...a star for your day.

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Yoruba: Obì kékeré kọjá òkúta ńlá.
Eng: A small kolanut is superior to a large stone. - Yoruba proverb.
.........................................................................................................
Something to add a star to your day:

I have learned that:
'The more important things in life are more often than not the simpler ones like friends, family, laughter, rest, passion and birthday dinners...'

This picture was taken four months ago during my 'milestone' birthday. I was all teary-eyed and overwhelmed with joy.

{I'm in the pink-ish shirt, crying :)}

P.S: NEVER skip a birthday dinner. They are important. :)

Have a great rest-of-the-week...
NakedSha.

What my albino character taught me:

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Yoruba: Èèmejì letí olójà ńgbórò.
Eng: The ears of the king hear everything twice. - Yoruba Proverb.
......................................................................................................................

PH City (7months ago)

.......................................................................................................................................
 By the way: I feel very strongly the need to travel 'round Nigeria more. Now, I realize how much there is to see and do. When they ask me for my best country, it is not difficult to give an answer. 'I have drank many waters, eaten many foods, worn many clothes but have had only one home'...NakedSha.

.......................................................................................................................................

I am still writing about an albino. My friend, E-Smiles is giving me awesome moral support from Lagos and with him, I hope to cover a good portion of my research soon. Do you remember when we wrote stories as children and often, we would write about what we were not or what our little minds could best imagine? I remember. I wrote about pixies and elves (thanks to Enid Blyton) and midnight mountain adventures with long torches and a family dog (thanks to the Ladybird series). What happened to that culture? Now, it is almost the norm to write about what we are, who are are. Unfortunately, we soon run out of our own stories unless we reach out to tell those of others. Besides, telling my own story incites restraint. I am constantly thinking about what should be told and how much of it should not be shared. So now, I am writing about an albino and learning much more than I ever expected. In telling the stories of others, I learn from them. To my character, the sun is both an enemy and something that is secretly longed for because the sun seems to be darkening everyone else but bleaching him.

And I know now that I am just like the albino. Today, I long for age but deep down within me, I fear that age will bring wisdom that will swell and then burst like the party balloon. Until I become frail and useless. 

Bless,

NakedSha.

P.S, please visit E-Smiles here.

True Beauty - Sonia N. Osi.

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Igbo: Akwukwo juru n'ohia, ma a baa a choba okazi.
Eng: There are various leaves in the bush, but people go in to look for okazi leaves.-Igbo Proverb.
.....................................................................................................
Hello darlings. This post is just in time before we run out of July. It would have come sooner but the sweetheart subject of the post was getting done with exams.

So, Sonia N. Osi is featured on NaijaStories as the Writer of the Month (July, 2010). I have known Sonia for 8 years now and we are good friends. She actually calls me her sister and I regard her as mine too. So, she has been writing for a while and it is not surprising that she was featured on Naijastories. Find her interview here. She has shared some fun facts about herself .

{Find and become friends with her on Naijastories.com}.

Sonia's words:
1) I have a library of about 40 books. 
2) My worst genre of books is romance. I cannot explain why but the shallowness of Mills and Boons has something to do with it.
3) I'd rather write something than say it.
4) I get shy when I have to read something I wrote ranging from a bland text message to an essay on the environment, anything! I also get shy if my work is read in front of me.
5) And then for some other weird reason, I'm shy about my real-life actual friends reading my work too; I feel much more comfortable when strangers review/read my things.
6) I'm actually not a shy person despite the two previous points.
7) I've almost always kept a thinking journal. Yeah, you guessed right - that's the posh name for diary, hehe.
8) I have never understood it when people say everyone's got skeletons in their closet. I always feel left out when I hear that. 
9) It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Seriously? I find that funny. Very funny.
10) I could never be with a man who didn't wash his hands after using the bathroom. I'm just saying.

...and yet, she's a medical student in Debrecen, Hungary.

NakedSha loves you, Sonia. And you know it.
Enjoy, my darling readers,
NakedSha.

If I sent you a letter, would you...?

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Yoruba: Ení bá sùn là ńjí, a kì í jí apiroro.
Eng: One wakes only those that sleep; one does not wake those pretending to sleep. - Yoruba proverb.
...........................................................................................................................
Pictures out of my letterbox:

^Bad handwriting day.

^One of the letters I received from my Secondary School Junior friends.

^

All these letters are years apart. I still write letters. I'm advocating for the useful old traditions that we once had like letter-writing. Remember to be careful with what you write because 'once written, forever there.'

Find a loved one and send them a letter. AND KEEP THEIRS

Hang in there, you just may receive a letter from me!!!

NakedSha...

From my album

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Yoruba: Kí a re odò ká sùn; kí ni ará ilé yó mu?
Eng: If we go to the river and sleep there, what will the people left at home drink?- Yoruba proverb.
............................................................................................................................
I would really love to share pictures with you all because I am an avid picture lover. It's intense. However, there are only so many without clear facial features and I have not resolved to reveal myself completely just yet. I am getting there, please be patient with me :)

A friend of mine took a picture of me strutting down this runway earlier this year. And my face is not very clear so it's perfect. Enjoy :)

Jacket: Macy's, Black Long Top (worn as dress) : Macy's

Belt: Francesca's Collections, Necklace : From my collection of beads.

Leggings: Target, Shoes: Random Store on Pearl Street

Ring: Francesca's Collections.

......................................................................................................................................

Please bear with the quality of this photo.

Now that I think about it, this is an outfit I may be willing to don off the runway.

Bless your hearts people,

NakedSha.

Once in a while, I bleed...

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Yoruba: Onísùúrù ní ńse oko omo Aláhúsá.
Eng: Only the patient person will win the daughter of the Hausa man. - Yoruba Proverb.
.........................................................................................................................................
It's a lot of work to find oneself all over again. It's very interesting and rewarding but it's not always easy. It's HARD. One of those things that eventually, one can say is truly WORTH THE WHILE.
.........................................................................................................................
Jaycee, FYI: I have fallen in love with Coelho...big time.
.......................................................................................................................
I grew up exposed to so many different cultures understanding that I am bi-cultural and permit me to claim the Rivers state heritage also since I grew up there and will forever have nostalgic churns in my stomach and flooded eyes with the mention of The Old Place. Moving later on away from this bliss - this perfection of love and joy and togetherness - I was already biased against wherever it was that I would be moving to. I partly blame my dislike for the new place therefore, on this warped state of my mind. But, I wish it proved me wrong and at least fought to correct my impression. Almost everything was different from what I recognized as normal and yet the new place is within Nigeria. Suddenly, it was an issue that I had grown up in The Old Place and not somewhere else. Growing up in a different environment from what everyone else was used to the meant that I was spoiled and too easy-going and accepting of others. All of a sudden, it was thrown in my face that I was not just the normal Yoruba girl - I had Edo blood and therefore, I must be diluted. I, along with the ones that I love, fought to try to explain carefully that it was beautiful to be immersed in other cultures and learn from them but that was a futile move. Then, I chose instead to watch how things were done and why they were done as such in the new place. It was quite difficult to determine but with time, it was clear. Now, I'm terribly flooded with awful memories of wickedness. It is wickedness because this new place sought bitterly to rid me of the simplicity that I had known and the love that will help to move the world forward - the kind that even Christ would approve of. In all honesty, if I could, I would get rid of every single moment in the new place and grow up until this point in The Old Place because (TOP) reminds me of stripped beauty and love. Last Christmas, when I made my annual trip back home, I went through (TOP) and dare I say that I would not be doing this again. Landing in (TOP) had me crying uncontrollably because I was almost forced out of there and definitely not to a better place. Sleeping in its hotel bed over-night was much better though because we - the city and I - seemed to be communicating and catching up on old times and I heard it almost audibly reach out its comforting arms to me. The next morning, I moved on to the new place. Now, I think I may return home to serve (NYSC) since those of us who go to school outside Nigeria have a choice of where we may serve. People have sworn that I would choose Abuja or Calabar or The New Place...and betray (TOP)? Never! It was almost as if I was turning mad with all my nostalgic outbreaks regarding this city where I grew and lived and learned and failed and succeeded and schooled and then left by everything but choice, until one of the ones that I love recently confessed that he felt the same way too. So, the militants had control over it for a while and it does not necessarily have the most cinema houses or shopping malls but I understand the language of the earth of the Garden City and it understands mine. So, tomorrow, when I want to write a memoir of my life, I would make sure that honor is given to whom honor is due. Maybe if I was removed to a better place or at the very worst, the same place but with a different experience, I would have a different story to tell. But every time I speak of my childhood, I speak of love and peace and my eyes cry. The new place - the one that I have tried so hard to love - does not feel the same.
...........................................................................................................................

And The Old Place (and all the people who were in it with me) taught me to see far beyond tribe and culture and see a person for who he / she is. The new place fought hard to make me myopic.

From bleeding NakedSha,
Bless...

I wake up in the morning...

...Omonoba...
Our people say:

Yoruba: Kò sí ohun tí ńle tí kì í ro.
Eng: There is nothing that gets hard that does not eventually become soft. -Yoruba Proverb.
.................................................................................................................
Today's thoughts: 'Find self and then let go of it'- NakedSha.
.................................................................................................................
From a prev. post:

When I read a book, I am privileged to create my own imagery and enter into the world of the characters. I form a relationshop with them - the characters - and we communicate. It is as if I am a part of their story and I become equipped to re-tell it. When I watch a movie, I am subjected to the point-of-view of the director. Good movies are awesome but good books are even better. Go Books!
-NakedSha.
(This post can be found here).

{Six months ago; the hair was still so low - almost gorimakpa :|}

Books are fun, books are great

Let's sit down with a book today

Books are fun, books are great

Let's sit down with a book today

It's time to read a book.

-Barney and Friends.

I have just opened the first page of the book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Hopefully, I would fall in love with the author. At the right corner of my blog, I have a list of books I have read this year (2010).
Find yourself a good book today and read.

Bless,
NakedSha.

This is how you did! :)

...Omonoba...
Our People Say:
Yoruba: O lo sÍjèbú èèkan, o ru igbá àse bò wálé.
Eng: You made only one trip to Ìjebu and you returned with a calabash of charms - Yoruba Proverb. 
..........................................................................................................
Hello darlings. This post was fun. Here are the answers:

1. I want to adopt half of my children.
TRUE!
Honestly, I would really like to adopt one or two. I would love to.

2. I have lived in the following cities: The Hague, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Boulder.
TRUE!
In this order ---- PortHarcourt ->Den Haag -> PortHarcourt -> Lagos -> Boulder.

3. The scar on my eyebrow is from an abusive relationship.
FALSE!
No oh! I briefly mentioned this here. It was from an accident.

4. My father was once central bank governor.
FALSE!
CBN governor FAYA! Gove-gini? See correct flying over the head now.

5. I absolutely love dogs; I would like to have seven when I grow up.
TRUE!
I know no one would let me have seven but I will push for as many as possible.

6. I am in my early twenties.
FALSE!
Hehe, nope!

7. When I was fifteen, I dated a twenty-seven year old man.
FALSE!
Abeg, why did most people say True for this one? When I was fifteen, I was thinking of Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

8. I collect beaded jewelery.
TRUE!
I cannot wait to find new stuff. Beads are versatile and beautiful pieces of art. Love 'em.

9. I had lunch with the Queen of Malaysia and I had to go through (9) hours of training for this.
TRUE!
I did have lunch with the Queen (along with the other UNEP JB, 2006) and we did go through 9 hours of training but in all fairness, we were trained for other things too. However, the queen's portion was substantial - how to meet her, greet her, talk to her, eat with her, etc...FUN!!!

10. Two of my siblings have weird reactions to Tetmosol and Tampico.
TRUE!
It's weird.
.....................................................................................................................
EdithSmiles (My potato beastheart) - 90%, LDP - 90%,  Ms. Nitty Gritty - 80%, Jaycee - 80%, IphyIgboGurl - 80% (this does not do your knowledge of me justice at all), Miss Natural - 80%, MyneWhitman - 70%, NaijaLines - 70%, Isha - 50%.

Thank you so much for participating, lovelies. This was done in good spirit and I enjoyed it. Naijalines, thank you for forgiving me because I know that 20% is not accepted anywhere in the world. Plus, you did awesome on mine. Don't worry, if you do another one, I will scatter reach like 120%. :)
Alright, go forth and do yours!

Bless your heart, darlings.

What have I done?

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Yoruba: Elédè tó kú légbodò ló ní ká fòun jeyán
Eng: It is a pig that dies at the time of the harvesting of new yams that asks to be eaten with pounded yam. - Yoruba Proverb.
....................................................................................................................
I promise, I'm not turning my blog into a même one but I liked this one too. Naijalines did it and I failed woefully at hers... But Naijalines, I assure you that it was entirely guesswork (since I did not know where to start from).
So, I have listed ten things. Let me know which one(s) you think is/are false and which is/are true. I will give you the correct answers in the next post.

Alright, here goes:

1) I want to adopt half of my children.
2) I have lived in all the following cities: The Hague, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Boulder.
3) The scar on my eyebrow is from an abusive relationship.
4) My father was once Central Bank of Nigeria governor.
5) I absolutely love dogs; I would like to have seven when I grow up.
6) I am in my early twenties.
7) When I was fifteen, I dated a twenty-seven year old man.
8) I collect beaded jewelery.
9) I had lunch with the Queen of Malaysia and I had to go through (9) hours of training for this.
10) Two of my siblings have weird reactions to Tetmosol and Tampico.

Alright buddies, let me know what you think. I will give answers in the next post!

The Honesty Même...

 ...Omonoba...
Our People Say:
Eng: A man may have unlimited access to his wife and share flesh and blood but her bones belong to her people. - Ijaw Proverb.
........................................................................................................................
Sting tagged me in this même. I liked it and thought I would go ahead and do it...It's pretty spontaneous. I shortened mine by picking 10 questions out of the original 25 and added 5 new ones. Alright, here goes:

The Honesty Même...

1. Right now, I am feeling:
Thrilled. I discovered an additional therapy for my hair. Kudos to full, dark and natural hair.
2. When I'm alone, I feel:
Relaxed. Me-time is a favourite of each day. I reflect, talk to God, sing, play my guitar, watch videos, write and dance my heart out.
3. One thing I hate is:
Rape and justifying it in ANY WAY.
4. One thing I really like about myself is:
My super-duper active conscience.
5. When I feel sad:
I sing a 'wet' song to God and then I call my mother.
6. I am afraid of:
Failure / Losing a loved one.
7. I am happiest when:
I am with my family / I put a smile on someone's face.
8. If I could be with anyone now, it would be:
AaS
9. If I had one more day to live, I would:
Cuddle up with my mother and siblings in my parents' bed and gist / sing as we usually do while my father plays the guitar.
10. When I think of my family, I feel:
Pure love and nostalgia.
11. One thing I am really proud of is:
My family/My friends/My salvation. {Sorry, that's three}
12. In a fire, I would grab:
My Bible, My laptop, My box of letters, My albums, My camera and My box of official documents.
13. One thing I can see from here is:
My about-to-be-drank bottle of Malt.
14. My most expensive property is:
My laptop.
15. Something I wish I currently own is:
A Nikon camera to replace 'old faithful'.
.......................................................................................................................
Everyone who reads this, please go ahead and do this même! Fun, fun, fun!!!
.......................................................................................................................
I specially tag you, IphyIgbogurl and EdithSmiles!