Yesterday was the first time I hooked up my mac since the big storm And I actually got loads done. I installed WordPress on the server (It sounds more impressive than it actually is, it’s much easier than setting up joomla or drupal) And played around with different themes and widgets. I should have been making banners for a site like I was supposed to! I also made a logo that I think came out quite nice.

At work I’ve been working with motion, I’m working on a Teaser, and I’m slightly sidetracked, creating treatments for fillers. Wish I knew more, can’t wait till I do!

Oh and that phone stalker that won’t get it, sent me credit yesterday to my phone! Needless to say I turned around and sent it right back, but I couldn’t, I don’t have a pin number. Does anyone know the pin number I need for a 777 transaction? Jameelah? Anyway I told him he had the wrong number, and he kept calling and said he knew me, but wouldn’t tell me how. I told him, either he’d tell me how he knows me or he shouldn’t bother calling, so he finally confessed. Apparently he saw ME at his sister’s school when he went to drop her off and it took him ages to finally get my number. So I told him that most definitely wasn’t me! Cos I’m not a student and as I’d told him before he had the wrong number. Good bye and good luck. Next thing I know he’s calling me the next day and texting me that we should be friends. So I wrote back saying no thanks & please stop calling or texting me. He writes back that he’s delighted to hear from me, and that he’s on his way to Kano but when he gets back he’s going to get me a gift. I’m just flabbergasted. Then in the night he sends me N200 credit. What the heck is wrong with people?! Salim was saying the same thing, we’re trying to figure out why these people waste their time and money prank calling people, or phone stalking them! What the bleep! Is it a long time strategy to somehow scam you eventually??

Okay enough ranting…

So have i mentioned any of the crazy Abuja rainstorms? We had a pretty bad one about a month ago that wreaked havoc and smashed a door and cracked a ceiling. I know, big laughs Jesse! Wait till I post those pics. Anyway, it’s been raining pretty steadily for a while so we’re in the thick of rainy season which is great. I love the build up! You see it coming from a distance sometimes it builds for hours, sometimes in a matter of minutes. The sky turns grey and the gradient keeps getting darker and darker. And the wind picks up you know like in the movies when something off camera is coming. and then the leaves get swirled around and things start banging and clanging. And you’re running around getting the clothes from the clothes line, closing windows, shutting doors, and you can feel the excitement running, see the cat hiding. Then almost in anger the water bursts forth and you can hear it hitting the ceiling violently. But after awhile, you get used to the sound and it’s soothing. And oh boy if you have a window open, you get to smell the freshest air, and feel the most perfect coolness.

Did I mention it’s raining right now? And I’m loving it?

So had a fun trip to sokoto last week or was it two weeks ago?? Left on Wednesday came back on Saturday. The naming ceremony was fun! there were lots of people got to see some friends and relatives I hadn’t seen in 11 years!! The highlight was my friend Hadiza. I’ve been trying to meet up with her for years but each time I come and am in sokoto she happens to be elsewhere. We went to FGC Sokoto together and were best friends in highschool. It was so fortuitous that when I called her she happened to be in a house right in front of ours! so all I had to do was walk outside the gate and there she was. We only had a few minutes to talk, but we’ve made plans to meet up in the near future.

Another highlight of the trip was some really fun texts and chats with a really good friend lol. Has anyone ever had alligator? lol. That night nepa played a game with us and only gave us a half current. which meant that in our roomwe could see the glow from the a/c but it wasn’t working, nor were the fans. And the corridor light was working. So it was ironic, we had electricity but the useless kind. Most of my cousins slept on the balcony or rather lay there i’m sure they were up all night talking. I was up all night sweating and fanning myself. I didn’t fall asleep till 4:30 right before mom woke me up to pray.

The ride back was also horrid. I’d forgotten my pillow and I just couldn’t get comfortable in the car. I was sitting in the back in the middle and my knees and neck ached the whole way. I still have a stress point in my neck that I can’t get rid off.

Anyway back to the main event. There were LOTS and LOTS of people. A canopy was set up with loads of chairs under a tree in our front yard and lots of food was given out. There was kunun zaki, soda / minerals, sobo & pure water in the drinks section. And food packets were handed out, the first one had rice and meat, not sure what else cos I didn’t bother to get one. The second packet had cupcakes, donuts, meat pies (YUMMY) and some other snack. that was the one I dug into. I ate so much!!

My aunt made me some of her delicious chicken when we went to the village. Mom actually fed it to me as I was driving back to Sokoto. The ride back from Sanyinna was the other highlight! Just me and mom driving back to town. A long winding road, open country and great conversation. Oh and lets not forget the chicken! Seriously can’t remember the last time I had chicken that good I didn’t think I ate all that much, but I noticed my cheeks were rounder when I got back, Jameelah noticed right away lol.

So I didn’t end up being posted at the Design Studeo, I got sent to NTA (Nigerian Television Authority) and that’s perfectly alright with me. In fact I think it’s great! I get to edit, perhaps do graphics, or even get to develop programming. It took what felt like ages to get started but now I’m creating a teaser with graphics to promote NTA. It’s been challenging getting all the clips from different departments, learning where the departments are and dealing with inter office politics. Right now I’ve got a pretty decent clip that’s about a minute long, I still need footage of super eagles, and that traffic warden that’s been highly decorated. After that I’ll bring it all into after effects and see what I can do.

Room Invasion

I saw a big fat Gecko in my room last night I just looked at it and kept going. I’m letting mosquitoes, spiders and all sorts of critters invade my room until my balcony door gets fixed. There was a massive storm a few weeks ago that twisted and broke a metal pole and crashed it into our roof. The wind was so bad that it got my balcony door open and smashed it against the rails thus breaking the glass. So for the time being, I’ve abandoned my room and only come in to take clothes in the morning and use the bathroom. I was looking at a mosquito the other day and couldn’t be bothered to kill it, I figured the room was more his than mine at this point.

I guess I’m not as scared or disgusted by Gecko’s as I was last year. Now seeing them doesn’t cause adrenaline to start pumping it just registers as an unpleasant occurence lol.

Babyville

My aunt had a baby girl last week so we’re driving up to Sokoto to see the little munchkin. In the span of a month, lots of people have had babies up in Sokoto so perhaps I should start calling it Babyville. My cousin and his wife had their first baby, a boy and exactly a week later on Sunday night when they had the naming ceremony, my other cousin and his wife had their second child also a boy. There were a few others, but who’s counting really?

Word Press Versus Blogger

I finally ported my site over to Word Press but am still bummed that I can’t change CSS Style sheets without paying! I get that it’s a service, but blogger is still free so maybe I’ll move there instead. I like the control blogger gives which is why I have a blog there: Fashionably Modest

Voanda Nigeria

voandang.com

So I designed a series of flyers for Voanda Nigeria for their advertising campaign. I created 5 posters and they chose two. I’ll post them up soon so you can tell me what you think.

Tommy Logik Where are You?

http://tommylogik.com

Tommy’s new site is going live today, I can’t wait to see it! He did say he’s got a few too many things on the table and might not make the inauguration deadline on the 20th though. I hope he makes it.

A Kd Roadtrip.

So I drove dad’s car to Kaduna today. It’s just a 2 to 3 hour drive but it was my first time driving on the interstate highway in Nigeria so it was quite an experience. I drove a steady 70mph and didn’t like it when I took it to 80, I felt like I was flying and the steering wheel was slightly shaky. All in all it was uneventful except for what looked like a dead snake on the side of the road. It was red and at an odd angle but I was driving too fast to pay much attention.