-
How I learned computing Part I
When I was 7, my mum enrolled my sister and me in a computer programming course (sister was 9 or had just turned 10). I was below the minimum age for the class, but I was also at that tag-along stage where I just go with my sister where she goes so mum has some…
-
As Good As A Feast
Put a few hundred teenage girls together in an institute of learning, and there are bound to be some comedic moments. One was how in Yoruba class, a key topic of Yoruba Proverbs would be tested on exams in the format ‘Complete these Proverbs: Adie funfun _____________; Ajo kii dun_______________; Eni ba reti atisun akan_____________________…’…
-
How I learned computing Part II
In my freshman year, I took Intro to Programming, Data Structures, and Computer Fundamentals courses under the Department of Systems & Computer Science. The knowledge from gap-year hours I had spent poring over the chapters of Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours really helped me grasp concepts that were new to my classmates. They would…
-
on amazon.
This photo was taken last month, during a sunny Saturday spent hiking in the fields. Around 100 cows and sheep, accompanied by their shepherd, paused to nibble on the leaves from nearby shrubs, the jingle-jangle of their cowbells creating a melodic dissonance. The sun still shines, often and intensely. At night, the city lights up…
-
Winter.
Winter is a temporal desertland, its enjoyment expanded only by the warmth of communality: air molecules suffused with the aura of hearty food, the heat of others’ being, and the resonating sound of percussion and woodwind. Winter is when the externalized activity and rush of prior months is internalized as plans, new ideas and, should…
-
El Celler de Can Roca – all the food that’s fit to eat
“Did we really just eat for four hours?” I asked, as we polished off the last of four dessert dishes, an arrangement of distinctly-flavored chocolate strips leading to a neat heap of crispy chocolate crumble. An eruption of giggles. It was a giggly experience. From the amuse-bouches that kept coming four courses in — “our…
-
Out on a disorderly artistic limb
For my most recent birthday, some of my friends presciently gave me a sketchpad. Although I thought nothing of it at the time, I recently took a break from bag making to return to my first love: art. In the new year, I hope to develop my own illustrative style, and I’m glad that stylistically,…
-
Mastering Mobile
It’s 3:30am. The team I’m a member of, The Blue Shakamakas, just won a quiz. I came up with the Shakamakas part of the name: it reminded me of when I was eight or nine, and my younger siblings and I would invent random tunes, infuse them with meaningless words, then belt them out like…
-
Summer notes
It’s almost mid-July already. This has just been the loveliest of summers, with everything taking on a calm warmth. I had been traveling a lot (this year so far: Lagos, London, NYC, Blacksburg, a quick Washington DC stop, Fontainebleau), and on the train the other day, we were talking about summer plans and how a…
-
Addressing the Commonwealth’s Virtual Currencies Working Group
Last week, I visited London to address the Virtual Currencies Working Group of the Commonwealth on bitcoin and other digital currencies. Digital currencies are interesting to me because they are new and infused with potential. Here you can see a press release issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat on this meeting and its outcomes. I was…
-
Walls
Once I took a course in high school or university where we did an exercise in word associations. Teacher says a word, students discuss what associations come to mind on hearing the word. Today´s word is Walls. Ahh, there´s Walls ice cream, ´the dream of ice creams´ if a TV ad that ran in Nigeria…
-
How we spent our allowance
A bit over two years ago, after scribbling close to two hundred names on several little sheets of paper, I settled on the name Minku. It represented my brand without saying my name, and it had a geo-independent ring to it: Is it Asian? African? European? It was also just two syllables, easy to write…
-
Forbes
Today, we’re in Forbes. Three years ago, I figured that the secret of aso-oke fabric was too beautiful to keep just within our culture, and that it had to be shared with others. Others who may never get to wear traditional Yoruba dress around their heads or waists, but who carry that most universal…
-
Yonderland
I’m introducing Yonderland, a new monthly insider magazine on travel, culture and style. I feel that an online magazine layout would allow me express things I want to convey — things that, as much as I love blogging, are sometimes lost in its linear format. Read the current issue (and access archives)
-
Some pictures from the 1st Lagos Accessories Fair
Here are some pictures of my lovely mum and sisters at the Minku table of Lagos Accessories fair earlier today. I am so happy to have a team of family members dedicated to making the impossible possible. Later I hope my sisters would write a post on their experience, but for now here are some…
-
my first repettos
My first Repettos were a very deliberate purchase from Hu’s Shoes on M Street in Georgetown, Washington DC. It was around 2007, at the peak of my salsa dancing, and I had been filling up a closet with high-heeled, open-toed, synthetic-soled shoes that looked like what the dance instructors wore, but with the added characteristic…
-
Hot stamping on leather – how to
Also called estampar en caliente in Spanish, hot stamping has been the hot topic at Minku for the past few days. It started with the acquisition of a Minku die, cast in metal. I just have the die and its handle, no built-in thermostat or other adornment. The goal was to have some cool branding…
-
Artist: Twins Seven Seven
I first learned about Twins Seven Seven’s art in high school in the 90s. I have since been fascinated by the attention to intricate detail exhibited in his works, such as those seen here: Do you know about the Mbari Mbayo Club? It is a group of artists that came together in Osogbo, and produced…
A summer space
asummerspace.wordpress.com 