CaramelD



Thank you very much for your advice about my last post, I hear you all loud and clear and I'm trying to be sensible through the fog of sexually induced madness and not get my self into what Freaksho calls the CommRatio! While that problem occupies my thoughts, life is still going on and certain things make me wonder.....


Sending me a friend request on facebook with the line "Baby you look sweet, really gots to know you better. Holla at your boi, so we can make a better connection", is not going to induce me in any way, shape or form to accept said facebook request.


Control pants, bodyshapers and the like are instruments of the devil. I recently battled with one a few days ago as I got ready for a marketing awards dinner (my college won all the categories we were nominated for woo hoo). Who told me to pack slinky dress that drapes? Stupid girl like myself! As I yanked, pulled, stretched and did a mini dance routine to put the darn thing on I realised why Keira Knightly's character fainted from her corset in Pirates of the Caribbean.


And finally biggest ranting of all - I am yet to find a child or grandchild of a polygamous family that has not suffered from a side effect of that union. What ever the reason a man decides to have more than one wife I wonder if they really think that they cn handle the repercussions of such. My grandfather was a minister in the First Republic with one wife whom he married in church and then after he was given the kingship of our town fast foward to being a powerful Eze, huge palace and 20 wives!


My Dad and us by default are now suffereing the after effects of that because he is the oldest of 50 children and trying to keep a family full of poor excuses for human beings together. The latest? Some of his half brothers have vandalised and tore down some of the palace property (they know he is London for medical treatment) and now 'plotting' to kill him by Christmas (someone intercepted emails they have been sending to each other). I am so bitter! Only God can intervene but it hurts to think of where all this stress is coming from.

CaramelD
Soooooooooooo,

What's the point of losing your virginity to one guy only to leave the guy in one country and come back home. Isn't that torture? Or is it torture to hold off knowing you do want to end up in bed with him but won't ?

What's a girl do to?

So confused!
CaramelD
If I can spare one person what I went through these past few weeks, then my work here is done. These rules are in relation to getting a new passport, other forms of torture (sorry I mean services) may differ. What ever you came for, rest assured your blood pressure will go up.

1. Do not for one moment even THINK that you will do all you need to do in one day. That is just foolish thinking right there.

2. Also do not, I repeat do not take what you see on the web site as gospel truth. It is never updated on time. For information ask your friends, family and even your Indian newsagent because they will know more than the website.

3. Even though the awkward and ill designed official website is http://www.nigeriahc.org.uk/ what you actually need to apply is http://www.immigration.gov.ng/ and on getting to that site you need the patience of a saint and a nuclear physics degree to get through the different forms and payment system.

4. You can only pay online for new passports and only with A CREDIT CARD. The payment then takes about four days to clear and by the grace of God you should then get an interview date.

5. Even though the High Commission opens at 10am, aim for 8am because there will be a queue outside the locked doors. Bring food, water, warm clothing, firewood, ipod, books, Bible/Koran and all the things needed for surviving in the wild because that is what it will feel like.

6. Once inside you will be immediately and automatically transported to Naija without getting on a plane. The confusion, the raised voices, dodgy toilets, TV that doesn't work, broken floors (health and safety my ass) and the icing on the cake..... the lights actually go out from time to time (NEPA in London!).

7. Be prepared to meet old friends and actually make new ones. Nothing brings Nigerians together like bitching about the Establishment. People will swap notes, ask questions and discuss their life stories. Ahh there have even been love connections. Men you may meet your wives, women you may meet your future hubby or on a bad day you may meet your ex, with his wife and three cute children!

8. Remember, the picture they take of you that day will be in your passport for the next 10 years and unfortunately it will be at the end of a 5 hour wait so you will be looking tired and grumpy with a shiny face. SAY CHEESE!

9. Picking up the passport a week or so later is also prone to drama and happens in the afternoon around 3pm so either have an understanding boss or plan ahead to pull a sickie.

10. Most important rule of all, if you have the chance please just change your passport in Nigeria. With an extra 20K you can get it that same day!

PS Do not make the mistake of thinking you 'know' someone that can help you. There are only a handful of staff in that building, exactly how many people can they 'help'? Two women told me how they paid £600 and £400 to speed up their applications and yet we were all languishing together!
CaramelD

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth.

This is your victory. I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people. Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.