News in brief

Last week is kinda vague.... I suppose because I worked every day except Friday, then I helped my aunt orchestrate a surprise party landing in another country:-)

I went out Friday evening with miss B, so i obviously slept late... woke up early Saturday to do some work...and found that my aunts neighbors have all wizened up, and I can no longer use their unsecured wireless Internet connections! So hence, I am behind in my work...and will have to catch up tomorrow...really I should be doing it now...but...ummm...I am not in the mood:-)

Saturday night we went for Angela's farewell party, and it was really great:-) I laughed a lot, danced a lot, and had only 2 drinks for some reason even though there were more drinks than people at the party:-) It was a really diverse crowd...just the way I like my parties! They had a lot of countries represented, and the music was fabulous, and of course I took out my chitenge and did my thang on the dance floor:-) We got home at 4 in the morning, and then I was awake stupidly at 8 am...not sure what's up with that!
I am sooooo fatigued at the moment....but I enjoyed my Football game....oh my song is playing: Raki by Oliver Mtukudzi:-) gotta go!

GO SPAIN!!!!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL GAME. I F'IN LLLLOOOVVVEEE TORRES!!!
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BRB WITH MORE NEWS AFTER I DANCE:-)

quick updates!

Okay, excuse the silence because I am being very selfish:-) I am reading 'Infidel' by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and 'Road Work' by Mark Bowden....I know you're think WTF??? But seriously, I am into both books, so I am doing a chapter a piece...hence the lack of communication.

So while we're at it... who in the world thought the picture below was real???? common now! primitive cultures with bows and arrows pointed at the plane??? They probably didn't get their lessons from Shaka Zulu!!! That is not how you conquer!

The two very important things I learnt from Shaka Zulu were:

1. Confuse the enemy


2. Never leave an enemy behind

Also Zimbabwe...oh my! So to some extent, I was happy that Tsvangirai stepped down before the elections, because I fear if he had "lost", the situation would have been Gabon! Or Croatia! (pick your catastrophe!). I also heard a rumour he was offered money to step down... but who knows what's real these days?

Next on the agenda: Evangelist Dobson.

Obama said this [among other things] "Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal rather than religion-specific values," Obama said. "It requires their proposals be subject to argument and amenable to reason."

and Dobson heard this:
Dobson said the suggestion is an attempt to lead by the "lowest common denominator of morality." [and this]"Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?" he asked. "What he's trying to say here is, unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe.

Now, English is my second language, and y'all know the mention of babies would have me in agreement... but for real??? The dude is saying, take all religion into consideration. Religious people live by faith. Don't a lot of people believe no one can safely say that they belong to the one true religion and all others are wrong.?

Seriously, ask the Pew Research Center that reports that there is a growing number of religiously unaffiliated in the USA...why? read report here http://pewresearch.org/pubs/743/united-states-religion

LOL...they say Heathrow needs a third run way...ummm not if the gas prices keep going up they wont!

p/s: I am working a lot this week because I was a lazy bum last week:-) I am tired!

Milandu ya kale-- History

I am Manena, daughter of Matete, son of Lefted...etc

Resolved: History is dictated by the historian

I was watching Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death, and for many reasons I feel cheated out of my history, and feel the need to trace my roots--which in itself is close to impossible as those that know my history are deceased, and hence I must start where I can. Any way...

If you haven't seen that movie or read King Leopold's ghosts, I would suggest you do at your earliest convenience.

I do not know about you, but I do not recall learning anything about king Leopold II in my history classes, unless I was up to no good when they taught. I also do not remember learning anything about Liberia (the first black governed country in Africa), nor do I recall being taught anything about the revolution in Algeria! Yet, i remember the 'splendid isolation', 'treaty of Versailles', china's revolution...and vaguely--the Shaka wars. Oh and the brief history of the Bemba's and other Zambian tribes...of course!

Over the last few years, I have developed a major interest in history because it gives a better understanding of why things are the way they are. E.G.-- After watching Tubman, I see why Mugabe is the way he is...as was a lot of leaders that came in post Tubman of Liberia.

Two names I remember from the movie that I had never heard of were:-

Edmund Dene Morel:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._D._Morel

and

Roger Casement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement

Those that aided in exposing Leopold and his hand cutting cronies....

Lawd have mercy!!! You know the world is coming to an end when people of other races actually want to be classified as black!!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7461099.stm This story made my day fo sho!

okay...I just got distracted and forgot what else i was going to write:-) aaahhh old age! Oh and it's my birthday in 4 months!!!!:-)

Friday njikata!!!

ala mwandi! I can not explain how much I love fridays!!!

I am sooooo happy right now just thinking that tomorrow will be FRIDAYYYYY!!!

aaahhhh! I can not wait! I am working early in the morning because I aint rich enuff to quit my day job... then I have a few plans... A, B & C.

A and C are top secret operations... B?...it's open for discussion! Tomorrow night, or Sunday, I may go to the Symphony Orchestra... they are playing Rachmaninoff this weekend and tickets are cheap...so I might as well! I like listening to Rachmaninoff because 1) his name is funny 2) I think I can pick up the turmoil of his life in his work:-) 3) dude died 5 months after becoming an American citizen!
Saturday, for plan B- I will be out shopping (read: spending money that I don't have) with the girls at an outlet mall:-)

OMG!!! The funniest thing just happened! When C$ and I went to Adams Morgan, we were at a Bar that is usually frequented by 'public enemy #1' also known as kapoli (bush pig), and we kept thinking...OMG any minute now...he's like going to walk through that door, and it will be on and poppin! Needless to say, he didn't show... but today I was looking at another friends pictures...and there was Kapoli at the same place we were-just a different day of course...but it was hilarious!!!!
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perceptions during childhood:- When I was a kid, I used to think that everyone with the last name Tembo (and others for that matter) was a gardener or servant of some kind--and was almost always poor. So one day, my daddy's little sister came home and announced she was getting married to a Mr. Tembo...and everyone was excited except me! I was dismayed that they would be letting her marry a 'Tembo', and that I was to be on the wedding line up! I was thinking to myself...OMG! Princess M in a wedding party probably in Garden or Bauleni compound??? Hell no! Over my dead body! The dust in the compound would mess up my pretty pink dress with white flowers!!! Come to find out the dude had more money than my father, mother sister brother and me combined!
That's when I learnt that names didn't necessarily define poverty! Like how dumb was I??? I don't even know how old I was at the time. I just know that I was a dancing diva and was on so many wedding line ups...even of people I didn't know, and i wasn't about to mess up my roll nuh meen?
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Okay, I am going to bed now so I can wake up and it can be Friday:-)

Confused Catholic Voter

"Conscience is what summons us to love good and avoid evil; to do this and to shun that; To obey it is the very dignity of man. According to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of man. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. But conscience is no infallible guide. It frequently errs from invincible ignorance (ignorance for which we are not responsible). We Christians search for truth and for the genuine solution of problems in collaboration with others and in fidelity to our own conscience . (Vatican II document, The Church in the Modern World, #16 ).


I have been fighting with my conscience who the better candidate is in this election as far as moral issues and social justice..etc.

So I came across this website:- http://www.ewtn.com/vote/brief_catechism.htm and it explains clearly what the church's standing is on that issue. This was the church's advise in 2002 before the last election.


So I understand that Abortion is a 'disqualifying issue', because voting for someone that is pro abortion is assisting in the act itself by default. I also now understand that even though our calling in the church is to preserve life-- we can allow capital punishment such as the death penalty because it is an act of self defense.


The problem is this:- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/mccain082499.htm

He (McCain) added that while he ultimately favors repeal of Roe, "we all know, and it's obvious, that if we repeal Roe v. Wade tomorrow, thousands of young American women would be performing illegal and dangerous operations."

and this:-http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm


[An abortion protester at a campaign event] handed me a pamphlet. "Mr. Obama, I know you're a Christian, with a family of your own. So how can you support murdering babies?"
I told him I understood his position but had to disagree with it. I explained my belief that few women made the decision to terminate a pregnancy casually; that any pregnant woman felt the full force of the moral issues involved when making that decision; that I feared a ban on abortion would force women to seek unsafe abortions, as they had once done in this country. I suggested that perhaps we could agree on ways to reduce the number of women who felt the need to have abortions in the first place.


It sounds like the same guy is talking!!!


Another issue that, Pope John Paul II (MHSRIP) stated before the 2003 war that this war would be a defeat for humanity which could not be morally or legally justified. He strongly opposed the war, as he strongly opposed abortion.


So if one candidate is sort of anti abortion, but supports the war, and the other is pro abortion and does not support the war, are we morally obligated to boycott the elections as catholics?


If we vote for either one of the candidates, aren't we guilty of sin by association for either encouraging the death of the unborn child, or the death of the living child?


My questions come in the light that Douglas Kmiec and Gov. Sebelius were both denied communion recently based on issues to do with abortion. So if we vote do we get excommunicated then?

Unprepared

Beloved,
Mbuya used to sing the old girl guide song and quote their motto often 'Be prepared'. She would laugh often when you asked for something and remind you 'be prepared'. That motto has helped me thus far, and made me somewhat of a pack rat. I keep things I am not sure I will ever use, and I find it hard to throw things out in case I need them. I am always a resource for information when people need it. That is what I do.

I however was unprepared for THIS. I am sitting holding a cup of tea I made over an hour ago, but really couldn't drink too much of. Should I curl up in a ball and lay down on the floor? What can I say? Is there anything to say? I have DVDs and books of the subject, but nothing makes sense to me at present.
I am sorry if my response was silence. This was not in my 'life in 2011' hand-book. I did not see this coming.

Claustrophobia. It took me out of my cool house to the hot humidity outside--because there was more air there.
If only I was not too weak. I could probably scream or cry.
I will do anything for you to call me and tell me it was a joke, or that I am asleep right now. Alas! I know 'tis not so.
I could drink my wine. No. Tequila. But the circumstances will remain the same.
Why don't I have Paris Hilton's money? For at least then I would have flown us to Tahiti or something. Some paradise where everything ceases to exist.
I am glad you are still laughing. Thank you for that.
My duties as a friend are being tested as is my strength.

Where for art thou sanity?
"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me..."
The devil is a liar! This too shall come to pass.

Faithfully yours,
Manena

Comme ci, comme ça

The weekend was comme ci, comme ça... Friday, the date called and since I was not doing anything worthwhile... I accepted his invitation to hang out. Okay, let me make this clear-- I shalln't be going on any more dates for a while, and will not be seeing him either. The trauma! I can not go into details right now... but if you follow the script, you will pick up the reason somewhere:-)

My baby brother has settled in nicely in Zed and I am jealous that he's home and I am here:-(, well my mum is on a major campaign for me to meet her in London in August. I haven't really looked at ticket prices so I can not agree yet, and I also i'm not sure how recession friendly this trip might be. As for my homeland? not sure if I will go this year...maybe Warren Buffet will call before then and marry me so we can live in happiness traveling the world.

I went to Bethesda Saturday and stayed till today. It was soooo much fun!!! Saturday, we hang out down town, I got to eat sushi at a place I haven't eaten at in 6 years or so. The food was so so... nothing to write home about. I should stick to places I know really!

Oh and the highlight of my weekend? Guess what I bought???????? You will never believe it! He-man and She-ra on DVD!!!! Yes! The first 5 She-ra episodes when the sorceress tells her that she was kidnapped by the horde and that He-man is actually her twin brother! Then she meets her parents for the first time...and I just wept!!! Like OMG! I was soooo happy for her!

Moving along-- I also watched Glory, the story of the 54th (infantry?) of Massachusetts. If you haven't seen it and are interested in American history it would be something great to view. It's about the negro military from the north fighting the soldiers in the south...and it was so heart warming...hope i'm sounding sane!

I spent part of Sunday in Georgetown...oh what fun!

I also watched Darfur Now, a story about 6 people trying to make a difference for the darfurian people. My favourite person was the female rebel...she is sooo cool!

Okay, so Ladies: Listen to me and listen good. If a man can not kiss... and he's my age or older... Houston we have a problem!!!

Gentlemen: If you are older than 21 and do not know the ART of kissing. Please, stop reading now-- pick up a copy of karma sutra, cosmopolitan magazine, Google it or a pron video or something!!!!! It is very embarrassing for you and for the person you are kissing! It is so traumatizing.

I am off to watch 'Path to War' and will tell you all about it later today. The news is still the same today as it was Friday...eh?

Tainted food

What is up with all the tainted food in the country? What the heck can we eat? Yesterday, Tomatoes had salmonella scare, today some cheese is tainted with TB!!!

OMG!!!

Obama

Tonight, I curtsy to Obama.
Regardless of how I think or feel about his policies, loyalties, promises...etc-- The man has made HISTORY. That is more than you can say about many- myself included.

After many years since the abolition of slavery in the USA, this is the first black citizen to come close to being called 'Mr President' and for that I commend him and the American people for finally 'somewhat' suspending the color divide.

Who I'm I kidding! Once the real race is on, it will all come down to black versus white and not so much who has better policies.

Any hoo, Obama has made it further than I thought possible for him, and so he deserves a curtsy from me.

Movie weekend

First of all....forgive me father for I am may sin...like really! I went to church today, and it really sucked! The person that picked out the music did a really sucky job I think, and my mind kept wondering off...I suppose it's because I have a huge dilemma and I couldn't stay focused. Usually, when I go to church, I always get a message of some kind that I use to help justify certain thoughts and feelings...and today, God was like..."uh...sista gurl? you on yo own!"... and I was like 'seriously God?, that don't help me much!'...I am in a self inflicted funk! Then I almost had an accident (due to my lack of focus I suppose), in the process I hurt my neck...and I am miserable!

See the thing is, I want an answer to something, and I have been waiting for a looooonnnggg time for this answer, and it's being very elusive. So I came to the conclusion that I had my answer, then the devil threw in a monkey wrench...and here I am. Back to square one. Without a tee-shirt to prove I even got to another damned square!

Any way, yesterday was a lovely evening. I saw Mr date-from-the-other-night. He took me to a nice Thai restaurant down town. Then we went to see a movie, held hands, took a walk together, he opened doors...and was a gentleman all night. I will be seeing him again this week--because he asked me to. The problem is (come on! you knew that was coming!), I can tell by the way he looks at me that he thinks I'm gorgeous...but he hasn't said anything of the sort...and as you might already know, I like to be praised. It's one of my perfect imperfections:-) I don't want him to go on and on about stuff...but seriously. I took a shower, planned what I was wearing, and applied a generous amount of makeup. I know I looked good because people turned to look. But my date aint said nuttin about me lookin all phine and fab...and that's an issue with me. So next time. I am going in jeans and a t-shirt! I will not use make up, and I will think about combing my hair. Eau de parfum might be optional that day too!

Moving along...I saw this wonderful movie- The visitor. Its an independent movie about a professor who has lost his zeal for life. He heads back to an apartment he keeps in New York to find 2 people living in his house. The two are Tarek from syria and Zainab from Senegal, and they are illegal immigrants who were somehow duped into thinking they were renting the place from some dude. The professor lets them stay with him and becomes good friends with Tarek. Zainab on the other hand keeps giving him the eye...you know how our west African sisters can be! The girl is a good actress and I hope she gets good parts in other films! Tarek is rather cute too...and if he's reading--call me:-) Some drama unfolds on the set...and it's on and poppin! I don't want to give away the plot, but if you get a chance to see it...go to your nearest theater and scan it. I quite liked it myself.

Then of course because it's the 'Sex and the city' weekend... some friends and I got dolled up today and went to see it. Guess what? Landmark theaters in Baltimore allow you to take you nice little cosmopolitans into the theater:-). I was never into the whole sex and the city thing...(shh, don't tell the other's), but I thought the movie was funny...and sad. I was expecting miss Jennifer Hudson to sing at some point, and disappointed that she didn't.

OMG!!! YSL died!!!...look at me all surprised like we were friends or something!

I am going to sit quietly in my bed and await answers for my tumultuous thoughts!