my feat. No pun intended. Having him jump all over me whilst I am concentrating on exercise is not my idea of a constructive exercising time--as much as I love him to bits:-) He was left to have me shout at him to stop barking like a spoilt kid. He obeyed...

After that delectable bit, I proceeded to skip. Twenty, too. Rock on!! Rock on!!

I was heavily inspired by a website I visited last Friday just before I left the office: http://www.muscletech.com/FEATURES/SHAPING_UP/Shaping_Up_For_Men.shtml I was left so envious by the size of those muscles, which I knew many a woman would be drooling over. I aspire to have big muscles...some day.

Anyone for flying pigs?

In fact I used to have quite big muscles, on account of the fact that I was {hell, blogger, you lost my friggin post!!)lifting first six, then eight-kg weights every morning for a period of over six months.

Then something happened.

I suddenely needed to find a job in serious haste. My stomach began growing bigger, coupled with the fact that at work, I was spending many hours in front of a computer, plus changing a page here, designing a page there; writing a report over there...and about to move!!

Hell, move, too! I have an audio cassette (I'm a bit of an audio journal freak!) of the last day at ICDA Secretariat, when I became rather instrumental in helping the small organisation move from the heart of the city, where the European institutions are located, to the Belgacom area, near the red-light district area in City 2:.

Belgians love to call this "la ville dans la ville", or the city in town--to provide a rough translation (Boulevard Adolf Max).

Anyway, that day in June 2004, when I recorded the highs and lows of the day on cassette was interesting--if not for the name I called the K7: "E.K.Bensah's Final ICDA Repose". It was more of a nod and wink to an X-Files episode, which generations have hailed as manna from the writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, who wrote some of the nmost cerebral X-files episodes.

I decided against "E.K.Bensah's Final Repose". Pretty spooky for a guy EIGHT days away from his 28th birthday.

I'm too young to die!

Says Who???

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

from http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html

enjoy!

Ever Considered Palmistry?

Actually, nothing to consider, but I must say that I have been slightly alarmed by the growing -- ever-increasing -- in both hands. So I decided to investigate.

And I came across this very interesting site that's pretty in-your-face:



It has some startling information in here that may send you with a torch peeping under the covers in the middle of the night to ascertain the extent to which you have criminal tendencies because the lines in your hand are oh-so-deep;-)

Try this for size:

"A deep line indicates a highly stressful life. Branches arising from the line suggest a strong interest in the opposite sex. If the line has drooping branches, it shows a poor relationship. The heart line can also be read in relation to other lines. If the heart line touches the head line and the life line, the person is likely to experience a betrayal of love. A slight curve towards the head line shows a person with an intellectual bend of mind."

Even better:










You're just gonna have to visit the site to find out what all these mean here.

Some Good Advice (from Alyssadejour)

Much like AlyssadeJour, someone --actually my Mum--sent it--nay, implored I keep it!--to me some years back. Good to see it's out there. Definitely juicy!

from: Some Good Advice

=========
ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

[Some people claim the more you give, the more you get. Maybe. Maybe not. But there is truth in the biblical admonition "cast thy bread upon the waters..."]

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

[Well, I'm not yet married, so I really cannot proffer anything significant, except to say that whilst I am enjoying the throes of courtship with G___, she enjoys me being a bit of a blatherskite, which is actually more of a derogatory term to describe someone who is loquacious--or who talks a lot. I only get passionate about a few things! Honest! BTW, she has never ever said I am a blatherskite, but my Mum loves the word--not necessarily in reference to me. My family are lovers of words, so what do you expect?!]

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

[Wish this could be done in the real world, but honestly, who can spend all they have in the 21st century? And,well, if you slept all you want, you'd be late for work!!--assuming you have a job...which in itself is a precious thing to hold onto. See Desiderata]

FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
[Self-explanatory..except in the throes of intercourse;-)]

FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
[Why are so many criminals walking this Earth, then? Tell that to the Mafia who wil tell you they're sorry to have killed your relative, BUT they wanted to show their power...Twisted!]

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
[Ok...]

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
[How??? Please explain that to me...]

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
[Very true]

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.
[True...after having been the object--or should that be subject;-) -- of many an unrequited love interest, I think I would have to agree. If it doesn't kill you, well, it can only make you proverbially stronger...]

TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
[Better still, read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People!]

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
[Sometimes, unavoidable, but you can only try...]

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
[ok...]

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
[or follow my Dad's advice, and pretend you didn't hear:-)]

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
[oh yes, oh yes!! Just read biographies of great people, such as Abraham Lincoln]

FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
[...so that you will be blessed back?;-)]

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
[...or you'll end up in prison...;-)]

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.
[to be internalised by ALL future couples (including me!!)]

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
[oh no, oh no!!]


NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
[Better still, read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People!]

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
[swell:-)]

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.
[...but don't do anyting I wouldn't do!!;-)]

good stuff!

Maybe I should Have Found this Test on Love Earlier?

Improved!!

It's love! You scored 82 for confidence and 77 for lovingness!

It's almost certain that you are in love and very happy about it. You have put your all into this relationship and the results of your work have been more than rewarding. You know that problems will come up from time to time, and most can be solved by just sitting down and discussing it. You know how to be fair. You're kind and considerate, but you're also not willing to compromise things that are extremely important to you. It's good that you stand up for yourself. You and your partner have a lot of mutual respect. Congratulations, because you've got something few people ever achieve.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on confidence You scored higher than 93% on lovingness

Link: The Are You in Love? Test written by takunaota on Ok Cupid

Maybe with work... You scored 78 for confidence and 72 for lovingness!

This relationship might bloom into real love if you're willing to be a little less selfish. It's likely that the other person feels that they're giving more than they're receiving. Talk to your significant other and find out what you can do for them. Buy flowers for no reason. Write that special person a love poem. The more you give, the more you get.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 85% on confidence You scored higher than 71% on lovingness

Link: The Are You in Love? Test written by takunaota on Ok Cupid

How Do You Know When You're In Love?

I really couldn't answer that.

All I know is that it's difficult to quantify "love". I do know there is a distinction between falling "in love" and being in love; and loving someone.

I think I love G__. Though I may have stupidly told her off and on, I really do think I do. There are certain qualities about her that I have yet to find on any woman I have met. From Ch__ to all the others (featured in "Nights in White Satin"), I don't think anyone quite measures up.

Some may say that I haven't yet met enough women, and I would have to shoot back--"says who?" Just because I haven't been that successful with them doesn't mean I haven't met enough, y'know?;-)

Back to the point: how "do" you know you are in love? Is it when youstart thinking about the person the first thing when you wake up and last thing before you go to bed?

That would make me in love with CITI-FM then, no? 'cos it's the first thing I want to listen to in the morning, and last thing I want to sleep off to:-)

Sheez, e.k...

eccentricity at its best.

Is this What the Middle Class focus on?

People in poverty have three main things that concerns them: survival, relationships, and entertainment.

Middle class people focus on: security (life insurance, health coverage), hard work to get to your goals, etc.

Wealthy people focus on: Political relationships, networking, and safety.

from: http://www.livejournal.com/users/lovelylind/

The lady is a BABE:-)

Something about 2005 (from January 2005)

Tuesday 4 January, 2005 – TIME: 10.20am GMT

There is something about 2005 that makes me feel good. I don’t know whether it has to do with the fact that the word – or digit – 2005 is a “finite” number, lending credence to the idea that there is some target/objective to be met, or what, but it definitely feels good.

It certainly is no mean feat that we have got where we are by God’s good grace and his imparting of wisdom to us, but we must remember to keep the fire burning – as it were.

The fire that needs to keep burning is that of the passion with which we use to do our work, and bring more clarity to our lives.

But I am not here this morning in the office to do this. I am more interested in doing a bit of self-analysis whilst we all wait for K-net to beef up the server, etc.

I need to call the vet-- 0277.428.432 (Dr.Essel)—to find out what we can do about Fenix’s lump on the left-hand side of his body. He also has a few fleas, and annoying insects which were trying to burrow themselves into his body. I don’t doubt that there remain a few well-hidden ones, but I definitely intend to flush them out. The first step was yesterday evening when I applied some of the diluted dettol (roxoguard) on his body; it helps clear a lot of dirt that have hidden on his body. In so many ways (by way of parenthesis) Belgium was very good for him because of the contrast of the heat, etc…with the cold. Very good…

I think it is normal that we accept that there will occasionally be fleas – and it is even excellent news that there are so few – so that we work on attacking them from the outset, and ensure that we have a healthier, cleaner Fenix. –p-

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard...well, you know...

I'm not much into divulging my sex life here. At this point, those most close to me who happen to chance upon this would sit up. "Huh! What sex life??!!" Thankfully, that's not going to happen anytime soon, otherwise, I wouldn't have filled my journals (been writing since 1988, when I was 11) especially those of 1992-98 of matters sexual.

My Journal--appropriately named "Nights in White Satin", with all the literal and metaphoric connotations to do with white, satin, and night, and matters most-prurient -- which chronicles my life, both sexual and otherwise, between October 2003 (when I lost my virginity -- on United Nations Day can u believe!!) and January 2004 tells a very insightful tale of the type of person I am: confused and bemused.

But I digress...

This confusion is still prevalent today. All the more so know that I am a member of the putative blogosphere. I continue to write a journal--appropriately entitled "Marching To a Generation (The Saga Goes On...)" (trials/tribulations/love/life/sex in March 2005)--which I am almost done with now that we're in April. I hope I won't have to call it "April Blues";-)

But hell, since April is my month, I am gonna fight darn hard to make sure any negativity is deflected.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Anyway, it all reminds me of how confused I continue to be, because I am SO over the moon that I feel if I divulge much, I may always be tempted to divulge matters-oh-so-salacious here. I don't want to that, so I will merely hint at it.

G__ said I was smelling very nice yesterday. Thank God. I used some funky freshener for guys which I bought at a Shell Shop. It was with her in mind. I knew she would like it, as she loves her eau de cologne. The name, regrettably, is nameless.

Pooh.

To boot, she praised me for starting to be romantic, which she liked "very much". Which, I guess, suggests that I was barely romantic! Ouch...

At least, I'm getting somewhere...yes!!

But more importantly for me yesterday evening was our time spent together. Despite the fact that she is still working so late, and despite our phone calls, which I often felt frustrated by, yesterday proved to be the candle on the cake, as it were. She still feels VERY strongly about me, and enjoys my presence. She talked about how she wanted to "woo" me. But it was the wrong place, so she wouldn't allow me to caress he bum, etc.

We kissed. Albeit a short one. It was nice, but insufficient. Wholly insufficient.

She is my baby. I keep on telling her. She keeps on saying "I know". But I have from a very reliable source that she feels for me more than I could ever imagine...

Fingers crossed.

Being the Best I can Be?

I'm not quite sure where to start. Sometimes I think too much, and sometimes I think too little. It seems I do the latter more than anything!

I don't want this entry to be anything more than a contemplative one; I'm fed up with the dark, soul-piercing stuff that comes with the likes of Confucius ("a journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step"), etc, etc.

I just want to get on with life -- and be better, yes BETTER, than I am.

Sure I have a job--and I am thankful for it. Yet I know that sometimes, I think I was working harder when I was still looking for a job...

How effing ironic is that?!!

SO, I'm dissatisfied with life? Not quite, but thing is: I could DO better.

For the past few weeks, for example, work has been an island I have longed to get off, yet I make my quotidian appearance like a dutiful pupil interested in going to school. Not that my heart is not in it -- far from it--but I was feeling not so motivated.

Which is--again--effing ironic!

COs here is a guy who is one of the most-acknowledged self-confessed geeks on positive thinking there is. Right this morning, I made an entry about Dale Carnegie's brillian book " How To Win Friends and Influence People on amazon.com that I am pretty proud of.

It made me realise that I do actually remember a lot of those precepts that I had internalised about being a better person than I can be.

My Mum has always told me I'm very bright, but she doesn't understand why I can be so LAZY. I always fumed about that. Other people don't understand when I say I'm lazy. It's not a endearing quality to have, but I am far too accepting of it and it has to stop.

Other people see me other than a lazy bastard, as the Brits would say, and many others have admired me for some effing mysterious reason. Truth is I'm effing lazy! If I weren't, why would it take me ages to finish writing a report I was supposed to have completed almost a month ago? It was the same at ICDA Secretariat in Brussels. There were times when I would do nothing than just surf the 'Net endlessly, and just waste time doing nothing till I felt it was time to get into action.

Which actually reminds me of an article I came across yesterday on expatica.com about Internet addiction in Belgium. You can read it here: Internet addiction a growing problem.

It refers to children failing/doing badly at school because they have become so hooked to the 'Net. The scary thing is that it isn't only just them. Check this: "The patients are becoming addicted to virtual communication in chat rooms, drawn by "the friendliness, the speed, discretion, where they can finally talk about themselves".

Which is perhaps why blogging is so cathartic, because you get to talk about yourself and engage (I can feel it coming!) in hedonistic solipsism. That's two big words to describe indulging in talking about yourself...

Then again, it shatters into smitherenes my post of last month when I talked about "Human Nature" and I attracted comments from the very personable and cute JeN-JeN, and the equally personable and cute Laura from YellowCurious.

But to digress...to digress...

From Internet addiction to laziness, anad back to me.

Nothing new here. Except that on March 19, I SO wanted to write a kind of eulogy for my late brother Sam. He passed away in May 1991. 8 May to be precise. Just almost two weeks after I turned 14. I was still in school. It was raining that day. I was on crutches. I don't even remember what I was wearing, but I can see myself hopping on my crutches down two flights of stairs as I saw my Dad's brown 520 series BMW comein through the gates of the British School of Brussels--wipers going left to right quite powerfully.

March 19 is not so curious for me, cos that's when he fell into a coma. Here is a picture of him when he was attending the European School of Brussels. Actually, it's his bus card:


Sam's Bus card at the European School Brussels (Woluwe)--1986-87 

Doesn't he look cute?:-). I know he would have whacked me for saying something as puerile as this. But we were inevitably the best of friends.

Actually, he was my best friend. And the only one I will ever have.

So, Jen, of Puff-puff categorary, if your ever get to read this, forget that I have a major/minor crush on you (;-). Just remember that as angry as you may be at the apparent favoritism your brother has, he WILL always be your brother. SO try and cultivate an iota of a friendship with him...

Enough of that!

It's a characteristically hot day in Accra, and though any reference to Accra would automatically go to my Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived blog, I'm gonna write that here.
Sue ME.

Just to backtrack very quickly, whilst I wanted to write a eulogy for Sam, I also wanted to do it whilst listening to Hooverphonic (excellent Belgian group that went seriously international!) and their very haunting "Eden" song. The lyrics, you can find here. I thought it best reflected my mood.

ANyway, before I end up writing a discursive essay, I'll end on what is staring right in front of my monitor here at work (it's luch time, hence my freedom to ramble!):

"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities--always see them, for they are always there."

from none other than Norman Vincent Peale, whose book my Dad bought in 1977--the year of my birth--whilst he was coming from what was then an Organisation of African Unity (OAU), but now the African Union conference in Addis Ababa as a English translator working with the Foreign Service here in Ghana.

Peale saved my life in 1991.