Thanks to y’all who wished me a Merry Christmas. In view of the fact that I was stuck in Europe, that was the best I could have hoped for. Unfortunately there was no “White Christmas” where I was —so my plan to take some pictures with snow to finally convince the “Doubting Thomases” that I was indeed somewhere in Europe failed to materialize….

Found out that I have this unquenchable “lust” for peanut butter… Yours truly ate it with everything over the Christmas – bread, rich tea biscuits, mixed with pasta.. I would be embarassed to even mention some of the things I did with it….Hopefully I’ll not add more than a few kilograms, and my regular brisk walks will burn it all off…. lol…

Was glad for the break – took time out to play Football Manager 2009 on my laptop.. Ended up top of the Hall of Fame by 2016.

Finally took the advice of a friend and watched 27 dresses . I’ve never being a fan of romantic comedies, especially now when my FB crush is still not showing face.. You know these things have a way of reminding you that you are still very single…..lol.. Anyways, I liked it,(at least it kept me occupied for the lul in activity over Christmas)…. And I definitely will watch it again…..

The next big thing for me is to update my 5 year plan…. Each year I review my goals from the past year on a number of fronts – career, social, humanitarian and educational and set out key action items to progress over the course of the year…. This time one of the activities is to start a more “serious” blog on Nigeria and its issues — hopefully promoting a dialog to identify ways that we as individuals can make a difference in our own small spheres of influence….

A big influence on my life in the latter part of this year has been Rick Warren and his PEACE plan initiative. Hopefully, I can resolve my Spiritual black sheep status and get something useful with my life outside the field of Engineering….

Here’s to 2009….. Hopefully, a year to make a fresh start and make a real difference…. And capture the elusive 19th…

WOW.. Went to church yesterday and was wowed by the Christmas story presentation put up… Everything from the kids singing “silent night” to the the main choir singing an up-beat rocky version of “Joy to the World” brought back memories from long ago…..

Liverpool almost gave me the perfect Christmas gift.. but yet again they failed to kill off a game that was there for the taking… Even I, the most die-hard of pragmatic fans – have begun to have real serious doubts about their desire to win the elusive 19th this year.. Have a real fear deep down that we’ll not get a better chance than this year.. with all the “Big Four” bleeding points like snow on a white Christmas….

Wonder how Christmas will feel this year — its my first time away from my family at Christmas.. Guess this chap had to grow up sooner rather than later anyways.. Plus all my flatmates have packed up and travelled — Nigeria, France, Dubai and London — dudes all gone leaving moi to my own devices for Christmas…..

Anyways, guess I’ll head off to church on Christmas day, come back for some serious bookwork and possibly see if there’s anyone I know willing for some small talk on the Tyne River…..

Anyways — Merry Christmas to y’all and thanks to the credit crunch I have a real excuse not to give any gifts this year!!!!

Last off — here’s Joy to the World from Mariah Carey….

Wonder what I need to do to get married to a very rich diva… Boy if i can make 50 million pounds from 9yrs, I’d be made for life.. That definitely will banish all thoughts of a credit crunch to the doldrums “like a bad night’s dream forever”.. Wonder why all these celebs hook up in the first place, if is only to part with loads of cash (maybe its not so hard-earned anyways or it really doesn’t hurt them lose the money). Maybe they do not believe in the love they sing about in their songs too….

On the subject of forgiveness and second chances, wonder what y’all think about our Nigerian bro who’s pleading for a pardon from President Bush… Apparently the dude was convicted of driving for a drug cartel in New York way back in 1989. He’s however had 20 years of stellar behaviour, spent in church work.. Surely, that is paying back to the community and on the basis of that he can be excused? I mean, he can’t be the only one who has been convicted for driving for a new york crime syndicate…What’s so special with this case? It does bring to the fore the negative image that Nigerians still have out there – the home of scammers, and everything bad. A gross generaliation (which is akin to intellectual suicide)but one which is very widely held.

I don’t know but it looks to me that maybe there is just a little less tolerance in the West for other people. Maybe its the credit crunch but when even ex-Archbishop William Carey chips in with his own two cents (two pence is more appropriate right?) about tigthening immigration control, in the name of not forgetting “the importance of Christian identity” I wonder what the world is coming to…Maybe he needs reminding that “there are only two races, the decent and the indecent”.

Guess ultimately it boils down to two things: Nigerians who persist in doing stuff to rubbish the name of the beloved country and our crap leadership that persists in lining their own pockets as well as those of their own croonies with the nations resources, instead of building the infrastructure required to take Nigeria forward…..

NB: Did u ppl see this bill from lawyers to INEC? Hmmm.. I wonder if the chaps deserve the money – looks to me like Manchester City offering to pay someone 400,000 pounds a week….. Golly…. Maybe i’m in the wrong career.

Spent a couple of minutes speaking with one of my friends.. and suddenly realized how “easy” the internet has made communication….This dude is that half-shy – half-reserved type who can barely keep a conversation going, but is absoutely fabulous on MSN or Facebook.. This dude manages to pull off witty comments that i’ve never heard from him in real life…. I began to wonder if maybe communicating in real time involves so many nuances that most people just wilt rather than communicate effectively…. Make no mistake, this guy is good – he finished in the top two in my class back in 9ja while yours truly finished in the never land of mid-table obscurity (as the football pundits so aptly put it) but the guy never was a talker….

Found a sad tale on the web of a romantic proposal gone awry… some romantic folks decided to propose marriage on the sea shore. Unfortunately, the wife-to-be got swept out to sea and died….Guess the simple things are most often the safest too….

Liverpool finally won a premier league match, and Arsenal avoided another slippery patch against Wigan, Man Utd pulled one out of the fire at home to Sunderland and Chelski turned on the style against another team outside the top four.. Unfortunately, they will keep doing well against the lesser teams but come apart against ARSEnal (you cannot pass the ball better than them), Manure (too many game winners to track) and Liverpool (too much endeavor and hard work).. Anyways, at least Liverpool still sit atop the table for another week at least.. Let’s see what happens when Hull City come to Anfield next week…….