"How are you?" Bayo asked.

Yes, the newsletter is about me, but how are you?

I’ve had a long few weeks. A lot didn’t go according to plan, and is still not going according to plan, nevertheless, I’m at peace. That’s because of the Holy Spirit, cus otherwise I should be freaking out!

I’m currently in a good place overall, my ‘ad campaign’ called #SIC kicked off really well on Instagram (twitter and LinkedIn, not so much).

I also dropped a bonus episode on my podcast!

A lot hasn’t gone according to plan, but there is progress, still. That’s something many of us forget about when everything’s going wrong. We tend to forget that there are some things we still have going for us.

I also want to thank God for my mum’s life. She lives in Owo, Ondo, and when the news hit on Sunday… It was a bit scary.

As promised, I shall be filling you in on a couple of the things I listed in the last newsletter. A reader, whom I have named Constantine, chose the following topics.

• Sending out the first draft of my book for beta-readers

• Got my first Corper perk!

• I also scripted an ad about balls… yes, those balls.

So here they are!

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In the summer of 2019—which is technically last summer since we haven’t really had one since—I started writing a story I called ‘The Scare’. The premise is very simple.

A young lady thinks she’s pregnant, and in her attempt to find out, a whole night of unpredictable drama ensues.

This month makes it effectively three years since then. I had initially planned to release it on my birthday, the same year. But it wasn’t ready and I released something else instead.

I got to the end of the book, March the following year, granted I had been inconsistent. That was when the pandemic hit. I barely touched it for the rest of that year.

Then came 2021 and I had hope, and well, we’re in 2022. I’ve been slowly improving on it as my skills have grown, over the years. People have read it, and at least, they liked it. But now, I’m at that point that I feel like anything else I do on my own would likely ruin it, so it’s time for Beta-reading.

Alas, I haven’t gotten any feedback😭😭😭

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Being Corper Bayo—sounds like a cool title for a film—has been tough. Nay, interesting 🥲.

It’s been 3 months since I arrived at NYSC camp in Edo, and as at the time of writing this newsletter, I still haven’t resumed NYSC work (but that’ll change on the 8th of June). On the flip side, only five or so people have shouted “Corper weeee,” for me.

For over a decade and a half, I’ve been a Glo NG user, and I’ve endured and enjoyed the highs and lows (the latter more so) all the while. Why? Because my mother was sharing her data plans with me. But after she cut me off in the month of May—

—I could take it NO LONGER!

I visited MTN offices three times (and Airtel one time), and they always had network issues—we’re still in Nigeria after all. My fourth time at MTN was the one.

It was the last stop for me on that day, after visiting my NYSC LG (Local Government) office. I arrived at the gate, thankfully, with my face mask handy—I’d had to buy on two previous occasions and didn’t even get to use it.

In my uniform, I walked through the gate, but there was a queue… Oh no. And then all of the bank officials outside—and one old guy—started saying “Corper no dey queue.” After the day I’d had, I was speechless. Was this really happening? I just waltzed right into the office and it felt great!

That’s it.

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Ah yes, the ad about balls…

I work with a lot of people, about a lot of things, and it’s safe to say that some of them are weird. Occasionally, I work with a content creator abroad, helping to ideate and script content for different stuff. This time, it was an ad for a company that makes male grooming products, and their tone of voice is very… irreverent. They use a lot of innuendos and go straight for the balls, in a way that doesn’t in any way seem vulgar.

Writing the ad was easy, coming up with the idea was fun, and when the video is out, I’ll let you all know—I hope it comes out well.

I guess this was a bant, the week continues, I hope you’re doing okay, really… considering it all❤️. Tell me what’s up and I promise to reply (this time).

And y’know, if you want to stress me some more with a couple extra readers, I’ll understand.