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It's been almost a year since I last blogged. I haven't exactly been writing in my physical journal either for some reason. I'm up later than late these days anyway, so I should be able to pick up from where I left off from.
These days I'm mostly focused on taking the PhD qualifying exam and obtaining results from my Gaussian file that has been running now for about a week with no concluded results in site. I feel like I have no idea what I'm going to get from the results here. Let's just say that what I am doing is writing a program and then sending it to a Computing Center to perform the calculations and then send me back the results once it's complete. When a program takes a week to be calculated, you know it's something that's huge. Well if this program succeeds in doing what it is expected to do, it will be a huge deal.
On the other hand I have been on youtube a lot lately and man I can't believe the number of ridiculously funny stuff I have picked up on there. I'm just going to put up 2 of them for now.
The first was one I discovered on my friend's facebook profile with 2 Nigerian guys doing a remix to the Souljah Boy song that seems to be sweeping the nation. If you speak broken, you'll laugh your head off. If not, it's still funny anyway to see two guys in traditional garb doing the Naija Boy.
The second is one that my girlfriend sent to me just last night. Warning/Disclaimer: If you love cats, then you probably don't want to watch this. I think you'll still find it funny either way. After all the cat is still alive after this experiment.
Well I need to catch some shut-eye which I have been lacking a lot of this week.
Today's edition of "The Post" included an article that a student @ Baylor University had written about the Product Red campaign. The full article can be viewed here.
I am a strong believer in the greater good. Granted not everyone who donates is doing it because they care, most are doing it because it's a fad or to blow their trumpet using their chest, face or feet. However when it comes to charity, I believe the end justifies the means. When the people who need the money are getting their basic provisions or when research in AIDS is being advanced, the question will not be why did it take a fad to get them to donate; the thought will be how can we make people go deeper into their pockets. Short of killing someone and embezzling their money, I doubt that the source of the money is not important.
Yes those of us in under-developed countries need more than money thrown at us, but I will be the first to tell you that those children will tell you that the money is a start. Sometimes I hear people who talk about charity from a distance condemn and chastise these famous people for selling a fad and I wonder what these same critics are doing. What efforts have you personally made to advance one kid or to educate the illiterate or help the needy? Yet you want to stay on your soap-box and criticise Bono, Oprah, Angelina or Clooney for using their fame to raise money for a cause that is needed.
And when you think about it, these yuppies and their (red)-tagged attires will influence others who see this as a real cause. After all, Malcolm X did not wake up thinking revolution, Elijah Muhammed brought about his awareness and we all know what kind of person Elijah was.
I turned 24 three days, thirteen hours and forty-six minutes ago. I was too tired to evaluate or think about anything else but getting through the day. I didn't even feel like celebrating the event, just another passing day telling me it's time to get out of Athens and into the workforce somewhere else.
I have recently reached the point where I wonder if I still have a lot of years ahead of me or the best is gone and all that's left to look forward to is back aches and the like. If you listen to my cousins tell it, they would say I am a dinosaur. On the other hand, I know I've only experienced a third of all I have to experience in this life. Although six years in America and 17 in Nigeria makes me feel like I have experienced more than my share at this point in my life.
I distinctly remember having a conversation with my friend right before I turned 23 about how the age of 30 is the golden age of most men. It is the moment when you know you are going to be a success or a failure. This conversation helped me come up with what I called 7-year plan. It encompassed graduation, working, owning real estate, investments and of course marriage, all in that order. These days all I think about are the first two items on that list i.e. getting done with my Masters and finding an enviable position in the workforce a la Chevron, bP, Exxon and so on. I don't kid myself into thinking everything else will fall into place, but I've amassed enough experience to know that my path can only be lit by focus, dedication and passion.
24 years have passed and with it all the innocence that I once claimed to possess.
The new year brings lots of new things. Resolutions, Promises, Excitement, Anticipation etc. Most importantly, it has given my the chance to love again. Yes I know, maybe it's still the champagne from the New Year's Eve party that's kicking in. Trust me, that wore off by noon the next day.When I first laid eyes on her, I wasn't initially impressed. I felt she would be like everything else in my life that has come, got broken and is now dissolved in the pool of past crushes. Then I started to pay attention and I realized (in the words of Beauty and the Beast), perhaps "there's something there that wasn't there before". The more I paid attention, the more intrigued I became and now I'm wrapped around the idea that this could actually work. People says looks don't matter, but those people lie. Looks are what make u snap your head around twice and catch your eye, and I tell ya those curves made me look again and again. Yes I know building relationships take time, effort and patience and every new one is different from the previous one; I am not too worried though, because getting to know her is the exciting part. When things begin to get rocky, I know I have dependable people I can share my troubles with. I just hope I'm able to afford her. Here's her picture. And if that doesn't impress you, this should.
