Life Lately...

How are you doing?

I hope you have been well. On my end, things have been mostly quiet. But in a good way. The kind of quiet that is peaceful, that allows you to enjoy life and get work done.

I have been well.

But when it comes to this blog, it has been hard keeping up with it. I have to be honest. This blog post should have gone live in March, but I am starting to write it on the last day of March.

In all fairness, I have been busy. But I have also found it hard to think up new ideas that fit into what this blog used to be about.

I started this little corner of the internet when I was still a student. I wanted to have a blog because, I wanted to have a blog.

Writing about my latest musings, things that I found to be cool, things I was reading – those were so much fun. But now, I am not so sure about that. I feel like a much different person now. What I want to write about is different – and I hope I can figure out soon what I want to write about that would fit into what this blog is about.

Or maybe just… overhaul the whole thing?

We will see about that.

For now, stick around. And be rest assured, this blog isn’t going away anytime soon. I am not a quitter.

And to prove it, today’s post will be all about how life has been lately.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING

Not much.

And also, a lot.

By not much, I mean that when it comes to doctor work, I have had it rather quiet in the past month. I started my National Youth Service Year back in January. If you don’t know what that is – it is a program designed by the Nigerian government to foster national unity and reconciliation after the Nigerian civil war.

The whole idea is that new graduates get sent to a state different from their state of origin in order to gain experience of a new culture, and contribute to national growth in whatever organization or field they get posted to.

Me on the last day of orientation camp!

I was posted to a sleepy little health center. It is really what I wanted, and I am happy that it gives me the time to do other things while still doing some doctor work – which I now realize I genuinely enjoy.

It has been great this past month.

I feel so relaxed but also very energized to get things done.

Is this what work-life balance looks like? I am looking at you, housejob.

I would love to say more about NYSC, but maybe I should keep that till later on when I am done, and I write how the year was like for me. And besides, NYSC doesn’t like it when service members write about them on the interwebs.

WHAT HAVE I BEEN READING?

I have been reading some medical journals – honestly, I am glad I even have the time and space of mind to do that.

But when it comes to creative work. Here is what has been occupying my time:

-          Rereading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Yeah, I read this book for the first time when I was seventeen or so. I found some parts of it to be convoluted, but I finished it. Now, rereading it, I am realizing that this book is really such a literary accomplishment. I was prompted to dust off my old copy when I saw that Netflix had come out with a movie adaptation of the book. The ‘magical realism’ in this book is one thing, but the real triumph for me is writing a story with so many characters, and it mostly makes sense. I say mostly because I have to keep going back to check who is who since so many characters share similar names. There are a lot of Arcadio Buendias in this book

-          Completing Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi: I bought this book sometime last year. And you already know I enjoy Wole Talabi’s works. But sometime this month, I realized that there was a story in Convergence Problems (it’s a short story collection) that I hadn’t read before. I only realized it after another story in the collection got nominated for a prize. The stories in this book are a delight. If you love hard, really scientific sci-fi (ha-ha), this book will be a treat. If I had to choose my top two stories they would be “Lights In the sky” and oddly “Ganger”. I say the latter is odd because it took me the longest to read, but I think the story really stayed with my more than many others in the book. If you can, check out the story. And you can read the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award Nominated story, “A dream of electric mothers”

WHAT HAVE I BEEN WATCHING?

Netflix has been dropping some gems lately.

My favorite watch recently is “Running Point” which features Kate Hudson, an actress that I feel a little embarrassed to say I had forgotten about. It is a show about basketball. And let me tell you, I am a Nigerian woman, I am not in the demographic that cares about basketball, but the comedy in this series was so endearing it just made it feel like while the sport was integral to the plot, it was mostly a story about people trying to navigate a new and rather complex career.

I can relate to that (ha-ha). Give it a look if you can, you might even snag a few belly-laughs while at it (like me!)

The other cool thing Netflix has put out recently is Adolescence. So, this mini-series has caused a little bit of a culture moment. And I am happy about that! It is very important to uncover the very insidious nature of online incel culture and how it clearly leads to real-life violence against women and girls. But also, the third episode was so chilling. Seeing a thirteen-year-old boy having little to no regard for women, even being manipulative and violent towards the female psychologist that had been assigned to him. Wow. It was a great performance from both actors and it’s a series that would make a lot of people think.

Another socio-political themed series is Baby Farm. This is a Nollywood series and it explores an ill that is very common in our society which is turning vulnerable women into baby factories. I don’t want to get too much into the details, because of spoilers, but it just made me realize how very inhumane and very easy to brush over the subjugation of poor women with no where else to go. The BBC recently did an investigative report on the so-called ‘cryptic pregnancy’ facilities. The idea was that some scammers posing as fertility doctors would give women random injections worth a fortune, and tell them they had become pregnant. Even if they didn’t see any pregnancy symptoms. Even if they did a scan and there was no baby.

You’re probably asking, who would fall for such a trick? Well, it is women who have exhausted every other option to have a baby. Of course, the whole thing is a front for a backyard baby farm where babies are ripped out of their mother’s hands once they are born because the mother cannot afford to keep them. All-round deep-sigh inducing but it did make me see a very different side of human nature.

SOME OTHER COOL STUFF

1)      It is mango season! So, guess who has made multiple mango smoothies in the past two weeks?

2)      I am trying to push myself to learn how to drive again before the end of this month. Posting it here for accountability. It is going to get done!

3)       Can't think of much else other than... wow, it feels so nice to get to the end of this post after all. Really can't wait to see whatever I decide to do with this blog.

Tell me in the comments what you've been up to!

I always love hearing from you guys.

Say hi in the comments!