The Unbearable Lightness of Blogging -- Back the week of 18 October!

As a blogger, there's definitely one thing you cannot escape -- your
private life. When you're blogging, the assumption is that a lot of
much of your life is put up for public scrutiny.

We all now know that this is rarely the case. The smarter blogger is
the one who is consistent with the themes he writes about. I have
fallen short on consistency at times, but the passion is clearly there
to continue blogging.

Some important and personal issues need to be attended to as I take a
break from full-throttle blogging.

It's only a hiatus...and one that will certainly recharge the batteries!

So here's to when I come back the week of 18 October!

Like British actor Daniel Hoffman-Gill, who I both follow on twitter
and his blog (http://danielhg.blogspot.com), I will also be available
on twitter.

I would be happy to receive and follow your tweets as well. I'm on
http://www.twitter.com/ekbensah.

See you!

A Hard & Fast Rule for Managing One's Mortality for a Ghanaian Funeral

There I was at a funeral of a relative over the weekend when I experienced an epiphany: I discovered a hard-and-fast rule for managing one's mortality in Ghana.


Before I reveal it to a crowd of claps, let me just say this.

In this country, attending a funeral is a matter of course--and not because the relatives who have been handling and managing it for many funerals of relatives say so.

The assumption is that by attending the funerals of relatives (often a three-day affair comprising: wake-keeping; burial; and service on Sunday), you earn a reputation for being seen at them, therefore increasing your ability of having other relatives attend in the unfortunate event that it befalls you.

This can result in a young man or woman attending many funerals of the relatives of cousins/uncles/grand-you name it. This, so that you gain moral points for having ticked off the funeral box of relatives.

Well, I got me a solution to all that.

In the event you decide to become a rebel and not attend any funerals of any relatives, here's what you do:

1. Become a Muslim. This is because in the event your earthly time is up, you can simply avoid the ignominy of a no-show from all whose funerals you missed...by getting buried the following day!

GhanaMan About Town

I have always been a fastidiously-slow learner, but when I see the light, it is often very bright.

I am not too sure that it was coincidence to be seated at a hotel, near work, for a two-day meeting, and catch the Ben Affleck-starring 2006 film "Man About Town". The story revolves around a Hollywood agent who has everything any guy would want--a goo job, money, a lovely wife, etc. At least he THINKS he has everything, for his wife is cheating on him, and when he finds out, he is more than gutted. He embarks on an introspective journey wherein he starts writing a journal, which is sadly stolen. Sad, because the journal affords him the opportunity to pore his heart and secrets out--as journals are wont to do.

That is where I will stop with the narration of the movie, because the operative word here is the journal.

At a time when my blogging has suffered because of what seems like an element of over-prioritisation of my deepest thoughts in my own journal I have been writing for 22 years (I have journals dating to 1988!), I thought it was not really that coincidental to be reminded --in a supernatural and esoteric kind of way--about the insights and values offered by journal-writing, which is seriously helping me deal with some of the existential angst I am going through right now.

Sometimes, life is truly about coming full circle to "find the truth"...

___sent: e.k.bensah (OGO device)+233.268.891.841/ekbensah@ekbensah.net

------------------Sent from ekbensah jr's nokia e63
*twitter.com/ekbensah
*www.ekbensah.net
*Contact me: +233.268.891.841

These words brought to you by Ogo.

A Funny Kind of Ghanaian Rainy Season

Work colleagues perhaps best know the state of the Ghanaian weather more than I do, as they have seen many more of them than I have, but I cannot quite get my head round the fact that we have had no less than two rainy seasons all along?

My colleagues tell me that September/October is a time when there is rain, though not as much as the semi-torrential rain that we have witnessed for the past couple of days. The official rainy season is actually around June/July, so when we get cats-and-dogs rain in short starts like this, I can only wonder one thing:

CLIMATE CHANGE?

Ghana to be Counted on 26 September, 2010

Oh yes. We are all going to be counted the night of 26th September. Quite why it will be at night--and not daytime--is beyond me, but, hey, let us all rejoice and merry-make in  the knowledge that we shall be counted. Last time Ghanaians were counted was in 2000. Given that it is done every ten years, can we say we are fully on track?

I'm not too au fait with the technicalities associated with Ghana's census, but what I do know is that it will help Ghanaian ministries, departments and agencies(MDAs) obtain a better sense of the "state of the nation". You might also not know this, but there is a countdown on the Ghana Statistical Website, which can be found here: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/.

Here's a snapshot of the website (see below):

Have yourself a good weekend, and keep it safe!


culled from: Accra Photos by Day and Night: http://accradailyphoto.com

Alright so I failed...but Note to Self!

The problem with emergencies...is the way they kind of "emerge" from nowhere and consume the time you would spend on other things. So it is that I was caught up in an emergency work-related meeting on Wednesday, which flowed into today, which consumed practically the whole day.

While some are bent on burning holy books to commemorate September 11, in this country, we are enjoying a holiday on Friday 10 September -- to celebrate our Moslem brothers and friends in this largely Christian and religious country who have just finished their fast.

So everyone might just be off to the beach.

Or doing something.

I shall certainly be doing the latter, as I cogitate over work, and blogging material for the week of 13 September:

*New Media and Anas Amerayaw Anas
*Bus Rapid Transport in the offing

Enjoy. Till next week!

Bouncing back on 6 September, 2010!

For the second time, I have taken "unofficial" leave from this blog--and not necessarily because it was a choice.

Last week, I was at school. Specifically at a school for activists trying to understand the global financial crisis.

This week, I am winding down to prepare full-throttle for September, and a remaining quarter of the year that proves to be replete with as many meetings as one can imagine.

I have been tweeting, however. If you're a tweep, find me on @ekbensah.

Am definitely bouncing back the week of 6 September, which is a special week for me in so many ways.

Till then!