Singers, Songwriters & Musicians

I am surrounded by so many creative people and I love it when I get to share the same airspace with them.

I can tell from experience that Monday mornings is the probably the worst day for most of them simply because they probably spent the weekend gigging or working on a project in the studio somewhere so, Monday really feels like crap and most wish they could find a away to make their creative juices pay for their day to day living but the thought of pilling bills shoots the energy needed to tap away at those keyboards in an open plan office, up their veins.

Tap, tap, tap….. goes the keys.

Well, on Saturday the 17th of April, you get to spend some time with a lady who has worked hard at making sure those dreams become a reality for her.

Her name is Isa Agape and you can check out her resource page at www.letmusicplay.com

For £25.00 only you get to hear how she transitioned from being a broke artists to selling thousands of CDs at the Albany Theatre – Deptford. (See fler above for more info)

To book your tickets please call Ayo 07957466322 or Lanre 0787 6541948

I hope to see you there…

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

‘Good morning aunty’
‘Good morning class!’

We all fell silent when Miss Christie entered the class that morning. I quickly threw the piece of paper I was playing with under my chair and stepped on it hoping that she would not see it as she walked around the class taking attendance.

‘Lanre Fajumo’
‘Present aunty’

I have never understood why we had to call our teachers aunty and uncle when they aren’t really our uncles and aunties but after spending my first year in Nigeria, I understood that everyone above a certain age went by the name aunty or uncle.

‘Today’s lesson is about names’

She scribbled away on the chalk board as she spoke, her hips and bum shaking to the rhythm in her voice. When she finished writing the day’s topic she turned to face the class.

‘Starting from the front I want you to tell the whole class your first name and your Christian name’

Excited that I had my answer ready as always and confident that I would live up to my ‘teacher’s pet’ status, with a broad smile on my face, I waited my turn. When she pointed her long fingers at me to signal my turn, I stood up and shouted.

‘Olanrewaju Olujimi’

I waited for her to finish writing my name on the board and say the obligatory Very good Lanre but when she had only written my first name, she turned around to face the class.

‘Did I not say that I wanted your Christian name before we started this exercise?’ I was a little taken aback by the question so I looked at her waiting for her to explain herself.

‘What is your Christian name Lanre?’

Now I wasn’t sure what she wanted from me so I repeated my Christian name. ‘Olujimi’
‘You are in primary three and you don’t know your Christian name? Here’s is your homework, when you get home tonight ask your parents, write it down and bring it back to school tomorrow.’
She put a dash where my Christian name was meant to be and moved on to the next person who proudly shouted out her Christian name.

‘Mariam’

I kept to myself for the rest of the day and when my best friend Mariam asked us to go the playground like we normally do? I said no, I would rather have lunch in class by myself. In the end, she stayed with me.

When dad got home from work that evening, I asked him what my Christian name was. He responded, ‘Olujimi’
‘That’s exactly what I told my teacher today and she said I was wrong and I should ask my parents when I get home, write it down and bring it in with me tomorrow.’

My dad sat me down and explained to me the meaning of my Christian name OLUJIMI, God’s gift to me.

'You are God's gift to me' he further explained.

‘Why can’t I have an English name like everyone else?’ I asked.

‘Because you’re not English’ he responded.

Armed with all that information, I returned to school the next day clutching my homework in my hands.

My rant about AVON

A couple of days ago, I received the Avon catalogue in my mailbox with a note attached saying to leave the catalogue at my doorstep by a said date if I am not interested in placing any order or kindly return it to a specified mailbox number if I didn’t mind doing so. As the sales rep’s door number is a stone throw from mine, I decided to return the catalogue in her mailbox. Actually if my memory serves me right, I did not look through the catalogue before returning it because I was hard on cash and didn’t want to be tempted to buy something I did not need.

When I checked my mail box on my way in from work the day after, to my surprise, the Avon catalogue was in there again from the same sales representative with the same note about leaving at my front door by a specified date if I was not interested in placing an order. OK, what the hell is going on here? I thought to myself.
As it was a Friday evening, I decided to look through the catalogue as I waited for something interesting to come up on tele. Even though there were some really nice products with fairly affordable price tags, I still wasn’t going to place an order for anything…. Yep, that’s how disciplined I am. NOT. Lol! As I flipped through the pages, something was visibly missing or should I say someone? All the models were Caucasian! I went back o the first page and carefully looked through all the pages looking for a face or skin colour that looks similar to the one turning the pages…Moi, but found non.

I then decided to write a short note to the Avon rep (indicating my door number!) ‘Thanks but NO thanks' was my opening line and I stated why I was not ordering from her. Ok, I know my reason had nothing to do with the models and their shade of skin but I thought for a brand that would make the extra effort of placing their catalogue in my letter box TWICE within a space of 48 hours, having faces that represent the consumer market they are trying to reach isn’t asking for too much. I know some people might say well, they do have other non-cosmetic products in there that’s not skin shade specific. Yeah, yeah I still ain’t buying and it’s got nothing to do with my skin colour either. If you’re asking why, then you must have missed my first paragraph.

I will let you know what my neighbour has to say in response to my rant, if she gets back to me that is.