Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: No. 1 on BBC's Top 10 Books of 2013

In the BBC  LIST of Best of 2013: Top 10 books, they placed Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as No. 1. According to BBC Culture:

"Chimamanda Adichie is supremely smart. She has won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (for Purple Hibiscus), the Orange Broadband award (for Half of a Yellow Sun), and a MacArthur 'genius' grant. With Americanah, a star-crossed love story that spans three continents, she proves she is also supremely funny.
Ifemelu leaves her boyfriend behind in Nigeria to study in the US. After her initial disorienting days as an immigrant and a string of humiliating jobs, she finds an outlet in a satiric blog. "Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black," she writes. She becomes a Princeton fellow and dates a Yale professor. After 13 years her heart brings her back to Lagos, where she is not 'black'. She's Igbo. And Americanah.
Adichie is fearless when writing about love, hate and shades of blackness. She tempers her directness with wry humour as she holds up a mirror so we can see ourselves. (Knopf)".


Source: Linda Ikeji's Blog

“We will Never See the Likes of Him Again…” Read the Full Transcript of President Barack Obama’s Speech at Nelson Mandela’s Memorial Service

Posted on Tuesday, December 10th, 2013
“To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; to President (Jacob) Zuma and members of the government; to heads of state and government, past and present; distinguished guests – it is a singular honor to be with you today, to celebrate a life unlike any other.
To the people of South Africa – people of every race and walk of life – the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and hope found expression in his life, and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy.
It is hard to eulogize any man – to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person – their private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone’s soul. How much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world.

PINEAPPLE DAY!

The Thieves Were Only Passing By! Watch the Final Episode of Gbenga Salu’s Web Series – “10:10″

To Inspire Young Africans: House of Tara 100 Voices!

MORNING EXERCISE!

Morning exercise is great for your body metabolism. When you wake up in the morning do as little as aerobics to start your day, trust me this alone (OK and your breakfast too),will pull you through the day.

I know some of you may feel reluctant to exercise, maybe because you have to be at work early enough or outright laziness lol...yeah that's right, because what other excuse would you have for not working out or stretching those muscles before the day starts.

There are so many reasons why we should embrace exercise as our daily lifestyle routine. From my own experiences-

Exercise:

~Keeps you healthy
~Help keep a regular heart rate, so you don't have to feel tired or weak when you do a little task.
~Checks your weight
~Makes you wealthy; since health is wealth
~Keeps you in tune, body, mind, spirit and soul!

Let us be encouraged from now on. Write it down, make it your screen saver or better still choose a partner that will assist you with it. With exercise, you will feel empowered!

My Office Cup!

It fell down today. My office cup is special because it was one of the many gifts given to me at the end of my service year as a teacher. It reminds me of those lovely students I taught;their enthusiasm and participation. Above all, it reminds me of what I learnt as a teacher and how one can be appreciated for good deeds.
This is dedicated to the students of Command Day Secondary school Abeokuta, Nigeria.

What is wrong with these photos?

Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog: What is wrong with these photos?: This is actress and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star Karlie Redd at the BET Awards on Sunday night. Do you see what is wrong? It's more...

PETER CLARKE "AMAKA" ( OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Good thing all the girls in this video are dark-skinned...hehehe!

Ray J Releases New Video "I Hit It First"

This song is so about Kim K!

SUPER WOMAN: MULTI-TASKING ABILITIES

Multi-tasking simply involves doing two or more things at the same time. You can have this ability when you adopt the “I can do it” spirit; and especially when you are not a lazy person. When you have a lot to do, whether at work, home, market; basically wherever you find yourself, the need to multi-task is very essential. Companies these days add this as one of the requirements for them to employ a new staff (i.e being proactive and ability to multi-task: they work hand in hand). No wonder women dominate major roles in companies these days… lol…yes I said so! As women, it has been our innate ability to multi-task. It all started in creation, when God decided that man needed an assistant, according to Genesis 2:18, “And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him”. Even as a child, we are exposed to domestic chores that groom us for our future. That is how we have been able to handle the challenges we face daily both at home and at work. Alex asked me one night what I did before bed, and I replied that I cooked, ate and had my bath all at the same thing. He asked me how that was possible and I told him that he should ask his mother, who she has been taking care of her five boys all these years (that includes her husband). So that answers and clears all doubts.lol… In all, for everyone, do what you can as they come and plan ahead of time (be proactive)! This is to encourage the women out there, keep doing what you do and don’t be afraid to aim high because there is no limit to us. We are super women! We are indeed wonderfully and fearfully made indeed! *wink*

New video: "The Wolrd is Changing" by Femi Kuti

Saka "don port go" MTN

WHO IS YOUR IDEAL MAN?

I was asked this question recently and I discovered that I had no clue; nothing at all came to my mind; but really who asks such and i am purposed to answer that?! I’m sure that he expected me to say: God-fearing, kind, loving, tall, dark-skinned, maybe RICH lol. Who knows? We all have our various preferences when it comes to subjects like this. Some even paste wall papers by their bed-side so that they can dream about the guy or girl. Or even set targets for themselves. Nowadays, who has the time to make-up an ideal man or woman in his or her head? Fine, we all hope for a special person, but along the line things may change due to fact that change is the only constant thing. I’d say, why go through all the torture? Yes torture because you will indirectly hurt yourself keeping up with that. And yes, it may have worked out for “some” people, but are you really ready to go through all that. Really, I don’t expect anyone to ask me who my ideal guy is. Maybe when we eventually I’d know because my heart will tell me. The truth is that there is nothing like an ideal; even if there is, people tend to change overtime depending on what they are exposed to in life. The secret to identifying your ideal partner is when you get to know the person and share your life with the person there there’s this bond between you both; that even if you have a misunderstanding it doesn’t escalate beyond you two. Now, that is your ideal man or woman!

JERSEY SALES LIMITED COLLECTION!!!

Jerseys

For Sale, Sporting Goods - Bicycles in Nigeria, Lagos, Lagos Island West. Date April 16

Sporting Goods - Bicycles

REVIEW: EAT THAT FROG by Brian Tracy (PART II)

GREAT RULE TO SUCCESS: "THINK ON PAPER" The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity, as explained in the book, is for you to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. You must develop the routine of "Eating your frog" before you do anything else, and without taking too much time to think about it. Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single mindedly until those tasks are complete. Another thing is for you to always finish a task that you started. At that point, this behavior takes on a power of its own and you find it easier to complete important tasks than not to complete them. According to Brian Tracy, you need three key qualities to develop the habits of focus and concentration. They are all learnable.  Decision,  Discipline and  Determination. First, make a decision to develop the habit of task completion. Second, discipline yourself to practice the principles you are about to learn over and over until you master them. And finally, back everything you do with determination until the habit is locked in and becomes a permanent part of your personality.

REVIEW: EAT THAT FROG by Brian Tracy

“Eat That Frog” was written by Brian Tracy, who even though came from an unsuccessful background, took up the challenges of life and made it work out for him. He shares his experiences in this book on how to overcome life’s unlimited challenges as they come and how to make them work for you. The “frog” in the book represents the tasks or challenges ahead of us. It could be work related or personal. The author identified the fact that we may not accomplish all the tasks or goals that we set out to do. Stop trying to focus on how to manage your time and starting planning on how to be productive. There will be no limit to what you can accomplish when you learn how to “Eat That Frog!” When given a frog to eat, most of us may be reluctant about doing that. That is just the way feel when we have a major task ahead of us to accomplish. As a result it leads to procrastination. There are ways to eat that frog:  You can dissect it;  Marinate it and;  Fry it. That way it becomes a delicious frog. This is how your tasks should be carried out; instead of procrastinating, break it down in terms of priority and solve them in that order. Brian quotes in his book that: “If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first." Galileo once wrote, “You cannot teach a person something he does not already know; you can only bring what he does know to his awareness.” In my next blog, I will explain the methods and techniques that you learn and apply to your daily schedule over and over until they become habits; you will alter the course of your life in a very positive way. Eat that frog!

INTERESTS

If you are asked, “what are your interests?” I wonder what you will say. Well, if I’m asked I’d say something like, my interests are basically on fashion, writing, food, reading and meeting people. In terms of fashion: I appreciate good clothes when seen or worn by people. Even when I dress up myself it gives me this satisfaction (I feel empowered). The good thing is I don’t follow trends but I have my own style which most of the time creates trends for people to follow (people like my friends and family: since I’m not a celebrity but who knows?) while in school I wrote a piece on fashion think it was about skinny jeans and the shapes and sizes that are allowed to wear them. My love for writing was born while in school. The saying that “the pen is mightier than the sword” is true in itself. Since I’m an introvert, writing gives me the opportunity to express myself better in ways I couldn’t have done. It’s almost like another “Amaka”- the extrovert. Even though I haven’t written in a while (won’t necessarily call that writer’s block) but pure laziness. Hmmm, as for food, it just makes me happy. Basically tasty and delicious meals are just so fantastic lol. I know right? Words can’t express the way I feel about food. After a delicious meal, I’m usually alive- I sing and dance. My close friends have noticed that in me and I undoubtedly agree with them. Cooking and feeding others is my specialty and it makes me happy. I appreciate good food wherever; whenever. Of course my cooking skills are on point and I can go the extra mile to learn other intercontinental delicacies. I discuss food with my food-loving friends; trust me it’s better than talking about irrelevant things like boys lol. Reading I guess goes along with writing. I read to: relax; get information; study etc. my final year project, while in school, was specialized on the reading habits of children. People hardly read these days. Now I know we all have our excuses but I want to encourage us to read; at least a book in a month. YES YOU CAN! I’ll support you by doing some book reviews based on what I read. Meeting people- This can be anywhere: work, social events, market etc. I get this fulfillment knowing that I’m able to impress others by having good conversations, as well as, learning from them. It gives great exposure. Our interests most times may develop into strengths, so we can use it for good wherever we find ourselves in life. BE EMPOWERED!

YOU CAN'T KEEP ME DOWN!

So, it’s the 15th day of the month of March, that is half of the month is already gone, and I anxiously await my 1st salary for my new job. My colleague and soon to be dear friend said it usually comes on the 20th of each month. By the way, this isn’t the inspiration I got for writing this morning. I just felt that it has been a long…long time since I wrote anything (ok apart from my personal stuffs). It’s a Friday today (TGIF), and like everyone else I should be looking forward to a relaxing the days weekend, but unfortunately and fortunately for me, I have been scheduled for a training this Saturday. Oh well, I’m still looking forward to it because it will be my first training at my new place of work. I’m sure you are wondering where that is…well, it’s a bank and that is all I can say for now. So back to the present, I’m not sure if I’ve lost weight or added, even though I need to exercise more often. There is nothing like being fit. Anyways, I look forward to a great day and nothing; absolutely nothing will stand in my way. THANK YOU.