This post has no title. I just want to vent...

I want to vent. Please pardon me. I’m not venting at anyone in particular...just at everybody in general...if that makes sense.

I’m going to start this way. What the hell is wrong with us human beings? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we angry, frustrated, and depressed over things we can’t change and have no control over? Why do we dwell on things we don’t have? Why do we look at others and get jealous and envious and angry over what they have? My God, what is wrong with us? Why can’t we count our blessings instead of listing things we don’t have?

And why the hell do we think that being sad, or miserable or envious will solve anything?

I met an aspiring singer yesterday and she was telling me all her problems. In the middle of it she started crying. Crying because she’s been trying to break out and nothing has happened to her yet. Look at Omawumi she said; she started barely two years ago and she’s one of the biggest things in music today. Why shouldn’t I cry? I’ve been trying since 2004 and no big break for me yet, and it’s not like I don’t have talent...blah, blah, blah! Oh so you even have talent? I asked her. Do you know how many people will give an arm to have the kind of voice you have? I can’t sing to save my life, but you have the voice, you have the passion and best of all you are still young, but here you are crying in front of me...what a shame! Are you supposed to be crying or looking for ways to make your dreams come true? You think anger will get you a demo? You think depression will make radio DJ’s play your song? You think tears will give you paying concerts? No honey it won’t. And the sooner you realise that the better for you.

The sooner we all realise that being angry at ourselves or the world will not solve our problems, the better for us. Why do we let little things make us sad? You are not as successful as the next person, so bloody f**king what? There’s something in your life that’s worth celebrating. Celebrate that! I mean, we don’t know what the next minute holds for us, we don’t know whether we will be alive or dead tomorrow, so why are we living today like we are going to live forever? We won’t. The only thing we are sure of is now, this moment. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. So why do we surround ourselves with negativity? Life is hard enough, why make it harder on ourselves? Why choose sadness over happiness? Why choose sleepless nights over peace of mind? Life may deprive us of so many things but there are things we shouldn’t let it take from us - happiness and peace of mind.

If you’re broke, ask reliable friends for help. If no one wants to help, sit in your house and drink epa and garri...with a smile on your face. Where you are is not a permanent place. With God, it gets better. So please don’t give frustration a chance. in your life.

If anyone should be frustrated, it should be me. I thought I will be bigger than I am right now. I can’t even begin to describe how hard I’ve worked, all the ventures that didn’t succeed. But here I am, still standing. Still trying. Some people might want to feel sorry for me, but don't. I love where I am. Somebody wrote one time – Linda is just a hustler. Well I love hustling. If I didn’t like it, I would have married a rich man long ago and lived the fairytale life, but that’s not what I want my story to be. I want more than that for myself. So for that reason, I will keep hustling until I don’t need to anymore. That’s all we owe ourselves, to keep trying.

I had a book launch exactly two weeks ago today. When a friend asked me how much I realised, I told her (I raised 728 thousand). And she was like - this people are wicked oh, so that’s all they could give you? N728thousand? Na wa o. Did she say na wa o? Na wa o? My God!!! People go out of their way, cancel appointments, leave work early, travel from far to come to your event and then they bring out their hard earned money to support your dream...and it’s na wa o? So how much did you expect me to realise I asked. Ha ha, at least 2million she said. 2 million? Really? I went to companies and told them about my launch and two of them agreed to finance the event. They could have said no. I didn’t spend one dime of my money and I still raised over 700 grand and I should be angry about that? Why should I be counting how much I should have raised instead of counting how much I got? What if people didn’t even turn up? What if they came and didn’t have any money to give? Would I pick a bow and arrow and start shooting everyone? Why can't we learn to be grateful for the little blessings in our lives?

But what baffles me most is that some of us actually think that the society owes us something. It doesn’t really. Some of us go around waiting for someone to apologise to us; looking for people to fight our battles. Trust me nobody has the time to fight your battles...at least not the way you want it fought. They are busy with their own life's journey. You have to find a way to give yourself the life you want, nobody can give it to you. The society can't. It doesn't owe you. Just like we don't owe the society that much either. The only thing we owe our society is to be law abiding citizens, and contribute positively to it, other than that I don't see what else we owe. So we shouldn't let the society dictate to us.

If I want to wear the same dress twice in one week, I will. If you don’t like it, that’s not my problem. That’s your problem. You deal with it. And when you are done dealing with it..or not, come back and watch me wear the same dress again. Then you can jump from your balcony :-).

I derail. Like I said I want to vent :-). I'm writing down everything I'm thinking. Hope I'm making sense? I don't know what else to say...

But anyway, let me end with this. Instead of getting angry at your situation, go out there and change your destiny. Every single day we are alive is a chance for us to start all over again. Just tell yourself, today is the beginning of a new life for me. From this minute, a new me starts. It’s that simple.

And please try and be happy no matter what situation you find yourself. Depression has never helped anyone. Don't give it a chance in your life.
God bless.

I’m busy this weekend, will catch you guys next week.
Have a fantastic weekend
Kisses
L

Pictures from Zizi Cardow's 10th Year Anniversary Fashion Event.

Pictures thanks to Tyna Ezenma

Ali Baba's Aligations June 2010 Event

 This event is exclusive. 50 tables of 10 seats.
June 13th @ Civic Centre...

Kenny Saint Brown says never again to marriage

Gospel singer, Kenny Saint Brown, has come out clearly to state that she has closed her heart to marriage. She is now totally dead to marriage. According to her, marriage isn't destiny and rather than get hooked in a loveless marriage where she won't have the opportunity to explore her potentials, she would rather spend her time and energylooking after her children.*

Source: City People Magazine

"Comedy is a gift, not a trade" - Basketmouth

 "Most of the upcoming comedians who join the industry actually came on because of what they've seen us achieve. Anytime anyone does a business in Nigeria and others notice that it is flourishing, most of the people rush into it. But what these people don't understand is that comedy is not a trade, it is an act, a gift. If you're not gifted, you cannot be a comedian. But most of them come into the industry because they want to be rich and famous and that is what I detest. And at the end of the day, they end up stealing jokes from other comedians. This is a very terrible behaviour because comedians who bite other people's jokes make those who have really worked hard look like fools and they deny them credit for their intellectual property. But we've been trying to figure out a way to deal with the issue as it's a major problem we are facing now." Comedian, Basketmouth, tells City People Magazine

Banky W on the cover of ICE Magazine

UK Premier of Tenant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The UK movie priemiere of multi award winning film, THE TENANT is on Fri, 21st May 2010, @ The Odeon Cinema, Bugsby Way, Greenwich, London SE10 0QJ. Standard tickets: £10, VIP tickets £15. Info/24 hr Hotline: 07859926100.

Meet the lady that planned Bella Adenuga's wedding

The most talked about wedding ceremony of the past decade between Bella Adenuga and Jameel Disu has come and gone, but one question that many still want answers to is; “Who planned the wedding”? “Who pulled it all off”? While many are quick to point fingers at different event planners and companies, we can tell you as a matter of fact that the fabulous four- week ceremonies were planned and executed by non other than The Wedding Company.

Founded by events expert Funmi Victor Okigbo, The Wedding Company is managed by Vanessa Nwokoye, a Human Resource Executive who moved from the UK to Nigeria in September 2009.

“Even though I had no prior experience on how to plan weddings, I’m someone who loves to push the envelopes, I love challenges, learning on the job has never been a big deal for me, especially because I learnt from some who has been doing this for years. Once I put my mind to something, I will definitely achieve it” Nwokoye, a charming bachelorette who’s only planning to settle down herself says

And there is no doubt she pulled a good one with the high profile Adenuga/ Disu wedding which held for weeks in April 2010. Responsible for the introduction ceremony, engagement ceremony at the British International school VI, pre wedding dinner, and the Wedding reception at Landmark Village, Miss Nwokoye’s philosophy which is principally heavy on customer service, self fulfillment and team work has pushed her in the direction of putting together a winning team of experienced and dedicated planners.
She continues “We all have the vision and team work of wanting the company to grow. So we had been recruiting the right people. Fortunately for us as well, No surprises has a lot of experience that we tapped into! We have a lot of experienced staff from that department and a lot more have joined the team and we have been growing ever since”.

Founder Funmi Victor-Okigbo, says Nwokoye’s appointment is timely, and in line with the company’s policy of engaging the best and the brightest, as it forges on in its resolve to take wedding events’ solutions to unprecedented levels.

No Surprises, the sister company to “The Wedding Company” has over the years made a name by planning High octane events, and they have gradually and progressively become the major stop points for high net worth people in need of classy, elegant and world class event planning. Responsible for events such as Alexander Amosu’s launch of the world’s most expensive suit in Nigeria in 2009, Betty Irabor’s 50th birthday in 2007, the last Guinness Marketing Conference, “MNET night with the stars” and many other high profile events it looks like The Wedding Company is treading the part of its sister company No Surprises.

The company’s new MD is a UK-trained HR expert with many years of experience under her belt, and an unquenchable passion for events and organizing. She is engaged to her long time partner with plans to settle down later this year.

 

 

“They (No surprises and The Wedding Company) are independent companies, and we will run them as such” Funmi Victor Okigbo said when she was contacted last week. She continues The Wedding Company is a bespoke wedding design and production company founded by No Surprises Events to create stylish and elegant celebrations for couples, which means, The Wedding Company will focus strictly on weddings while No Surprises will continue to deliver corporate and showbiz events”.

Celebrities to storm High School Musical

Yes guys, all is now set for the debut edition of the High School Musical On Stage in Nigeria.

The team at Kidztrust headed by Sheila Okonji Ashinze is leaving no stones in making the event a success, ready to do all it takes to make the Nigerian edition of HSM of international standard.

To start with, the organizers will be flying in Young Lloyd from his base in Atlanta for the first time. The young singer’s drop where he made known his intentions to visit Lagos, Nigeria for the highly publicized High School Musical hit the internet sometime last week, and it’s left a lot of kids, teenagers and young adults eagerly anticipating

Add that to the fact that the show will be anchored by three talented Nigerian superstars MI, AY and Stella Damasus who have made a mark in their various industries, and you will quickly see that this event is anything but conventional.

Damasus and AY will guide guests through the event on May 27, 2010 in Lagos at the New Expo Hall, Eko Hotel while MI will do the same with the Abuja audience on May 30, 2010 at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton.

'Fashion for Jos' event in USA

 
All details on the poster...

An evening with Fredrik Galtung in Abuja...

Fredrick Galtung

Fredrik Galtung is the chief executive of Tiri, an NGO created in 2003 out of the recognition that the time for talking and raising awareness about corruption has now moved on to the determined reduction and control of corruption by the application of practical knowledge and skills. Tiri works with governments, business, and civil society to find practical solutions to making integrity work. They operate in the belief that improvements in integrity offer perhaps the single largest opportunity for sustainable and equitable development worldwide. Tiri is currently active in more than 40 countries on six continents.