I met my future.....

I hate that I always have to scold myself for being AWOL on my own blog BUT life as a leisure scribbler and a full time MBA student amongst other things just isn't that easy to juggle. However I have no excuse as my first semester is officially over....HOORAH!!! and since I ain't making the customary trip home *boo hoo*, I actually can get on with some bloggage :-)

Sooo tonight I'm in the mood for some deep banter after a rather wonderful and unexpected weekend of revelations and just good 'ol Scribblediva chilling. Yesterday I went to church for the first time in a loooooooooooong *tumbleweed moment* time...and I have to say, it felt jolly GOOD! There really is no place like "home". My favourite pastor did his thing and had his son in-law in tow...hmmmm I need to think of how best to phrase the rest of this post because seeing him was a revelation in itself. I really thought men of his calibre (in EVERY sense of the word) were now extinct. Ladies I have prayed long and hard for God to give me a hint, a glimpse, an idea, something if anything of what my future husband would look and act like and I think He finally came through on that prayer yesterday. The intent with which he listened to his father in-law, the look of respect, acknowledgement and understanding, the ease between them and the g-swag he had going on was just ridiculous. What I saw could only be heaven sent and I think I can sincerely say he is probably the best looking Nigerian dude I've seen in a WHILE like wow! Yet the humility was on point. Like he hadn't clocked enough brownie points, my brother enlightened me on the obstacles he faced before he finally settled down with my pastor's daughter, being born into a Muslim family et al. Hearing and seeing really makes believing a walk in the park. I've always known at the back of my mind and somewhere deep in my heart that I would marry right especially as marriage isn't necessarily what keeps me up at night lol (no thanks to my intense MBA programme) BUT more recently I have had some major doubts. As a firm believer in God, I believe yesterday's encounter was a much needed and well timed vision of what's to come.
I don't know about anyone else but great men still exist and I know my not-too-distant future husband is one of them :-)

Now time for some much needed indulgence....Gu Hot Chocolate Souffle......bellissima!

Ivory Towers and all things random...

Oh how the time flies! I can't believe we are more than half way through the semester and I pretty much know everyone on my programme by name and face (major drum roll!!! lol). I'm going to have to make this post mega short as I have to be in bed shortly (switches off telly and blackberry simultaneously), BIG day tomorrow (don't ask!). So Monday was interesting.....we had a mash up Interpersonal Skills session and got to see the other groups yay!!! (fresh minds to prey on lol). Sadly it was a pretty drab session not helped by the gloomy, wet weather we had ALL day (yuck!). On the upside, Team D (yes that would be me and 4 other equally creative and intelligent guys), won the Ivory Tower challenge (*cue music: All I do is win win win no matter what!! :-D*). Thrown into compulsory silence having been placed in groups of 5, we were asked to build an Ivory Tower, out of 10 sheets of paper and 2 rather short strips of sellotape in just 2 minutes...yikes! It was fun and things got heated towards the end as you know we MBAs are a naturally competitive bunch :-)
However, having withstood the test of paper planes, over enthusiastic hand gestures and other durability tests both expected and unexpected lol, we won! We have our last Interpersonal Skills session next Monday and I can tell you one thing for a fact......I'm gonna miss 'em!

On a brighter note, I just completed the first batch of another exciting group presentation and I have 2 more to tackle *yawn* (I really must work harder at getting a social life!). Good night scribblers I'll be back sooner than you think muah!

P.S. I just realised this is my 50TH BLOG POST OMG OMG OMG I'm so proud of me!!!!! *hugs self tight* To all my readers I luv you guys!!! Thanks for the support I promise to keep blogging so long as my imagination and life remain somewhat interesting :-)

TMI!

Another quick number, student-hood is not entirely about lazy days and drunken nights (FACT!). I'm actually killing two birds with one stone here, basically every glorious Monday, we have an Interpersonal Skills session from 2-5pm, during which we discuss even more fluff and basically probe and pry way too much into each other's lives (then write up a journal about). Frankly, I thoroughly enjoy these sessions as I've always thought myself to be some sort of an amateur psychologist and my tutor is just so cute and lovely, its difficult to get mad at what most of my classmates find to be an utter waste of time. More importantly, I am on a scholarship (yes ScribbleD is a rare find...beauty+brains hahaha), so yea I have the the great joy of serving as a model student and can't really afford to skip classes except for the odd sick day :-)

Right, let's get to the meat of my post. Yesterday, we tackled Stress Management which was in itself a somewhat stressful session (the irony!). To start off, about a third of us turned up to class which made the session  a bit too intimate and to some extent boring as we were stuck with the same groups for the entire duration of the class *yawn* Firstly, our tutor Tim (I'm using a fake name by the way lol) gave us a brief history on stress and its derivation from the engineering field, and then he went on to describe how stress typically manifests itself in 3 different forms, physical, emotional and behavioural. He then handed out a sheet with an extensive list of these stress manifestations, asked us to tick those we could relate with, then invited us to form groups of four to discuss our observations. In my group, one of the guys actually ticked "loss of interest in sex" and felt the overwhelming urge to go into great detail about how this particular trait applies to him. It was of course hilarious and a tad bit uncomfortable to take in (at some point I said "ooookay too much information!" but he kept going). Turns out sex for married people almost always becomes an after thought in the face of real life pressures like bills, insurance, fees and what have you. Furthermore, he told us that as a married man who has had sex waaaay too many times and in all the different positions he knows of (I think this was my TMI moment lol), he felt somewhat bored and less excited about sex as it was in his mind a matter of "been there done that" (eureeka moment! lol). Anyway we somehow managed to get off that topic but the shock factor of such intimate revelation left me rather scarred and anxious for what our next session might cause some people to reveal!
Bottom line, I was able to take away that some amount of stress is necessary for us to stay motivated about life and indeed too much of it could lead to death. Seeing as I do not believe in the usage of new age religions such as Yoga e.t.c. to destress, I believe simple mantras such as EAT.PRAY.LOVE go a longer way in ensuring long life and prosperity...hip! hip! hip! HOORAY! :-)

Live in the moment....

Have to keep today's post short and sweet as I have mountain loads of work to get through tonight and my eyes already feel heavy with sleep and sheer laziness *yawn* Decided to take a hint from Drake and "live in the moment" over the weekend......ended up being "The Best I Ever Had" and I really didn't want it to be "Over" but as they say all good things do come to an end, so I bid goodbye to my long suffering boyfriend (London....yes I am in an intense and very rewarding relationship with a city lol) and headed back to the man currently after my heart, Robin Hood. I am quite an easy person to please so really I didn't get up to anything outrageous but I spent unprecedented quality time with my even more long suffering male best buddy and we had a BLAST! As someone who never really had strictly platonic relationships with the opposite sex, I thoroughly enjoyed the company, conversation and everything else, it was amazing to just be able to hang and talk and flirt and get some much needed perspective on a few things that were weighing on my mind. Anyhoo I finally conquered my presentation demons today and delivered a near flawless presentation with my dream team (Group 8). The consensus was that we totally ROCKED the class and I hope this success is sustainable for the rest of my MBA programme.

On that note I need to get through some case studies and other readings in preparation for class and some other group meetings tomorrow *sigh*

First...a quick detour....gidilounge, YouTube and BB messenger....what's really good?! :-D

About time....

So I know I disappeared for fear of fame come too soon (I wish!). Honestly I can't even use the "busy" card because that has been my excuse for the last few months and frankly no one seems to be buying it. And they say honesty is the way forward (tell that to the people in my life)........on a lighter note, I haven't been ill or anything equally traumatising. I've just been forging ahead with my MBA programme and yes my dear friends told me it would be a tedious year ahead but having worked I-banking hours I thought it would be a walk in the park (sooooo not the case!). I barely have time for any extra-curricular activities apart from messing about with my wardrobe every morning, in my bid to look like your average student lol. Geekily enough (yes you probably wouldn't find geekily in the dictionary but who cares :p), I am loving every moment of it, especially my ScribbleD inspired pad complete with a spa and every facility I do NOT have the time or energy to enjoy (I'm working on this). Also helps that my sis is here so hoorah to new experiences and opportunities!

Furthermore, this city is blessed with HOT TALL MEN!!!!! Can I get an AMEN from a fellow tall sister?! Lol. Sorry but I've never felt so petite in my vertically endowed life. Best of all they are hotties and from different walks of life so I'm spoilt for choice. Sadly, two things seem to be getting in the way, for starters, I seem to have lost my appetite for men (yes ALL of you) and secondly, I think I may have to embrace my inner Cougar seeing as most of these potential hotties are undergrads (eeeeks!). On a steamier note, I have something that you might call a crush on a fellow classmate BUT I've always only ever played Away (geddit lol) so I'm not entirely sure how this is gonna pan out but for now it's somewhat exciting / distracting (in a good way). Anyhoo I felt the need to express myself especially as our Interpersonal Skills coach says better out than in :-)

Happy Sunday guys......watch this space xx

Guess who's baaaaack? :-)

Short entry as my writing is a bit rusty given my unforeseen hiatus. After much pondering and bickering (mainly with myself) lol, I decided to carry on with my random ramblings. Thanks to all those that actually sought me in my absence and the eager readers that offered blog topics for fear I'd been struck by a deadly case of boredom (partly true). Without much ado, I would like to inform everyone that ScribbleD is back and hopefully here to stay HOORAH!!!.......xoxo

Men Cry Too

As sleep decided to play an endless game of hide and seek with me tonight, I thought I had engage in a bit of work related research via http://www.bbc.co.uk/, but ended up going from reading an article about private equity firm, Lion Capital, putting up its c.70% share of Wagamama for sale at c.£250m (bought at £102m in 2005.....sweet!), to skimming through an article on twenty films that make men cry (big mistake!). In light of news that Toy Story 3 makes men cry (WHY?), male readers got in touch with their emotional side and opened up about their own private tear-jerkers. Judging by the list, it is no surprise that men and women really do not speak the same language emotionally. True to form, a lot of the movies selected had nothing to do with romance, more about friendship in testing times and triumphing (men are so simple no). Personally, The Champ did it for me! I'm still sniffing and forcing back tears from watching the final scene of this heart wrenching classic film on YouTube as shown below (Warning: You WILL cry!!!).

Top Male Tear Jerkers (selected by real men)

1. There's one scene for me, it's the Grey Havens at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I've seen it loads of times, but even as a man in my 30s, it still manages to get me going every single time! The emotion of the characters, having gone through their personal sacrifices (particularly Frodo of course), coupled with Howard Shore's brilliantly moving score always makes me weepy with that lump in the throat feeling - I remember wailing in the cinema lol (such a girl sheesh!)

2. The Shawshank Redemption had me in fits of tears because of the joy and happiness that ensues when those two lifelong companions are reunited on that beach. The hardships they've endured and the power of their friendship stirs the longing for good friends in me. Yep, I'm a weeper and proud! - I still haven't seen this film

3. Picture this: me, my wife, her mom and dad, my mom and dad, the kids. We go to a movie all together for the first time ever. We go to Up and the only person in the group not sobbing is my father in law. Now I finally have proof that he is a robot. My dad cried for an hour. I tried to hold it back, but my throat was throbbing so hard it felt dangerous not to give in. Then I let it rip like a little girl. - OMG I saw this on the plane, was sobbing silently in my seat, how embarrassing and its a bladdy animated film!

4. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest has a tragic ending, and makes me bleary eyed when I think too hard on it, but the tears strangely intensify upon the victorious final shot, to see something positive and good come from such bleakness and despair. - Never seen it

5. The one film that makes me cry every time I watch it is Marley and Me. When he says goodbye to the dying Marley... I'm starting to fill up just thinking about it. I don't know if it's because I have a dog and have had to go through the heartache of saying goodbye before to my previous dog when she passed away but this film makes me cry more than any other. - This was one emotionally charged movie, especially as the relationship between Marley (the dog) and Owen Wilson was so believable. I also thought about my late dog when I saw this, so sad :-(

6. When I was a tender 18-year-old in the RAF, they showed The Champ to a bunch of us raw recruits. The room filled with male bravado soon quietened down and although dark you could see sparkling eyes. Nobody dared talk for fear of showing a trembling voice. - I dare you to watch the below clip and not blink back a few tears like really, this movie made us weep as kids *sniffles*

7. I wailed out loud at the end of The Notebook which wouldn't have been so bad except I was in the middle row in a packed 747 and I don't think anyone else was watching it. Oh the shame. - Yet to see this

8. I'm a 48-year-old man, ex-rugby player and motorcycle racer and I admit that Babe did it for me. Right at the end when the farmer says "That'll do Pig", I start welling up at the thought of it. - Eeeek! Babe made me cry too, I'm not abnormal after all :-) oops I mean :-(

9. I never cried at movies until after my daughter was born. The first time was Field of Dreams. When Kevin Costner had a catch with his father, I was bawling. I purchase the film every time it comes out on a new medium (video, DVD, anniversary edition, Blu-Ray), and I still cry. In fact, I cry before that scene, in anticipation. Some day, when the holographic version is released, I will cry on James Earl Jones when he says "for it is money they have and peace they lack". - No clue
10/11. Many readers found the end of The Railway Children particularly emotional 10. I have only seen my Dad cry on two occasions, and one of them was during Chariots of Fire. The end of The Railway Children, with Jenny Agutter running down the platform crying "Daddy, my daddy" gets me every single time. I must have seen it 25-30 times over the years and on every occasion, I am a gibbering wreck.

12. The Finnish sauna documentary, Steam of Life, had a reputation for being a tear-jerker. I didn't believe it until I went to see it myself, and all the men in the cinema were in tears. Fantastic doc, by the way. - Never seen it

13. The 1941 Tom and Jerry cartoon The Night Before Christmas has a very emotional ending. Tom sees Jerry freezing in the cold bitter snow outside the house and then feels bad for Jerry. He warms him up by the fire and gives him a Candy Cane as a present and Jerry then takes a mousetrap hidden in Tom's bowl of milk and Tom and Jerry become friends. This is probably the most emotional scene in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. - Are you having a laugh? lol!

14. Man On Fire, with Denzel. A hard hearted soldier of fortune discovers the inherent goodness of human nature in a child and gives his life in exchange for hers. I can't watch it without crying. - Hmm, never seen it

15. Mary Poppins makes me well up, at the redemption of Mr. Banks. - Huh?? LOL. Actually Mary Poppins was a tad emotional but come on!

16. The only film that got me blubbing was Life is Beautiful right at the end when the little boy gets to ride on the tank after winning hide and seek and then finding his mother. What made it worse was I was in the middle of a flight to New Zealand, it was half past something in the morning, everyone else was asleep and I was crying like a three-year-old whose balloon had burst. - Never seen it

15. Bridge to Terabithia had both myself and my 12-year-old son in tears in the cinema, openly asking each other why the girl had to die. I am not worried about being teary in front of my sons; I think it's good to let them know it's OK to let your feelings show. - Never seen it

16. The Green Mile often gets men blubbing 16. I've watched The Green Mile a few times and always end up crying. I'm usually sobbing at the lines, "Please boss, don't put that thing over my face, don't put me in the dark. I'm afraid of the dark." - Don't remember much of this movie to be honest

17. The bit in The Italian Job where the Mafia smash Michael Caine's Aston Martin and the two E-Types had me crying like a baby. - LOL madness

18. Rocky winning the title and manages to say "'except for my kid being born this is the greatest day in the history of my life, I just want to say one thing, to my wife at home, Yo Adrian... I did it!" Gets me every time! - Don't think I've ever seen this

19. My Life as A Dog, a Swedish film that observes a 12-year-old boy, Ingemar, struggling with life with a terminally ill mother and an absent father as well as meeting all the normal developments that life presents us. The tear-jerker for me is how Ingemar tries to come to terms with the story of Laika (a theme that runs through the whole film), a dog sent to space with a guaranteed death sentence. Ingemar consoles himself constantly with "life could be worse" - [I'm] in tears now. - Wow never seen or heard of this film but it sounds really sad :'(

20. If I want a really good purgative cry then it has to be Truly, Madly, Deeply. That's one film I can only watch on my own. - Never seen it