In which I write about Conan Gray, Nigerian living and how maybe Anime might not be too far off with this power of friendship jutsu.

Regularly Scheduled Programming.

Dear human,

I assume you're human anyways but who knows, you could be a demigod, or an alien reading this at the fall of civilization. I certainly hope that I'm not humanity's last hope of documentation.

This is coming later than usual because well, there was a prison break in my area and I spent the past day being terrified for my life, fun.

Anyways, sometime in June, I took a social media break and discovered Conan Gray. Discover is a strong word; I knew about him but didn't get into his music properly. My favourite Conan Gray song is Maniac - there's something about it, followed by Wish You Were Sober, what's not to love about that? Generation Why is my third, and the title of this letter of course.

"We are the helpless, selfish, one of a kind

Millennium kids, that all wanna die

Walking in the street with no light inside our eyes

We are the worthless, cursed with too much time

We get into trouble and lose our minds

It's something that I've heard a million times in my life

Generation why"

That's the chorus of the song. I've been thinking a lot about that chorus, and how it particularly relates to being a Nigerian young adult (I hate being called an adult by the way). Yesterday's terror attack reminded me of how all I've known about coming of age in Nigeria is terrorism. My early teens were spent huddling in the house and hoping that a bomb wouldn't go off. The house I spent every summer in was right next to a viewing centre that doubled as a bomb-making factory; at any point, something could've gone wrong and my siblings and I would have been names on a casualty list. The memory of waking up terrified as hell because a bomb went off at the military base close to the house is as clear as day in my head.

Living in this hellhole of a place is draining. And yet, this generation is the one being called 'lazy and drug-addled'. It genuinely makes no sense. Everyone I know is working multiple jobs because inflation keeps making a mockery out of our efforts but somehow, we're lazy? Battling mental illnesses that you can't get drugs for because we don't have money but still showing up and doing the damn thing but one old, demented man wants to conscript us into the army to eat corn and cassava? God will punish Tinubu sha.

On Life

Onto lighter things, if you watch anime, you'd know that a lot of popular shonen is carried by 'the power of friendship' or in Tanjiro's case, the power of family. This past week has shown me that that isn't just plot armour, the power of friendship is really a superpower. And having people in your corner makes it easier to face the world in a boxing ring.

Job hunting is still a rubbish concept and we should abolish capitalism.

Last week, my first interview for my column on 49th Street was launched. The Litverse is just me talking to everybody involved in the making of the magic that is books. I talked to T.J Martins and he's nothing short of a wonderkid.

49th Litverse: T.J Martins, the 22-year-old with 10 books, and counting. | The49thStreet — the49thstreet.com

Tunmise Ojo Martins, more known as T.J Martins wrote eight full-length novels in three years. His secret? There's nothing he loves more than writing. For

On Books.

I started and finished Mia Sosa's "The Wedding Crasher" on July 1st and I think that bodes well for my reading life this month. Still a couple of books behind on my Goodreads challenge - the plan is to read 100 books this year and I just might.

The main female character of this book - Solange, reminds me so much of myself. She refused to see what was right in front of her eyes because it didn't fit in with what she thought she had to follow. I struggle with that a lot. If you're looking for a fun, fluffy 'fake-dating to lovers' trope to read, you should read The Wedding Crasher.

Currently, I'm reading two books because why not? Danielle Allen's Business Casual and Ana Huang's Twisted Love. I might DNF both and go for something new.

On Music.

If you haven't read my interview with Dwin, the Stoic, you should read it here. Yesterday, Youtube Music introduced me to Obongjayar properly and I think I might get on the train. Here's my favourite song from his EP with Sarz.

Gone Girl - Obongjayar & Sarz — anniemusic.app

Listen to "Gone Girl" by Obongjayar & Sarz

Lemonade.

Wo, this week has been shege. Took me a bit to think about my Lemonade. Definitely my friends, shout out to Pankere Army, Glee Club. And my brother, who's staying up late to learn to code so he can be a game dev. I'm so proud of him.