In Memory of You...

I did a blog makeover recently and changed the entire look of my blog. When I finished, I looked at the new blog and I totally loved it, but I couldn't place the reason why I decided on the makeover until about 2 days ago.

About 8 years ago, I lost my dearest friend and I discovered that 8 years after, she still has a major effect on my lifestyle and so this post is in memory of Ashley and I'll try to tell as much as I know about her to anyone that cares to know.

Here goes:

Ash was by all standards the sweetest girl I knew, she always had something sweet and funny to say even in her worst moments. We met at this concert when we were much younger and we remained inseparable until she died.

Ash was born 9th of July and she was the first child of both her parents.

Ash loved to paint, design and draw; she had an obsession for papers, scissors pencils and colors. She could stay up all night just because she had something in her head she wanted to paint.

Ash hated school; she believed life was all about doing what you love and if it doesn't include going to school, then don't.

Ash also loved singing (although not as much as painting). Her best song till she died was Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine"

She had this strange fear of quiet places; she just couldn't stand being in a place that is perfectly quiet. In her own words, "It freaks me out; it makes me feel very choked"

Ash loved God with a very deep passion and she couldn't explain why.

Ashley lived with sickle cell anemia though and it wasn't difficult to know. She was smaller than her age and she was veryyyyyyyy thin. She was always ill and it could get so bad she'd have to stay in the hospital for days (one reason she liked this was because she didn't have to worry about school).

Generally, if Ash was well enough, you'd either find her painting, singing, sleeping or just going about the whole place trying to make people happy and making new friends alongside.

15th June 2002, Ashley had a crisis which eventually led to her death. All through her stay in the hospital though, she did what she knew how to do best-paint and make people laugh and of course singing “I can only imagine” with her sweet voice.

2nd July 2002, my dear friend passed on after her battle with the illness with one hand in her mom's hand, the other in her dad's and her had on my laps after singing her song with tears in her eyes.

Dear Ashley, it breaks my heart every time I remember you are not here anymore, but I'm glad you are in heaven where you don't have to imagine anymore. I hope what you imagined is what is over there. Thanks for being the best friend ever and for teaching me how to see the world in different shades of blue, pink, brown and red and yes, I'm still imagining and one day, I won't have to imagine anymore.

Your parents and siblings still miss you every day and your sister is painting too (I guess that runs in the blood)

I miss you more and I know that heaven is bursting with life with all the colors you have used over there.

I did the makeover for my blog because I remembered you and I hope you are proud of the designer I've become.

 I love you always and forever.

Rest... in peace, Paul the psychic octopus

"Haba! These people have started again. Is it a crime for me to have special powers again? Is it now an offence for me to just predict things no one else can? Ah, God, you should have made me a normal animal like all others or at least not made anybody discover my special powers.". I strongly believe that's what the octopus has been saying since it was discovered and even threatened.

When I first heard about this octopus(thanks to my facebook friend), I thought it was just another joke until I found myself ont the CNN website where I saw the video of how the octopus predicted Germany's victory over Uraguay and that was when I knew something was really going down. It became really serious when the same octopus predicted Spain's victory, hence emerging as the world champions.

All along, I thought the world was just having fun until about 24 hours after Spain's victory when I enterd into a church and Paul was the topic they were discussing that afternoon. I was oblivious though of the reason why they were discussing the octopus until about 2o minutes later when I heard the words demonic and octopus used in the same sentence.Haba Naija!!!

I started hearing all sorts of ridiculous comments such as "that octopus is demonic", "that octopus is another way the devil is using to get people", "that octopus has marine spirits","the power of darkness is at work again is at work again, may we never fall victim of this tactic of the devil", "merely looking at this octopus can initiate someone into the "mami-water" world" and even "anybody that eats it will die" and all sorts of ridiculous and unimaginable comments.

As an African and a christian too, I can't say I'll totally rule out these comments as it is possible that there is some form of supernatural power(juju as my country people will call it) behind this octopus, it is equally possible that there is nothing extra to it. Don't get me wrong,I'm not saying these predictions are coincidental, as a matter of fact, I don't think it is because I once learnt that any guess that is correct more than once is not coincidental(I stand to be corrected), but my point is this, the octopus has done it's best, the world cup is over, Spain has been declared world champions and the players are even back to their countries, so why not let sleeping dogs lie or better still, let sleeping octopuses(or octopi) lie and enjoy their habitat and life instead of debating whether or not the octopus has mami-water or papi-water spirits and even wishing they could bring this octopus to Nigeria to predict the 2011 general elections and probably even becoming the president in 2011 and according to some people, wiching they could make peppersoup out of the octopus(though I would totally love to taste that peppersoup).

I know that our cultural and religious beliefs always determine our thought patterns, but it's time to let this octopus rest... in peace.

I hope I have made a point.