STORIES, STORIES

This is part of a mini project of Q&As with people I know whom I look up to for doing what they want to do. Read all the posts from the series HERE .  Meet Chukwudi Barrah .  Where do you live, and what do you do? I live in Malaysia; I recently moved to Kuala Lumpur city centre from the suburbs (Damansara Perdana). I'm a copywriter in corporate communications and marketing with a digital engagement platform startup—we provide SaaS solutions to help companies better engage employees and customers. I create and edit internal and external communication materials, content for offline and online media (including social networks), as well as dialog for mobile apps. Which specific part of your job do you enjoy the most, and which do you like the least? I love writing new feature dialogs for the app and creating fun emails—it’s not something I was used to doing. I usually do business writing, so making my writing more fun and happy is a good challenge—for now—that als...

Still on the Band by Chukwudi Barrah Seeing a post recently about the Microsoft Band being the best fitness band you never heard about reminded me that I was going to write a review—or rather ended my procrastination in writing a review—about the Band. I've owned mine for five months, paired primarily with my iPhone 6 plus. In that time I have come to the conclusion that the combination of both devices do not meet the requirements for which they were purchased. In essence, I need to change one of these devices. I know, first world problems, right? Not really. The essence of exchanging hard-earned money for electronic devices—or anything, ever—is to derive some sort of satisfaction from those things, and so far my satisfaction has been relatively low (at least compared with my expectations). Again, I know the argument is that experiences are lower than expectations. I'd argue that that is the case if the expectations are set unreasonably high. In my case, I don'...

Inking Out Loud by Chukwudi Barrah I am not a serial plant killer. I am not a serial plant killer. I am not a serial plant killer. This is clearly a real thing and not just me being overly paranoid that I can't take care of a plant, or plants rather. See, I've purchased six indoor potted plants, and the only two that are currently surviving are possibly because they fortunately came with care instructions on the pot. That I need a how-to for plants just makes me sad. Growing up, I tended to a full garden of flowers—okay, my dad did all or most of the tending-to, but I also contributed with making sure there was no weed anywhere around them. Somehow, in the last three years or more, I have managed to kill (or neglect-to-death) four innocent plants, that I voluntarily and purposefully took home. Until a few nights ago, I did not even realise I needed consoling. Browsing one of my favourite after-hours Internet watering holes, I discovered a chart of indo...