{"id":1739,"date":"2016-04-26T00:07:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T00:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/illumination2.wordpress.com\/2016\/04\/26\/solitude\/"},"modified":"2016-04-26T00:07:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T00:07:11","slug":"solitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/26\/solitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Solitude"},"content":{"rendered":"

Solitude<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the last 24 hours I have neither eaten nor drank anything. I did not speak to a single soul. I set eyes on no one on account of being locked up intentionally in my room.
\nI read my SMS but responded to none. I had turned off my mobile data and done the same to the Internet service provider modems of which I had two. I had shutdown my laptop as well. I had unplugged the TV and DSTV.<\/p>\n

I had set the status on my Whatsapp profile to “SMS only”. I have to remember to change it. So I have more or less been cut off from all social media.<\/p>\n

On the table is a plate with 3 slices of bread which I kept just in case. There’s a bag full of 20 pieces of 50-CL water sachets just in case as well. I didn’t touch either the bread or water. There’s half a bucket of water which I finally dipped a small face towel into and used to wipe my face and torso sometime in the afternoon. Not that I was really uncomfortable or sweaty but it was something to do. 24 hours is a long time.<\/p>\n

I had a fan running all day courtesy of the inverter. No AC since there’s no electricity supply from the mains since morning. I was loath to open the windows during the day even when the temperature went up. It came close to being unbearable at some point.<\/p>\n

As at 9PM I had 49 missed calls. Probably from under 20 people. Most are probably work related. Most of the SMS are from automated systems at the various banks at which I held accounts.\u00a0It’s surprising that even on our birthdays especially those of us who are naturally reticent the few number of calls we get. I suspect when I enable mobile data on my phone and put on my laptop, there will be plenty of impersonal one-liners from friends and acquaintances. We get what we sow. Someone who wants friends must show himself friendly or something like that so I cannot complain. On the other hand, the Yorubas say it’s impossible for the same 20 kids to remain close friends for 20 years.<\/p>\n

I am grateful for the calls (apologies for not accepting them) and those one-liners. The fact that people even take the pains to write them means they spared you a thought even during their busy schedules. Thank you.<\/p>\n

I have read a ton of Sherlock Holmes and come away with the believe that “The Yellow face” is one of the best of his engagements. I am sure it’s based on sentiments: especially the ending. I read most of the book “The Rhineland Mystics: an anthology”.<\/p>\n

I remember for some reason that the word “interregnum” is one of my most favourite words.<\/p>\n

I did a few other “things” while alone in my room of course. I tried to exorcise myself of some of my personal demons. I am not sure if how successful I have been but hopefully I am better now in all aspects than I was 24 hours ago.<\/p>\n

At 9:44PM someone put on the generator and it was blissful to feel the first waves of cool air wafting from the AC.<\/p>\n

A little “Sunshine” would have made a world of difference but she shines a long way away across the oceans.<\/b><\/p>\n

I cannot say if I have achieved anything permanently positive by my actions of the past 24 hours though I hope so.<\/p>\n

Final tally was 54 missed calls, several SMS and 119 new Whatsapp messages. I suspect most of them are from my secondary school class Whatsapp group.<\/p>\n

Now that the “break” is over, I intend to take a proper bath and then go and indulge in something light. After all, it’s my birthday.<\/p>\n

NB: apologies again to all those who tried to reach me. I will get around to returning the calls and SMS shortly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Solitude For the last 24 hours I have neither eaten nor drank anything. I did not speak to a single soul. I set eyes on no one on account of being locked up intentionally in my room. I read my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[312,519,521,837,892,915,920,958,1070,1099],"class_list":["post-1739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dstv","tag-interregnum","tag-inverter","tag-rhineland","tag-sherlock-holmes","tag-sms","tag-solitude","tag-sunshine","tag-whatsapp","tag-yoruba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itayemi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}