A truly horrible week in what had already been a seriously trying year. One of my favourite aunts died suddenly this week. So suddenly that we never even got an official diagnosis for her illness before she died. I had lost touch with her for a long time because she moved far away from the family to a rural part of Nigeria but I had spent years asking after her with nobody apparently knowing where to find her. We finally reconnected last year but I never got the chance to see her again. She was just the most wonderful person; she wasn’t perfect, none of us is, but I thought she was terrific. She had that rarest of qualities – true kindness, and she was never anything other than nice to me. How often can any of us say that about the people we know? Aunty Olu wanted nothing but the best for me and never had any hidden agendas -I can count the number of people I know who qualify for those criteria on one hand and still have fingers left over.

She was a superlative cook; seriously, you have no idea. I learnt to cook from her as much as I did from my Mother. Her fish pasties and fairy cakes are the stuff of legend. I cannot express how much colder and older the world feels without her. I try to console myself that I did what I could for her when I could, but it seems inadequate somehow. Still I know she rests in the everlasting arms; ‘ I am the resurrection and the death. He that believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live. And he that lives and believes in me shall never die’. The death of Fidel Castro in the same week led me to ponder about the legacy that we leave and to compare the effect that these two deaths have had on the people connected with both the deceased. To have crowds celebrating in the street that you have died – what a testament to a wasted life. So, we redeem the time because the days are evil, and they are short. I guess the lesson is to do all the good you can for all the people we can because we will not pass this way again. A healthy, life-affirming week to you all.

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Well, I warned you- change and mayhem. With the world reeling at the prospect of President The Donald, I hope my offering of puppies and rainbows and peonies will calm you down somewhat. The recent US election campaign has been incredible. It’s the most honest campaign I’ve ever seen because for the first time ever, the game has been laid bare. The electorate was offered only 2 choices- worse or worser, to coin a phrase. This has been going on for decades but it has never been so transparent before. The people saw right through it and decided to give the establishment a bloody nose. However. no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in. Doubtless, they’re already regrouping to see how they can manipulate someone much less malleable than Hilary would have been. Still, man proposes and God disposes. We shall see what we shall see. He doesn’t need money, fame or success. He’s already been exposed as a male chauvinist pig and there is no reputation to protect. I am very interested to see what he might be tempted to sell his soul for, unless of course it’s already in hock in which case it’s a simple matter of collecting a debt. Conspiracy, ahoy 🙂

IMHO, people didn’t so much vote for Trump as against Hilary and what they perceived rightly or wrongly as a seriously corrupt establishment class. This class never learn and constantly underestimate the anger of the general public because of course, they have little or no contact with that public. It’s the same reason why people voted for Brexit and look what’s happening there – they’re trying to nullify 33 million votes and saying that the votes of 650 people can overrule the referendum. If they don’t get the result they want, they just resort to skulduggery and cheating. I’m always amused when we send observers to elections in developing countries. Talk about ‘Physician, heal thyself’. Sooner or later, they’ll attempt to do away with democracy because too many people are wide-awake now. Things are about to get very interesting indeed. If I were President Trump, I would invest in some top-notch independent security. He should ask Hilary for some numbers; the mercenaries they’ve been using in Syria and Iraq (sorry, ISIS militia) could be just the ticket 🙂

And if you’re worried about The Donald, we’ve had worse in the past. Who could forget Danforth Quayle with his ‘potatoe’ and Dubya with his ‘Some of our children is not learning’. A Yale education, natch. Oh and by the way, just in case anyone cares, Guantanamo Bay is still open with business as usual. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. For the more frivolous, I offer the following advert outside a taqueria:

For the even more delinquent among my readers, I offer the following courtesy of my brother Wolix:

C2H5OH. You know it makes sense (hic! hoc!!)

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