18 Friday Sep 2020
Posted in African Women Writers, Afriku, Challenges, Haiku, Haiku My Heart, Micropoetry, Poerty
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linked to Recuerda Mi Corazon.)
River
meandering river
the long journey
of my thoughts
Celestine Nudanu – 18/09/2020
09 Friday Nov 2012
Posted in Events
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Flashback: October
My dear wonderful friends, I’m sure you’ve all read about or noticed my infrequent blogging routine for the past few weeks and though I have mentioned it causally in one or two posts and comments on a few blogs I feel I need to give full reasons for that. You would also notice that I came out with a plan trying to bring some sort of order to my blog. I did a schedule that I followed religiously up to a point and then I reverted to the chaos that my blog was. I hesitated in writing up this post because I didn’t want the reasons to be misconstrued as excuses, but indeed, I owe you guys some explanations as I know that a few of you have been wondering what is happening to me.
Work: First of all, I have been given a new schedule at work that virtually leaves me with little time for anything else.
Poor Connectivity and Power Rationing: I am not able to use the little time I have on my hands to blog because of poor internet connectivity both at the office and at home. My reading and blogging are affected by the power rationing going on in the country which would be over (hopefully) by the end of November.
Personal: I was busy running up and down trying to secure a senior high school for my eldest boy who had qualified but was made a victim of the corrupt school placement system in the country. I even took a few days off work to do this (yes, that is how serious it was) Thank God we were able to get him a school that is quite good, but not his choice.
And finally, my father is seriously ill with prostate cancer. He lives about seven or eight hours away from the capital city, Accra, where I am. I can get to him by inland plane (which is quite costly) or by bus (which is a tedious journey considering the poor roads). Since the diagnosis, about three weeks ago, I have been traveling to see him every weekend. I rush back by Sunday to prepare for work on Monday. Only this morning he was transferred to a nearer major hospital in another region (Ashanti) of the country for more tests and possible surgery. And when I say nearer, I mean about five hours from the capital city where I live. And I am travelling there tomorrow to see him.
It’s been quite stressful for me, as I am the first-born. He is a widower (his wife, my step mum died long ago) and he virtually lives alone with a younger brother who is also quite old. I have deliberately refused to let go of my emotions; I need a clear head to make major decisions on his behalf and even where his properties are concerned. I also refuse to think beyond his sickness and eventual recovery. I need him so much to get better and put his affairs in order, to right certain wrongs.
And but for the love of, and joy derived from my new-found passion, Haiku, my blog would have gone stale. I say this because my muse is just not there. I can barely string beads of words together to make sense. I need your prayers and well wishes, my dear friends.
Challenges and Reading Projects
There has been no significant improvement in the Challenges and Reading Projects I’m engaged in, so I will not bore you with the details. I have been keenly doing the Haiku, though. October saw me participate in one or two Friday Fictioneers before Madison Woods handed over to Rochelle. Since Rochelle took over, I have not participated more for the poor connectivity. (The internet will be on one moment off the next and this makes it quite impossible for me to visit other blogs and comment.
Hello, November
I could not attend the Evening with the Ghana Association of Writers scheduled for 4th November (my birthday) as promised because I had to rush back to Accra from pop’s place that day and I was so beat.
I’m praying hard that this month will favour me with the energy, muse, and the peace of mind, as well as the more obvious physical electronic blessings to meet my various challenges. God bless you all my dear sisters and brothers. Many hugs to you all. Shalom. 🙂
11 Thursday Oct 2012
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This post is long overdue and I apologise to you my lovely friends for being so tardy. I won’t bore you with the details of my crazy life this October. Suffice to say that parents in Ghana are at this time of the year in a near frenzy state trying to secure places in Senior High Schools for their children who have completed the Junior High level, my honourable self included. The tension, and the lack of transparency inherent in the computerised school placement system is mind-boggling and frustrating to say the least.
But I won’t digress as I have already said that I won’t bore you.
Flashback on September
A while ago, I came out with a schedule or plan for this blog which I said would help me put some order to this chaotic blog. Hm, for a while I stuck to it and the plan seemed to be working and then everything went haywire with some unforeseen issues coming up that made it difficult though not impossible for me to continue. Do bear with me, as this would be rectified soon, when I am much more settled. 🙂
Friday Fictioneers: I’m still involved in the USAID sponsored project which sees me busy most Fridays, so for September I was able to participate only once in the Friday Fictioneers with my 100 words short story, My Dream.
Playing at Poetry: I wrote only one poem for September, Flawed Royalty
Haiku: In September, I discovered a new passion, Haiku, and I’ve been at it ever since, unstoppable. I participated in the September Haiku Heights Challenge, writing a Haiku each day. Currently I am involved in the Weekly Haiku Heights Challenge. Perhaps, as a result of this my Poet At Play series, is suffering. But I console myself by concluding that Haiku is also another form of poetry. 🙂
Books Reviewed: Poor ratings here. I reviewed only one out of two books lined up; Not Without Flowers by Amma Darko
Statistics: There was only an upward shift of one (1) in the statistics for the TBR. It sure does not look like I’d be able to complete the first two Challenges below before the end of 2012.
Blogging: This continues unabated. I made some new online friends through the blog, twitter and Facebook.
Awards: I was honoured with two (2) lovely awards from my wonderful blogger friends as follows:
A big thanks to you all, straight from my heart. Do pop in over there and sample their wonderful posts.
Classics Club: My answer to the Classics Club September meme is here.
Hello October
As already blogged, I attended a literary and Culture Sunday night put together by the Ghana Association of Writers an event that I intend to be regularly part of.
I get a bit apprehensive when I talk about reviews, a sort of tight knot in my stomach (ignore the cliché, please) because I’m not doing much of this and it worries me.
Books lined up (some are carry overs, really)
Upcoming Reviews:
I do hope October will be much more rewarding for you all. Shalom. 🙂
I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million!
06 Thursday Sep 2012
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Flashback on August
I must confess that August did not favour me at all. Or maybe I did not favour August. Whichever way you look at it, I was not able to accomplish much, especially with my readings and reviews. There were days when my muse just refused to pipe up and there were those days that I just slept on and on at home, not getting up the energy or enthusiasm for my reading. Ha! You’ve got to wake up girl! Your Challenges are suffering terribly!
Friday Fictioneers: My participation in the Friday Fictioneers during the month of August was also haphazard, due to my continuous involvement in a USAID sponsored project which sees me busy most Fridays. As a result, I could only do three (2) issues of 100 words based on the respective prompts. Harmattan Rain, Light on the Hill and Withered Flower. (I did try. 🙂 )
Playing at Poetry: Just like July, I played around and wrote six (6) poems in August; Motherhood, Muse In Limbo, Inflated Fatherhood, A Blight On My Memory, I Belong and I Have Him.
Books Reviewed: I reviewed only two books, out of the four (4) I had lined up; and also reviewed two short stories for my Short Story Tuesday slot all detailed below:
Statistics: There was only a marginal shift in the statistics for the various Challenges and TBR; an upward shift of one (1) in the Classics Club, The African Reading Challenge and the TBR list respectively.
Blogging: This continues unabated. I made some new online friends through the blog, twitter and Facebook.
Awards: I was honoured with five (5) lovely awards from my wonderful blogger friends as follows:
A big thanks to you all, straight from my heart. Do pop in over there and sample their wonderful posts.
Book Wins: In August, I won two books as follows:
Classics Club: This August, the Classic Club was given a new lease on life thanks to Clubbers like Heather, Sarah, Jillian, Allie, Melissa and Adam. As a fellow Clubber, I am keenly participating in all activities lined up and I’ve kick-started this with my post on the August Meme.
Hello September
The good news is that I have joined the September Haiku Heights. Yes, me, and I have now become a Haiku addict, doing my best to impress with my humble offering! 🙂
On the books front, Hm, just wish me luck, guys, with the line-up below: (a few carry-overs from August; really it looks like these are carry-overs from way back in June. Ha ha ha!).
Upcoming Reviews:
Shalom!
04 Monday Jun 2012
Posted in Events
Flashback on May
So soon June is here and with it the rains, at least in Ghana. May was quite hectic for me, though my reading and review was lack-lustre.
Friday Fictioneers. Still busy with the Friday Fictioneers, the 100 words short story every Friday based on a photo prompt from Madison Woods and loving every minute of it. Like I said last month, it’s hectic but I am not going to quit this in a hurry.
Guest Blogger I was thrilled to be a guest on Madison Woods blog, where she interviewed me on polygamy and love among other themes, running in female writings in Ghana. Do visit http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/tuesdays-guest-celeste-nudana/ if you haven’t done so already to read about the interview.
Playing at Poetry. I wrote six poems, My Adonis, African Iceberg, Lethal Chemistry and Hallucination as part of my Reflections from the Heart series; Praying Mantis and Lost Without You were written for Friday Fictioneers.
Book Reviews. For my May resolution, I promised to review the two books I read, catch up on my reading and reviewing for the challenges, as well as do some more reading of African authors. True to my word, I reviewed Distant View Of A Minaret by Alifa Rifaat (Africa Reading Challenge) though I am yet to review Nicholas II, last of the Tsars by Marc Ferro. This will be done shortly. I read and reviewed Enemy Within by Steve Jacobs for the Back To The Classics Challenge. I couldn’t read as many books as I would have loved to, mainly because of extra activities that I would not bore you with.
Statistics There was a marginal difference in my statistics for the Challenges for the month of May.
Africa Reading Challenge: 2/5
Back to the Classics Challenge: 2/9
The Classics Club: 0/51
2012 Reading Challenge: 1/50 (This is something I’m doing for myself, to read as many books as I can for 2012, outside, the three challenges I’ve signd up for.)
Blogging Even, though I scored low on reviews, I blogged more making new online friends with similar interests and sharing information here and there. (what else is new?) I twittered a little as well.
Book Acquisitions. I didn’t buy any books this month, but received the following two as gifts from a colleague at work, Farouk, who had been holidaying in the UK:
* Girl 4, and The Two by Will Carver. These two are the authors attempts at the thriller genre, with Girl 4 being his first. Looking forward to reading them.
I also made a special request from a cousin in the US, Yvonne, who got me Kevin’s Last Walk, A Father’s Final Journey With His Son by Barry Adkins. I had heard so much or rather read so much of this harrowing non-fiction on twitter and decided to get it for my son and then read and review it after he’s finished with it
Darko Reading Relay Ha! For the second time, I was one of the recipients of the Reading Relay organised by logo-ligi, this time, the Darko Reading Relay; I won myself a copy of Faceless by Amma Darko. (To be reviewed as soon as I’m done reading) Thank you, Kwadwo. I’ll be coming for more. (Olivera)
Awards: The month of May was a month for the awards and I couldn’t believe it when they kept pouring in. All I can say is that I’m so grateful to my fellow bloggers who nominated me for the awards. It’s so heartening when you’re appreciated for little things. Many thanks, my friends:
* Versatile Blogger Award (8/5/12) from Boomie Bol,
* Sunshine Award (my second) (21/5/12) from Boomie Bol,
* Tell Me about Yourself Award 30/5/12 from Boomie Bol,
* The Commentator Award 31/5/12 from aquaturtleme
Hello June
This month, I will take things easy as I am so loaded at work and see how my readings go. I’ve lined up the following to read though:
Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Currently reading)
Chaka the Zulu by Thomas Mofolo
The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta (TBR pile)
Faceless by Amma Darko (TBR pile)
Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
Wish me luck! Ciao!
Reading Pleasure 