Trooping the Colour of emotional attachment

Some emotional points of self

There are certain things that carry an emotion and sentiment for which there is not suitable articulation of words to describe, these are deeply seated in the person we are and how we express ourselves.

Watching the Trooping the Colour on playback at this moment, I reflect on those things for which I have not found adequate expression yet can be found dotted amongst my writings that give me a sense of pride, being, and identity. My spirituality, my Englishness, and the institution of the British monarchy.

Where one stands

On the first, I share occasionally, in which I determine to find the reality of divine intervention in every sphere of my existence and much of which leaves me conscious of the fact that there is much more to learn and understand of the mystery it entails.

The second is controversial to some as much as it is significant to me, and though the debate might rage about Britishness or Englishness, I am quite originally an Englishman of Nigerian heritage, and no apology is made of understanding that this sense of identity is reinforced by so many influences, experiences, and places. Sometimes, it is just the inability to appreciate the individuality and uniqueness of someone else that fuels the disrespect for how we choose to be identified.

I say the institution of the monarchy rather than just the monarchy for it does not matter who peoples the offices that pertain to the monarchy, yet the weight of history and tradition bears heavily on the shoulders of the monarch who through life is conditioned to certain discretions to maintain the mystique of the said of institution.

Love of a great idea

Though most of our lifetime this institution had the face of Queen Elizabeth II, there is a generation of personalities that have passed on with a wistful sense of loss as the new Carolean era of Charles III takes hold. The ease with which the machine of state transitioned occasioning amazing pomp and pageantry that no other people than the English can muster is one that imbues one with a sense of loving and patriotic adoration.

The love of fatherland without it being mistaken for political or royal adulation, England is my land, it is my country and from this land I have explored many places including that from which my parents came to study here and witness a country in radical transition and bruising change.

When it comes to ceremony and music, something in me wells up in full agreement that this land, and it being Perfidious Albion to some still exudes history, beauty, wonder, excitement, amazement, and pluck. In every nook and cranny, you find England is a place in many people’s hearts. God save the King!!!

It is 31 years of japa

We left and never wept

When I think of it, at this time 31 years ago, I had just arrived in the UK on a flight from Lagos which was the last time I was in Nigeria. I have since then not found any inclination or urge to return either for sentimental or other reasons, it feels like o broke free from a system and a situation and that was the end of the matter.

Even as I write, too much of what I read and hear of Nigeria is not just scary, but terrifying. If not the abuse of power by the rich and powerful, it is the menace of agents beyond the control of the state terrorising the regions that the state in attempting to arrest the situation almost always descends into atrocity and criminality.

Our hopes for something

Then again, I commend the many, especially among the youth that has been able to make Nigeria work for them after a fashion, their tenacity and resilience cannot be poohpoohed, they have shown that regardless of the circumstances, there is ability and possibility even as things could be better to expand opportunity for broader ascendancy in the citizenry.

Nigeria for me is just a place to observe and assess, my involvement and engagement is necessitated by relationships in the familial and the fraternal, beyond that, my energies and prospects are being directed to other places. Over time, I have increasingly doubted any anticipation of my return, even for the particular. We are done. Yet, my dream for Nigeria remains one for peace and prosperity for the majority marshalled by those who have a good clue of what they are doing. That alone is the welfare for everyone anywhere with a Nigerian connection.

Blog - From a Nigeria 30 years ago

Japa – Urban dictionary

That boarding pass of the 30th of December, 1990.

Thought Picnic: Unlatched from Slumber

False premises

Deep in sleep, one is suddenly awoken by the opening of the door as if a child playing prankster has run by tugging at the handle to annoy you.

You wake up startled expecting to see the child sheepishly come by, half-contrite, half-satisfied for doing the reprehensible to us but the comprehensible to them.

Then your mind gets subjective and you prepare to bound out of bed and deliver a severe warning just stoking the limits of absolute rage but you restrain yourself as the door is closed once again for you to settle into slumber.

Possible remedies

Not too long afterwards, it happens again, then again and again, over days as it becomes unclear as to whether the door is possessed or the child is more possessed but ones peace is held all the same giving the benefit of doubt that there might well be something else at play. Meanwhile, the child is scolded by someone else as one settles into the satisfaction that it will not happen again.

Another remedy to this little inconvenience is to either lock the door or close the window because a spark of scientific thinking suggests when the wind blows and pressure is reduced in the room the door apparently flings open, but why one did not just ascertain that once and for all is left to the laziness of mind.

Reasons arising

Then purposely the door was closed and it did not seem to have the clicking sound that suggests the door was properly closed, why does one have to manipulate the handle to close the door? We were close to why the problem existed but not the reason yet, subconsciously, one put it down to bad workmanship and left it at that.

This afternoon, the reason with all its ramifications became evident, the lock was put in wrongly so the bevel of the catch that ensured the door was properly closed and caught off the fitting of the door frame was facing the wrong way.

Doors to dummies

Mortice Lockset courtesy of HomeTips

Let us get really technical here, we can all learn something from this little but seemingly inconsequential matter. One needs a lockset to lock a door, the example above is a Mortice (UK) lockset. The lock body goes in the body of the door itself where you will attach the handle or knob. Accompanying the lock body is the strike plate which can be a rigid fitting to the door frame or cut into the door frame.

The strike plate holes take the latch bolt to close the door and the deadbolt to lock the door. In some cases the door handle is immobile usually on the exterior which means the door only needs to be slammed shut for it to be locked requiring a key to open the door. The lock system can be built into the latch assembly, thereby, not needing a deadbolt, those are all aesthetics but they all could determine how secure the lock will be.

The latch bolt is bevelled allowing for the door to be shut easily but it catches against the strike plate so that the door cannot be pulled open except by turning the handle or knob or by using a key.

In this case, the bevelled side of the latch bolt was not catching against the strike plate meaning the door can be pulled open or like I described earlier, the wind could just do it for it.

Determine why every time

I could have saved myself the subjectiveness of causation by immediate observation and inquiry rather than let my mind wander off into conjecture, assuming a premise that has now been proved to be totally wrong.

The many times we have allowed the subjective to becloud better judgement derived from applying ourselves to the task of acquiring knowledge by keen observation and the logic that allows one to make complete sense of how and why things happen.

For therein lies the smarts; being inquisitive, precocious, questioning and challenging of situations brings knowledge that cannot be contemned, because your thinking, sentiment and discernment will be based on data and facts. Doing it immediately makes you even smarter, we need to have the presence of mind to think this way.

The first brickbat

The Police's Comment

There were comments to the blog I wrote yesterday, but one elicits further analysis.

Police made this comment,

hypocrite you are

using "locate" for find and so on

lets see how stupid you are. spot ur mistake:

"Then as I was getting off, the bravado of one portly man who was ((((((((((trying to getting))))))))))) the attention of a lady on the bus ..."

Hand up! I messed up on this one; however, there is much to be said beyond this.

The issue is still the issue

I like it when people make use of the word hypocrite because they always leave much more of the muck to throw back in their faces.

As I said in my last blog, I would expect brickbats from my blog, beyond that, whilst there would be comments that address the issues, there are some who would go for the sentimental at the expense of addressing the facts.

Usually, the better view to take is address both such that you can share your intelligence and probably valid concerns, but like we saw with the Kalu Orji Kalu interview, the smart saw he was not smart, but some thought if he had a better accent he would have been smarter - Go figure.

Police anonymous?

So, Police who did not provide a sender's address considering the ability to leave your email or URL when commenting in my blog begins by closing the opportunity to communicate.

My comment about using locate for find and so on left me open to the facetious which is fine, but if you are going to be pedantic, check your views, do not remove the 2 by 4 in my eye when you have a whole forest sticking out of your head - even I can play the role of hypocrite so well.

If anyone deigns to correct English grammar, communication is essential, punctuation is critical and conveying a message clearly without having to resort to abuse is class.

My sin was the use of getting instead of get, easy Freudian slip, I am not writing for the London Review of Books, but police seems to have stepped out of the house just in undergarments, an unkempt ruffian trying to adjust my tie.

Mud cakes for your face

Now, I have to assess the comments.

Hypocrite! You are. (Punctuation failure - 4 errors)

"using "locate" for find and so on" (This is quotation from my blog, it should delineated, forgivable, it is on a separate paragraph)

Let's see how stupid you are; spot your mistake: (Punctuation and spelling - lets is really two words Let us, written as Let's. The statement is a clause, so, should be punctuated with a semi-colon and your is not spelt as ur (sic) - English scholars might differ, however, English is my mother-tongue in that, it was the first language I could speak.

"Then as I was getting off, the bravado of one portly man who was ((((((((((trying to getting))))))))))) the attention of a lady on the bus ..."

Indeed, that was a rotten mistake and I would correct it, a pair of parenthesis would have sufficed.

Hypocrites know themselves

After being called hypocrite and stupid, the police must be sure of the grounds of the arrest, this police-person (Since, gender is unknown) is an impostor. Beware!

Please! No more red-penners, address the issues which were about being reasonable, considerate and conducting yourself properly in public, it still remains the issue of that blog, no matter how you read it.

Never use the word hypocrite lightly; it is like shit hitting the fan with you ready to get the spray whilst others are under the table.