Tuesday 28 June 2011

Quatre mois plus tard!

I had a light bulb moment to start a blog sometime in February 2011. I was unemployed - still am - and idle as I had graduated in 2010. I never considered myself a writer, I still don't. The most writing I had done was writing up notes on Facebook and I was not on Facebook anymore and even then, I had not written in over a year. An event changed my life and I had a "writers-wannabe block". I had an urge to write but had no clue where to start. I was bored when I put up my first post - The Independence Paradox. I shared it with three people. Maybe four. When I put up that post, I considered myself that woman. I wondered why I prided myself as being "Ms. Independent", albeit silently,  yet I still went out of my way to keep a certain man happy. Dressed up for him and had venting sessions with my girls about men... I felt lost at the time and utterly confused. I figured it out though; thanks to this blog and the man who I felt had me confused. That was four months ago. 

There is an awfully thin line between blogging and keeping a diary;  an even thinner line between knowing what to tell the followers of your blog and what to tell your psychiatrist (No, I don't have one but maybe you do) and/or your best-friend. That is what makes blogging so damn hard, sometimes anyway; but if your life forms an awfully good plot for a movie, like mine, then its hard all the time. Its hard because it gets to a point where you can't quite draw the line. But its been four months of blogging. Four wonderful months of not knowing where and when I should draw the line or just let the world (read my ten followers) into my world as it is, as raw and bare as it is. I tried once but with little or no success. I suppose it takes time.

Are you wondering what this is all about? Well, one of my followers [*Sigh* doesn't it feels good to say that :-)] mentioned to me my posts have constantly been about other people and things but never really about me... Her words: "Your posts are always about other things and people. Make it yours for once, like really yours!" 

Hadn't quite thought it was so obvious. Truth is its quite unlikely I will blog about personal stuff like other bloggers e.g. Bikozulu, Sandra Bwire, Jacquie Ndinda e.t.c. (I admire them immensely for having the courage to do so). When my blog and I grow up I want to be just like them... In that regard anyway. 

My point:  My baby (read as this blog) and I are taking baby steps. We'd rather address the issues that we feel eat at our society and give y'all our highly subjective opinions on the same and hope that on the bare minimum you have something to think about, be thankful for or something to laugh about at the end of the day.

Reason: Well, for starters, its always easier to blog about things and people who spice up your Monday Mornings (Refer to I Plead the Fifth). Secondly, I still don't know where and when to draw the line between best-friend, psychiatrist and blog worthy information. Third, I'm an awfully discreet person. Lastly, in my world this post does amount to a blog about myself. :-) Correct? Good. I'm glad we are on the same page.
 
P.s. Thanks for reading and/or following. :-) Keep doing so. :-)

Wednesday 22 June 2011

JIPANGE!!!!

There was a time in my life, in fact for most part of my life, I have been a patriotic citizen. I have always been proud to be Kenya. Well, that was a long time ago... An awfully long time ago; but not long enough for me to forget that feeling; the feeling of patriotism. It was a great feeling. To pride yourself in something is a great feeling! To pride yourself in your country, your heritage, your governance systems; that's the kind of feeling that makes (wo)men volunteer their lives in times of war. Kinda like Osama and his jihad extremists peeps. *Sigh* I miss that feeling.

I was utterly disgusted, to put it mildly, yesterday! But, I have generally become a disgusted Kenyan. Everything disgusts me. Our transport system totally irks me! I cannot bring myself to understanding why drivers are so reckless on roads that have traffic police; I cannot see the logic behind paying Kes. 30 to town when heading to town and then Kes. 100 back home, in a span of twenty minutes. I do not understand why I would pay Kes. 40 to Nairobi Hospital and someone going to Kawangware will pay the same damn amount! ITS RIDICULOUS!!! That is transport.

I cannot understand why buildings collapse every year yet the City Council insists on increasing rates on everything. I cannot understand why a new car I just bought has been rid off its side-mirrors yet the car parked next to City Council. ITS BY FAR THE SILLIEST THING!

I could go on and on and on about the things that disgust me about Kenya. But of all the things; our "LEADERS" effortlessly take trophy home. I mean, they do it with such ease I'm left to wonder if they live the same lives as we do. *SIGH*. What has triggered this rant you ask?... Other that the normal childish and silly behavior of our politicians e.g. Waititu publicly throwing stones with demonstrating chaps or him telling Nairobi City Council that he will get gangsters to stop them (NCC) from demolishing any buildings in his constituency; never mind this building could eventually collapse and kill the same constituents he is OBLIGATED to protect... This has not  been triggered by the fact that we have systems that allow drug-lords to be our MPs. Nope. This has everything to do with MPs &TAXES. Apparently those two words cannot be used in the same sentence unless the following words appear in between them: SHOULD NOT!!!

I delve into this topic with a little bit of grace and after having asked the God Lord to give me self control. I listened intently, but with utter disgust, as they effinfools gave  multiple reasons why they cannot pay their taxes. Dear God!

Madam Minister of Water & Irrigation had this to say about the issue: Asking them to pay taxes is disorienting them because if the pay taxes, and they have no businesses on the side (yeah right?!?) we will force them to "JIPANGA!"

Gwasi MP, John Mbadi said the move would violate human rights of MP's because they have a five year contract..."I am not against paying taxes. What I am saying is that you are going to inconvenience me, because when I came here I had planned my life around the money but now you are telling me that I am going to earn Kes.195,000 less" 

I will not even dare indulge the Gwasi MP on this blog! Its an exercise in futility. As for Madam Minister of Water & Irrigation... I will indulge. I choose to indulge her because she is a corrupt woman who has over the years gotten away with her ill activities. I will indulge her because I am disgusted by the fact that she is a WOMAN  involved in corrupt activities  who shelters herself in the wings of her pretentious dictator boss! YEAH I SAID IT!

Madam Minister of Water&Irrigation: KUJIPANGA is a way of life in Kenya. It is what US Kenyans do! It is what we have been doing for the last God-knows-how-many-years! Forgive us, if we are asking you to be Kenyan and get in touch with your citizens and their plight! KUJIPANGA Madam Minister of Water&Irrigation, is what the lady in Kibera with five kids and is making a mere Kes.10,000 per month does! From that, she pays her rent, feeds her family, buys clothes for her children, pays her transport cost - which is not a necessity - and saves some little money. That is what KUJIPANGA MEANS!!! 
We have a different kind of breed of leaders, the kind that doesn't give a rats ass about Kenyans! They just don't give a damn. There is a saying of sorts that people get the leaders they deserve... The leaders of a nation are only as good as the citizens of that nation! That's a truck-load of horse crap! We are not our leaders! I refuse to believe that and be content with bad leadership (leaders who are full of crap) because I am allegedly as good as them; I am not full of horse crap! 

In the words of the KRA boss Mr. Waweru: "If MPs pay tax, they’ll gain the moral authority to talk about tax, to use that tax and to even determine how that tax is used... No one should be exempted from paying tax,”

This post was me being a pissed off Kenyan, because Madam Minister of Water&Irrigation thinks its a crime to ask her to JIPANGA and her idiotic colleague thinks him earning Kes.195,000 MINIMUM is a crime and him paying tax is a violation of HIS HUMAN RIGHTS, yet I am unemployed and the last I checked, I HAVE RIGHTS TOO!!!! 

With an exception of JEREMIAH KIONI & JOHNSON MUTHAMA, ALL THE OTHER DAMN POLITICIANS SHOULD GO TO HELL!!! good-for-nothing-.................

*SIGH*

Wednesday 15 June 2011

FATHERHOOD...

*Blegh*. I know that is not how one starts a captivating post but there are only ten rules in this world etched in stone; they are commonly known as the TEN COMMANDMENTS, and there is none forbidding one to start a post with BLEGH!. Refer to Exodus 20 for a quick refresher course. *Blegh*. :-)

Lets move on swiftly. Sunday, June 19th 2011 is an important day. Its FATHER'S DAY. One of my favorite quotes of all time is "Any man can be a FATHER, but it takes a special person to be a DAD". Often, the two words are used interchangeably. According to Oxford Dictionary, "father is a man in relation its offspring" where as "dad is defined as one's father." Thus it is perfectly in order to use the two terms interchangeably. However to interrogate it further; "relation refers to the way in which two or more people or groups feel about and behave towards each other."

I don't come from a single-parent family. Mr.M has been a father for the last 30 years. When I say he has been a father, I mean he has had a relation - perfect or imperfect - with his offspring's for a minimum of 23 years and a maximum of 30 years. I often wonder what my siblings would say about him given an opportunity; that I would give a lot of money to hear. *Ahem;clear throat*

I have my own understanding of what fatherhood and being a dad is all about; an understanding influenced by watching too many fairy tale movies perfectly blended with the harsh and sudden realities of life...

FATHERHOOD: Comes just as naturally to men as MOTHERHOOD does to women; it just wears a different mask;
A mask of provision, 
A mask of protection, 
A mask of unlimited strength,
A mask of unending wisdom,

FATHERHOOD: is about belief;
Belief in God above all else,
Belief in his wife,
Belief in his offspring,
Lastly, belief in oneself,

FATHERHOOD: Respects;
Respects God,
Respects authority,
Respects family,
Respects peers,
Respects his offsprings,
Respects oneself

FATHERHOOD: Honors;
Honors God, 
Honors his wife,
Honors his WORD,

Most importantly, FATHERHOOD IS ABOUT BEING PRESENT; 
 ~ Being a gift to your children; that they would never imagine their lives without you;
 ~ Being in a particular place - in this case, being part of their lives, being there constantly;
 ~ Being an award to and/or for them;

A man is judged by his character; his children judge his character by how much his actions show he loves their mother; and his wife judges his character by how good A FATHER/DAD he is to their children.

At a time of reproductive freedom for women, fatherhood must be more than a matter of DNA. A man must choose to be a father in the same way that a woman chooses to be a mother. ~ Mel Feit ~

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY TO ALL THE MEN OUT THERE!


 

Saturday 4 June 2011

ITS DARKEST...

Its darkest before dawn! Some of us, myself included, know a bit too well about darkness! But today is not a day to brood over life and all its ridiculous challenges, today is a different kind of day!!!

You see, I have two friends, who in one day, have managed to remind me that darkness is merely the temporary absence of light.

Friend 1: Lets call her Sab. Sab is a great person! Great personality. Fabulous fashion sense and a remarkable writer. We didn't meet too long ago Sab and I; but the first day I met her, I knew we'd be great friends. Why? Well, because she had GORGEOUS EARRINGS ON! (Yes men, that's how easy it is for women to forge friendships). Unfortunately, we didn't quite become friends until much later... Something about judging a book by its cover i.e. her thinking I was a snob and I thinking she was being funny (not funny ha ha... nope, the unfunny kind of funny), and I don't do that breed of funny people. Life has taught me to steer clear from them. But as I said, she has GORGEOUS EARRINGS & I HAVE A FETISH FOR EARRINGS.. DO THE MATH. I later came to learn she too has a blog, a fabulous one at that. In that same conversation, I was also informed the blog is a secret, which in my opinion is an abomination, of sorts anyway, because she can reaaalllllly write. I have a friend who once told me I have Dr. Phil tendencies, so vowing not to disappoint her and her opinions, I prod Sab... And now she is out of the closet people; so much so that Biko Zulu  (Jackson Biko) is thinking of doing something, related to writing, with her! When did she get the news: TODAY!



Friend 2: Lets call her Muno! Muno and I hit it off from the first day. How did I know I'd be friends with her: We both had on: black trousers(same design), white blouse, exact shade of brown sweater, brown shoes and gold jewellery. I remember this, not because I have OCD [if I did I'd have written it in alphabetic order, CDO :-)] , but because we found ourselves wearing the same clothes, in the same colors more than once. Fashion brings women together. Muno, has always been a "Ms. goody two shoe".  ALWAYS! She is the typical daddy's girl. But you can only live that way for so long! This year, she vowed to find HER way and her self. So, once again, I put on my Dr. Phil hat. It was a long talk that led to the realization that we were both on the same boat. A long talk which revealed to us that it will get better with time. It will get better because we will get better at what we do, at how we live our lives bla bla bla. Misery loves company and boy oh boy did we not love each others' company that day. Tomorrow, Muno leaves for Addis... UN Women called her up yesterday.... all they wanted was her OK to process her documents, finances, accommodation ET AL.

Are you wondering about me: Well, I'm a patient (with life, not people) life lover. But in the pipeline, is a job interview. One which everyone but I is over the moon about... I am not not excited, I am just confused about it. Those are details. Fact is that, I always give my best and though confused, I will give it my best. In the mean time, I will wait for my heart's desires to come true. Its a good thing I am patient with life!


It may be darkest before dawn, but its never the end of the world. Although it may be darker when all you girls are in the same boat as you, as they step out one by one into the BRIGHT SHINING LIGHT, you can't help but smile for their joy, for their soon to be success, for your Dr. Phil moment that got them through a DARK NIGHT! Its darkest before dawn, but its never dark FOREVER; because FOREVER is an awfully long time.

Have a blessed week ahead my people! :)

P.s. I am sorry for the delayed posting... Exams were playing the devil's part!