Blast From the Past - Buchi Emecheta

Buchi Emecheta in the 70s

Buchi Emecheta is a well known Nigerian author though I'm not sure if she has written anything recently. Her most popular books include Joys of Motherhood, the Bride Price, Second Class Citizen, etc. Her books mainly focus on women's issues, particularly the theme of gender bias in both immigrant and African societies. Most of Buchi Emecheta books at either autobiographies or semi-autobiographical. Other themes include racial prejudice and the experience of immigration. With over 20 books to her credit, she published her first book 'In the Ditch' in 1972.

According to her wiki page;

Florence Onye) Buchi Emecheta was born on 21 July 1944, in Lagos to Igbo parents, Alice (Okwuekwuhe) Emecheta and Jeremy Nwabudinke. Her father was a railway worker in the 1940s. Due to the gender bias of the time, the young Buchi Emecheta was initially kept at home while her younger brother was sent to school; but after persuading her parents to consider the benefits of her education, she spent her early childhood at an all-girl's missionary school. Her father died when she was nine years old. A year later, Emecheta received a full scholarship to the Methodist Girls School, where she remained until the age of sixteen when she married Sylvester Onwordi, a student to whom she had been engaged since she was eleven years old.

Death Penalty For Aurora Shooter James Holmes?

Who remembers the Colorado shootings? [read story]

What do you think of the decision of the prosecutor in the case of the Dark Knight cinema shooter,James Holmes, to seek the death penalty for the killer. The move has actually been applauded by victims and friends of victims who say they want him to die. One friend of Holmes' 12 dead victims even said he wanted to watch the alleged killer die.

'I don't know if it's painful. I want him dead. I just want to be there in the room when he dies,' Bryan Beard told ABC outside the Colorado courthouse. 'He took one of my friends from this Earth. Death equals death.'
Beard's close friend Alex Sullivan was one of the 12 people killed in the shooting on July 20 last year. It was his 27th birthday. DailyMail

Would you want someone who hurts you or kills a member of your family to get the death penalty? What do you think of the death penalty in general? I think in this case, the shooter looks mentally not there, but I do support the death penalty in principle, but on a case by case basis.

Change of Domain Name

Hi all. I'm kinda like a bad blog right now. As you may have noticed, the domain name has changed to romancemeetslife.com to match our title and the full direction of this blog. I have been working on this for several weeks now, and more intensively over the past couple of days and today is the culmination of all that hard work. Still, I know not every thing is as it should be. As we sort out all the kinks, I apologize in advance for any inconveniences to you. Please use the comments to let me know of any issues you're having.

Some things you can do to make it an easier transition for you, and for me too.

1. Please update your blog rolls and lists, especially if you added me manually as mynewhitmanwrites.com

2. Please use the social media share buttons to propagate the posts to Facebook, Twitter, G+, etc. This means the new name is indexed more quickly and transition hiccups reduced.

3. If you have linked to me anywhere on your blog recently, please update the posts with the new name. I know this is hard and will understand if you can't do it.

Remind me if I've missed anything. Thanks again.

Introducing Timi Robbins - A New Contributor to this Blog

Oh lord about me eh... laik say I dey advertise for dating website... Oh my this is going to be hard...

I am a happily married Nigerian good ole chap, born and raised in Nigeria, over 40 years ago. Married to an absolutely awesome White American lady, currently living in the United States on the East coast outside our dear capital, Washington DC.

I guess I would say I am an odd ball real life romantic, I send my dear wife flowers, buy her chocolates, and we certainly have "date nights" of dinners and movies as much as we can. I say "odd ball" as I do not call my wife sweetie, dear, honey sugar pie or any of that other funky stuff..lol But she knows she will always get kisses, hugs, back rubs from me. And support in any situation. Also I can cook, but do so rarely as she loves cooking.

I believe in shared responsibilities of the household, especially in one where we are both working professionals. Hence I do not expect a home cooked meal every night, it is impractical. And hence I absolutely clean, take her shopping for groceries and I shop for groceries myself!

Celebrating Mediocrity In Nigeria By Femke van Zeijl

I used to think corruption was Nigeria’s biggest problem, but I’m starting to doubt that. Every time I probe into one of the many issues this country is encountering, at the core I find the same phenomenon: the widespread celebration of mediocrity. Unrebuked underachievement seems to be the rule in all facets of society. A governor building a single road during his entire tenure is revered like the next Messiah; an averagely talented author who writes a colourless book gets sponsored to represent Nigerian literature overseas; and a young woman with no secretarial skills to speak of gets promoted to the oga’s office faster than any of her properly trained colleagues.

Needless to say the politician is probably hailed by those awaiting part of the loot he is stealing; the writer might have got his sponsorship from buddies he has been sucking up to in hagiographies paid for by the subjects; and the young woman’s promotion is likely to be an exchange for sex or the expectancy of it. So some form of corruption plays a role in all of these examples.

But corruption per se does not necessarily stand in the way of development. Otherwise a country like Indonesia—number 118 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, not that far removed from Nigeria’s 139—would never have made it to the G-20 group of major economies. An even more serious obstacle to development is the lack of repercussions for underachievement. Who in Nigeria is ever held accountable for substandard performance?

Traditional Wedding Pictures - Nse Ikpe Etim and Clifford Sule

Nse Ikpe-Etim had her traditional wedding with husband, Clifford Sule in her hometown, Ikot Etobon, Akwa Ibom. The two exchanged customary marriage vows in front of family members and guests at the St. Stephen Primary School, where the event held. They were both dressed in native Akwa Ibom traditional regalia, and in my opinion, that staff makes her look like royalty. Even the guy's Aladdin headgear. Nice one :)

You can read more about Nse and Clifford Sule at the following links; Nse on Finding a Man, Personal Journey to Love, Civil Marriage, and her Stepson.

Tribute to Roger Ebert by his Wife, Chaz Ebert

I have always known about Roger Ebert since I started being interested in Hollywood and it's movies, and more recently since I got the Fandango app and started checking out the critic's reviews more often, I've been drawn to his blog for the Chicago Sun times. He is witty and fun, and yet can be serious too. I like his approach to movie reviews, and if I read his review before seeing a movie, I enjoy it more, reading the reviews after equally gives me another or a deeper insight into what I've seen.

On a personal level, I've seen him a few times in interviews, twice alone, and once with his wife, and I found his survival in the face of aggressive and repeated cancer amazing, the strength of the woman who had stood by him inspiring. Roger Ebert had attributed the success of his fight against cancer to his wife of over 20 years, Chaz Ebert, and now in announcing his death, she has penned an equally touching tribute.

CHICAGO, April 4, 2013 -- Chaz Ebert issued the following statement Thursday about the passing of her husband, Roger Ebert, a day after he celebrated 46 years as a film critic:

"I am devastated by the loss of my love, Roger -- my husband, my friend, my confidante and oh-so-brilliant partner of over 20 years. He fought a courageous fight. I've lost the love of my life and the world has lost a visionary and a creative and generous spirit who touched so many people all over the world. We had a lovely, lovely life together, more beautiful and epic than a movie. It had its highs and the lows, but was always experienced with good humor, grace and a deep abiding love for each other.

The Adventures of a Miss Series - Episode 1

Why am I still single oh Lord? These were my first thoughts this early Monday morning. I didn’t think I should be grateful that I was alive oh, or was able to get out of my bed with no problem or that I have a job and a business to go to this morning. My thoughts were consumed by one of my best friend’s weddings I attended this past weekend. I’m the last one in my group of friends who is still single, Semi and Tayo are married, Sope is engaged and Kehinde has been with her boo for a year and half now.

I don’t know what I am doing wrong. I do want a man who is mine and I don’t want to settle for just anyone out of desperation. It’s not like there are no guys. I am a beautiful woman and there are always at least 2 or 3 guys trying to wife me up, but they just don’t feel right or am I just too picky? I have prayed and I know for a fact that they are not my God ordained husbands.

The first one Muhammad is a Muslim and while there is nothing wrong with being Muslim, it goes against everything I believe in. I think of my life with him wrapped up in my hijab all the time and I’d have to convert my religion and raise my kids to be Muslim. I don’t think it’s something I want to do at all and in all honesty I have completely shut down any feelings that may develop there. Although he’s still trying to convince me by giving me lavish gifts every week. I have never known a man as persuasive as him, but even with all the gifts I know in my heart it’s not going to happen.

Healthy Salad Dinner

Roasted chicken drumsticks with shredded green leaf lettuce, tomatoes and lima beans topped with hickory bacon dressing. Surprisingly filling.

Watch Gidi Up Episode 6 - Snakes and Ladders

Gidi Up is a thrilling adventure centered around the lives of four friends in pursuit of happiness, success and independence. However, a few wrong choices quickly turn their Lagos dreams into a Gidi nightmare.

In this episode of Gidi Up, things are looking up for Tokunbo, we finally get to meet Sharon, Chief's daughter and Obi's life is spiraling into a Gidi nightmare

Catch up with Episode 1 and 2 HERE, Episode 3 HERE and Episode 4 HERE.

This 8-part webseries shows how Tokunbo (Deyemi Okanlawon), Eki (Oreka Godis), Yvonne ( Somkele Iyamah) and Obi (Karibi Fubura) deal with love, sex and making a living in one of Africa's biggest cities.