What’s Out, What’s Hanging, What’s In

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
by George Appiah

The single question I’m most often asked is “What’s going on, George?” Today being the 30th of December, the last but one day in the year, I’m going to try to tell everyone what’s going on: what’s out, what’s hanging, and what’s in. So here we go:

What’s Out

• Dinah: The little girl couldn’t live on dreams any longer, so somehow the dreams we planned had to go astray… and we’ve had to go our separate ways. All the best in your newly re-discovered love life, Dinah. And if you’re looking for me, look no further: I’m right here on the blue side of lonesome.
• Huawei Technologies: This life is too short, dear Jeffrey and co. Yes, I made some really crazy career decisions in the past, but my past flaws should be no excuse for anyone to waste my time.
• 21 Days Of WordPress Poetry: This one baffles me the most. For months these guys had been pestering me to do a WordPress training for them, at a fee. But in the spirit of the season, I decided to do this training for free instead — from the 1st to 21st of December, 2hrs a day, ANY time during the day at their own convenience. Only caveat was a minimum of 5 attendees per session. After the NBSSI training, I kept waiting day after day, but no one turned up! How telling about human nature: people crave for the fruits hanging up there, but are not willing to stretch out their hand to grab thems.
• Vulgar language: I don’t know where this one came from, but it’s time to say goodbye.
• Stuff: I’m digitizing what I can and letting go of much of my “stuff” - books, clothing, gadgets and other cherished possessions. I want to be as free as possible. I want to live with just a single suitcase and a backpack. Nothing more.

What’s Hanging

• Gradschool: I’m currently rounding up my Masters program in GIS, but I’m not sure what’s to follow. PhD or a second Masters degree? From hindsight, I really know I wasn’t the least prepared for online studies at all. The isolation is near fatal. While I’ve mechanistically made my way through all coursework, I really don’t feel any sense of accomplishment at all. Plus, GIS is really not my cup of tea. So I’m thinking of a second Masters degree, this time, on-campus, and in radio communication. But the part I’m dreading most is having to leave Ghana. I’ll do anything to stay and study here, if it were at all possible. But no, it isn’t.
• WeblogsAFRICA: Tired of hearing people on the continent, even media professionals, complain about the generally negative reportage on Africa in the Western media, I thought it would be a great experiment to see how emerging new media technologies and citizen journalism could be leveraged to evangelize Africa to the world. After all who can tell the story of Africa better than Africans? But two years on, I’ve still not been able to pull this off the ground. First my health has not been the least loyal to my intentions. And then, I’ve never been successful at putting together a great team. Within the last 18 months along, I’ve put together 4 or so different teams, none of which lasted long enough to get anything done. The idea of bootstrapping a business from the ground up is just not in the “system” of most Ghanaians. While I still believe in this cause, I honestly don’t know what to do next.

What’s In

The same old me and my stubborn ambitions to tread the path that’s less trodden — but this time, with a blank sheet in front of me. How will I fare?

Your guess can’t be any wilder than mine.