Wednesday 26 January 2011

'To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all'


'Well June told me its her wedding party today but I haven't even been invited!'
'Yeah you got invited but I didnt! Should I still come anyway...?'

'How long will you be then? Tell me what to do, so I'm not hanging round le
nton for half an hour like a lost sheep!'



Don't you just love it when you're on the bus and you can hear people on the phone. Naturally you find yourself eavesdropping and listening in on conversations you probably shouldn't be listening to. I think it's interesting though. I mean these people you sit with on the bus, you have no idea who they are or what their stories are.  All you know is that they need to get from A to B, just like you do. 

You don't even pay attention to half of them, apart from the really weird ones, you know the ones that stand out... The old woman that insists on starting a conversation with you. That old man sat at the back of the bus talking to himself. The mother with the screaming child in the pram. The cool kids on the bus who seem to rule the back seat.  Only those ones stand out.The ones that play up to the stereotypes.  But what about the woman sat behind you with weary eyes, the man on his way home from work to be greeted by an empty home, or even the lady planning to gatecrash 'June' and her wedding party.
Ok, I can't believe I'm just rambling on about people on buses... But do you ever not think what someone else s life is like? I mean, we must interact with thousands of people all the time, over the phone, in the shops, at the gym, on nights out, at uni, at work etc. I'm just fascinated by people and different lifestyles I guess, some times I see people and I find myself wanting to know more about them. Not in a weird creepy stalker-ish kind of way though. Just in a I wonder what happens in other peoples lives kind of way. Like how we ore obsessed with the lives of celebrities...
I guess I should stop fascinating over other peoples lives and just concentrate on my own.




Tuesday 4 January 2011

The story of the Tortoise and how he cracked his shell.

My mum used to tell me this children's story she heard in Nigeria all the time when I was a younger and thought I would share it :)

One day, there was a meeting in the sky where all the Birds would gather and discuss. Discuss ideas. Discuss life. Discuss.
The Tortoise, although slow and steady as he was, wanted to join in on this meeting in the sky. He was intrigued. And so, he gained the help of a friend he trusted to fly him to this elusive meeting in the sky.
The meeting commenced.
And what an amazing sight it was for the Tortoise to behold. All these different birds, all different shapes, sizes and colours.
Greens, blues, whites, yellows, reds, blacks, oh it was a beautiful sight indeed.
The meeting in the sky, it was beautiful.
Now, the Birds where not mean creatures, they did not seclude him, or kick him out, or taunt him for being different. In fact, they welcomed him, they greeted him, and asked for his name.
Now, the Tortoise, although slow and steady, was not a foolish character, 'my name is All Of You' the Tortoise stated proudly. All Of You? What an unusual name. However, the Birds, did not have much time to linger on how unusual it was as the food had arrived.
The head Bird, a beautiful, striking, colourful Peacock, with what seemed to be all the colours of the world in his feathers, stood and declared, 'all of you, eat the food'. And so he did. Oh, he ate. All Of You ate the food until he could eat no more, he ate until there was none left.
Anger had began to brew amongst the birds, 'how can he eat all our food?!' 'That is not fair!' 'Let's kick him out! they cried indignantly.
The Tortoise looked around, 'what?! He said, 'All Of You eat the food', my name is All Of You and I am eating! Now leave me alone!' And he continued eating. The birds, tired of this game he was playing, lifted the Tortoise out of his seat, took him to the edge of the cloud they were in and dropped him out of the sky.
All Of You fell through the sky and landed hard on his shell, causing it to crack in several places all over. But he did not mind at all, for he had eaten.