Mama

 

Image courtesy of https://openart.ai/

Every saturday I accompanied mama to work. She worked half day. I did not understand why I had to wake up early and it was not a school day. My siblings would still be asleep when we left the house. I was the last born in a family of three. She worked in an wooden office block as a secretary and I was bored to death waiting for noon when she would get off. 

We would take a bus into town and straight into Blue Room where an ice cream treat awaited me every single Saturday. I would lick my stick clean before we reached a restaurant where a plate of chips always welcomed me. I felt special. While I struggled to finish my lunch, mama would be busy with a friend who I did not take much notice of. He was always waiting on us in different restaurants on different Saturdays. He had a full beared and always kind to me. 

They had intense discussions with mama but I had no idea what they were discussing. I do not remember much but he was always there before we arrived. I was so focussed on the meal and feeling so privileged unlike my two siblings. I was so busy concocting the details of the ice cream flavours and chips taste that I would need to share with my brother and sister to notice that mama was holding hands and stealing kisses with the bearded man. 

An hour later and a full stomach, I would be struggling to finish my orange soda and ocassionally would nap on the seat. Mama would tuck and cover me with her sweater or throw. Without any sense of time, I would be woken up when it was time to go home. 

I do not remember ever sharing details of mama's friends to my siblings or dad but I had a lot to say about the ice cream, the chips and soda. I do not ever recall mama warning me to keep quiet about him, either. But I never mentioned him to any one. 

Years later in my adulthood, I have been reconstructing those moments, trying to see any signs I may have missed. Trying to recall anything mama may have said to me about him. He was never introduced to me. I have no idea what his name was todate. 

My parents are divorced and I have often wondered if the bearded man had anything to do with it? Was mama in a relationship with this man? Was he her first love? Was my dad aware of something. Did mama use me as an alibi? Was there mistrust in my parent's relationship and hence the need to be mama's chaperone on Saturdays?  

Now at 26 years of age, I keep wondering if I aided and abetted a crime againist their marriage institution? Was I an accomplish?  Guilt fills my heart everytime I visit my dad and I want to ask him for forgiveness. I avoid visiting him in his rural home alone. It feels like he can see my soul and the skeletons I hide in there. Hard as I try, I cannot get the right words to initiate a verbal engagement that could lead us to a place where I can pour my heart's content for him to see that I was not party to mama's escapades. 

My dad was a very vibrant, outgoing and gregarious during my childhood. Today he is all introverted, a man of few words though his eyes seem to dance to a different rhythm. His energy seems drained. His limbs are slowed by arthritis that has invisibly sculptured his finger joints, elbows, knees and toes to mock the crooked claws of a drunk bird. 

His eyes rapidly dart back and forth, right to left and back. Dancingly youthful. They seem to be the only organs and body parts from the dad I knew in my childhood. They have a life that age, marriage failure, loneliness have not managed to reach and crush. 

Mama on the other hand has lately become very hostile to me. I cannot recall what..

My therapist says

Mama had a secret account

Depression is real.

Nyabohanse- The Village Where Everybody Is A YouTuber In Kenya

Image: Courtesy of GoogleMaps

I recently asked on a different forum if anyone knew about Nyabohanse; this after hearing the name pop up here and there. No one seemed to know much about the place, so I did some digging up and I am glad to know this amazing village.

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Nyabohanse is a village in Kuria District of Migori County. The village has been made famous by Fredrick Marwa, a Kenyan Wanderlust who has been traveling and sharing his stories on YouTube for 7 years.

I_am_Marwa has become such a big brand that he has followers all over the world. For 7 years he has made his living via YouTube and we have watched him become a positive influence on his community. Watch his stories on Jalango and Lynn Ngugi TVs online.

In the process, he has turned his whole family and village mates into YouTubers. The sister -Dee Mwango has become a world traveler too and is currently in Jamaica.

They have built a beautiful home for their parents and a major upgrade of their living standards. In the last two weeks, Marwa has also been holding what will be a one-month house-warming party at his gigantic 7-bedroom house named Villa Medellin, after his favorite Colombian destination. He started vlogging in Colombia and hence the attachment to Medellin.

The party has brought the whole world into Nyabohanse village. Many YouTubers and followers have visited his home, village, and nearby Isebania and Migori towns. Many of the visitors came bearing gifts and lots of phones, cameras, clothes, furnishings, and medical equipment have been donated to the village, to individual YouTubers, to Marwa and his Argentinian girlfriend Rucio. There is another two weeks or so of partying.

From his lengthy videos while in his home, Marwa has introduced the world to his relatives and his neighbours. Not surprising that many overseas visitors are so connected to the people of Nyabohanse. They brought specific gifts for specific YouTubers based on what they had expressed in the videos. Many destitute families and causes have been assisted too.

There were YouTubers from US, Canada, Jamaica, Anguilla, the UK, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi and it has been a revolving door at the Villa with guests coming in and going. Some stay for a day, others a few days, and others longer. Some have taken time to visit nearby Maasai Mara, and Tanzanian border towns, some have driven to and from Nairobi, some rode bikes, some hitch-hiked to the destination.

Depending on the hierarchy, some slept in Villa Medellin, some in their parent's home, some camped, and some stayed in Nyabohanse and as far away as Isebania.

It has been a logistical nightmare just getting everybody to get some camera time with Marwa and he probably shoots 3 to 4hrs of videos daily to receive guests, and gifts, shout out to blessers and sponsors, and also encourage upcoming YouTubers who are there for minute or two of Marwa's endorsement.

This is as real as reality TV can get and the characters from Nyabohanse have not been short of amazing. I see many growing to prominence and fame and I see many disappointments too. It is a very competitive environment and you can feel the underlying tensions boiling.

Many foreigners have also fallen in Love with Nyabohanse and a few have bought land and plan to settle there so prepare to keep hearing about this village in South West Kenya.

Marwa runs a YouTube Masterclass online and also sells a clothing line called @SoftLife.

Nyabohanse probably has the highest number of Youtubbers, per capita anywhere in the world. Even young kids and probably every young person in the village has a YouTube channel. Including all of Marwa's immediate family- mum, dad, sisters, brother, aunties, employees, everybody. Check out his mum's channel at @congratsmum001 for some entertainment.

Just like young kids in many rift Valley villages know a famous athlete from their neighborhood and wish to emulate them, so do young kids from Nyabohanse! Their role model is Marwa or Dee Mwango his sister. They are millionaires by all measures and worth emulating.

Before your mainstream media catches on the Nyabohanse revolution, I know there will be many stories coming out of this now-famous village. The village that probably has leaped from the last century into the next digital era.

Check out their YouTube pages-

@iammarwa

@rocabreratravels

@babushkakenya

@deemwango

@davidjunior

@congratsmum001

@claudejoseph

@Geenyada

@@Majja_ke

@Burundian_Traveller

@tinamaroa

@ChrisMustList

@MAASAIWITHPASSPORT

@mamagifts

@max.one.from.kenya.

@stanleytheexplorer

@Makena_j

@Charlowkush001

@Lines_ke

@Royalkheem

@hello.Baby_

@iammayuguno

@adebenztv

@kenmacharia

@Mofromkenya

@captainkevinkenya

@Mercysempire_ke

@vinnandleni

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https://www.youtube.com/live/W97enBzI2GE?si=BmZC3vPnEh5S4SsZ

Is Blogging Still A Thing in 2024?

 

Image Courtesy of @FreePik

My first blog post was on 13th November 2006. It did not go well and I guess being the thirteenth may have had something to do with it. Up to 2014, I was consistently writing articles about my daily life, re-posting articles that touched me and commentaries on Kenyan life.

My blog was named Tekelea, a verb, Swahili word meaning to be fulfilled, to attain or to achieve. In due course, it changed to Above The Din Of Life and lately An Awkward Man & His Awkward Views. 

My first article was published on 13th November 2006 and was monetized on 17th November 2009. 

Coming back here is quite some therapy happening. It is a different world we live in. Back in time, blogs were big and it was before YouTube became big. This was 2006. The word blogger in Kenya has a totally different meaning from the rest of the world. I am glad to see that the dictionary still defines it as " a person who regularly writes material for a blog", further the word "blogger" can also simply mean a person who writes and publishes a blog. 

18 years later the world has changed so much. We now have AI, and social media has become something else but I think I want to go back to writing here and write so much. I will have to google and find out if Blogspot is still a thing. What is the strategy for Google today? Is Blogspot still top in their strategy? 

I will come back here with my findings and the way forward, but just know that I am back and back in a big way. 

My Cottage Journey

"I am the proud owner of a small beautiful cottage in a pristine locale surrounded by nature, laden with all your daily needs of cool clean water, sunshine, fresh fruits and traditional foods. When the world around me goes all chaotic, this is the place where I seek refuge.

This cottage might as well be located in any of the following exotic places- Takaungu, Lamu, Kwale, Mathews Ranges, Kesses, Naivasha, Taita Hills, Nanyuki, Kikambala, Vipingo, Aberdares, Happy Valley, Nyambene Hills, Chyulus, Mfangano Islands, Isinya, or a thousand other such places in any direction you take in Kenya.

I could have moved in sooner, but I especially wish to turn the cottage into my retirement home. I have therefore started planning how I will put it up in the next five years.

This cottage is found in my dreams, but the view from is worth dying for."

In 2008 I wrote the above in a post here. Having set a target of 5 years to get that dream cottage, its now 8 years since but the good news is that the cottage is almost done!

It has been a long journey and I wish to share it with you in one of my longest posts yet. 

Welcome to the journey........

It started in 2009 when I got together with three friends and bought a piece of land near the shores of Elementaita. We did not have any specific plans at the time, but I vaguely had a proposal running in my head. My proposal was to bring together about 10 friends and building holiday homes collectively in some exotic locales of Kenya. I had in mind places like Naivasha, Coast, Mt. Kenya, Mara or Amboseli. 

I imagined that ten families pooling resources would make life so easy and sooner than later the happy ten would be moving to their 2nd, 3rd, 4th holiday homes. They would timeshare and sell their homes to others when not in use. It was a brilliant idea but no takers. I made numerous pitches to friends but all wanted to get their own pieces of land.

So I decided to go alone and started planning my cottage. I did not lack for inspiration. Because money was tight, I started planning a two bedroom cottage. Many drafts were done and trashed. 

In January 2015, I made a resolve to dedicate the next 8 months to building a getaway cottage in Elementaita. I did not need a project plan. I knew what needed to be done. My land was in a remote area with a lot of pastoralism and a fence was the first step of my journey. 

Having done my own concrete fencing posts in an earlier projects, I had 6 moulds and therefore needed to add 4 more so that I can make at least 10 fencing posts everyday. 

I decided to do the fencing posts on site. A gracious neighbour allowed me to use his compound for security. I needed a caretaker of fundi to work on the post and take care of the land after fencing. Raymond was recruited as a casual to work on the posts for ten days. 

On 17th January, I went to Mwariki area of Nakuru Pipeline area to buy sand from the local mines. I needed to buy quarter inch ballast, sand, cement and Y8 rebars. 

Materials were delivered 

There are the ten moulds with a height of 7ft. 

Training work started in earnest 

The results 

Finished, cured and ready for duty Sir!

I Have Lots Of Respect For These Men Who Overcome Adversity Everyday......

Life is hard and we all are fighting one battle or the other. True we do have occasional episodes of some good times when the stars are aligned in your favour, but it seems we are always fighting challenges and obstacles most of the time.

Some say that life is not fair and we should not expect it to be smooth. Some say that the true mark of man is how he handles and overcomes challenges that marks one as a success.

Others like the good people at www.thindifference.com say that life has gifts and challenges. Its your duty to identify your gifts and utilize each them for your benefit.

They say "Each of us has gifts. We may not recognize it right away, or some may take time to develop. Either way, we all have gifts. It could be writing, dancing, leading, lecturing, designing, inventing, thinking, business etc. In our life, we have gifts to use.

We all have challenges. Each of us has challenges. They stare at us each day. Our challenges can be procrastination, disorganization, drugs, alcohol, laziness, negativity, unhealthiness, anger, poverty, etc. In our life, we carry a challenge or two."

In the context of our third world realities, it may not be possible for opportunities to abound for one to take advantage of his gifts.

Two men who are in the lowest echelons of our society and who are my friends have earned my immense respect and admiration for overcoming challenges that would overwhelm many. Here are their stories.

Ernest is a security guard working for a multinational security firm. He plys his trade in my block of flats in Nairobi. He is the first born in his family and the burden of expectations from his family is just too heavy. He moonlights as a carwash guy, cleaning at least 8 cars in the compound when he reports for duty. Between 7 pm and midnight, he will wash the cars and earn at least a thousand shillings from each every month. That meagre amount complements his net salary earnings of seven thousands. Ernest has taken all loans possible from his salary.

Over the last two years we have talked about his desire to get out of the poverty circle. His father has a two acre shamba and with four sons, there is not much land available for farming. He once mentioned that his home is on the outskirts of a small rural town. I asked him if he consider building some four rooms for rental. Construction is not expensive in his part of the country where bricks abound. He took up the challenge and commissioned his young brother in high school to bake the bricks. His father donated some timber for curing the bricks.

In no time, the rooms were ready and the forces of demand and supply soon dictated that a lodging was preferred to the monthly lease by the locals. Although he could not afford to furnish them with beds, a mattress on the floor was earning him three hundred shilling a night. The possibility of earning over a thousand shilling a day as opposed to washing a car for thirty days to earn the same was his eureka moment. He used to call me to chat on how that was eye-opening moment.Soon he was planning to run a pub in the compound and increase the rooms.

Two years later, he is about to resign from employment to go to the village to run his pub and lodging. He is moving his family to the village in the new year. He has a chicken project planned for the wife who was jobless in Nairobi. He will lease one or two farms to grow sugarcane as well as manage a brick making enterprise to supplement his income. He says that he will be busy with the bricks, chicken and sugarcane businesses in the mornings and the pub later in the day.

As part of my encouragement and support, I donated to him two empty crates of beer and an old computer that will be refurbished to house a hard disk of 40 plus hours of music to keep his patrons entertained.

I wish Ernest all the best on his ground-breaking venture.

The other gentleman I have met and admired makes a living in a trade we called "chupa na debe" or "wadebe" in our youth. He buys old newspapers, plastics and metals from those who have more than they need. He is the original OLX though his repertoire of products is limited. Mbogo was brought up in abject poverty and was not lucky enough to get an education. His family had a small piece of land that was disputed and forced him to look for a way out.

Without education, he didn't have many choices and ended up scourging for scrap metal and paper. He soon built a network across the City and beyond into the region selling his papers as far as Kampala. I met him when I wanted to get rid of my heap of old papers and as we were measuring the same we got talking and became good friends over the last three years.

Mbogo today owns a nursery school in his adopted village employing three qualified teachers and earning some money from a business he admits he knows nothing about. He has entrusted his business to the teachers and the community supports him.

He recently invited me to his village as his boy was being initiated into manhood and I was proud of his determination to overcome the challenges he was dealt by life. He has a permanent home and thriving farm on his one acre shamba. And what a transformation- when in the city he rides an old bicycle and adorns some not so pleasant clothes. However in the village he is well dressed and groomed. When I inquire he tells me that in Nairobi, no one will sell scrap metal to a neat person, there is a mental lock we have on who should trade in old papers and scrap metal.

These two men have earned my respect by the way they have overcome adversity and make something of themselves. They have used their gifts and not dwelt on the challenges laid on their paths. Hongera.

Do we let our gifts shine through, or do we let our challenges weigh us down?

Image Courtesy-http://inspirationcafe.org/

Kudos to Safaricom Sevens organizers

In a country where sports events are known to degenerate to chaos with cases of vandalism and hooliganism, I was pleasantly surprised by the deliberate order exhibited during the recent Safaricom Sevens tournament held at the Kasarani Sports Complex.

Right from the entrance off the highway, multiple security checks were mounted to ensure that only those with tickets were allowed into the complex. Media notices were made to the effect that no ticket sales would be made at the site on any of the four days. As we got closer to the main gate, physical checks to ensure no weapons and unauthorized merchandise were sneaked into the stadium were professionally conducted.

Once inside the stadium, there was visible security in the parking lots and along the way to the stiles including dogs. Once inside the stadium there was visible security everywhere. The fact that all fans were issued with age appropriate bands to ensure no underage fans were sold alcohol was a plus and spoke of the organizers being socially responsible. In view of the bad publicity from a recent rugby tournament during which more was reported on the raunchy happenings off the pitch than rugby action, it was only proper that such measures be taken.

I do hope the other crowd-pulling sports like football, basketball and athletics can follow suit and ensure similar measures are taken during their events. There is hope that we can see more Kenyans can spend quality time supporting their chosen sport’s teams. With more spectators coming to cheer their team, I do believe we can be able to make money from gate collections necessary to ensure sustainability of many sports teams.

The only downside at Kasarani was the low turnout which could be due to high entrance fees or due to other competing events taking place at the same time. On the last day, I don’t believe the 60,000 seater stadium had more than 15,000 fans in the stands. In such a big venue, there are many alternate means the organizers could have explored to fill the stadium including subsidizing entrance for schools, police, military and other uniformed cadres who deserve to be encouraged to come to stadiums. Designated seating could have been reserved for such groups. 

Stadiums in other countries also have sections set aside for other special groups like disabled members of society. For a tournament that could hardly fill the less than 10,000 capacity KRFUEA Ngong Road stadium, I think it is a bit ambitious for the organisers to imagine they could fill up a stadium as big as Kasarani.

Being an annual tourney, I do hope that the organizers can consider such strategies to fill the stadium next year.

Otherwise they need to me commended for the good organisation.

Where Do You Want to Be In 5 Years? Start Planning Now

“ Live with intention. Walk to the Edge. Listen Hard. Practice Wellness. Play with Abandon. Laugh. Choose with no Regret. Continue to Learn. Appreciate your Friends. Do what you Love. Live as if this is All there is.”

- Mary Anne Radmacher

Paint a picture of your life in five years? Name three things your have to do each year to reach your five year goal in each of the following:

1. Family/Love life or Relationships
2. Health & Fitness
3. Spiritual/ Religious life
4. Knowledge or Education
5. Business/Career life

Most people can't answer this questions, yet we all want to have a successful life. Just like a Baker aiming to make the best Cake in the World, we have to decide what the ingredients are & how much of each ingredient we need in advance & deliberately. You cannot bake a perfect cake without all your ingredients nor their quantities. All things needed to have a Good life are like that.

A Good life is only possible if deliberate action is taken to achieve all this, otherwise if you can't deliberately quantify your steps in all the five parts, just sit and watch by the sidelines.

Success has to be Deliberate, Quantifiable & Planned in Small Steps. Plan your Life before Your Life Plans You.

Courtesy of -Mr.RoyKing

Photo Courtesy of -lexsilewis1.blogspot.com/

Who Wears The Pants In Your Marriage?

"I once asked my friend, "What is the secret behind your happy married life?" He replied,"You should share responsibilities with due love, and respect to each other. Then absolutely there will be no problems. "I asked, "Can you explain?"

He said, "In my house, I take decisions on bigger issues whereas my wife decides on smaller issues. We do not interfere in each other's decisions. "Still not convinced, I asked him to give me some examples.

He said, "Smaller issues like how many kids to have, the neighbourhood to live, which car we should buy, how much money to save, who, when and where to visit, which sofa, cooker, refrigerator to buy, monthly expenses, whether to keep a maid or not, where to go for holidays, whose mum we should visit etc, etc, are decided by my wife. I just agree to it."

I then asked, "So then what is your role?” He said, "My decisions are only for very big issues. Like whether America should attack Iran, the uranium enrichment in North Korea, whether Britain should lift sanctions against Zimbabwe, how to fully exploit Africa's economic and intellectual potential, whether Yoweri Museveni and Barack Obama should retire, whether Arsenal FC needs to buy new players or change their coach to improve their play, whether Usain Bolt should retire now-while still at his prime etc, etc. My wife never objects to any of these decisions and we live happily!"

Source unknown

Image Courtesy of whatsnew-riddhi.blogspot.com

Its Been A While ..........

I feel that I have not been true to my various promises I have made in the past about my desired regularity of posts. But hey! that is what happens to the best laid plans, always.

I am back and promise that I will be very regular here, especially now that I have a blogging partner in my daughter Natasha. She is starting her own blog and I am exited that the family will have two bloggers. I will guide her on the ropes of blogging and I know she will be a very good blogger famous in the world. She will be better than me and many others.

Watch this space.........

Dear Sunshine............

Dear Sunshine,

I write to you on behalf of all Men from our corner here in Eastern Africa. It not like they elected me their sole voice, but I know many will agree that my plea to you concerns them too. Anyway, I know we haven't gotten along all that well in the past. I didn't cause the sunburns, but I could blame my forgetfulness for not carrying my hat knowing what you are capable of. It wasn't me who scorched the succulent young plants that a family depended on or caused droughts. Anyway, I am no angel either. 

I know you have been hiding from me for a while now and I guess the lesson you wanted to teach me about needing you has sunk. Absence makes the heart grow fonder they say. On a few occasions when you have shown your face for a short while, I have embraced you like a long lost friend. And indeed you are just that. I don't know why you are playing hard to get. It may be that you and your Mum Nature don't like our part of the world much, it may be something they call Global Warming or it maybe  its some mysterious cycle that mortals like me may not comprehend.

Whatever it is, Sunshine, and whatever you are planning next; please understand that in our part of the world we have no idea how to deal with your teeth-chattering, dull grey and shiver-inducing replacement. We were born with a sturdy skin pigmentation, a sense of adventure and a love for the great African outdoors. We were not born with a gene that tolerates being indoors too long, the hearth and fireplace  were meant for cooking not warming our limbs.

Remember that our days are regulated by a slight morning chill, just enough to keep our senses sharp, day long sunshine and warmth that is retained in our mud walls and woolly kinky Afros, our early evenings are warm and suitable for a few hours outdoors to allow the chicken pens refill, women finalize their culinary duties and put the young ones to bed. We were not made for huddling in the house in full sight of children covered head to toe, sniffling and eagerly waiting for the wife's broth. This cold is making us look bad.

When the morning comes, we are expected to be first out of bed as soon as the cockerel  announces a new dawn, but lately we cannot afford that luxury and our role as breadwinners and hunters may be questioned for

we are now wont to hang around the bed and house too long to allow the day warm just a wee bit more.

Remember that from our youth we are taught not to be anywhere near the fireplace. We were admonished by the elders that sitting astride the three stones is not for men who hope to keep the family safe from oblivion. There is nothing to warm there. Our mothers too won't allow any young man hanging around the hearth with his sisters and exposing his loins and their chance of being proud grandmothers to the vagaries of the smoke and heat of the homestead's hearth.

I hope you now understand why all men are missing you so much. We have lived with at least a month or two of dipping temperatures every year, but not what seems like half a year. Didn't they say that it will go on well past August?

Seems like every new day is  worse than the previous. The weather man and all his technology and gadgets doesn't seem to know if and when we will be reunited and my anger and impatience is now directed at them.

I suspect your absence for so long is not something they are able to explain to me and all the suffering African men.

If nothing else, just remember that the indoor fires in stoves, heaters, whether they are driven by firewood, charcoal, electricity and so on are all meant to "dry out" or kausha our loins and thereby cut our supply. Please do come back sooner dear Sunshine.

A Concerned  African Man

Image Courtesy of http://chimptrainersdaughter.blogspot.com/ 

Photography Runs In The Family......

I have always loved and practiced photography and in my school and early days in employment I did a bit of photography moonlighting shooting wedding and all manner of events. I have always had a camera at hand having invested heavily in my passion. 

As technology improved and went the digital way, the business side of my passion died and I no longer invested in seeking new markets, but I continued taking photos of my travels, family, friends, events and so on. In the meantime, photography has become localized and we now have young and awesomely creative photographers who are not only earning a handsome living from their cameras but also splashing the digital space with very creative images. 

I am therefore not so surprised that my children have taken an interest in the art  and are proving to be better than I am. Of course my son  Gregory is using a host of editing tools to come up with very creative photos especially of the macro genre. He is a big fan of the Kenya's leading photographers like Mutua Matheka, Kitoto, Mwarv, Emmanuel Jambo and many others. When the time is right I will introduce him to one of the leading lights for mentor-ship and training. 

I recently encouraged him to start a blog where he can post any of the photos he thinks are worth sharing with the world.  I us some of his photos as my screen savers for my electronic gadgets. Here are some he has taken using a phone camera. 

If Writing Be The Food Of Life, Write on........

 I have not been here for a while and it really bothers me that amongst all the things that I love doing, I am not able to create time to come here for a sessionful of venting, sharing, preaching, bragging, condoling, conversing or debating.

Between my miserable attempts at earning a living, parenting, having some "me" time, reading, travelling, staying healthy, giving back to society, educating myself, investing, farming, fighting, loving and generally surviving, I seem to have run out of time and I cannot be able to find adequate opportunity and space for my beloved blog.

Blame it on all the other competing activities in the same alley like Facebook which I actually enjoy,twitting which I dont enjoy doing but love following, writing for work, reading numerous genres ( and I enjoy this too  or writing money-making proposals that never see the light of day, it seems like all the juices are sucked out of me and I have nothing left in me for the blog.

But wait a minute, why the heck do I seem to get time for just about everything else and not the one thing that makes me feel good. Writing is therapy for me, makes me feel good when I churn out a good thoughtful piece however small it may be. Even a phrase with the right choice of words in the right places makes me feel good. I know there is pleasure in writing because it is creating, it is sculpting, molding and giving form where none existed.

Seeing that writing means so much to me, I am resolving to do it  more often and make it more meaningful. I want it to be focused and not aimless chatter and commentaries on just about everything under the moon. I want to write more about my experiences, my observations, lessons I learn everyday, my proposals, my ideas ( and I have very many and wild ones ), my passions, my pet peeves, parenting, relationships, my fears, my aspirations, my projects, my travels and travails, my reviews and my society.

I will ask God to help me stay away from politics because our brand of politics is just too distressing. I have no problem with our politicians, but I think there is everything wrong with our politics. Should I get carried away in my writing and end up touching on politics, I pray that I will not be partisan but objective in my opinions.

This new journey starts tonight by forcing time and prioritizing and ensuring that there is at least some 30-45 minutes every evening before bedtime for some writing. So help me God!

Images Courtesy of www.ziglar.com & www.loesje.ee 

Opportunity - Mirfat "Susan" Musa's Chance For Fame & Mullah

The story is now a week old and very well known. No need going into the details.

My take is that should Susan be known to someone more brighter than she is, here is an opportunity that can make her a "celeb" and maybe some dough while at it. Kenya finally gets a person who is famous for being (in)famous. This is our own homegrown answer to the Kadarshian Sisters, the Hilton Sisters and Nicole Ritchie all rolled in one. Our girl Susan is famous for no talent at all. she is famous for being rude, domineering, nasty, ill-mannered, class-worshiper, pretender, ignorant of the world around her, vain and owner of zero-eating etiquette.

So how does she go about it? It is obvious the girl has no counsel around her because as soon as the backlash started, she was on her twitter page saying that the show was scripted and that the person she so ably depicted is not real! Bad move! Take advantage of the swelling public interest girl!

There are many marketers and owners of products who can pay a tidy sum of money to use her as an ambassador or magnet to pull crowds. Imagine the organizers of the Mingle event daring the bravest of Kenya's young men to date her? Imagine if she was to make a presentation to the thousands of women who hate men on how to deflate a man's ego in the shortest time! Imagine if she joined a cause that is counter to her personality and totally ignored the public's perception of a man-eater.  No, not the jiggers- that is crowded and already well known. How about sanitary towels, anti-rape, anti-blindness or any cause looking for a heroine to take it to the next level.

Imagine if she advertised as the answer for domineering mothers-in-law. Imagine a badge or t-shirt endorsing a product saying that with product X, you can date Susan and come out alive! How about a fencing match with Susan? How about selling barbed wire and fencing posts with dear Susan as ambassador? The good people at the Rhino Ark can use the girl to market their latest initiative to fence the Eburru Escarpment Forest. How about Visa and Mastercard? How about sellers of general knowledge books? Imagine a spin-off show by Tujuane producers as Kenya's search for the male equivalent of Susan. The list is endless. 

Over to you brave marketers.