Saturday

Saturday was not as nice as the night before.

Horrible date from the previous night wanted a repeat performance. If I didn't have a conscience I would have taken him up his offer and made him pay for dinner at Oceanaire. But I had to pass. You have to keep them wanting more. Yes, even when you don't like them, leave them wanting more, keeps them interested. This coming from a girl who is perpetually single. You know if I liked him, I would want to see him day, night, morning, evening, and all the wonderful moments in between.

So inevitably my night was so-so. It was more of a me moment. Dinner at Oceanaire did not quite live up to expectation. Their selection for Midtown Restaurant Week was not fantastic, did not leave me wanting more. Trout with peanuts, yummy and interesting. Warm cookies and milk that ended up as Rock. Hard. Cookies and Cold Milk. The waiter who was exhausted from having to serve all the Midtown restaurant week moochers like myself, left me with a nice goodbye and a please do not try this dessert on your next visit smile. I'll remember that.

I always enjoy nice quiet moments by myself, inasmuch as they cost me so much money and I've promised to stop doing them for awhile, my "living out loud" moments as I've aptly termed them, it's always good to take a breather, leave the noise behind and just sit down and enjoy a glass of wine.

a little bit of this and that

Had dinner at Spice Market on Friday night with a guy I was not interested in. I know, very bad of me, made him pay for dinner and I wasn't the least bit interested in him. I just wanted to see what it would feel like to go on stupid dates just for the heck of it, Besides, he asked. His company was a little lacking. But the food on the other hand was superb. Superb! Spicy, nice presentation, every bit of it, from start to finish was superb: appetizer, entree and dessert. The scene from the bar doesn't have to much to offer in the way of entertainment, everyone is so busy enjoying the good food, no one has time to talk. But they give you these spicy nuts to munch on along with your drink, this is all before you order and then they give you these crackers and spice medley. I don't know what it's called but I enjoyed it all the same. The crackers and the nuts. Food ended too quickly.




And then we moved over to Shout and danced to Meringue and Salsa. Nice finish to the spicy food.

Watching the city that night, wonderful view, happy people on the streets at 2am, city lights dancing on the high-rises, flashing lights of cars speeding through the streets; it was a good evening to be out and about, to be alive.

end of summer

I must be the only one who is not looking forward to the holiday weekend. I know it's good to have an extra day off but come Tuesday I am back at work with the same issues and dealing with the same problems. It's like they never go away no matter how many holiday weekends I go through. This is worse because it's the official end of summer weekend. This summer was definitely filled with it's highs and lows. This will forever be remembered as the summer in the city, the summer where I discovered a social life, the summer of the Eternal Man Hunt, the summer of sorts.

But nothing changes, I came out of it with the same problems as I went in. I didn't even get to take the Bar.Hmmmm....

letter to an ex.

Hi Victor,

It's Anita ****. I decided to drop you an actual note Hi as opposed to the Facebook notes. How are you? Your family is gorgeous. I am green with envy. Not ashamed to say it too.:)

Do you still write poetry? I bet in your mind you're wondering, who the heck is this? Or not? Something happened to me recently that made me remember the past and some bits and pieces of life in Enugu and everything in between. That's the funny thing about living abroad, you wish to start over but then you miss the past, you miss your friends, you miss that fun part of your life and you wish you could bring them with you to share the good times. And then you become this other person that only the people in the past can remember the other you...the fun you. Does that happen to you?

But anyway, this is just to say Hi...I don't write poetry anymore. I used to write short stories but not anymore. I take pictures now as my main hobby...it's an amazing release. They are not great, just black and whites of landscapes. If you can't remember me, oh well...this might just be a strange note from a stranger in a faraway land.

Take care,
Regards

Anita ***

This was my note to my dear Victor O about 2 months ago. Almost tempted to include his last name but, he is quite a celebrity on the web and beyond and for the sake of his family, I will not. But yeah, I was feeling very vulnerable when I wrote it. I was so consumed by the quiet that I felt like reaching into the past to connect with someone. He is doing alright for himself and he ranks as one of the most popular men I have ever been involved with. He was the one that got me in touch with my artistic side, to touch and feel and tune in to little things, the air, a leaf blowing in the wind, a strand of hair in the bathroom. Just little things.

I only remember this note because inasmuch as I have the greatest respect and admiration for him, I hate it when people don't respond to emails. Married or not, he should have responded to my email. I hate that. It's like putting someone on mute - this person does not matter, so ignore this email and act like it didn't happen. Even 2 months later it still irks me.

I sent another lady an email on Friday, and she is yet to respond. I know she got it but she does not want to dignify me with a response. Alrighty then, irk me some more. But her lack of communication with me is not as hurtful as my dear Victor O ignoring me. You think you know a person and they just....ooomph!

nonpluses

In the spirit of keeping all things positive, whatever that means, a few trying events occurred over the weekend.

One, Nigeria lost the fucking Gold Medal match to Argentina. Oh, that just capped off my fucked up Friday evening. Didn't go anywhere because of inclement weather and stayed home and it didn't rain. And then, we lost the match. Our last chance at Gold, meanwhile my guy Michael Phelps won 8. I was just so pissed. But maybe we didn't deserve it as much as Argentina. Hmmm...

Second, "attorney" guy called on Friday in between me sulking that I couldn't go out on Friday. To put my staying home on Friday, this is like the first Friday I've been home in about 2 months. Yeah, it's an anomaly. We talked and arranged to have coffee the next day. The next day he didn't call. I waited and cut out my morning spin class so I wouldn't stand him up. He calls an hour later that he had errands to run so we should have coffee in the afternoon. Who has coffee in the afternoon? But I wasn't upset. I just tried to see the bright side...I got dressed and went shoe shopping. When he called later, we talked through it and he apologized. Glass half full, right?

Finally, my friend and former co-worker had her birthday brunch this morning. It was supposed to be at Ray's on the River. Yummy buffet food, wonderful ambiance, great set-up for turning 35. Apparently, she switched this venue and moved it to the Cheesecake Factory, unbeknownst to me, so I drove around town just to be alerted of the change of venue at the last minute. I was already pissed when I got there. Mainly because I had just driven past Cheesecake on my way to Ray's. But I tried to breathe through it and not let it frustrate me. And the brunch, eventually turned out to be pretty good, and she seemed to enjoy it too.

So, first weekend with the glass half full mentality. Life 3, Anita 0.

Yelp Elites are not happy! who cares

Okay, so much has happened since the Yelp event review below.

I find it really amusing that people read this journal and feel they can have some sort of opinion about what I put on here. It's my journal and it's my opinion. It's also my perspective on everything. Yelp was supposed to be a place where people converge and review restaurants, businesses etc, as objectively as possible. So we review places and by reviewing places we should also review ourselves, our events, and sometimes the review hurts for others and so it should hurt for us too.

Yes, I attended the event and yes it was super boring. Standing in line for drinks is not my idea of fun, having people take pictures "around" me or over me is not my idea of fun. I just felt like maybe there was something in my teeth so they didn't want me captured with their wonderful Yelp cam. It was truly awful. I didn't write them about it, I wrote it on my trusty blog. And reading this you can tell I have had this blog for a very long time and many people have fallen under the bus in this blog, friends, boyfriends, prospective employers, present employers, and this time it's Yelp. I never explain my actions or my writing I just do it. That's what writing is about, like critics if they are not feeling your movie, they just write about it. You might hate it. I know I've written works of fiction that have not been so appreciated but I have tolerated it. And to say I am a bitch...please, what is this 6th grade? People seem to forget that I have been writing for a long time, I went to an all girls boarding school, with cattiness at its best, so I know that in expressing myself like every artist that it is not a popularity contest. It is what it is...if you choose not to agree with me so be it, if I am a bitch to you so be it too. Last time I checked I am not running for President so there's no need for me to want to be "popular" or seek popularity. I just find it perplexing that in an event where there are so many people that you would choose to take pictures of the same 'ole people that you snapped at the last event and the last one and the one before that. That is just so 6th grade to me.

However, this was not meant to be an explanation, it was meant to be a statement, to all those who've come across this blog and have chosen to read about my life, which I have let them read about because that's what writers do, we express in whatever way possible, if not we would be stifled. The fact that you are discussing me makes me feel like a celebrity, like Angelina during her "husband snatcher" days.

So to Yelp, it's been fun. I am elitist but I don't want to be your type of Elite. And if you come across this blog and choose to hate, you are only making me more popular than I need to be (in your opinion).

So elitist, so stupid

Right under my skin is air made of bricks, pulls me down, turns me weak for you....Adele


I went to the Atlanta Yelp Elite Party last night at Vita.

I don't know why I always feel like I stick out like a sore thumb at these events. The only reason I went this time was to meet some guy but he was not there. And the night just got worse. For one, the hostess, Atlanta community manager, greeted me like she didn't know me...you know that Hi and dry greeting where the smile just fades away. I hate that! Then, I stood in line for the margarita drinks that were bland and non alcoholic. Each time the bartender kept skipping over me to serve other people who had just walked over to the bar, so conveniently missing me as if I was the wrong color, not up to par, something. And as the hostess, the one with the fading smile, captured pictures of the event attendees, she skipped over me too to take pictures of people who were standing around me. She would just snap the people around me and not even ask me to step into the picture. Very awkward. There must have been something in my teeth I didn't know about. I suddenly felt like Ricky Gervais in Extras. He always used to sort of slide himself into the frame of the movie so he would get some camera time. Maybe I should have done that. It was just a disaster. I kept thinking, I missed my spin class for this. I could think of a million things I would have rather done with my evening than sit with people who just bore me and think they are too much to socialise. It was bourgeoise bland. As was aptly said, "So bourgeoise, so boring." Needless to say I would never step foot in that restaurant again. As for their events...well to be determined.

dating games

Dear World,

Forgive me if I don't want to or choose to "date casually"?

It's been too long; I am not ready for any dating games...

That's it and that's all.

Anita

A little Michael Phelps goes a long way

I am suffering from Michael Phelps overload.

Over the course of the last week, I've gone from detesting him to admiring him to fancying him to just being an all around fan. I was actually rooting for France to win that gold medal in the 4x100m relay on Sunday only to turn around and cheer for him like a deranged animal during his last race on Sunday, the 4x100 individual medley. Why you'd ask have I gone from dry to high ever so quickly?

I always thought he was such a stuck up doofus. Based on little tidbits I've read here and there and the fact that he set such a high goal for himself just seemed like a conceited cocky sportsman to me. Why would you proclaim to beat other people at a sports event where you are competing against the best in the world? Do you have any consideration for how hard others been working as well? But then, I saw his mother in the crowd and she just looked so... normal. Like an everyday "soccer" mom only this time, a "swimmer's" mom. And I thought, he cannot be all that bad, his mom and his sisters flew all the way to support him and his lofty dream, so he must be doing something right. And any guy who is the only male in a family of women instantly gets my vote, because there's always a certain level of humility with being surrounded by women, you understand and appreciate women more; you are more attentive and sensitive to certain things. This is my theory and it's been tried and tested as foolproof. So, that just took care of the doofus category for me. He can't be a doofus, he is surrounded by women, there's no room for "doffusery" when women are involved.

But it takes a lot to come out in life and say, "This is what I want, This is what I want to achieve," and to speak that so much that even your teammates have a hand in helping you to achieve that, it takes a lot of admiration and respect from both sides. So my love went from low to high and all this happened within a week. Plus I listened to some of his interviews and he seemed well grounded. What finally hit the nail on the head was right after his last medal ceremony, during his march, he stopped and made his way through the dozens of photographers and reporters, to his family sitting in the stands. Something about that just struck a nerve, like these are the most important people to me and I have to thank them for being here. He didn't take any interviews nothing, he just wanted to say Hi and thank you. I just thought that was... sweet!

Friday night...with pictures.

Went out on Friday night with some new friends I met on Yelp to a new very urban lounge called 255 Tapas Lounge. This was not what lured me to join them this evening. We started off at Steel which I've always wanted to go to and then, made our way to 255 because everyone was hungry, and then, I stopped by at Halo Lounge for their 7 year anniversary. Overall, I give the night an A+ in fun. Good food, free drinks (courtesy of Halo) and good unpretentious company, always equals fun.

Here are some of the pictures




The jokester of the evening...


Couple of friends who invited me...see how women pose when they see the camera


Yours truly with one of the dancers at Halo


Me again...after my second drink

The start and end of it

It's so sad the way relationships just start and end. One minute they are hot and heavy, next minute they've literally fizzled. And I know it happens to the best of us, I mean look at Jen Aniston and John Mayer, but it's so sad no matter how much you've gotten to like or not like the person.

My friendship with "attorney" guy who was so full of lies has indeed ended. We went to lunch yesterday and some truths came out. We had been pretending to be other people for a long timeso when we let loose the truths and negatives came out. And in the truths I found out that he is unemployed, arrogant, conceited and a general slob. The fact that he is not working and has taken the Bar 3 times was a huge turnoff too. I need to look up to my man, to be taken over by awe, otherwise, his sizzle just fizzles. I'm a Gemini, we need something to aspire to, I need to aspire to be you.

So I sent him a text yesterday, no answer. Called him hours later and still no answer. Then, I thought, I don't have time for this mess. I deleted his number which thanks to my iPhone I have not memorized, and that is essentially that. You have to want to be something for yourself, not have me telling you to be something for yourself. If I start doing that now, I will always end up doing it, all the time, and that is not a fruitful relationship. I am not gaining anything by being your mother and mentor.

some pictures from my Sunday Walk

Peachtree Street between 8th and 10th Street. See how beautiful it is.



This is the lobby of 999 Peachtree Street.

busy busy me

I don't know what is wrong with me.

I was too busy to update on Sunday and Monday. Monday I was actually busy at work. Good to be busy but work is not good. It's just a means to pay the bill, so it is never really good busy. Being too busy to update is not a good look for me.

Yesterday my boss said something that upset me in a way she cannot understand or appreciate. She was teasing one of the attorneys who was delaying our meeting by working on a certain project. She said to him, "Can you get back to being a lawyer, which your parents sent you to school for, paid all that tuition for."

I just kept thinking, "I should get back to that myself." Nine years at the Bar and what the fuck am I doing? Not this pretending to be lawyer and not even coming close. So that upset me and it still upsets me just thinking about it.

Then, Sunday a friend of mine, who just left US Law School and is yet to pass the Bar (yes the glorious Bar) is interviewing already for an attorney position. Instantly, he is going to go into the market and make double what I have fought for five years to make. All the years I spent garnering work experience, he garnered educational experience and is already interviewing, even without the Bar license, for an attorney position.

What am I doing wrong?

Go see Man on Wire

Just saw the documentary Man on Wire in a quaint part of town that I have surprisingly never been to. It was a stirring portrait of a man (a wire walker) who defied odds, authority, laws, followed his dream and walked on a tight rope, figuratively and literally in life, across the Twin Towers in 1974. I read this Slate.com article earlier this week about this movie and knew immediately that I had to see it. Something about people who just go against the grain, defy authority and set themselves out to scratch their name in history books that just resounds with me, even though I don't have half the cajones that they have. I just enjoy basking in their triumph and I keep thinking, "God made us all different and for a purpose, and for you this was it."

After that I had dinner at this pleasant Thai fusion restaurant called Rain with a much older pair of couples sitting beside my table. It was like one of those rare find restaurants that you go in not expecting much but it just somehow ends up blowing you away. I didn't know spots like that existed. It was a good evening. In an effort to wrap it up, that is all I'll say for now.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Friday evening

Just saw the documentary Man on Wire in a quaint part of town that I have surprisingly never been to. It was a stirring portrait of a man (a wire walker) who defied odds, authority, laws, followed his dream and walked on a tight rope, figuratively and literally in life, across the Twin Towers in 1974. I read this Slate.com article earlier this week about this movie and knew immediately that I had to see it. Something about people who just go against the grain, defy authority and set themselves out to scratch their name in history books that just resounds with me, even though I don't have half the cajones that they have. I just enjoy basking in their triumph and I keep thinking, God made us all different and for a purpose, and for you this was it.

After that I had dinner at this pleasant Thai fusion restaurant called Rain with a much older pair of couples sitting beside my table. It was like one of those rare find restaurants that you go in not expecting much but it just somehow ends up blowing you away. I didn't know spots like that existed. It was a good evening. In an effort to wrap it up, that is all I'll say for now. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Facebook

Facebook Account turned out to be a bad idea. How can you open a Facebook Page when you're trying to run away from your past life into this new life, from all your exes, and be this new self-assured woman, when you're trying to pretend that life was not yours and when you're trying to give iup old mistakes and make fresh ones. How can you? So I had to get rid of it PERMANENTLY. Good thing Facebook had a way of making that happen.

Let's hope we can start again on a fresh page.

Hi Anita,

We have deleted your profile information and removed your email address from our login database. Let me know if you have further questions.

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

Highland Cigar Company Bathroom

Last night I went to this Art and Cigar thing with a friend of mine at the Highland Cigar Company in the Inman Park Area. The place was wee small, but nice. They had lockers filled with cigars for the cigar connoisseurs of which I was not one of them. I can't even stand the smell of smoke. Inman Park on the other hand, was a good shock to the system. Nice area. Very serene and upscale. Like a secluded area for the young upwardly mobile Atlantans. They had cyclists everywhere! I wish I had discovered it sooner. They actually have these lofts that I considered back in the day but I thought getting there was way too complicated for my family, so I scratched it. Wish I hadn't.

So I took pictures of the Highland Cigar Company, because I could.

plea for an International Trade Compliance Position

Dear World, aka, members of the International Law Community:

I am looking for an International Trade Compliance Position, with concentration on International Business and managing foreign business concerns. I have an LL.B and an LL.M (with Merit) in International Business Law from the University of London. I am currently reading all the articles and papers on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, OECD, international investments and its implications, and I majored in International Tax law in my LL.M program. I would assume that these educational qualifications would surely guarantee me a better job than what I do now. So, please anybody, agencies that recruit for these positions, international law firms, companies with international concerns, I implore you to help a fledgling professional.

I am a good employee and have been known to learn quickly on the job. I have six plus years of legal experience, one as a Barrister, the other 5 in the legal department of Fortune 500 companies. Yes, I have been around and worked in diverse areas of law, but that is not to say, I haven't garnered much experience from these positions. I am just waiting to find that one job that covers that one area, and is devoid of administrative work that includes, creating redlines for an attorney, filing, scanning, or administering to sales petty/administrative needs. Most of my previous positions have more or less included these tasks, and I feel that the time has come to move away from all that into a more professional job category, one that makes use of my education and challenges me to read and research laws and treaties on a daily basis. I am also available to travel and relocate as needed, yes I have no obligations to my current locale. So this should be a match made in international trade heaven.

So dear world, help me out! I know dreams come true to those who work hard, pray hard and strive hard, so why is the perfect opportunity to do something I really love, ever so hard.

Sincerely me.

Anita.

Resume can be provided upon request.

Not your average girl!

I cannot be happier that it is finally the weekend. The last weekend was so rushed, so much to do, so little time that I felt like I didn't have a weekend, I just had a brief interlude from the hum drum routine and was dropped right back to work. But this weekend, I shall make definite use of it. How are things otherwise?

I keep saying to myself: Dear Life, I don't hate you. I really don't. I just wish you had turned out better. I had such high hopes that you would and now, here you are disappointing me.

That's the summary.

It's the 1st of August, do you know where your sanity is? Oh Gosh, I must have misplaced mine.