Sound Saturday.

I dub every blogpost for Saturday to be *drum roll even though I already gave it away in the title* Sizzlin' Sound Saturday!


Today's sizzlin' sound is inspired by my cousin being serenaded to Brymo's "Good Morning". & by serenaded, I mean the guy sent her a text with the song in it in the morning. Nice thing to wake up to huhn? or could've done better? Well seeing that she's not with him...haha.

Anyway. Here's another sweet song & great visuals by Brymo, especially for all my college sweethearts out there, 

'Omoge Campus'. 

Enjoy!

Bolaxbijou. 

P.S. - I've really been getting back in tune with my gospel lover side, so be expecting a sizzlin' sound from this genre soon! 

I really need to work on:

Discipline. 
consistently disciplined.
#yesbeyesnobenotins



Bolaxbijou

akwa ibom ayaya.

One of the benefits of having an Akwa Ibom future in-law *crosses fingers*, is that you become exposed to cool songs like this.

Akwa Ibom Ayaya x Mish

& Mish is fine small sha.

man. I might shift my eyes to akwa ibom guys oo. these yoruba guys are dulling as of late. cant decipher between a jewel  bijou and cubic zirconia, no pun intended. but i'm schleep  studying for the LSAT though.

bolabijoux

"I'm missing the love back home"

ill be back to my regular blogging self soon. blame it slight on the sinusitis. p.s.

In the books. In the TV.

First day of (legitimately) studying for the LSAT in the books. & my favorite thing about the study session was the eager, excited, and interested attitude that I had within me while reading the introduction. No groans, frustrations, etc. I was actually happy to be studying. That has God written all over it, bruv.

Having a right mind about the test is one of the components to success on the test day, according to the Kaplan LSAT Premier 2014 study book. So, at least I have one thing down pat. 

Let's pray this attitude sticks with me from now till October 5, God willing. 

"Approach the LSAT as if it's an opportunity that get's you where you want to be, rather than a burden."

---------
I'm also watching the encore presentation of the BET Awards 2013.

My bants on that:

Justin Timberlake is black & Pharrell is my new #mcm.

 I actually gave credit to Ciara for her performance when I first watched it, but watching it again, I am requesting for that little credit back. Sorry, try again. Great body, though. 

Like, who even put the wardrobe together? 

Crooked Smile X J. Cole ft. TLC 

Such a nice, encouraging song. Not a fan of him though. I don't even like rap. But wow, the lyrics are so sweet & real. Like I could quote almost every one of his lines. I was literally like tuned in when I was watching him perform this. Didn't know he was about that life. 

"No need to fix what God already put His paintbrush on" -J. Cole

BolaBijoux

Coupe Decale. No girls allowed?

I didn't blog yesterday, one because my laptop fell off the table, so I wanted it to heal, and two, because my filling came out while biting on a (CVS brand) Sour Jack candies. So I was bummed about that last evening.

So before I go into my spiel.
Two cool songs to add to your playlist.

Omboio X Perola (Angola)

Awilo Longomba for the ladiessss! (aka idk the name of the song, lol) (Congo)

Spiel time!

Disclaimer: Feel free to prove me wrong.

So I have been watching many Cameroonian/Ivorian/Congolese music videos, and I've been noticing a trend: among the above mentioned African countries (not to mention many others), gender roles are still a strong part of the culture, and such even transcends into the realm of music. Despite how newer artists from these countries are moving away from this, I am noticing the trend of the girls in the videos holding down the role of the video vixen, while the guy is the one doing the cool coupe decale moves to the music (especially in Cameroonian music videos). A perfect example can be seen in the Ivory Coast's 'Molare' (see below). Being that I LOVE coupe decale, I was looking to do the moves the females were doing, but instead, I was copying the males moves. If anything, females do a simple whine their waist routine (in a fast pace), while the males contribute so much creative energy to their routines ("energy" literally & metaphorically speaking). Being that I am not Ivorian/Cameroonian/Congolese, It's hard for me to determine whether or not females are fine with being the pretty faces of the videos, leaving the amazing s**t to the males (excuse my french...lol what an appropriate phrase for this blogpost). I mean, The 'video vixen' subject is one that transcends all cultures, and it's not the concept of having video vixens in a video that I am worried about. It's the concept of what I perceive to be an understood established rule among their socities that it's socially unacceptable for females to coupe decale (the male way) that is the issue.. Thankfully, other dances across Africa aren't as limiting, speaking of the Azonto in particular.

At parties as well as in the video's I've been watching, I've never seen a female energetically and creatively coupe decale as the males do (especially DJ Arafat's crew...bruh watch this...back flips, somersaults, beatbox...all in the name of coupe'ing). Therefore, I dey fear small that if I were to do the same at a party, I would be relegated, rather than celebrated (I mean I would be expected to twerk only instead, no matter what kind of dance I want to do. But that's another topic for another day).

In no way am I a feminist/women's rights activist..... I just want to Coupe Decale in peace (the male way....leg kicking, somersaulting, spazz attack looking moves and all).



BolaBijoux

Quotes of life.

Yup. Yesterday (July 8, 2013) was definitely a quote filled day.

Took a nap & for those that know me, something's up when I take a nap during the day.


Anyway, I woke up really feeling inspired to journal. Like it was dire that I journaled. So I whipped open my pink journal and started writing.

The content of the journal is personal, and is not even today's subject, lol.

So moving on. After journaling my beautiful heart away, I looked at the notes I had written in the past in this journal. & me being the eclectic girl woman that I am, I have the tendency to put random writings in the same journal. In short, my past notes are a mixture of to do lists from sophomore year, sunday sermons from sophomore year, etc. While looking back at these notes, a few quotes stood out to me, so I felt like sharing. Also enjoy a bonus set of quotes from tonight's conversation with my boo Tolu (which explains why I did not blog yesterday. delay tins).

Here we go!

"One cannot live by feelings alone. Seek out what is true and what is not"
                                                                           -from "Tearing Down Strongholds" 

"It's the battle inside that determines who we become"
                                                                              -from "Tearing Down Strongholds"


"I have so much life to live than to live it in fear, despair, and condemnation"
                                                                                 -from "Tearing Down Strongholds"

"Some of us are trying to live out the identity people have stamped on us. Get it back" 
                                                                                   -from a session at BCF Conference 2012

"You've got to be sold out about the product in order to sell it." 
                                                                                   -from a session at BCF Conference 2012 




"I'm created too uniquely to let it all go to waste. ya dig?"  - me, today. 




*Bonus*

"Mother Africa is not pleased" 

"May we not be on line past 24 IJN" 

"Without the power of the box, there would be no Emancipation Proclamation" 

"I feel like our parents are kind of like the Martin Luther King for us African youth in America, and we are letting them down" 

"Lol, you went the highest out of all of us. Reached high. you went down low to be elevated. May we all be elevated  IJN"

"We can't even classify these guys as men....boys!!!" 

Lol good times. good bants. 




BolaBijoux

Speaking of credit...

I realized I am not giving the Nigerian military enough credit for their offensive efforts as it relates to the crisis in Northern Nigeria. Apparently, such offensives led the militia to driving out the rebels to the mountain/caves of the North from them terrorizing the village towns, markets, etc. So as a result, they retorted to sneaking out of the caves/mountains and burning schools.
(I forgot what news article I read all this in, but this is what I got from it in a nutshell)

Still, this does not excuse the military for their inaction with the children and schools.

& I read today that the Yobe area schools have been shut down until the start of the new term in September.

Interesting quote from today's article: "The refugees, among 6,240 recorded in Niger, indicated they are as scared of the Islamic extremists as they are of the soldiers who are supposed to protect them."

So does this military really deserve any credit?



BolaBijou <3

extra credit.

So I am really adamant about this whole introspection thing. & I've come to the realization that.........


I don't give myself enough credit.

Credit for the fact that I've been taught the Yoruba language - in fact went through a period in my childhood of having a "tyrannical father", endless hours of Yoruba writing, speaking, and reading, and even poetry performances (yes, all for the sake of us learning the Yoruba language, despite not having been born and raised in the land of its origin).....for me to brush it off as if it's not a big deal, or even worse- tell myself and allow others to tell me that I can't speak it well?

Credit for the fact that I am pushing through these German courses, working towards a German degree,  & I even went to Germany for a few months earlier this semester. Yet. no credit,  because I'm looking at the glass half empty, rather than half full (looking at the German I have yet to learn rather than what I already know).


Credit for the fact that I am an amazing dancer, despite thoughts from others stating proffering otherwise.


Credit for the fact that I am truly a beautiful girl that's working hard to do what it takes to possibly heal the (literal & metaphorical) scars from puberty.


I am constantly looking it what I am not, rather than looking at what I am. It's so easy to apply such truism to material things (be grateful for what you have, etc),  yet when it comes to my own self, it becomes, as Kirk Franklin's album is titled, The Fight of my Life (I am referencing him to also note that he and I had similar struggles...but God! :] )


I may not be able as flexible as I want to yet, nor as fluent, but it's about time I pat myself on the back for what I have achieved thus far, while encouraging myself to continue striving to achieve the goals I've set for myself.


*pats back*



BolaBijoux

Gobe in Yobe

-->

It's interesting how I was planning to blog about a very out of the ordinary Yoruba traditional wedding I attended yesterday, which would then segue into non-stop touting of the Yoruba culture. 

Yet, this illustrious culture is housed in a country that, euphemistically speaking- and understatingly at that- still has much room for improvement.

The news  I heard today permits me to change alter the subject of today's blog altogether: Gunmen kill at least 30 in a school attack in Yobe State, Nigeria. Like set the school on fire, and shoot anyone that tries to escape, kind of attack. Apparently, this is not the first incident, as Allafrica.com reported a similar occurrence on June 23. I am shocked and appalled, for many reasons- I shall state them in bullet points below, for all intents and purposes of clarity: 

• These attacks happened after President Johnathan issued a state of emergency for the area, meaning preemptive measures should have been taken to prevent such from occurring - the fact that this had occurred twice (both in incidents not too far apart), is even more bewildering.
•  It's one thing for a  rebel attack to occur in a country, it's another for it to occur in an almost lawless country (call a spade a spade. When a whole government cannot quell insurgency in some parts of it's country....it's lawless. ...OK incompetent would be more befitting). 
• The report quotes a source, who states "there is no protection for students despite all the soldiers." Shocked and      appalled is an understatement. 
• The whole Western world mourned the death of the Sandy Hook students this past December, who fell to the hands of a single gunman, and almost the entire world knew about it. I literally felt as if the whole world was standing still to watch reports from CT stream into their various news channels (for me, it was BBC at the time). These school burnings, have happened twice. Not to even say there's not enough media coverage on the issue (which is slightly debatable, but that leads to another subject of Nigeria's inapt government being the root cause of such news not gaining notoriety), nor to even say that one situation is more extreme than the other (in my opinion, when a human life is taken as a result of insensitive actions, it's extreme). I am just trying to expound a situation of active reaction (America) vs. passive reaction (Nigeria), as many will read this news, but God forbid another Boko Haram attack later in July.

Which brings me to the main beef of this blog. Honestly, I would love others opinions on this, and definitely tell me if I am wrong, or don't know enough being that I am not physically in Nigeria). As I think of the reason for such passivity amongst Nigerians and the Nigerian government, many different conclusions come to my head (all of which I cannot confirm, as I am a literally distant bystander): Maybe Nigerian's take "suffering and smiling" and "laugh through ones pain" and run with it, becoming more and more settled with the situation of their country with leaving it for good being their only hope for change. Maybe the lack of sense of unity causes other parts of Nigeria to not want to continue pressing the government to do something about what's going on in the North. Maybe the people don't realize the power they have to make a change ---they should definitely head north east and  recruit some Egyptians to become Nigerians, because they are clearly 'bout it. There's clearly much that goes into preventing such tragedies from occurring again, yet I don't feel as if Nigeria has it down -at all. 

To make Obama's recent famously quoted statement endemic to this situation, maybe one day Nigeria will be for Nigerians. 'Coz  Because I would love to be able to safely enjoy the traditions of my culture in its original land without hesitation or apprehension, instead of having to do so in a foreign one.

BolaBijou <3

Dedicated to the 30 lives lost. I never knew you, but I know your potential was incomparable. 

College Monster.

If you haven't done so, check out my correct guys Mike W. & ....... Sullivan (clearly they are not my correct guys, as I have forgotten the name of the blue monster, pictured right) on the big screen again in 'Monsters University'. The marketing strategy for this movie was good too! I saw a few Monsters University ID cards with people's pictures in it on Instagram --which sparked my curiosity towards movie. So I saw it, & it was good!  & as has been the trend for many of the recent children's films, there's usually an underlying moral/advice that is applicable to the general audience (old and young), so here's what I got from it:

1. There's no 'I' in team. Use the unique strengths of each person to altogether strengthen the group dynamic, and further allow the group to be successful in all endeavors.

2. As I am reminded of a Yoruba proverb 'ma gun eshin eleshin sare' (don't use someone else's horse to race), this moral kind of hit's close to home. So the movie definitely touched on how there's no specific way to do things in life. Everyone must run their own race, basically. What helps Sally may not help Molly, vice versa tins. & that's what many tend to struggle with, especially in college. Just because your friend Tom, is able to study for a test the night before and get an 'A', doesn't mean you can do so,  and receive the same results. & such applies to many other things in life. The best way to avoid such is to truly know yourself. Know your strengths, weaknesses, unique talents, etc, & Boom! greatness happens. *SPOILER ALERT* The monsters that were especially used to exemplify this moral to me was Art & the monster with 3 eyes. In the Scaring contest, both really scared the child in a totally different way, using their physical features to scare the child. In order to do so, they had to know themselves (ex. know what was a part of them could make them appear the scariest).
Basically, run your own race. 

3. No matter how physically incapable you are deemed to be able to do something, passion & confidence will drive you to do it. *SPOILER ALERT* bruh, Mike was basically not scary at all, but with the confidence he had in himself, you couldn't tell him anything (I was slightly jealous of his confidence, sha. shhh. ). & his passion for Scaring. He surpassed his mates in becoming learned on the subject of Scaring. O'boy could've schooled the professor on the day of the final, if he wanted to. Yet, he wasn't physically scary. I honestly though he was going to come to this epiphany through his new found friendship with Sullivan and then drink Muscle Milk and work out to get bigger. LOL. Nope. Instead he still became a Scarer --- but not the traditional one. He became a behind-the-scenes Scarer, as he is the brains behind the Mike-Sullivan Scaring Team. So despite how he didn't make it through the path that is usually taken, he took the road less travelled...matter of fact, he created his own path & made it. Changed the game.



Two other children's films that also had such an impact on my life, both because of the great production and the life lessons it taught are 'The Princess and the Frog' and 'Wreck it Ralph'.


Rating: 6/10 - The end was not something to write home about. But Disney Pixar definitely A1'ed everything else.




BolaBijou <3

Not a double entendre.

Correction:
 In my July 3rd "July Bants" post I insinuated that "vocally eloquent" was a double entendre.

 It's not.

this is a double entendre:

                     "Panda mating fails: veterinarian takes over"



"Vocally eloquent" --- I really tried to look up what the term is for this grammatical error, but alas, no luck. I know there's a word, so blog readers feel free to help me out anytime with this word.

I'm out like a light switch. 


As in, how old am I? (referring to above statement).



BolaBijoux

& The Jay-Z song was onnnn.....

Jay-Z's album came out today....in all honesty, I'm not interested.  I don't like rap nor do I like the person. Yet, I am extremely attracted to the marketing strategy behind the album.
From the day the album's release date was first announced through the 3-and-a-half minute commercial during halftime of the final game of the NBA Finals (wait, what if there was no Game 7? It would've been back to the drawing board, I guess), which featured the movers and shakers of the music industry (specifically-actually maybe only- speaking about Rick Rubin the demigod, physical features and artistic wise)---I was highly impressed. Not only did the the videographer do a round of applause deserving job, the commercial also  presented an unprecedented phenomenon to the masses --Free streaming of the album on its launch day via a particular phone.
& all this was the result of a deal between Samsung & the guy I don't like.
 I am a fan of all things unique, creative, and different.. that my friends, fit all three categories to a tee. Talk about inspiration.

----

Happy 4th of July, Leute!

I'm not going to lie & say this 4th rocked my socks off....In fact I haven't had a rocking 4th since Blue Ridge (Summer 2010). But as good as my God is, I would be ungrateful if I didn't recognize and acknowledge the good that came out of this day. I became more comfortable driving my pops car, I was good at being vocal, in the evening, I did a bit of "clean up to my area". So yea, Heute wars cool. I also got a (hopefully) nice Shea Moisture product for my hair. excuse me. "Got" doesn't justify my actions, nor does it do justice to the amount of money that left my bank account -- I "invested"in a nice Shea Moisture product for my hair. so hoffentlich, beim Ende des Sommers werde ich die Ergebnisse sehen. Speaking of end of the summer, unless I really have bad memory, I am a bit saddened by the fact that I don't feel as if I have done anything progressive since I have been back "stateside" (as my Americanized twentysomethings Naija FOBS & their imitators -like me- that are still trying to cling  to their roots would say).


Maybe I need to be writing things down but, I am recanting since I've been back---and since then till now (like 3 months)....I've been feeling real stagnant. & the summer is almost over. 3 more weeks for me. Well, I need to stop worrying, complaining, and just do.
This week is not yet over, despite how much tomorrow feels like Monday.
Delay is not denial.
I need to be that retreating ram for the rest of the Summer if I want to attain that state of progress that I truly crave.

Please help me God.

In other news --In a forceful incident, President Morsi has stepped down as Egypt's president.
 #revolutionegypt2013

BolaBijoux.

4th of July day at Blue Ridge Conference Center, NC. 2010. Thanks, Facebook.

   

                                   

  

Oya X Victoria Kimani ft MI

Despite how I am in the opinion that this artist needs to rebrand herself (this is how they made videos in the early 2000's, she could've milked her Kenyan culture for all it's worth to really stand out, and the foreign boy eye candy...cute but what?)......


The song is kind of good. & I like how she speaks her language for like one ad-lib.

& of course my dude MI in that thing drops a few bars, increasing the song's bride price altogether [ha].
[He didn't deliver as he usually does, so I'm slightly disappointed.]

The Secret to Greatness

Do. 

July bants.

Happy month of July!!

bants. bant. bants.

So I'm trying to really be introspective this Summer, & clearly God is forcing me to do so, as my mind is currently not being distracted by anything as of late.

So as far as blogging is concerned,
I am not a fan of typing, nor do I like to vlogging because it requires me to be vocally eloquent (isn't that a double entendre...anyway)...but I love the concept of blogging/vlogging....that only means one thing!!! ----> I NEED to do this. Since my self-esteem is in its healing process, I see improving my writing skills and my speaking skills (as elementary as this sounds), will only help to expedite the process of it to fully heal.

As President Obama stated in his speech to the South African students on his recent visit to their country, ".....[make] choices that reflect not our fears, but our hopes."

[I am a very ceremonial person, so not having done this on the first of July is throwing me off but...] I am holding myself to the task of blogging each and everyday of this month, by His grace.


I can do this.
[I want to end here, cos it looks good...but I'll continue]


So yea. 

Things I plan to work on this month, BGG. 
LSAT study
Discipline
Diplomatic decision-making
Dance & Flexibility -- creative advertisement/brand/website creation
Blogging- natuerlich
German practice [Ubung macht den Meist]
Reading list completion

oh & I would like to create a signature for myself. 

I thought.....Bola Bijou ? No? OK. BolaBijou.... I actually like it.


This is really a scary task for me to embark on, as I tend to start/plan/think up great ideas, but it never comes to fruition due to my fear of being great -- which w'ell discuss in an upcoming post.

BolaBijou <3