July
In the early 90s, a woman named Ruth married an industrial design artist who had begun experimenting with a new type of plastic called Lucite to create trinkets, furniture, and accessories. Ruth had two children: a girl and a boy. The boy would spend his time playing with action figures, none of which the girl seemed to enjoy. Ruth decided that she wanted her daughter Barbara to have action figures like her brother Ken, so she created her own. This marked the creation of Barbie, the doll we have come to know and love.
Roughly 80 years later, specifically on the 27th of July, 2023, the Barbie movie was released, and I, in my little abode in Surulere, was planning to make a day of seeing the movie with friends. The internet had somehow reached a consensus to see it alongside Oppenheimer, in whatever order, and I decided to join in creating this experience for myself. "Barbenheimer" was great fun. I slept a little bit between scenes of Christopher Nolan’s 3-hour "Oppenheimer" because, come on, 3 hours with no subtitles? No pause or rewind buttons? I am but a girl. However, this takes nothing away from its greatness. On the other hand, "Barbie," which I saw later on the same day, was upbeat and fun. The entire theatre was decked out in pink. There was pink popcorn, pink drinks, pink lollipops, you name it. For someone whose favourite colour is pink, I was in heaven.
The quarterly employee hangout is peculiarly an endeavour I enjoy because it means meeting with people I otherwise wouldn’t see throughout the year, as we work remotely. There was one in July to mark the end of the second quarter of the year, and it was a lot of fun.
My father also taught me how to start a car this month: where the security is, how to turn the key, the right way to sit, and many others. He has taught me nothing else since then.
The Rundown
I bought a new wig. It will always be a pleasure whenever I can say these five words.
Big Brother started in July. The All-Star Season? You had to be there!
Twitter officially rebranded to X. A continuing dilemma.
The Women’s World Cup started in July and was exceptionally entertaining. Shout out to the Falcons!
I and my friends started an Intersection, a social page documenting the intersection of sports and pop culture.
In Barbie Land, everything is perfect. I give July five perfect pink stars!
August
I listened to Seyi Vibez’s entire discography one night in August. Not by choice, of course. It was my brother’s birthday and he celebrated at a small lounge in Surulere. I did not have a good time, but I think that’s implied. My ears simply fail to find symphony in the music.
Astrology is one of my many eccentricities. I enjoy it because it is enjoyable: simple, fun and objectively harmless. It is also quite relatable and I find the dissonance I experience in deciding if I’m accepting/assigning each sign’s quirks to real people or if they do possess them, quite fun. This August, I celebrated my Leo friends. Leos love birthdays! So there were some parties. My mother, a Virgo, was also born in August. Virgos do not mind a celebration but are not excessively enamoured by the idea of a singular day that is all about them. Zodiac signs. Fascinating, right?
Earlier, I mentioned club football being my primary form of entertainment. This month, club football returned in all its splendour, adding to the various joys of August. This season has been quite the watch, and the only thing I regret is deciding quite last minute to create an FPL team for the season. It has been a disaster so far.
I birthed this little brainchild of mine in August as well. My very first email was sent to an audience of 30 people, a number which has since more than doubled, and I am truly grateful. Both for the courage to start something that has proven so dear to me, but also for the support I’ve had in the form of constant feedback, views, likes encouragement and conversation. I thank you endlessly for all your support.
August is usually A-level results day, and I was once again inundated with the guilt of failing my own A-levels a whole 7 years ago
Not a lot to report on this month but August was august with celebrations and that earns it 3 and a half stars.
September
On the first day of September, I took my IELTS exam. I still think it’s a hilarious mode of testing the English proficiency of someone who has spoken and written English their entire life, especially in Nigeria where English is our lingua franca. Nonetheless, it was fun to write, like most exams.
On a more personal note, September was one of the hardest months of 2023, because I lost the highest percentage of friends to obodo oyibs. This meant lots of going away parties, sleepovers and tears; tears of pain and loss but also tears of exasperation because I was tired of losing people who weren’t gone.
For someone who claims to hate the beach as I do, it is quite hilarious that I accept invitations almost every time I get them. This is because of my primary love language as mentioned before, I enjoy spending time with my friends. That is my kryptonite. Love is my one true weakness. Shoot me.
The dollar-naira rate became NGN1000/$1 in September, an occurrence that I sometimes still don’t believe is real. Maryland cookies at this point cost around 800 Naira. They now cost 1,200 Naira. What a life.
The Rundown
After 8 long months of studying for exams, I returned to my happy place: the gym.
We lost Mohbad to death and I wrote about it in between my grief. If you haven’t, you can read it here
I designed a skirt that I still haven’t gotten around to making because I dread having to explain or conceptualise my ideas to anyone
I became an aunt for the first time.
I considered getting a ginger wig. I am still considering.
My niece’s arrival alone earns September 5 stars.
We’re wrapping up soon🥰. See you same time, same place tomorrow?😉