Maya
Pugs really are a girl's best friend. We hit four years together and each day is filled with fun and love. Here's Maya, dressed as an elephant at our Pugs in the City Pug-o-ween party. 

The Arts
I was lucky enough to see Rent and Aladdin, two of the Broadway on Hennepin shows brought to Minnesota by the Hennepin Theatre Trust. Even better than seeing the shows, I got to meet the cast members! I still can't get over how young and talented they all are. Bright futures all around.

Reunited!
My best friend Tiongela moved back to town! Whoo! We've been friends since we were eight. She once saved me from an ice hole - I wish I were kidding. 

Bob Freaking Woodward?!
Yeah, that Bob Woodward. I met him at a gala in Washington, D.C. Somehow, I became the kind of person who gets invited to galas and gets to meet famed reporters - strange, but I'll accept it.  

Career: All the way up!
I grabbed my career by the horns and made some great moves. I won the Ralph Cornelia Professional Development Scholarship through my union and got to travel throughout Minnesota and around the east coast. The mentors and colleagues I met helped me take a hard look at where I've been and where I'm going. 

It's true - I really do.

​This is a marked deviation from both of my parents. My mother hails from the South, and despite many Minnesotans' best efforts, she has yet to abandon the refined warmth and civility so many southerners seem to effortlessly exude. My Nigerian father, with his quietly dignified air, has similarly never been caught out. I have a small army of younger siblings who are way more successful and well-adjusted than I. We'll get to them at a later time. 

Back to me and my expressive face. 

Perhaps there is some self-preservational mechanism at play inside me which keeps me from shouting, "Are you freaking KIDDING ME?!" when presented with life's absurdities. After all, shouting in meetings, on the street, and (occasionally) in church, is kind of frowned upon. So I'm left with a face that sometimes betrays my spirited inner dialogue. 

Here's what you can look forward to reading on this blog: Thoughts. Actions. Stories. Pictures. Occasional Rants.