The Year of Keanu

Photos courtesy of Esquire

Lately there's been this Renaissance or "Keanussance" as they've termed it of Keanu.

He's just been getting a lot of press, and good press for his body of work, his humanity and some of the new projects that he's released back to back this year - From John Wick (FINALLY!!!) to Always be My Maybe then, to unbelievably a voiceover character on a Toy Story movie. Recently remember waking up to see him trending on Twitter for nothing spectacular but the simple rhyming pattern of his last name. He's not even on Twitter!

It's been overwhelming for me who's been a long time fan and always regarded him as an "unproblematic fave" so I can't imagine how he's taking it. In some way I am glad that what attracted me to him all these years is finally getting some exposure and in some ways, I don't want it to go to his head, I don't want him to be stalked and I also don't want some story to break and burst his bubble. You know Hollywood can be loving and cruel all in the same breath. Either way, it's a refreshing respite from the usual cats who get all the press for the wrong reasons. Now we get press of him doing even the most mundane things - Keanu riding his bike in Malibu (14 photos) didn't know pictures like that existed. Tune in tomorrow, it'll probably be Keanu buying and somewhat drinking espresso (18 photos). 

Also, with this aroused popularity come the Keanu fan sites who would resuscitate their Keanu writings, fan pages, feeds, think pieces, trying to sound all philosophical and knowledgeable of him (of someone they don't know), and then those annoyingly concocted theoretical stories that they write would start to make the rounds again. It had considerably died down even with the release of the first John Wick which only the fan boys appreciated and demanded a sequel. But now that he's gone full-blown commercial and become the "Internet's new boyfriend", the fandom is no longer underground, it'll be and is commercialized and hopefully not over-exposed. 

I remember asking myself through several of his indie films, one too many, some I am still yet to see, and some the critics panned mercilessly, I remember wondering, "Do you still like this man?"

My response: Always. 

Stunned by Time

When actors that you've known and loved since your youth start aging right in front of your eyes it reminds you that maybe you're aging and in constant denial of the absence of your youth and that maybe, just maybe, you probably don't look quite as spiffy as you used to, that maybe in fact if one were to do a compare of your features, your more prominent facial features against what you were when you started watching those actors to present day, there would also be a great somewhat noticeable change, if possible a demise in youthful radiance.

Every time I see a recent photo of Keanu Reeves I recall his look in a movie I just watched again recently - Point Break. He looked so... young. So precocious. I was so young and precocious when I first saw it. But alas, here we are both NOT so young or precocious - far from it actually.

Then, I also remember one of my other faves #RDJ - Robert Downey, Jr in movies like Chaplin and he was so young and brilliant (acting master class) and so was I when I saw it. I thought he was the most engaging charismatic actor of our time. He still is, but then, age.

The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson during his WWE days with that arched eyebrow and invigorating catchphrases prancing with such agility on the ring ropes with his clarion call of: "Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?"

Again here we are.

Gerard Butler in 300...

This list could go on.

What does this mean?

Age. How do we fight the effects of time? How do we win? Such an unmatched duel. So not fair.

Aging is inevitable. It's disconcerting and overall quite troubling. 

Certain Sundays!!!

Today.

Sunday!

Had the most amazing fulfilling foodie experience.

Right after Mass I stopped over for some Special Fried Rice. For me and me only.  

The sun had finally come out after about 3 consecutive days of horrendous rain so it felt rather soothing to exhale, take in some rays and do something else asides from drive straight to a home that had instilled in me some cabin fever. So off to indulge I did. Ordered a big bowl of Special Fried Rice, brushed off all the offers of an accompanying sauce, and insisted on my choice of Special Fried Rice, you know the kind that comes with all the filings, beef, chicken, shrimp, and this one even had bits of prawn plus a nice cold beer to enjoy the warm Sunday with.

It felt good. I had the same meal on my birthday but it didn't feel quite as refreshing on that day. I was in a hurry, felt the meal was not celebratory enough. I was salivating for another fancier styled restaurant to ring in the day and I didn't want to believe this could be it, the place I ring in my birthday, this seedy 24 hour Chinese restaurant that rarely has customers with a wait staff that looks bored out of their minds. In the end that was it. That turned out to be the best meal I had that day and it was so good that I thought about reliving it today - this Sunday instead of going to brunch in some fancy schmancy restaurant.

What we do on Sundays (on a budget!).

Simple Kind of Life

life can be simpler.
easier. more pleasant.
atimes. even soothing.
we should aim to make it simpler.
and easier.
by any means necessary.
but instead.
we choose to complicate.
and frustrate.
and most importantly,
inhibit.
then.
oppress. suppress.
even the most simplest of tasks.
that's what frustrates me.
suppose.
hope. does so to.
everyone. 

The Year of Keanu

Photos courtesy of Esquire

Lately there's been this Renaissance or "Keanussance" as they've termed it of Keanu. He's just been getting a lot of press, and good press for his work, his humanity and some of the new projects that he's released back to back this year - From John Wick (FINALLY!!!) to unbelievably a voiceover character on Toy Story 4. Recently remember waking up to see him trending on Twitter for nothing spectacular but the simple rhyming pattern of his last name. He's not even on Twitter!

It's been overwhelming for me who's been a long time fan and always regarded him as an "unproblematic fave" so I can't imagine how he's taking it. In some way I am glad that what attracted me to him all these years is finally getting some exposure and in some ways, I don't want it to go to his head, I don't want him to be stalked and I also don't want some story to break and burst his bubble. You know Hollywood can be loving and cruel all in the same breath. Either way, it's a refreshing respite from the usual cats who get all the press for the wrong reasons. Now we get press of him doing even the most mundane things - Keanu riding his bike in Malibu (14 photos) didn't know pictures like that existed. Tune in tomorrow, it'll probably be Keanu buying and somewhat drinking espresso (18 photos). 

Also, with this aroused popularity comes the Keanu fan sites who would resuscitate their Keanu writings, think pieces, fan pages, feeds, trying to sound all philosophical and knowledgeable of him (of someone they don't know), and then those annoyingly concocted theoretical stories that they write would start to make the rounds again. It had considerably died down even with the release of the first John Wick which only the fan boys appreciated and demanded a sequel. But now that he's gone full-blown commercial and become the "Internet's new boyfriend", the fandom is no longer underground, it'll be and is commercialized and hopefully not over-exposed. 

I remember asking myself through several of his indie films, one too many, some I am still yet to see, and some the critics panned mercilessly, I remember wondering, "Do you still like this man?"

My response: Always. 

That's the thing about my love for Keanu it just lurks, it waits for me to have love affairs with men in my head and then, it comes back to claim me. He has this genuine character that just astounds me. It's like I can almost predict that if there's a story of kindness, it has him written all over it. It's not the same with the others.

Post-Birthday Update

You know how your birthday rolls around and nothing really exciting happens. You just sit and wait and wait and nothing really memorable occurs even down to the last hour. And it's not cos you're by yourself, or you have no friends or cos you chose to spend it alone. Even though all these situations exist but still. It's just one of those birthdays that nothing has chosen to happen and that's unfortunately how the stars aligned for this particular birthday. Somehow, in some minuscule way, I have to accept that that's okay. 

But in arriving to that conclusion I had to do some serious soul-searching as to what went wrong.

I recalled all the birthdays in America. Most of them from my 30's. When I had the freedom to travel, explore and just be and bump into strangers and hold some type of fun friendly intellectual conversation that caused me to get out of my head for at least a little bit. Then, there were no cakes, no pressure to buy any, throw a birthday shindig or some type of celebration for your friends. You were free to be selfish and selfishly spend that day on yourself - shopping, indulging and my personal favorite drinking, then, of course, dinner. I remember telling every bar I visited that it was my birthday and getting something on the house - a shot, a beer, a piece of pie, some dessert. It was wonderful. An all about me day. A 24 hour day dedicated to me about me starring me and produced by me, guest stars and locations may vary. I loved it. 

I want to go to there. These Naija birthdays are driving me nuts. 

That is my birthday update. Happy Belated Birthday to me. 

Of Friendships and Sexes

When I was in school...(this is a long story so you all better grab a drink/snacks or something) we were asked to do our law school internship at a law firm (surprising right?). We weren't too thrilled about this additional step to graduation particularly as we weren't permitted to be assigned to a law firm of our choice with our friends. The school handled the assignments at random. You could work your way through this assignment but I tried and failed and just succumbed to random nothingness hoping the chips would fall where they will. And did they?! 

Upon my assignment after the initial awkwardness of being the new girl who just got her assignment a few weeks after the rest of the class, I eventually became good friends with this guy and girl because we found ourselves always sitting at the same table together everyday. What's so ironic about this discovery is that in school we could hardly stand each other. The guy had a girlfriend who wasn't assigned to our law firm (duh!), and the lady, of course, had a boyfriend who also wasn’t with us and there was little ole' me - who happened to be in love with a guy who just happened to be the guy's roommate back in school. We were just 3 people picked at random and plucked into this law firm for 3 months of internship. 

Everyday we came together and talked, chatted about everything, about our love lives (or lack thereof), our families, what we would do upon graduation, everything. We got so close that when it was weekend time we wanted to keep up the tempo so we would agree to meet up somewhere to have drinks together, mostly this lovely exquisite over-priced restaurant with a water view. We wouldn't have any money but of course, the guy (the gentleman) would pay for us girls. We would as much as dress up to make it seem like a dinner arrangement. It was a nice sight at those get-togethers to see two gorgeous (ahem) women with this guy, he felt so honored. He got to share our exact tastes in music, (we used to go to jazz clubs and listen to afro-jazz) movies, and then, fine wine and cuisine. We would go to choice places that served peculiar food just for the fun of the adventure. The funny thing is that his girlfriend never knew, at least he never told her about us and our escapades and then he never knew I had a crush (feel free to insert "obsession" here) with his roommate back in school but I think he guessed at some point. he knew his girlfriend wouldn't understand that all this hanging out was simply platonic that's why he didn't tell her. It was conveniently planned and working too.

In summary, there was this one day we went to see this mutual friend of ours (also in Law school) and when he saw how close we had all become, (two girls and a guy) he was forced to ask the inevitable question: 

"Can a man and a woman be close friends without that element of sex?"

I immediately answered, "Yes", because look at us. We're good. We don't even discuss sex. 

But it got me thinking, that maybe. 

The guy classmate responded emphatically with a resounding, "NO,"...

Okay, but who asked you. 

He continued, "Because at some point the man may be in love with the girl or at some point the girl may be in love with the guy and try to hide it under the guise of friendship..."

That is true, but look at us. We made it. 

But it still got me thinking, and that’s why I started fantasizing about perfect friendships somewhat like we had that summer. It was one of the most memorable friendship experiences of my life. I still look back on it with nostalgia. Obviously! 

When we graduated we went our separate ways. The lady is married now (and is in government and has a proverbial schtick up her arse but let's not go there) and the guy is supposedly working abroad (his father was an ambassador to Nigeria so it's understandable).

Basically all I wanted to illustrate was that platonic friendships between opposite sexes do happen, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't...but I hope when they do happen and work out, you would learn to treasure and savor those times, because indeed they would undoubtedly be the most memorable, fun filled times of your life. 

Overall.

An Anita Writes Birthday

The Obligatory Birthday Post. 

This year was tough. I didn't have to work. I actually took a vacation so I could just, be, for myself and my birthday. The entire scene was set but yet I wasn't looking forward to it. All that I had anticipated fell through about 2 weeks prior and it left me with a ho-hum feeling in my chest, still hoping with the slightest dimmest flicker that something out of the ordinary would take over.

Yet...it didn't.

It reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of "Sex and the City" (Season 4, episode 1 to be exact), it was Carrie's 35th birthday and she had nurtured an uncertain unhappiness at adding another year to her already burdened lonesome life, and after all the efforts to make her transition easier and less painful, it didn't work out that well. In fact she ended up having a thoroughly shitty day, where everything and anything went wrong and it caused her to re-evaluate her life. Where had her past 35 years taken her thus far?

Instead of boring you with my nothingness birthday celebration - I'm certain we all have those from time to time - below is an extract of one of my first birthday posts. Those were good times, weren't they? I would work on my birthday knowing that my birthday would be celebrated at work (not at my expense but at my friends, colleagues, families expense) and I would come home to a small birthday cake gathering and of course, being the summer, there would be a new movie being released to usher in the evening after all the cake and wine. Go to bed rested, warm and fuzzy from all the love and light shed my way. 

To better birthdays.

June 6, 2003 - 

I am not drunk and, strangely enough, I didn't drink that much and what's so fascinating is that I actually had fun. Still, you know I couldn't let such a memorable day like this go by without putting in an update on the days' events and just saying thank you to God for His wonderful mercies and for His unique way of answering my prayer and letting me know He's got my back.

I went to work feeling a little weird. I was just hoping no one would make a fuss about me, and thankfully they didn't. It was my birthday right? What do I do? How can I get any work done at all? But I did just a little bit but to me I wasn't the only one not really ready to work, my co-workers were ready to leave that place and head to the restaurant faster than I was. 

We went to a fancy restaurant downtown. For once we mingled with the rich and the spoiled. Then, they handed me my present a gift card, which I didn't want to open because I really do not open my presents in front of people. However, it was fun, I am feeling rather worn out now and sluggish, comes with turning an age, so I don't really have the energy to type out the play by play of today's events. All I know is, I had fun, the gifts from my co-workers were touching, and the love around me is really what I needed. I thank God for it, and I rejoice for it.

Happy Birthday to Me!