Front Porch: Bhangra, a Dingo, and a Beach – with John Anyasor

If you follow this blog, you know I host the Front Porch, a series about everyday stories—just stories friends exchange on front porches, back yards, or in break rooms in snippets during the day. Today I’m imbibing in some laughter with my blogger buddy and good friend, John Anyasor.

Awesome John

I happened across John Anyasor’s blog, HiLife2B, about six months ago—what a treat! John has a way about him, a way of giving advice about personal development, inspiration, and motivation, from someone in the trenches as a second year undergraduate student. John’s goal is to break the cycle of entering the dreaded 9-5 to achieve the life he wants. While you’re here, take a moment to follow him on Twitter and subscribe to his blog.

As I pour John a tall, cool glass of lemonade, please join me on the Front Porch and enjoy some time with my good friend John.

John, I’m happy to spend time with your energetic self.

Hey, speaking of being energetic, I saw your moves on the car dancing video—fun! I feign dancing often, but no one should be purposely exposed to my antics. I always bust out in laughing, though, so maybe my dancing’s not all bad.

“Ha ha, I know what you mean about dancing causing laughter! Once, when I was a college freshman, my friends and I were up at maybe one in the morning. My two friends (one was Indian the other was White) were practicing bhangra moves. If you’ve seen bhangra, it’s a standard side-to-side pattern where at the end you move your shoulders up and down. My Indian friend and I were bobbing our shoulders up and down pretty well (we’re decent dancers). When my other friend started dancing, however, he looked absolutely ridiculous. Maybe his shoulders were too stiff, but we couldn’t help ourselves: enormous laughter ensued. I laughed so hard, I might’ve gotten a hernia if I’d kept it up.”

(Visit this video on You Tube to see an example of bhangra first hand!)

There’s nothing better than laughing that hard, John. I’m glad you were spared the hernia, though! When I read your stories about being in college, it triggers so many memories about college and other times in my life. I have some pretty funny stories from the dating when I was in school.

Once I met this guy in a class, and thought he was, well, ‘fine’. Somehow, we ended up talking after class and decided to meet up later. The problem is that I tended to wait to do my laundry until the very last minute (when I always knew I should have done it earlier). I had time to ride my bike home and toss in a load. But, the damn dryer wasn’t working right! I had to leave to meet at the agreed-upon time. I now know wearing a damp bra for a date is not advisable.

“One time, my buddies and I were headed to a party at another dorm. We were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to meet some girls tonight!’ I had heard an awful lot about this from a friend, so I was certain this was going to be fun. When we arrived, the party was pretty tame. ‘This is cool, everything’s fine. We’re early so this’ll get better,’ I thought to myself. As the party went on, I saw a guy show up. Then another guy. Then another. And then a whole bunch of guys showed up with three girls. If you’ve guessed it by now, you guessed right: we were in the middle of a massive sausage fest. After one drink, I went back. My friends stayed. ‘So much for an awesome night,’ I said under my breath. Who wants to party with random people when the ratio doesn’t even out.”

“It’s madness, I say.”

That’s funny, John! Yes, I agree the ratio is very important. But, I must admit that I didn’t mind being the gender in the minority when I was in the Army. Then again, I never really knew if a dude was asking me out because he actually liked me a lot or if I was just his favored option out of the handful of us women around.

Having lived on other continents and in unfamiliar places also tends to bring up a lot of memories and goofy stories. I can tell you’re funny John, you’re so full of life.

Tell me a funny story!

“You’ve got it. Well, this one takes place in Nigeria (I was maybe eleven or twelve at the time). My family arrives at my Aunt and Uncle’s house. In their yard, mostly consisting of sand, rested a vicious, supposedly tamed dingo (a type of wild dog). I could tell that he wasn’t very happy to see us, but he was chained up, so I wasn’t worried.

And dingo was his name-o (...not, it was Rider)

“The adults went inside the house to talk, so me and my sisters and cousins stayed out to play with ‘Rider’. My older cousin knew the dog, so they were friendly. I (being a showoff) proclaimed I wasn’t scared of the beast. I jumped down from the porch into the yard, parading around like I owned the place. The dog got pretty pissed at that. His teeth bared, he lunged at me with all his might….and broke the chain holding him to his dog house. Like a bullet, I ran as fast and as far as I could, which wasn’t very far, since the whole area was gated with steel doors leading outside. I turned mid run and witnessed Rider, slowing inching towards my legs. I jumped and through my sandal at him. It bounced off.

“To cut this short, I would be saved by my other cousin: she led the dingo away after I slipped and fell in the sand. I was scared out of my wits, but everyone else found it hilarious. That’s the last time I egg on a dog in Africa.”

John, this is so funny! Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you toyed with Rider. But, it sounds like he taught you a lesson! Ha ha Now you know who’s boss when you visit. I have a couple of harrowing dog stories, myself, but they’re not near as funny as this.

When you mentioned that you went to Nigeria, it made me think about the places I’ve been and what characteristics of those places made me feel good. I’ve witnessed so many sunsets, sand dunes, mountain ranges, and spectacles of beauty I almost feel overwhelmed by the beauty and grace I’ve experienced in this world.

I used to dream about exotic places when I was a kid on the farm, where I wanted to travel, and what I wanted my life to be like as an adult. I think there’s power in that.

So, what about you, John? What is your ideal life as you vision it?

HiLife2B!

“I’m on a beach with my laptop on my lap. The sun is shining and I’m feeling the happiest I’ve ever felt in a long time. My electric guitar is suddenly next to me. I play an awesome song (complete with all the dancing motions and exaggerated movements) and a crowd forms and starts dancing on the beach. The sea air smells awesome: it fuels me to play even faster. When I finish, I grab my girlfriend and hug her, telling her ‘Babe, I love…my life, ha ha!’ Laughing, she hits me and it makes me laugh even louder. Soon the crowd disperses, but a few people stay behind and ask to surf with me. We see a ten foot wave and we race to it to see who can ride it the best. We all proceed to wipe out. As the sunsets, I say good bye to my new friends and agree to hang out tomorrow. My girlfriend falls asleep in the car as we drive home towards the setting sun. Back at our dinky beach house, I carry her to bed. When I come back to the kitchen, out of the corner of my eye, I see a piece of a cake that she made earlier that day. As I scarf it down, I manage to say between bites, ‘Life…is…good.’”

Life is good, John, I agree. Life. Is. Good. Way to create your day!

On of the reasons I follow you in the blogosphere and Twitter is that you exude a certain excitement for life and drive to be better. What advice has aided your journey?

“The best advice I’ve ever received was to try. Just try. If you never try for anything, you won’t get anything. As a result, trying has helped me gain more ground than I ever would have had I just waited for opportunities to come to me. My blog, new friendships, helping others—it all came through trying.

“I remember when I suggested to my friends to start a blog. As you can guess, they laughed. ‘Who would want to read what you write?’ they would say. Despite their negativity, I took action and tried my hand at blogging. The rest is history. I love what I do and the advice that I give. When people who I’ve helped say that my writing is really good, it inspires me to do even more and try even harder.

“Lesson: Always try. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.”

John, you are one in a million—a bright shining star. I’m happy to have met you and will be cheering you along your journey! Thanks so much for hanging out with me on the Front Porch, for the laughter, and for sharing a slice of your life with us.

To those reading, step on up to the Front Porch and join us!

•  What advice has resulted in a positive outcome?
•  Have you ever been a “show off” and had it come back to (almost) bite you? Pun intended.
•  Care to share a funny story about a date or outing?

Pick a question (or answer all or a couple) and meet us in the comments. It’s all about experiencing others’ humanity. C’mon, show us you’re human!

[Photo of the dingo courtesy Sam Fraser-Smith, photo of beach courtesy juicyverve]

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Previous Front Porch Posts:
Front Porch: The Series
Front Porch: Not A Typical Day In The Park (With Tim Piotrowski)
Front Porch: Pearl’s Wisdom (A conversation with Lori’s first pet)
Front Porch: An F22 Jet and a Costa Rican Chica (With Lisis Blackston)
Front Porch: George and the Power of the Human Spirit (With George Angus)
Front Porch: Of Bands, Explosions, and Cattle Auctions—Laughter (With Jay Schryer)
Front Porch: Brave, Bold Tess (With Tess Marshall)
Front Porch: Cardboard Sleds, Machu Picchu, and Sami May
Front Porch: Only in Lance World (with Lance Ekum)
Front Porch: Life Though Mia’s Eyes with (Mia Platt)
Front Porch: My Sensory Deprivation Experiment
Front Porch: It Should Have Been Fine with Lori’s Pen Pal

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