Kojoni

Earlier this week, a group of friends at work decided to pick on me just after they'd had lunch.I think it was banku and nkrakra soup, but that's just the sidebar. They claimed to have seen a couple of strands of grey hair atop my head. And for this reason, they exclaimed, "abrantie wari!", meaning - "young man, get married". I immediately believed them. Whoa!I'm not talking the eloping bit. Rather, the sudden change of hair color.  (Nota bene: I like the way I've just dramatized the whole paragraph above. Like seeing grey hair is anonymous to sighting UFOs. Lmao. Please continue reading.) I didn't verify with a nearby mirror, nor did I rush to my barber to solve this naturally occurring "asem". I'd rather dye huh? Lol. We often believe what others say about us cos somehow, we think they're some sort of pseudo mirror, that shows us what we can't see without one. And so, our lives get shaped by their opinions. It has taken so...

Earlier this week, a group of friends at work decided to pick on me just after they'd had lunch.I think it was banku and nkrakra soup, but that's just the sidebar.  They claimed to have seen a couple of strands of grey hair atop my head. And for this reason, they exclaimed, "abrantie wari!", meaning - "young man, get married". I immediately believed them. Whoa! I'm not talking the eloping bit. Rather, the sudden change of hair color.  (Nota bene: I like the way I've just dramatized the whole paragraph above. Like seeing grey hair is anonymous to sighting UFOs. Lmao. Please continue reading.) I didn't verify with a nearby mirror, nor did I rush to my barber to solve this naturally occurring "asem". I'd rather dye huh? Lol. We often believe what others say about us cos somehow, we think they're some sort of pseudo mirror, that shows us what we can't see without one. And so, our lives get shaped by their opinions...

Imagine being born on an island, in the belly of the Amazon. The thickets cuddling you with the creaks of unseen creatures piercing your ears. With beasts that bear no semblance to you, seeking to protect and devour you at the same time. What manner of man or beast would you be? This has the makings of a Tarzan movie synopsis. But pause for a second and ask yourself, "How much of my environment has dominated my personality?" It's tough to assign ratios to this. But having an idea could prove crucial in finding out what you need to unlearn. I have caught myself lately acting out the same toxic traits I so heavily complained about. To say it was humbling is an huge understatement. I made a decision henceforth to be deliberate in my actions and avoiding pressure of any kind. Cos think about it. You only act out a baseline character trait when pushed by external stimuli. Part of unlearning is finding out what's truly you and what your environment passed on to you. Only mo...

Howdy mates! Hopefully, you said that with the right amount of southern accent. How has your week been?  I'm sure a lot of shifting has gone on in your life, just as it has for me.  Despite the sparse bouts of rain and the tremor that rocked our worlds, we move! Just as we talked about last week, knowing yourself is as important as brushing your teeth every morning. Plaques will agree with your dentition being nudged into second-place. Consistent with this premise, a light bulb dropped on me just a couple of days ago. After rummaging through my clothes, I noticed something I had long ignored. My unfolded clothes - whites, colored and slightly discolored, stripped me naked whilst slapping me in the face with this - I purchased only about twenty percent of them. Eighty percent of my casual shirts weren't bought by me and seventy percent of my "pants" (trousers in Ghanaian English) were oversized - no one wonder I've always looked goofy in my teenage photos. I gave a...

Hello there. Kojo again. I hope you have recovered from the Corona pandemic impasse. Obviously, the constant bombardment of toxic headlines especially on social media isn't helping and... Pardon me - but, yaaayyyieeeeee!!!! I'm soo pumped about blogging again. This is a typica l w ɔn shout moment! Literally! I've got a question btw. It might seem simple at first glance, but it's a vital question nonetheless. Who are you? In other words, you be who ? Some people dive in head first with a religious admission of having a renewed identity in Christ,  whilst students of social interaction dynamics might say they're either introverts or extroverts - or somewhere  in-the-middle.  Others might ramble about having worked with JP Morgan or Deloitte. My grandma won't know the difference. Honestly, we should be asking ourselves this one on a regular basis. This is because, much of who we are is really a sum total of who we've spent the most time with and experiences we...

Imagine how much fecal residue you would leave lingering in your butt crack. Just because you don't have enough paper to afford some paper. Funny right? It's gives your fart that extra oomph and blocks of houses have to be evacuated cos of you. Fix your hole-ridden pockets bro. Is the devil still right beneath your feet? Even if you're a squatter on the third floor? Maybe he moved in just like you did, but instead of staying in his hellish comfort zone, he chose to bring it close. I guess you can stop binding him now. He keeps knocking on the soles of your feet - wear high heels instead. I hear there are two things that are certain in this life: death and taxes. Oh Benjamin Franklin said that. I'll add another to this list - hunger. The hunger that eats away the great walls of your Chinese stomach. Yeah, after all that "Chow Mein" what did you expect? Now, you live to receive the ridicule of your neighbors that choose to share with a burnt conscience. ...

Do you consistently look at yourself and wonder whether you've been played? Maybe a DIY happened - I mean you might be the holder of, and the makeshift cricket stick, whilst still being the former carnation tea creamer can that once held liquid. Or you've imbibed too much oil. Pretty much like the " korkorr " that Julia's mother soaked in that recycled cooking oil from  "Things We Do For Love". You were green before, and then just before your metamorphosis was complete, you were tossed into the masses' juice - to get fried, to become like the others that were forced to fry and turn brown. Now you're served like the dish you are. Isn't it sad? That you're lost amidst the uniform that society wears proudly, except that you had wanted different and now you're stuck. Let me give you an escape plan. You're already in the that blue crucible. Make sure you burn the lips of the one who purchased you along with your brothers ...

Besides the ponytail I forcibly created below my occipital bun , (yes, my famous rear cranial projection that many girls laughed at), I thought myself a rock star many times without count. Using the broken handle from my badminton racquet, I would sing my heart out - whispering along while the radio provided the needed audio. It was soo fun, I would disturb the knob as I constantly changed the station when annoying commercials set in. The only problem - the mimicry transcended music. You know, just like when the mid-nineties installment of the Amazing Spider Man™ came out, I imagined webs shot from my palms and swung around the sitting room. Of course, my knees and ankles suffered as a result, thanks to the center table. You know what, I miss those times. I didn't have a care in the world. No bills to worry about. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy adulthood - changing my passwords at every login, forgetting what multiplying matrices looks like, the gradually receding hairli...

My breakfast is just too cold this morning. The PB&J sandwich Cori made is amazing, but I'd prefer it to have been just a tad warmer. I need my dose of calories till lunch time regardless. Maybe some radiation would speed up the process. It might have been just two slices of bread and everything else in-between them. Maybe that's the trigger I needed - to remind myself that with all of the technology around me that heats without fire, renders phone calls quicker and telegrams faster, I shouldn't get sucked into the matrix. It's quite subtle to pick up this. When everything comes streaming at you, i.e. news feeds on Facebook, notifications from everywhere, spilling-over inboxes full of subscriptions that we've forgotten  about, etc. The list is endless. The habit of expecting the cookie to crumble at the speed of light is more than tempting - it just creeps up on you. I'm not where I used to be, but I am far beyond where I was days ago. Forgive me ...

You don't speak your father's language. Even your beginnings were dogged down with flagrant derogatory talk. You were told you didn't know how to do anything. Whenever you were asked to fetch a pair of pliers from the toolbox, you'd bring back the pincers instead. You were taught how to change the tyres several times. But after nearly a decade you cannot replicate it. I guess he was right. There's nothing you know how to do. Probably your French teacher was right too. You remember right? When he wouldn't give you a chance in the high school soccer team because he thought you were too short and smallish. When you were seen as the outsider, though you encouraged yourself to prove yourself to yourself. But despite the wannabe status, you pushed through to become a part of the science and math team. What an accomplishment! But really was it? What's your value bro? What's your worth? Have you found it yet? Or you're still what you were bef...

I'm drowning my silent sorrow with a lot of noise. Whenever i re-lapse into my depressive state, I pray in my bathroom without thought of time, or I'd start sinning with some secular music playing from my broken laptop. Don't give me the hypocrite rhetoric. Not now. Right now, the stalemate I'm looking at isn't changing. No matter how many routes of change I employ, both gnosis and epignosis. Don't talk me into doing what will make you happy. I could explode now and the pain would lose its hold on me. You'd be happy that the pain left, but the prelude, not so much. Maybe I'm too emotional at the moment. Maybe I'm just thinking too much. Or maybe you're giving up when the journey hasn't even begun yet. Some didn't survive immediately after their flight begun, others have hung on despite the infidelity. Both, not our lot, but why this now? Be August...

I can see you balling like a billionaire. But you're not immortal, like you've got a billion airs to breath. My body feels refreshed by the water from the standpipe. And after a while, it excretes itself with a different shade of yellow every time. The same happens after the many ''voltics'' you spend your endless cash flow on. Do you feel good so far? I'm not done... You took my girlfriend away with your V8. My intents were pure, but she still told me she had needs like M.B. Now, she keeps calling - saying she wants me back. Was it because of the vee you ate? And maybe the promises you made that didn't suffice? Oh, mister man. You're married too. So one isn't enough for you? Is it ''keeking'' you? Let me finish you now... The ''taaty'' billion in your account must be fiction. Yet, she bought it and made her skirt more mini to stake her claim on your eyes. Have you forgotten you met her at the Night Cl...

Just this Christmas, I visited family after such a long time of being away. And of course, I had to celebrate my birthday these past three years with my apartment mates - but without my family back home. Among the things I missed the most, was my grandfather's birthday card. Ever since I can remember, he's always showed me love that way and in many others as well. The very day I arrived, I called my entire family into a group hug which lasted more than a thousand blinks. In that instant, all my anxieties from school disappeared. But the single most heartfelt thing I experienced on reaching home, was finally seeing my kid sister who had been struggling with the rigors of high school life. I tried to encourage her and tell her things would get better. Her inability to reach me from school really hurt me, because I felt the need to speak with her everyday. A few days after my arrival, she came home and got me awe-struck. She gave me a customized bookmark, a birthday c...

So this time round, my convictions stand resolute. If it were possible, I would convince the whole world. But besides issues of convenience, I simply deem it unfit to do so. Howbeit, my heart is sure and stuck on this maadamfo papabi I've found. You don't see this everyday. A beautiful friend embracing you with all of her precious stones. Some of which have either been unappreciated, or stolen by those referred to in the nearly forgotten past tense. Catching her isn't my only mission; keeping her and these stones - those too. Lord, help me love my friend. Just like you've asked us to...

Insulating myself from the hell that wants to erode my skin, that's what I'm doing. These yellow flames were my friends before. We walked the brimstone streets once and many times that we lost count. The livid horde of grim reapers came through the alleys we played on. Their long staffs, with those razor-sharp blades, sent hot chills down places that crippled us. Nevertheless, we still had a calmness that made us impervious to the fear that they exuded. I'm not sure why that was the case. Maybe its because we were young and unaware. Things are different now. They blazed hotter as the day continued, whilst I remained the same; hoping to become the sun and far hotter than has ever been, I maxed out. It's almost midnight. Things are different now. Why?  I've forgotten how it feels to be fierce; what a sharp contrast of sub-zero temperatures looked like. My amnesia has become my undoing.

It's like my soul searching came up short. I didn't factor in the eventual this. Being a grad student is never easy. Thing is, I didn't know it had anti-perks. I only saw what opportunities lied ahead using my pragmatic side. I conveniently forgot about my more emotive half and thought I'd "robocop" my way through. But the long distance love I avowed to avoid, caught up with me. Exposing me and all of my weaknesses. The time difference, ooooh time difference. I hate it with a passion. She's going to bed, I'm sitting in class. She wakes up expecting to hear my voice, I'm living my alternate reality with a snore. It's always a tussle without pulling a muscle. The first didn't really pap. Being strangers before and turning lovers overnight was the curse. But this is different. We've been friends for a decade and one. And now the harsh reality knocks. Yesternight was hard. Her tears brushed my canvas. She's stressed, she can...

No one man should have all this power. Especially when he's got a fluffy fluff on his head. Coincidence created both his hair and that pussy cat with the same color. Isn't it just beautiful? Just fantastic, just wonderful...( arms stretched sideways ) Thought he warned you when he said he'll win big. Bigger than the bigot you thought he was or might be. Would you be proud of everything you'd say, if your every movement was tracked by a camera or the Machine as seen in "Person of Interest"? Please, it's taking too long for you to disembark from your twelve-feet pony. Did you think that was your forever-abode? I apologize. We all need our garments bleached, even if some of us are predisposed to flaunting the stains more than others. And oh..Billary, how long it took you to get this fly? All day... All these years for a loss?  Oh. Sorry. Maybe next time, you'll visit Wisconsin and still prepare for the debate. Congrats Doughnut...

Dear Lord, I'm grateful for my biological family, my church family, and friends who became so. You've been great and merciful to us Lord. There are many things you have done for us. We're eternally thankful Yeshua. Hallowed be your Name! I'm grateful for life and for your redemption in this life. Father, I thank you for your plans and thoughts towards me and my future. Plans for my good only to bring me to an expected end. Countless times I have not deserved your favor, but you showed it anyway. I'm grateful for the blood and your Spirit, as they bear witness. Medaase obrempong Nyame. Best Regards, Kojo, Words Medaase - Thank you (Twi - ghanaian language of the Akan tribe) Obrempong - Almighty (Twi) Nyame - God(Twi)

It has become common knowledge, at least to me, that the man with whom I share a surname (at least partially), was declined the chance to ascend to the presidency back in the day. The underlining story, however, could easily pass for an episode of Leverage. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Leverage was a popular series based on modern-day Robin Hoods, that carved out very thought-out and elaborate schemes to dupe the affluent, having erred based on their own moral judgement. Except in this case, it was a one-man show with swag. Shabray paaa... What shocked me was the Trust Fund story and the bruhaha surrounding the whole thing. First off, I'm sure its something of an open secret that African dictatorships and democratic ones alike, have for ages stacked their loot in Swiss banks. From the Mobutus to the Maha.......errmm okay, that one dier I kent. Let's continue because you get my drift. In chess, one rule is true; the fact th...

How far has the corrosion gone? Maybe you and your silver coins needed some galvanization. Isn't it obvious you came up short? Not the chocolate-drop kind. Just that the accolades you wanted could easily pass for a shelter, since you stayed under. Your castles came crushing down being unfounded, when you closed your eyes all day. Maybe you misread your destiny, when it said your life would be full of dreams. Next time, you should ask the author for an abstract, just so you're apt from the start. Did you see and relay on the many diamonds that you mined in those dreams? Maybe they stayed there and became your imaginations central reserve. You better build many banks and link them with lines that would live for centuries. The horses you rode have gone with the wind that created them. Maybe next time when you saddle up, hold tight to that rein and make sure you're not catching formless forms. Thank you, that you woke up from the shut-eye that made you rich.