it was september. In the last days when things are getting sad for no reason.
-Ray Bradbury

There's something about September that makes it the shortest month of the year. It felt like September sprinted along as opposed to how August was. I briefly considered letting you guys believe this was written on the last day of September but that would go against the “almost being real” blog I started. So this was written in October because the last day of September was just something else and I had deadlines and I’m actually writing this in between tasks.

September started quite great, my nephews visited for the weekend while their mum had some work to do in Abuja. It was a great couple of days because I missed them quite a lot.

I joined a community for literary enthusiasts a while back and even though I haven’t been serious about it, I attended a very interesting event hosted by them and enjoyed it. It’s interesting meeting more people that share certain niches I enjoy and I always enjoy talking about books. We looked into the concept of speed reading and though it isn’t something I would completely love to pick up, as the issue with my reading is less about speed and more about procrastination. it was an interesting thing to learn and possibly pass on to others even though it kinda seems tedious to me. I wouldn’t opt to fully adopt it but the take on how people remember things was great.

Despite how solemn september was, there was a day with a sunny morning I enjoyed for no reason at all. I just woke up happy, my commute to work was weird because for some reason I was cloud gazing; it has been a long time since I did something like that but it was a blue sky with white fluffy clouds and there’s something enjoyable about romanticizing your day sometimes, just looking at the road as it rolls by, people gazing and all those odd things people do and sometimes don’t admit. This was my favorite day of september.

I got to see my nephews again in Minna. I was there for two things, a meeting with the principal of a school we are planning on having a tech event for and a wedding which I was excited for but turned out not to be as interesting as I thought it would be. After five minutes at the venue, I was itching to go home and read something. I had a minor cold around the early days that almost escalated into a fever. I was exhausted despite not doing anything and my temperature was unstable. I opted not to go to the hospital because I was just too tired to move and it eventually stopped so it all worked out fine in the end. This was also probably why the whole event vibe was off because we traveled a day after my cold got better. My most eventful days in Minna were the ones at my sister’s place just having fun and getting all the tea I’ve missed. I also got to see kids I haven’t seen in almost 3 years, we still hit it off (call me "the fun aunt" 😌). The trip back to Suleja was tiring and annoying, my mood dipped a little bit more and everything started getting much more annoying. I would also like to add this, “Minna is very hot”; That’s all, thanks.

Just like how there was a day I woke up happy for no reason, There was also another one when I was sad for no reason. I think it came from the build-up of everything that happened the day we got back from Suleja but since sad days tend to love working as a group, it led to a week of suppressed annoyance and strange melancholic feelings. On the plus side, it rained at night and most of these days and the “I want to be alone” vibe led to me completing pending books; silver linings and all those motivational stuff I guess 😒. Anyways, the books were "The whispering trees" and "Lvoe" (it’s not a typo). My mood improved a little bit when I got “A Thousand Splendid Suns” from roving heights and it’s currently on my pending list, along with the book we’ll probably review at the readers club thingy.

My project supervisor finally caught all of us. I was happy that as it turns out, I wasn’t the only unserious student he has and we were all in this "ghosting" business together. Well, we now have deadlines for progress reports and as tedious as this will be, It’s the best way for us to get it over with on time. Preparation for the presentation took up most of my weekend, combined with work and other personal stuff, the last days of September were very exhausting. I did it though, I completed my chapter 1 and a bit of literature review for a progress report. Will I tell you how it went? Probably not, I don’t want to add October stuff even though technically, I’m writing this in October.

So why didn’t I post my review on the 30th of September 2024? I’ll tell you why. My commute to work was annoying and uncomfortable. I don’t like commuting with loud people. I got to work and tried to get some work done, then I got some tea and gist from a friend; let’s just say I have beef with one of her colleagues now. I couldn’t leave work as early as I wanted to because the delivery I was expecting arrived an hour and a half late. I had to also deliver a package to a friend’s place but of course we are having a bad day so I had the misfortune of the uber encountering a VIO officer, if you’re nigerian, you just know 🤦🏾‍♀️. I had to drop off by the road side and go through the process of trying to book a ride at peak after school hour. At least I got to relax a little at my friend’s but I had more errands. During the ride to the store, I received news so infuriating, I was shaking with anger. The bookstore was great but the day was not yet over because my commute back home doubled the average commute time and then some, I don't know why there's so much traffic these days. I got back home tired, angry, and very late. After all this, with the work time I missed and pending school work, today was when I finally settled down to write this.

Looking back, The month was a little bit human in the way that people like to pretend everything is fine during the day, out and about like the sunny days of September while battling melancholy at night though September at least has the courage to cry about it unlike most of us. The peculiar thing I noticed about myself was my sudden indulgence in sunbathing at noon which I found soothing and satisfying. I know in June I said I may be a reptile but now I think I am a cat; I would love to be a cat. Contradicting myself, for the last three days of September, I was a possum, I just couldn’t sleep early no matter how hard I tried. One thing I learnt (or rather remembered) is that human beings are complicated creatures, they hold so much value in family but at the same time an almost villainous disregard for it. The hypocrisy of man will always be unsurprising and at the same time surprising because as much as we know we’ll be disappointed, we still experience the curse of hope.

I think this was longer than most but that’s all about my SWIFT MOODY SEPTEMBER.