20 Questions

I swear @nkirdizzle put me up to this. Yes she did. Oh she is right, we all need to ask ourselves this questions because she is the Bomb dot Com.

What did I learn last week?

· That dreams come true. To dream without fear or restrictions.

· That delayed gratification is better than anything instant.

· To fight evil with good. Not to stoop to evil’s level, slinging shit around. To be the bigger man.

· To trust and love but think independently.

· That if a guy likes you; he will do anything to find and be with you.

· That if it was meant to be it will be, just do your best to be there when it does.

· That a game without rules isn’t a game and it ain’t any fun!

What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week?

· Finally meeting Ike (The big Kahuna) and having a rather “successful” meeting with several outcomes and way forwards.

Which moment from last week was the most memorable, and why?

· Obviously having the meeting with Ike. Boy that was something J I wasn’t even a second late. I was well-dressed, polite and composed… but mostly on the outside. Nervous smitten thoughtless wreck inside.

What is the 1 thing I need to accomplish this week?

· To stop dreaming about Ike every second of every minute of the friggin’ day! I am losing my mind over this charming.

What can I do right now to make the week less stressful?

· Focus on things that can get the damn HAWT guy out of my dreams and into my life… I mean just need him out of my head so I can actually get things done. I have real responsibilities you see; work, school, a life, bills, motorbikes and dining tables to buy. I almost forgot to tell you… I went window shopping for…. Wait for it…. A MOTORBIKE!! Boy did I see things that made me want to rob a bank, immediately! Then as if fate was actually urging me on, I bumped into my future dining table.

What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming week?

· Only Jill Scott knows what I am going though right now, “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep anymore… waiting for love to walk through the door, I wish I didn’t miss you anymore!.. More like I need the old me back; I don’t need this right now, not when I have so many important things going on. Don’t get me wrong I want to free fall and spin out of control but after the music is over someone will be needed to spin back into control, you haven’t the slightest idea how hard that can be.

What was last week’s biggest time sink?

· Stalking Ike on facebook… his photo, I am afraid is my screen saver J I nearly put it as my profile pic J but self restraint won’t let me.

Am I carrying excess baggage into the week that can be dropped?

· Huh? Did I mention how much I like Ike’s eyes, they are narrow, warm, soft, trusting, those that see through into my soul. We could just sit there and stare at each other all day long and I would have a great day still. Wah! Let’s not go the melting smile… where were we?

What have I been avoiding that needs to get done?

· This report, that report, this and that report, the then report, that planning session, those budgets, that trip home, the blogs, the follow up on pending promises… that lunch, those drinks, those job/ school applications and most importantly a Safari. (After much consideration, the SAFARI yanks top position on the priority list… that way everything else will get done, gotta take care of the body.)

What opportunities are still on the table?

· IKE!!! Tim is definitely off limits; we are not even discussing Andrew, Leonardo that is a subject I am always ready to put on the table and devour… wait a minute, what kind of opportunities are we referring to?

· There’s training opportunities all over- definitely taking advantage of those, opportunities to meet new people with great ideas, opportunities with the razor-sharp @justdes, opportunities to travel… hopefully see the world with Ike… I doubt I would see anything with his flyness beside me.

Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to?

· I took things a little too far with Valentino, I was a total jerk, ruined everything with my unruly ambition to write a valentine story… oh well, spilt milk. Moving on, c’est la vie. After all, I did call to apologize and felt a lot better but then I guess that will be a no go zone for quite some time. However, V did teach me something important: Commit to commitment!

Is there anyone that deserves a big thank you?

· Yeah that, big time… dude threw me a life line! Problem is my ego is too inflated to let me… but I will do it once I go on Safari, I am a lot reasonable when out seeing the world.

How can I help someone else this coming week?

· I’m helping reverse the effects of climate change, trying even harder to find the cures for preventable blindness and trying to create a literate society. Enough said.

What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 years?

· Get married to Ike. Hilarious I know… yeah go laugh somewhere else. I am ready for love. Travel the world with Ike. Honestly, I just want to work with Ike. Learn from him. Learn with him. Have babies with him... if only they would have his eyes.

· Win the lottery. (I am targeting the Utahama Lini? promo by Nation newspaper)

· Do only the things I am passionate about.

Have any of my recent actions led me to closer to my goals?

· Did I not meet the man of my dreams? Am I not sending out the Nation house cut outs? Am I not fighting climate change?

What is the next step for each goal?

· Work hard, be brilliant, till Ike thinks, I want a wife like her!! “Now that is the mother of my children” “This hardworking sharp woman sitting right across me is my life companion” …I can literally visualize him proposing in the middle of a board meeting. “Babes, without you, saving the world is meaningless, will you forever save the world with me?” I hear him say, ring in hand atop the conference table. I being the lady, would tear up and sniff as many yeses as we need to stop climate change J and we would live happily ever after in conferences world over proposing environmentally friendly policies.

· Keep buying Nation newspaper.

· Keep saving the world with Ike, because they are both my passions.

What am I looking forward to during the upcoming week?

A date with Ike; apple pie with Ice-cream his favourites.

What are my fears?

· That life will not let me escape unscathed, that life will let me be scarred by relationships, that life will rob me of my infinite beauty, rape my innocence, fill me with bitterness and sorrow, turn me into a pessimist, corrupt the purity of my love, that life will milk the life in me dry.

What am I most grateful for?

· The gift of love, passion, compassion, trust, fidelity, loyalty, morals and ethics, laughter, humility and grace. Things both Ike and I posses and value.

If I knew I only had one week to live, who would I spend my time with?

Ike! Touring the world, making it a much better place.

Golf Vs Rugby: Fortuitous Rendezvous II

Seated beside my date; bored to tears watching other people dance, Leo walked into the hostelry alone looking sizzling hot and not to mention lost (without me I like to think). I spotted him immediately, lit up like a fireball from hell and sprung to my feet to make sure I didn’t lose him.

He hadn't spotted me and I wasn’t about to wait for him to find me in the throng of half-clad ladies-of-the-town flinging themselves at him, so I quickly asked to introduce my date to “some guy” (yeah right!!). Alas, they know each other. “Of course they know each other, bloody little neighbourhood!”, I cursed out loud. Expectedly they sat together, displacing me and started to chat the night away like little school boys, meanwhile I couldn't take my eyes off Leo’s brawny build.

My date was an estimable character; a together young man, lucid and if I may add, a teetotaler- exactly the advert I would put up for a hubby and father of my children. Nevertheless, with a body blazing with undisclosed desires; a sturdy rugby player is the only promising fire-fighter in the room not a golfer with his gentle manners and gloves in tow. Sorry golfers, just saying it like it is (forget Tiger Woods, that is on a whole new level).

As time passed the golfer was getting uncomfortable with the explicit banter between us and like the gentleman he is decided to give us some room, excused himself and started towards the gents. I wanted to stop the madness but I couldn’t; I was utterly helpless and Leo was clearly determined to ruin it for me, not that I minded much. Instead of fighting a war I knew I wouldn’t win, I involuntarily resolved to take pleasure in every fraction of every second he was gazing into my eyes, talking to me, smiling with me and being all jealous.

At that point I had moved seats; I was kissing his clean shaven head (half-bald), playfully teasing him as I whispered into his ear. I was enjoying it so much that I didn’t care my date was a little (a lot) pissed and ready to leave. I didn’t care that we might not take our vacation to Egypt as planned and I didn’t care that I would have a lot of explaining to do… ALL I CARED WAS LEO and that he was motioning to me to plant a kiss on his cheek as my date helped me into my coat.

I would have kissed him anywhere and everywhere without his asking, except that was neither the place nor the time. I would have stayed behind and enjoyed the evening some more, but too much of Leo is without a doubt the death of me. I would have let my date leave without me, except for that night he was my date. I would have stayed and put out Leo’s fire, but my house was an inferno.

I couldn’t have let my date drive me home because he would have asked what that was about and I am sure I wouldn’t have had the correct answers for him. I needed to demystify it to myself first. It goes without saying; I had to get myself a cab, that way I would drive quietly, relive the night with Leo and his evil charm.

If ever there was a passion of my life, this would be the chap. I would never get married to him though, even if he proposed on a romantic candle-lit dinner in tight rugby shorts on a spacecraft, for the simple reason that we would kill each other in passions untold HA!

...or is that what I like to think?

To be continued.

My clandestine Valentine

All I am saying at this stage is… there was a side-splitting play, lots of wine, a splendid sunset, floating away on a pond, great lighting, lots of small talk, a bit of walking, great art gallery with beautiful pieces to boot and right where I couldn't pronounce ‘silhouette’ was a straight out of the movie shut-up-and-kiss-me moment… whether it happened or not, is however irrelevant.

Now let’s jump to the after effects; I woke up the following morning to soundless music, the coffee mugs dancing on the shelves, pancakes swaying their hips on the pan and “um… um is my coffee SPEAKING to me?” Funny thing is, there was nothing telling in the silky morning air, but love was definitely laced on the sun rays piercing through the leaves of the enormous fig tree outside my kitchen window. As the warmth hit and spread throughout my face, I couldn’t ignore the images in the azure sky partially in hiding, images of a seraph thrilled by the sound of the Nyatiti playing “My moving home” in a dialect I couldn’t comprehend. The hilarity brought about by the costume-clad chaps under the bright lights of the stage tickled the Seraph much to my amusement and I never had such a lovely time watching a stranger laugh so hard, never.

This being is, easily the most fine-looking thing I have cast my eyes on in a long time, their laugh so gentle, stature so elegant, impeccable eloquence, exudes positive energy from every pore on their skin… incredibly erudite and did I mention that they look not a day older than 27 years but is as wise as a sage and as composed as a harp haha! (he is so beyond fine that I not only need the Englishmen to sit and create me an adjective for this person but also for Shakespeare to resurrect chap-chap for we have work to do!).

Unable to withstand the intensity and the blinding glow of the moment I turn away and smile with my heart albeit not furtive enough to cheat the woman in the kitchen busy brewing the coffee. Both the woman and the kettle are wearing a knowing smile, I can see their faces, the mischief, their asking lips twisted into a question that I am not ready to answer, no I will not dare say a word. For I have not the response. At this point, I take a swig of the dark fluid sitting motionless in my cup and resist the swallow if only to keep the secrets of the magic of the previous night from spilling.

Walking out hurriedly, index finger wagging behind me the woman in the kitchen is caught in a stutter “…I was just going to ask if you want some cream with that,” she lies out loud supporting her weight with the door frame. I can tell she is genuinely happy for me; she can’t thank heavens enough that I 'finally' healed the wounds of a disappointing and daunting past. She is holding back the excitement lest I slip back into the morbid habits of video games, slothfulness and suicidal imbibing. She blows me a warm kiss, full of a mother's affection , still I'm not telling.

The couch holds out its warm loving arms to receive my bony frame, he has been with me through the dark days of nursing a broken strange-muscle and I can tell he is over the moon that I didn’t walk in with a slab of cheese, a box of Kleenex and a bag of cheerios. The way he sinks back as my buttocks find a comfortable spot sounds more like a sigh of relief than anything else, I pat him gently and whisper, “It’s over buddy. The days of grief I mean.” I could swear I heard a muffled chuckle.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have got to stop right this minute before I jinx this any further and also because I need to pencil in lunch for coming weekend.

That would be all :-).

X-mass Attack!!

The typical me starts feeling X-massy in September, by October I have saved and shopped for gifts, by November whatever bookings that needed to be made have been made, recipes have been downloaded/ stolen, invites to partners in crime have been sent and mum has been briefed of my itinerary. Leaving nothing to chance, everything is set and ready to roll by 20th. That is how much I love X-mass.

That is why yesterday I was panicked and caught in a frenzy decided to call Santa... because I had a feeling, Daddey had dumped me. Okay, it was 21st of December and NOTHING was ready, I wasn't even ready; I definitely needed extension of time to patch things up and get my X-mass mojo back. See, I haven't been exceptionally good and I expected nothing less from Santa... clearly I had underestimated.

Me: ...ex-communication, really?? Santa, you have gone too far. Don't you think you are overreacting?

Santa: No No No!

Me: Even a little?

Santa: No No NO

Me: C'mon dude... could I have been worse than Lynne who kicked Jimmi out of her bed coz he was undergoing some post-traumatic stress you-know-where after they terminated his contract at work? or YY who has been having sex like a man? or Jumwa who is explicitly living and sexing 3 younger dudes in the name of sub-letting her bedrooms. C'mon sexy Santa, re-consider.

Santa: No No No

Me: You know what, you are a selfish imbecile and an overgrown baby in red diapers. If you are going to punish me for spinning out of control every weekend, with Mr.Alcohol and my life companion, then go ahead. But remember I am the one who never gave in to Mr. I-will-dump-my-girlfriend-as-soon-as-I-sleep-with-you, and I am still the one who (eventually) regained self restraint after flashing boobies on Skype a couple of times...

Santa: A couple????!!! Those were over **** times!! As far as I'm concerned it was a fully fledged scandalous affair with no limits whatsoever...

Me: Ok paps, lets not go into details... oh and never mind I was the one who got dropped from cloud-9 just when I was about to man-up and finally tell Funny boy how I actually felt.

Santa: Oh shut up!! You coward you... you were never going to and you know it.

Me: As I was saying, I am also a great albeit silent supporter of NO TO HOMO.... PHOBIA campaigns because I believe in ALL Human rights, and may I take this opportunity to say 'Good Job' to Muthoni Wanyeki the Executive Director KHCR and Esther Murugi, Special Programmes Minister for boldly stepping out to protect the rights of the minority. Forget my ulterior motive, at least Benjy and his boyfriend will (hopefully soon) comfortably kiss in the swimming pool and I can finally OPENLY brag about our shopping sprees...

Santa: Yeah yeah but whats in for me?

Me: um um... I will share their steamy fantasies with you Daddey :-)

Santa: Ho ho ho Brilliant! Not enough though, you need to commit at least 3 random acts of kindness before sun down if you want to have a proper X-mass.

Me: C'mon daddey...

Santa: No other way.

Me: DEAL!!

That is how I woke up with an X-mass attack, in high spirits, took a looooong shower (read extra 10 litres down the drain), helped eat (Not cook) pancakes and found myself being very kind to 3 beautiful girls who needed my help + I ordered lunch for me and the rabid HOT plumber. Talk of hitting three birds and a bonus with one stone! Seeing as the bible is very clear on; "let not the right hand know what the left does.." I am forbidden to narrate my acts of kindness, in other news though- Lunch was pepper Haat *wink*.

This festive season commit all sins, and most importantly commit a few random acts of kindness.

Merry X-mass to you and yours!!

PS: Remember, don't drink and drive accidents kill and don't drink and park accidents cause babies... just hail a cab :)

Let's get retarded.

Only a retard would think like this!


See they always tell you to be and think positive, about everything whether good or bad. So for a long time it was hard for me to do the positive thing and I would wallow in self pity for days on end with absolutely no effort to pick myself up. Over the years though, I met people who have marveled me with their almost miraculous ability to bring themselves up even after life-changing things happen to them. While I was busy being there for them mopping and being sad, they were lifting their spirits and turning their misery around. In no time I was the one caught up in their past while they had long moved on (how ironical). In the recent past quite a number of things have gone awry (so much for being a staunch control freak) and in the process shook a lot of things I have based my faith and basically my whole life on. Normally when such things happen you kinda get depressed and become a loser or you take what life throws at you and make lemonade as they put it.

This time round, instead of slipping into depression I decided to try this positive approach/law of attraction thingy just to see if it works and prove them wrong, so I told myself. Truth is I was desperate for anything that would make it better and from my interaction with people I knew better than to allow myself to sink into the deep seas of misery. Let’s take a look at how it worked for me:

Were it not for the strike that my university had, I would not have been home for four months looking for attachment/internship, I would never have gone to the many firms I went to job hunting only for them to decline my request prompting me to seek work at this other org which I was sure would never have taken me in since it was a satellite office working on a new project that I knew absolutely nothing about. *breathe* As you may have gathered, after a few cancelled meetings I was able to get in-touch with some fellow from the office who felt his docket could use an assistant and that is how I landed my internship.

It later turned out that the guy who helped me get my internship did not do it in accordance to the laid down procedure and was thus at loggerheads with the overall boss leading to my state of uncertainty which also made me push my alleged supervisor to formalize my internship or else I would just quit (not like that would in anyway affect him but it felt good to let him know that I will not be used; not to say he wasn’t using me already). Him taking his sweet time to sort out the issue led me into doing some other application which led me to some office which I was later so grateful I went to, not that I got the job but I sort of scored in another area of my life that needed a little fixing so to speak, I have been single for the past two years! If that doesn’t qualify for/as chronic singlehood I don’t know what does!

I guess what I’m trying to say is; I ‘think’ I met a guy who is making me very happy! No details, besides the fact that we are taking it slow and that it feels really good to have someone I can talk to and who most importantly thinks I am funny. I might have not mentioned this before but I am very insecure about what people think about me, big problem if they think I am not funny! What good am I if I can’t make you laugh? My stint as the entertainment captain/comedian in high school is definitely to blame. Anyone who doesn’t laugh at my jokes is perceived as an unpleasant authority, courtesy of my dad who thinks my kind of funny is rather unfunny, oh well, he doesn’t know what he is missing. Whatever happened in his childhood to make him that way is beyond me.

Ps: I dug out this blog from my archived- offline blogs. It was dated, July 2009. 8 months down the line and he still laughs at my jokes, FYI.

TELLING IT AS IT IS- The Electra Complex.

I am going to begin by declaring that I am an optimist in every sense of the word and that I know of individuals in relationships that are not headed anywhere; they have so much faith in themselves, their partners and their unions that they believe everything is possible (first, lets agree that according to nature, not everything is possible irrespective of the numerous possibilities in existence) and that one day things would change for the better. What these people will learn later (others when it’s too late) is that things may never change in the union but that doesn’t necessarily mean that things in their love life will never take a positive turn. Often people miss this point by tying themselves down to one person and one situation without exploring other options. That is where we fail.

Please do not get me wrong, I am not saying take to the hills at the slightest sign of trouble, no. Stick it out if you have to but be wise and flexible enough to pin point a good deal or when you are being taken for a ride. Trust me, it’s for your own good that you keep evaluating your union and be open enough to self criticize while at it- it’s quite healthy to kill the ‘you’ that stops you from growing.
If you are one of those people who posses faith that moves mountains I do not blame you… hope is very important in life and love –so it’s allowed. Now, as much as it’s ok to believe that things will be ok we also have to be critical and level headed when we approach certain things especially those whose consequences we have to live with for a long time.

My friend Lucas was beginning to wear me out with his never-ending tales of brawls with his girlfriend of two years, so I decided to take up the matter seriously and for the first time stop pretending to care and actually try to help. I am not by any qualifications or otherwise a relationships or marriage counselor but as a friend it is expected of me (more like an obligation) to be there as the shoulder he can freely cry on and as his eyes... maybe because love is blind, I don’t know. Of course this was against my policy of ‘non-interference’ when it comes to lovebirds, but I did it anyway… if only to save my besotted friend from the misery that is his love life. Talk of trying to save a sinking ship! I see you raising your eyebrow and wondering out loud what kind of a pal I am, well, I am the good kind, you’ll see why.

This twosome doesn’t seem to get along at all and in my quiet moments I cannot help but wonder how they found each other let alone what the attraction was, its however irrelevant to the direction we are steering to so lets drop it for now. I never really liked the girl but not like it matters because I am being totally unbiased here (really). Believe me when I say this chic is strangely out of kilter and from her account of her six previous relationships its hard to tell why she never once found a relationship she could settle for. Its just amazing how they keep fighting… day in day out and most astonishing is the things they come to blows over… small things! I mean, why should we slap each other with the ‘cold treatment’ for days on end just because I won’t place the socks in the laundry basket or because I didn’t arrive home at exactly half past five as agreed. As if my boss or the traffic jam cares why I have to be home on time. So the story that broke the Carmel’s back (I being Carmel) is when Lucas came to me in tears recounting how Sarah won’t stop making crazy demands on him and he didn’t know how to make it stop, “She puts curfews on me, forbids me to be with my friends and family!” we have to agree that people who won’t let you socialize have some very serious issues (high levels of insecurity, low self-esteem, poor communication skills…list is endless.) “Even worse, nothing I do is ever good enough,” he sobbed.

As at now my friend is a very frustrated man more so because he doesn’t seem to understand the ‘love-of-his-life’… boy clearly didn’t do his homework before investing in the union.
In my search for un-warlike means to bring and keep this loving duo together once and for all I came across a very strange but common phenomena advanced by one Carl Jung, who from Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex advanced a concept known as the Bernfield factor or the Electra complex. As documented and agreed upon by experts in Psychology; a strong and consistent male presence in a girl’s life has a significant effect on her self esteem. Feeling attractive and loved by “daddy” (or other strong male figure) can help a girl have more confidence and strength. Of course the vice-versa applies. Without that, girls may express daddy issues in seeking out father figures, or placing even very good men with whom they are in relationship, in positions that they really can’t adequately fill. Bingo!

From this profound piece of information I found the disease that was slowly eating up my friend without his knowledge or the girlfriend’s for that matter. So this chic was unknowingly dissatisfied and was seeking to fill whatever gap his father left. On impulse I was about to call my friend and say quit the relationship and find yourself a less burdened individual but then I sympathized with the chic as she too was in the dark. So, I have made a arrangements for them to see a counselor in the hope that they find themselves and hopefully resolve their issues. There are two outcomes here and I do not want to speculate the more likely one.

Are you are the girlfriend everyone seems to be avoiding? You constantly find yourself trapped in unhealthy relationships with men and cannot figure out why? Well, its time to board memory-train back into the past, critically examine your relationship with your father or the dominant male figure in your life and find out if you suffer from the Electra complex.

This month, I trust you will be able to say goodbye to relationships that are long dead or just damaged beyond repair, challenge is, can you identify one?