sindannimwella

On the Sunday of 10^th June 2012, the country woke up to news of a helicopter crash in a nondescript forest called Kibiku near Ngong. A dramatic start to a week that would prove very eventful and illustrative of Kenya’s compulsive selective amnesia. The television networks scrapped the Sunday gospel music shows and maintained a constant flow of information. A minister, his assistant, their bodyguards and two pilots had perished en route to a small town in rural Kenya.

Comrades in politics cancelled their engagements to turn up at the accident scene to gawk at the charred site and more specifically to face the cameras and hog the microphones. Their P.R. handlers were earning their salaries! The incident was trending on social media, generic condolences updated. State House released a glowing tribute and declared three days of national mourning with flags to fly at half-mast. A special meeting of…

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I am Patriotic (?)

  Ee Mungu nguvu yetu

Ilete baraka kwetu

Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi

Na tukae na undugu, amani na uhuru

Raha tupate na ustawi

 

Amkeni ndugu zetu

Tufanye sote bidii

Nasi tujitoe kwa nguvu

Nchi yetu ya Kenya tunayoipenda

Tuwe tayari kuilinda

 

Na tujenge taifa letu

Ee, ndio wajibu wetu

Kenya istahili heshima

Tuungane mikono pamoja kazini

Kila siku tuwe na shukrani

 

I just wrote all that from memory. From memory and from thinking about the words of our National Anthem. Today, 28 Feb, is the day we're all supposed to stand as Kenyans at 1pm and sing our anthem, loud and proud, regardless of location, or the task at hand, or who we have around us. It's a simple assignment – just stand and sing. So why will so many of us ignore it??

I have a lot to say about my country. Both good and bad. But it has always been, and will always be, one of my top priorities. Unfortunately, I also have a lot to say about myself. Both good and bad. And while I am extremely patriotic to my country (without being blind to its flaws), I am also extremely apathetic.

So come 1pm today, will I stand and sing? Show my loyalty towards my country? And prove to myself that our generation really CAN change things?

Or will I sit on my ass, note the time and then just let it pass? Disappointing both myself and Kenya?

I actually don't know yet.

 

(In English…)

O God of all creation

Bless this our land and nation

Justice be our shield and defender

May we dwell in unity, peace and liberty

Plenty be found within our borders

 

Let one and all arise

With hearts both strong and true

Service be our earnest endeavour

And our homeland of Kenya, heritage of splendour

Firm may we stand to defend

 

Let all with one accord

In common bond unite

Build this our nation together

And the glory of Kenya, the fruit of our labour

Fill every heart with thanksgiving

I’m A Mess

Forgive me, please. And just try to understand a bit.

Here’s the link to my tumblr as I attempt to get my writing back on track: Nothing… Everything

Project 365: #3

deadmau5 concert

Project 365: #2

In preparation for the concert tomorrow. I need to get hyper beforehand seeing as it’s not exactly my preferred genre of music.

Project 365: #1

The view from my 4th floor balcony

Project 365

The aim of Project 365 is to take a photo a day.

I am not a professional photographer. In fact, I don’t even really LIKE taking photos – I usually prefer to just live in the moment and hope somebody else documents it for memory’s sake. But Project 365 sounds like a challenge I’d be unable to complete, which makes the appeal to actually do it and finish just that much stronger.

START DATE: Thursday, May 5th 2011.

Music Week (Day 7)

Whew, my last day of Music Week is finally here!!

I tried to mix it up and put some of the songs I like from different genres. I’ll refrain from calling them my favourites because I’m in love with tooooooo many songs to give that title to these seven. I’m definitely in-like with them though. And I didn’t go down the Tupac road, because I might have just ended up with Music Year 🙂

I like being exposed to new music so feel free to post/email me suggestions or links or whatever, yeah?

Today’s song represents what hip hop means to me. Maybe not literally because I can’t honestly say that I ‘grew up’ with hip hop, or it was my saving grace or whatever BUT, and this is a big but (he he), the lyrics, the story, the creativity, the double entendres, the emotions, THAT’s what hip hop is to me. Not the meaningless shit you hear from every tom, dick and harry who thinks he’s cool because he incessantly repeats the word nigga and talks about money and bitches and pussy (though we all know quite a number of them aren’t exactly what we’d call straight). And being ‘gangsta’. Shudder. To me, hip hop has to have actual meaning to qualify as hip hop. It’s basically poetry set to a beat. And I don’t think hip hop lovers are restricted any one group. True music should move you regardless of your usual preferences and what you like to get down to on the dance floor or whatev, because real music speaks to your soul and isn’t dependent on language, or style, or upbringing, or class, or anything as superficial as that. Yeah, okay, semi-rant? Done.

I’m posting 2 videos to the song. The first is the ordinary (but still lovely) video that is generally played, and the second is the one with Erykah Badu’s rap and is the version I prefer, although it refuses to play on wordpress. So yeah.

Oh, and in case you’re not reading the lyrics while listening to the song – the yellow is Erykah, the red is Common. And the orange, of course, is Ms. Badu’s rap. And for some reason WP won’t let me double space my writing, so that’s why the verses are like all over the place – at least the different alignments allows there to be some sort of demarcation.

Music Week? CHECK! 🙂

LOVE OF MY LIFE (ODE TO HIP HOP)

Erykah Badu featuring Common

I met him when I was a little girl

He gave me poetry and he was my first

But in my heart I knew, I wasn’t the only one

‘Cause when the tables turned he had to break up

Whenever I got lonely, needed some advice

He gave me his shoulder, his words were very nice

That is all behind me,

‘Cause now there is no other

My love is his, and his is mine

My friend became my…

Love of my life, you are my friend

Love of my life, I can depend

Love of my life, without you baby

Feels like I sampled true love

Well my name is Apples and I rock your world

I’m also known as the Gucci girl

Well, I’m super-cute and plenty bad

30-26-36 and a half

I hope that you will realize

I got the hazel eyes that’ll hypnotize

And knock you to your knees

Make you eat cheese

You’ll be so helpless you’ll be beggin’ me please

A freak, freak y’all and you don’t stop

To the beat y’all and you don’t stop

A freak, freak

Oh, could it be that it was all just so simple then?

A teenage love but you said, “He’s just a friend.”

He moved around and we kept in touch through his friend Mike

The world was young and we knew we couldn’t rush

But whenever I got lonely, or needed some advice

He gave me his shoulder, his words were very nice

That is all behind me

‘Cause now there is no other

My love is his, and his is mine

My friend became my…

Love of my life, you are my friend

Love of my life, on you I can depend

Love of my life, without you baby

Feels like I sampled true love, yeah

Mission and clear

Y’all know how I met her –

We broke up and got back together

To get her back, I had to sweat her

Thought she rolled with bad boys forever

In many ways them boys made it better

To grow, I had to let her

She needed cheddar, and I understood that

Looking for cheese, that don’t make her a hood rat

In fact she’s a queen to me, her light beams on me

I love it when she sings to me

It’s like that and uh

You know you rock my world

You be boy, and I be girl

It don’t stop until the break of dawn

And it don’t stop, cuz it can’t quit, cuz it can’t wait

and the one with the short rap

Music Week (Day 6)

This song, just like all her other songs, is so beautiful and expressive and well-written and…simple.

It also definitely ranks as one of my top 10 shower songs 🙂

 

READY FOR LOVE

India.Arie

I am ready for love
Why are you hiding from me?
I’d quickly give my freedom
To be held in your captivity

I am ready for love
All of the joy and the pain
And all the time that it takes
Just to stay in your good grace
Lately I’ve been thinking
Maybe you’re not ready for me
Maybe you think I need to learn maturity
They say watch what you ask for
Cause you might receive
But if you ask me tomorrow
I’ll say the same thing

I am ready for love
Would you please lend me your ear?
I promise I won’t complain
I just need you to acknowledge I am here

If you give me half a chance
I will prove this to you
I will be patient, kind, faithful and true
To a man who loves music
A man who loves art
Respects the spirit world
And thinks with his heart

I am ready for love
If you’ll take me in your hands
I will learn what you teach
And do the best that I can

I am ready for love
Here with an offering of
My voice
My eyes
My soul
My mind

Tell me what is enough
To prove I am ready for love

I am ready

Twenteen

And so today I get to interrupt Music Week just to say

TO

 

This being my first birthday away from home, I’ve insisted that I don’t want to do anything. I’ve taken it down from all the social networking sites I belong to, and I’m just going to let the day pass (although carefully observing who my true friends are, of course).

So why am I writing about it here? Because, first of all

 

and so

 

…including making this (kinda) ugly post with nearly no colour (even though I’m a colour-freak) which I shall probably come to regret.

But after skyping with my entire nuclear family (minus my brother – whom I shall NOT forgive if I don’t hear from by the end of the night), and being sung for over the phone by my grandfolks all the way in goddamn Shianda, Kakamega, Kenya all within the first 2 hours of my day, I’m kinda over-flowing with happiness and appreciation and LOVE for the people close to me… *content sigh*

I’m not even going to edit any grammatical errors today, I’m just leaving it like this.

I LOVE MY FAMILY.

 

(to be continued…)