Post-Valentine...

Phew! It's good to be back. I know y'all didn't miss me. Well, in case you didn't know, I'm as human as you are, and the last time I checked, bloggers aren't immune to typhoid. Good thing I didn't die though, eh?

So what did I miss? Aah, of course! Valentine Weekend. I didn't think any of you really need me to tell you what went down all around school, do you. Ok, maybe just the ones who travelled. Well, there was the ODE show on Saturday, which was probably okay, but I didn't attend so I cannot possibly pick out all the high points and low points, sorry. But from the publicity (I'm still seeing posters on buses, is there an encore about to happen on a date that has passed?) and eyewitness reports, both shows on Saturday and Val's Day in Eismann were on point. Of course, the rest of Obinze-Ihiagwa road was totally on fire. Pioneer Bar was packed to the teeth, Bombay (still not 100% sure it was him, but I did get the text message…) kept the party alive in Icebox, and even Solutions Bar, yeah the same ultra-dry-on-a-normal-day one, seemed to be busy. I heard there was an accident just after Phagdan Hostel involving an okada and a tipsy student, dunno how true that is. Jives was rocking too, and 24 Suites beside had a party going down too. What's up with them? Did they make a bet to try and lure students away from the more preferable spots? Whoever thought of that idea? Anyway, Eziobodo also had its share of fun, and no doubt the season was infectious. Between 9pm and 12am I think it's relatively safe to assume that 94% of the student community were out of their hostels and on the streets. Not a bad statistic, I just wonder what the remaining 6% were doing 'inside'…or why…

Well it's all over, and as reality settles in, school is back to normal. Well, maybe, except for this scorching heat. Aint there any lasting solution to this? And stupid PHCN's not helping matters. Pathetic. I have to go round with a portable electronic fan just to keep my body temperature in check. Mschew. But if you think the heat is annoying, then what would you call the school authorities? Why do we have to throw our academic details into new supposedly secure databases every other year? Now we're being forwarded to a new site with a ridiculously hard to remember URL. Just a question: whatever happened to a URL as simple as www.futo.com? Instead of annoyingly hard to remember crap like www.admissionhere.futo.doitnowordonotgraduate.yeahright.edu.com/toolong? I can remember filling online forms in my first and second years, waiting in long queues to obtain scratch cards to access those portals. What happened to them? The irony of it all is that none of these projects have actually helped to speed any other student-related process up. Examination results still emerge late, students' names and other personal data are still being messed around with. Pitiful. And stupidly enough, I just found out that the registration process is about as hard as you'd expect a typical Futo registration to be. Just great.

I guess that's enough gist for now. I'm just coming back so I haven't even done my usual newsfeed sweeps. So expect a more detailed post tomorrow, hopefully. Right now I think I'll go do lunch at Ofe's. Heard they've expanded and occupied Lacream Café above its former location. Neat. Wonder if their free meals are still on the table. And before you start jumping into conclusions, I aint that poor, lol.

Laterz.

Is 'love at first sight' real?

 Hey peeps...hope your week's progressing nicely.

I stumbled upon this article during one of my online sweeps of my favorite newsfeeds and decided to share it with y'all, especially in the spirit of the season we find ourselves in. Lemme know what you think about the concept, cos it's really a spot o' bother in these modern times. Enjoy.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Is 'love at first sight' real, and could it happen to you? If you are hoping to experience this age-old phenomenon while dating, read on to find out more about what it means and how to tell if you might have experienced love at first sight when you first met your dating partner, and whether you should even aim for lightning bolts when dating or simply relax and go with the flow.

Where does the idea of 'love at first sight' come from?

The concept of 'love at first sight' is thought to have originated in the classical world, where it meant an intense, passionate love delivered by the mythological character Cupid and his arrows when a person beheld the object of their affections for the first time. The Greeks described it as 'madness from the gods', and also came up with the idea of 'love sickness', a feeling of overwhelming longing and desire, arising when one of Cupid's arrows pierces the heart.

These days, while we may not imagine Cupid to be so intimately involved in our choice of dating partners, many of us still hold true to romantic ideas of 'the one' - the idea that there is one perfect partner for everyone - and to the notion that for some people it is clear who this one perfect partner is from the moment they set eyes on them. But are these concepts based in reality or are they just wishful thinking, and how helpful are they when it comes to navigating today's dating scene?

What is happening with 'love at first sight'?

According to research, the intoxicating sensation of love at first sight can, in fact, be explained in a scientific way as a response of the ego to social signals. A major aspect of the experience is thought to be that our narcissistic side responds powerfully to the notion that someone is attracted to us.

Along with being attracted to a person's appearance, it is possible to tell almost instantly due to minute changes in body language if they are interested in us and to be affected by that, too. Studies have shown that, on a very basic level, we are attracted to people who are attracted to us, and this is a major factor when choosing dating partners.

'When will waiting for 'the one'... be done?'

As this quote from fictional love and dating expert Carrie in Sex and the City illustrates, for many the concept of 'the one' is unhelpful, and the idea of 'love at first sight' can be, as well. If you are unsatisfied with anything but lightning bolts and absolute certainty from the offset that you and the person you are dating are a perfect match, you may reject endless perfectly good dating partners and never find a life partner at all.

In these circumstances it would, arguably, be better for those who want to share a life with someone to ignore ideas of 'love at first site' and 'the one' when dating, in favour of a more practical approach: 'I can see myself being very happy with this person'. In the end, it's up to the individual to decide.

Valentine Blues....

First of all, welcome to the Love Month. Get ready to spend big, guys….

And I'm serious, because that special day of the month is already upon us, and the whisperings have started. Single girls have begun searching, unsatisfied girls have started looking for replacements. Adverts are going up all over Facebook and SMS inboxes, it looks like they're really serious this period. 13 Days left, ladies. Enough time to make that day worthwhile with some guy, I suppose, so get crackin'. And the guys? Word on the street is that Les Broke Desperates have started cutting out money from their school fees, hoping to put em back later. Now that's a bother. That extreme? Wow! She had better be that special, either that or the returns in investment should be as great, lol! All in all, it's definitely going to be a month (or rather, 13 days) of real frenzy, where a large percent of the student population end up making the wrong decisions. And the stupid thing is that you'd have to live with yourself after that. And what's more? Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday. A non-school day. Was this all planned???

It's been a slow and kinda depressing past week, so I really hope things will pick up. Lectures are supposedly starting this morning, but that's not gonna happen, at least not vigorously, so for all y'all who still haven't entered school yet, maybe you could still do with skipping a day or two. Hostels are finally open, so all you off campus squatters should be off to your residence halls by now. Project Seminars and Defences are all but over by now, and I've already started witnessing streams of graduates on their way out in search of the next adventure I guess the next time we'd be seeing them will be in March for convocation; that is they that make it without any 'extra' academic problem. I thought they'd be noisier than they actually were in terms of after-defense parties, but I guess the stress finally got to them, eyah.

Anyway, there's talk of Year One orientation to be commencing this week, so Hall Of Mercy would be a perfect place to go 'fishing'. I mean, the whole first year student body will be in one venue at the same time; chykers tell me, who's got it better than that? Gotta get up there myself, I'm sure there's some juicy gist I could pick up from a scenery like that.

Enjoy your week, folks. Laterz.