Fuel

I know what I said I would post today... but this was more important!
Enjoy:-
They were digging a new foundation in manhattan and they discovered a slave cemetery there may their souls rest easy now that lynching is frowned upon and we've moved on to the electric chair
and i wonder who's gonna be president
tweedle dumb or tweedle dumber?
and who's gonna have the big
blockbuster box office
this summer
how 'bout we put up a wall
between the houses and the highway
and then you can go your way
and i can go my way

except all the radios agree with all the t.v.'s
and the magazines agree with all the radios
and i keep hearing that same damn song
everywhere i go
maybe i should put a bucket over my head
and a marshmallow in each ear
and stumble around for another dumb numb week
for another hum drum hit song to appear

people used to make records
as in a record of an event
the event of people
playing music in a room
now everything is cross-marketing
it's about sunglasses and shoes
or guns or drugs
you choose

we got it rehashed
we got it half-assed
we're digging up all the graves
and we're spitting on the past
and we can choose between the colors
of the lipstick on the whores
'cuz we know the difference
between the font of twenty percent more
and the font of teriyaki
you tell me
how does it make you feel?
you tell me what's real
they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
even when they're as dry as my lips for years
even when they're stranded on a small desert island
with no place in two thousand miles to buy beer
and i wonder is he different
is he different
has he changed
what he's about
or is he just a liar
with nothing to lie about
am i headed for the same brick wall
is there anything i can do
about anything at all

except go back to that corner in manhattan
and dig deeper
dig deeper this time
down beneath the impossible pain of our history
beneath unknown bones
beneath the bedrock of the mystery
beneath the sewage system and the path train
beneath the cobblestones and the water main
beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
beneath everything i can think of to think about
beneath it all
beneath all get out
beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
there's a fire that's just waiting for fuel

© 1999 ani difranco / righteous babe music

Juno

I had an AWESOME day today and i would be an ungrateful sod to complain about anything!!!
I had to get something done to my car and I thought the line would be crazy and found i was second in line.... traffic was great and I discovered an international store selling everything but my brother!!!
Then I went to get my hurr did... I feel soooo pretty:-) made myself a great lunch found some great designer clothing on sale and went out to see Juno.

I think the movie was really nice. if you haven't seen it yet.... this is your chance to stop reading and walk away because I am about to have a discussion.
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Okay it was a nice movie... but i do not think it should have been PG-13. I thinks it's more suitable for an older audience:-)
Juno is the story of a pregnant 15/16 year old who is still in high school and living with her parents.
Several things came up for me in the movie which i probably would have to break into separate blog entries.
For one thing, I am happy that she chooses to have the baby and give it up for adoption, but I am not happy that they make it seem so simple. Her parents are very accepting of the matter, and she quickly finds adoptive parents for her unborn child. My problem with that is that kids are watching this movie, and they might get the impression that it's just --that easy!
I mean this story coupled with Britney spear's little pregnant 16 year old sister who has managed to keep her job and has even better rating than before she was pregnant might pass on the message that it's all gravy!
Any way Will expand on the abortion/ keeping the child issue and also on marriage tomorrow:-)
I am sleepy...and guess wat??? for the last year I have had 3 CD's sitting on my shelf still wrapped up and I finally opened one-- James Blunt:- Back to Bedlam... I am sooooooo in love with him it;s not funny!
"good-bye my lover...good-bye my friend, you have been the one for me"...ahhh!!! it's wonderful I tell you!!!!

à demain...

Way I see it...

This weekend I may have several posts....I feel like I have plenty to say, and well I may bored:-)
I have plans to see Juno today or probably a play 'Joe turner's come and gone'
They both start at about the same time so it shouldn't really be a problem.

Okay:- I can not believe they are debating whether to require Id's when voting or how stiff measures should be when one goes to vote. The law of this country (USA) as with most, allows only CITIZENS to vote. That is simple and straight forward. How are they supposed to know if you're legally allowed to vote if you don't take the necessary paperwork in with you? Apparently some states let you vote so long as you sign an affidavit saying you're a citizen...WHAT??? doesn't that leave room for someone to pay off Amadu and Jose to pretend they are citizens and vote?
They also say that some poor people can't get their Id's (cost and all). Elections are not a surprise in this country. It's not like other countries which tell you..."oh it looks like we'll have elections on the 4th of march, or maybe the 10th of November three years from now." There are no surprises. If you were really keen to vote, you should have been prepared innit?
When looking for a job, or receiving government funding aren't you required to have some form of identity? So why shouldn't you have it when you vote?

To avoid some complications, I would suggest that more ad's should be running now to encourage people to vote. Also there should be more ad's and people coming out to poor communities telling people what they NEED in order to vote and helping them prepare for election day.

Secondly:-
Last week I was listening to NPR and they were discussing something to do with drugs. The main speaker was I think a former police man and he was just saying he believes that if drugs are legalised, their value will drop, hence most of the problems that come with drugs will be reduced.
As a tax payer, I agree with some of what he had to say. For one thing, he says a syringe costs about $0.09 cents.... why aren't they given to drug abusers for free to help curb some blood borne diseases that come with sharing syringes? Well the response by some would be, that it would be sending the wrong message that it's okay to use drugs.
From a financial perspective, 9 cents a week roughly amounts to $4 a year and some change per person right?
well lack of that $4, leads to several abusers sharing one syringe and spreading...oh I don't know...say HIV?, How much will it cost the tax payer to purchase Arv's and other goodies for that one drug abuser we could have saved had we just given him the syringes?

Don't get me wrong... drugs are a bad habit and those that are addicted need to be helped.

I can not even pretend to understand drug addiction, because the strongest pain medication I have ever taken is Advil..a.k.a Ibuprofen. I am too chicken to try new medication because I react strangely to little meds like benadryl or sudafed... so I have no interest in finding out what something stronger would do.

Oh man! I am running late as usual.... I need to go out for a bit and buy stuff to make my secret humus recipe:-)

Comrades...live free or die

Fox news had a story today about how many high profile blacks are not supporting/ funding the Obama race... now seriously. How is that important in 2008???? Will Obama be the president of black people only or of the UNITED States of America? If the high profile blacks do not like him is it a big deal??? That is their choice and they shouldn't be forced to like him just because he's black and oprah says he's aiiight...!!!
When will people get that you judge a person based not on their COLOR or SEX, but on what a person believes in or how they behave??? I am really tired of ignorance and unfortunately there are too many dummy's out there! Look at the story below...
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/golf_experts/post/Golf-Channel-anchor-says-young-golfers-should-l?urn=golf,60618
This dumb ass white anchor apparently said Tiger Woods should be LYNCHED by the new golfers... now I'm sure she didn't mean it like that... you know blonde's...like reaalllyyy...

Also, what was up with Hellary's ...oops... Hillary's fake tears??? first of all lady, if I was voting, that would have been enough for me to say "Oh hell no!!!", I do not want a president that's going to break down and cry when China says they can't trade...or Pakistan calls her a dumb ass! I mean c'mmon!
Okay as usual I am nervous about the results for tonight. Well with all the time McCain spent in NH... he had better win:-) I am happy for McCain.
My little friend Ron Paul did well too I think... for as little press/ air time he gets... 8-9% is kind of good. He beat Thompson...:-)
As for The dems... ahh... I like how confident Edwards sounds even though he's 3rd place:-)
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Look at the crazy story below
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4102781&page=1
These crazy Muslims get more amazing by the day! This dude killed his daughters in Texas as part of an "honor" killing! What??? The world amazes me!!!
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Offline:- I like to listen to listen to the candidates give their speeches... it makes me proud to be an American...lolololol!!!!!!!!!

Endita M'kwai...

Absolutely busy week:-)
You know my brother is always going on about how badly my spellings are on this site and I have been trying to explain to him that half the time when I type, I am either on the phone, watching T.V, or doing something else...I really never concentrate which is why I oft appear to have ADHD coz I keep losing track of what I was trying to say...so I really don't have ADHD or ADD or whatever...I just have a silly habit of doing several things at one time.

Besides if you all read my declaration when I first got started you will clearly see that English is of course my second language, so I don't care too much to speak it correctly. I still haven't a clue what my first language is... but I will be sure to let you know when I figure that out.

So feel free to edit what I write in your heads, because I certainly don't have time to look for typo's and wrong words on my blog before I post them and I haven't the patience for spell check. I am not a writer by profession...I am a lover...lololol!

At the same time, I have little respect for native English speakers that speak and write worse than I do...E.G. confusing there & their, whether & weather... peeves me out!

Any way: the week was quite eventful. I went to see 3 of my mums Thursday... and most of the guests have flown back to their respective countries.


Then Friday I worked and then went for sushi, then had people over at my house for wine because I have a lot of bottles left over from the holidays.
Then Saturday, I went to Cheswa's house for lunch. She did a major presentation of Nshima, beans, okra, and 2 types of chicken for Vicky and I.


I had a great time playing with the kids...I haven't seen Gabriella since she was 3 months old. I fancied myself a mum for a few minutes while holding her, then she burped on me...and that was enough birth control incentive..lol


and miss Khanyisile a.k.a lexie doodles can not stop smiling:-) She's too adorable


I had my hair all up in Vicky's face because I am selfish with pictures:-)


Later in the evening...I was of course running on African time and was late for Melisa's party:-) The girl's weren't too amused coz they had to wait for me. I ate too much at Cheswa's lunch because I assumed the party was only going to have cheesy finger food like pizza, turkey and ham sandwiches... you know the usual white people food...:-) So I was shocked when I ascended the stairs and found table after table, of absolutely delicious food! They had shrimp wrapped in bacon, quiches, salmon, tuna, chicken varieties, spring rolls, empanadas, several types of dip, some potato pierogi like things...brownies, pumpkin something wheels, eclairs, muffins and other things I don't know... all this stuff was home made...from scratch! I was like daaang mama! It was very impressive. They also had a football game going on... and I thought I was sooo Jessica Simpson when it comes to the game but Wagner is sooo much worse that I am! I had to explain to her who Peyton and Eli Manning were and some other "how did you know that Manena?" trivia.
I however concluded that Melisa's husband needs to be cloned...while we're at at we can clone Annalisa's husband too. Melissa's husband went all out for her 30Th birthday, and he in addition will be flying her and a few friends to Las Vegas!! He also has a limo ready and all sorts of stuff. Oh did I mention he's a bar tender and the drinks were over flowing?

Much ado about Kenya

No. I was not ignoring the pandemonium in Kenya or pretending it wasn't happening. I was merely watching on the side lines to see how it played out!
At first I thought it was an exaggeration...like when they said there was chaos in Zambia after the last elections and that there was violence... which turned out to be just a few people beating each other up and burning some tires in one of the slums! Big frigging deal!!! It turned out Kenya was the real deal!

There have been countless numbers of articles on Kenya in the past week ranging from Obama being half Kenyan to the direct relationship between consumption and development...and of course the bloodshed.

There is a very interesting article In the economist http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10422157 describing the ethnic cleansing and reasoning behind it. In contrast Josh Ruxtin in the New York times:http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/kenya-isnt-rwanda/index.html" attempts to point out the differences between what has taken place in Kenya and the massacre in Rwanda. I quite liked his article because it differed from most of what I have been reading. I personally find it brilliant except for a few historical flaws which I too as a non Kenyan would have probably made.

I understand that the definition if genocide varies depending on who is interpreting the situation and analysing what kind of assistance to give. I personally go by the legal definition of genocide http://www.preventgenocide.org/genocide/officialtext.htm and for that reason I really don't care whether the Luo and the Kalenjins are attacking Kikuyu's for political reasons...or whatever. What they are doing is genocidal.
***The weird thing about the word genocide if you want to be controversial is that when the attacked group retaliates... they are also committing acts of genocide. So if we take down al qaeda...that is genocide right? But I digress.*** That was my Jessica Simpson moment:-)

I like that the media is making a big deal out of it because approx.300 people have died. 300 people that probably wouldn't have benefited either way from the elections. 300 people that had families to take care of. 300 people who could turn into the thousand skulls counted in Rwanda, Bosnia or the Sudan if the rest of the world closes their eyes for a minute. 300 people. For once I am happy at the medias tendency to exaggerate. 300 died, yet who knows whether Odinga is that much different from Kibaki? It's in the eyes of the beholder I guess.

This is how easy it is for countries to fall in Africa. Overnight. One day it's hailed as a stable albeit corrupt country with great opportunity for investment with a pretty good stock exchange and the next day it's code red.

I can not even begin to imagine how much this has set Kenya back financially.

I believe in Newton's third law "every action has an equal and opposite reaction". He may have been talking physics... but it sure applies to human nature too!
Poverty breeds a lot of tension and destruction. Any economist will tell you that money talks and bullshit walks.

These are some of the problems they didn't envision during the scramble for Africa.
Its very easy to incite violence in poor communities.

Any way while on the topic of cause and effect, I will end here with a quote from Jomo Kenyatta a famous Kikuyu: "When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the Land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible."

No real surprise in Iowa

Team Obama-Huckabee made it to numero uno....
I guess America IS ready for CHANGE...:-)
will write more on the morrow... tired and sleepy:-)

Iowa Caucus

I am soooo nervous about Iowa as if I have stakes in the elections:-)
I guess the suspence is killing me...who wins? who goes home a loser? what happens next?
I was just watching Huckabee on Jay Leno's show (i know right? how bored I'm I?), I waited up for him because I figured I haven't really given him a chance. I listened to Ron Paul and after that I shut everyone else out of my mind. So I stayed up tonight especially to listen to Huckabee.
The things I took home from what he's saying:
** love his policy on taxes and how he's going to make sure "the man" doesn't keep us down by changing tax brackets to make it easier for those of us that aren't wealthy to get along smoothly. I liked that he mentioned that the system encourages us to be lazy because when we work hard we get punished for it with high taxes!!!

** #2....OMG!!! Did he just endorse Obama???? This is getting soooo interesting!!! He said they are alike...etc. I am not sure what to think. a) he could just be a nice guy.... b) he could be saying it so that Obama wins now, so huckabee can take him out easily later...when it's just the two of them!!! lol

Okay no seriously I thought that was really sweet of him to promote a fellow contender on a show that was supposed to be promoting him:-)

So Kudo's to Huckabee... he is finally "one of us" in my eyes.

p/s... should Jay Leno be eating all that steak?

Karibu 2008

First of all... thank Jehovah that mine eyes have seen 2008...my body is intact as is my mind...well sorta:-)

Any way...my plans changed last night about 6 times!!!! You know how I like to act like a pregnant woman-- uku sabaila (not sure of English equivalent- sorry)
My designated driver (DD) messed up big time! She changed her mind almost last minute, something to do with a wardrobe malfunction...and at first I was going to take a cab to the party at the 'rich people's home' lol... but than I changed my mind about that because I was only going to know one other person there, which killed it for me because I was in a major celebratory mood.

So then I got invitations to go to New York, Washington DC, or some local party here in B'more. The B'more party sounded more like my cup of tea because I was totally against driving! So I bought a few wines for the party...got started on some cinzano at home...and was SLOSHED before midnight.
I tried to call Jimmy to take me to the party, but the phones were acting up, so i settled on my little Jewish friend Ira. He's so cute...:-) (i'm only saying that coz he paid me), It turned out that he was free too, so he came over immediately, which was great coz we brought in the new year together and then headed off to one of the local parties...which sucked big time! So we left after like ten minutes and went to see fireworks... then came back to my place and acted like fools!


I knew the situation was out of hand when we started shooting music videos of ourselves... booooyyyy we were TIDDLY!!! I shalln't disclose how much we consumed because that is improper:-) I am so lucky I rarely get hangovers. (I drink plenty of water before and after) The "party" went on till like 4am when little Ira went home. I was waiting on the neighbors to knock on my door about the noise or something, but they didn't which was perfect because I would have probably cussed them out for telling me I'm noisy on new years day:-) lol. We did bubbles, champers and photo ops:)

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Update:- I just got off the phone and heard some not-so-good news. Please pray for my mother's cousin if you can. She has cardiomegaly...not sure why. She had no money and didn't have the resourses for the right treatment. She is currently with my mum and I will hopefully speak with her tomorrow. On a brighter note: her ex-husband (who she's been divorced from for over 20 years) says he will pay for her to go to England for treatment, or assist in any other way. Bless his heart!!! Just when I had established that men are complete losers...he proved me wrong!

My mum's cousin aunt Rose is a retired nurse, and she took care of my father when he was sick...and was with him when he breathed his last. So I really feel I owe her and wish I could do more to help.

Any way... let me cook something i am starved and have some phone calls to make.

The new year is upon us...

I can not believe that the year is almost over! I think it went by too fast even though i am looking forward to the next year. Some of my resolutions are:

*Paint the house!!!! by golly!
*Smile less- prevents me looking like a clown.
*Be less ghetto
*Understand that weetabix is not dinner material no matter how tired I am
*Dallas Texas
*Be less vain
*Join a soccer club in the summer
*Be more tolerant of idiots
*Do more music concerts and theater
*Edit my Novel for the hundredth time...and maybe find a publisher...lololol! yeah rite!
*Find a papa sucre (sugar daddy) with lots of money. Know any rich old men???
*****NEVER DO THING THAT AGAIN!!!!****** Very important!!!

I want to see how many of these I actually achieve next year. This year I managed to complete one of my resolutions...how pathetic:-) It was to treat people with kindness even when they are mean to me. Well I don't think I'll be doing that next year because I didn't care for it too much. I am afraid I am back to being a beeyatch next year. Sorry.

I had a GREAT time at church today...I even wrote to the church's musical director to tell him how happy I was. It's not only because the usher said i was very pretty... well his exact words were "woooww... you're so beautiful" which just fed my vanity...aahhh the life of a beauty queen:-) Any way, the choir did a few christmas carols using conga's, electric and accoustic guitars, piano's...etc. It was really lovely! It sounded like 1800 music meets afro beats, which was funny seeing as it's a all white choir. Ummm I guess white people can sing huh? lol!


I came home and cooked myself a nice lunch of cornish hen, mango and mixed vegetables. I really need to become a chef.... my culinary skills have just flourished this year:-) Hey! I said I will cut out the vanity next year! not this year!

I am not sure what to wear for tomorrow. I will be at my filipino friends house for new years...and I am rather looking forward to it. They always host a news years eve party and I think I have spoken about her before. She is the one that lives in the 2 million-ish dollar house at the waterfront. They have a four floor house and have a whole floor as the bar room and access to the roof top so we can see fireworks. She has interesting neighbors and maybe my papa sucre to be lives next door! So for that reason and many others, I need to make sure I have ample cleavage...screw the weather:-) watch me get pneumonia lol!


Oh and before I forget... I have tickets to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo but I haven't found anyone to go with yet. So if you live in the area and are not a stalker and have no serious mental issues and have a clue who LBM are then... holla at your guurrl! It's these moments when I really miss Mwai...dude you need to move back here...!!! I wouldn't have this dilemma if you were here!

If i don't post anything between now and new years day: I wish you and yours blessings, peace, love and happiness for 2008:-)

Today

My brother left for Ithaca this afternoon...:-(....sad sad sad sad sad!!! So to make myself feel better I called my cousins in bethesda and we went to watch a movie at the Union station Cinema in the district of columbia (wow what a lot of words!)

I was not too impressed with the Cinema itself, I found the place a little dirty, the staff a little indifferent and I couldn't hear half the stuff they said! I mean I really try to understand ebonics...but seriously half the time I am clueless as to what is being said to me and you can tell the people speaking think it's ridiculous that I don't understand the 'talk' 'specially since i'm a kneegrow myself. In my defence...the caucasoids I hang out with have no clue what is going on either and they have lived here their whole lives! THEY should be teahcing ME ebonics, yet they are always asking me what words mean...lol

So any way, the film we saw was 'The Great Debaters' and if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you stop reading at this point. Are you gone yet????
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Okay, for the rest of you....OMG!!! I was PMSing when I watched the movie...and can I just tell you guys that my emotions go a little crazy at this time of the month, so I cried most of the movie:-) I thought it was a great movie. Jurnee Smollette I think did an awesome job...though she kept forgetting her accent (well she sounded southern at first then changed in the middle, then went southern again). I related to her in the film. When she made the debate team I cried and when she gave that great speech at the first white school I cried. Then when that Negro cheated on her I felt her pain and triumph when she slapped his silly face!!!

i also like the round 14 year old boy... junior he did quite well especially with his closing argument about the lynching.

Dude, if I was born in that era...or for that matter if I was born Moslem, I would have done my best to be killed as early as possible. There are certain things I can not survive in this world. I would rather be DEAD than CONTROLLED. Every time I see movies like this, I thank God that I was born BLACK and BEAUTIFUL in a "free" world! If apartheid makes a come back...I will without a doubt feed myself to the fish before they tell me my name is not kunta kinte! walahi!!!

moving on... according to the Ney York sun giving makes one happy! Here I was thinking receiving makes people happy:-) that was quite a neat story.
http://www.nysun.com/article/68700

Any who...I am off to bed now, stay well and be blessed.

Christmas...

This christmas I think topped last christmas and I am very happy that I didn't have to fly to out to anywhere this year. We danced, sang, ate and partied like crazy! I thinkk I have the coolest, funkiest, loveliest family in the whole wide world and I know it! We were just lamenting at how we didn't have more family members over so we could party like we used to in Zed.


All of us have distinctly unique characters that when meshed together just creates sweet havoc. I am trully blessed to have each and every one of them.

My brother and I now know where Crofton is...wow what an adventure! we went to look for our family friends/ distant relatives in Crofton and the place is just so secluded. We had fun seeing ambuya and the fam... and just talking about the past.


Then we went off to a party at my cousins grandma's house. The food was overflowing and very delicious. We had a whole mix of people and the fun part was that no one was afraid to dance and show case their skillz... We all left with some lovely african prezzy's. I was particularly happy because I have been looking for an art piece for my wall in the dinning area and they gave me one! how cool is that? The boys all got hats from various parts of Africa... my cousin got a Lozi hat like the litunga one's...and my brother got a Nigerian hat as did most of the boys.


The next day, we all hang out at the house....some people got a bit tiddly and others just couldn't stop dancing. Ladies and gentlemen, I stayed sober for most of these activities...even when the amarula, sherry, wine, beers...etc were pouring in, I was drunk on life and love...awwww


I was not amused with the rest of their family because while the sat on their fanny's I had to go to work the day after christmas at 6am.... and I only got to bed at mid-night. After an afternoon of Carols, my grandpa's songs and other Zambian songs...and generally just speaking louder than usual as we fought to be heard above the merry ding...my voice was rather coarse the next day.


Then the family came over to my little condo and we just hang out and did more singing...and now christmas is over...


Seasons greetings to you and yours, and I hope santa was as good to you as he was to me. I was a bad girl and didn't go for the Christmas service, but I suppose I am forgiven because I was doing things related to 'love one another' and not other dubious things:-)

Our Fallen sister Bhutto

It came as no shock to me...as to most of you out there that they finally succeeded in attempts to assassinate Benazir Bhutto.

What I admired most about reading about her was probably her stubbornness and bravado. Two qualities that obviously don't take women too far in a moslem world.

I recall listening to her sister in law on NPR a few months or so ago and I think they said she is also running for some position in government once/ if the elections come around. The reporter asked her if she was scared and her response was something in the lines of..."i am not controversial, so i have nothing to fear of the Islamist millitants." From her tone, I got a feeling of foreboding with regards to Bhutto. Like it was only a matter of time.

I would not be surprised if Musharaff declares that elections will be postponed indefinitely because of this. You know....for the safety of the others...(snort)

Any way... there's a saying in Africa 'when the lion drinks, the gazelle must go thirsty.' It fits perfectly in this instance.

MHSRIP...and may another sister pick her baton up. Watch them declare a jihad on me for that last little bit...lol!

It's beginning to look like xmas...

I have so many plans at the moment, my brain is bursting! I am trying to logistically plan the weekend and the following week...so it's kinda hectic.

You know what's funny? I think I have lived in America too long because the other day the guy from upstairs came over and as he was leaving, I was like "if I don't see you before christmas...have a happy christmas", and as i'm about to turn around I realised what I had done...coz that was sooo not politically correct since I had no clue whether he was a christian or not... so then I'm like, "oh I'm sorry, are you christian?" lucky for me he was! But you know in zed we just go around saying merry christmas to everyone and it's not a big deal.
It's such a big deal here because my hospital (which is a catholic institution by the way) had minora's (sp), and other things around the hospital...and I was like what the heck? If you're christian just post your things...you aint gotta fit in dude!

I am also not done with shopping... I know, I am sooo bad. Well really I work better under stress than when I'm relaxed. My thinking skills are very hightened when I am stressed out. Also I am a huge procrastinator when I have options...so the best way to make me decide is to take away all my options!

In any case, my baby brother is here and we have been summoned to Bethesda for a few days... nothing better than socializing with family. Initially I was gonna take the whole gang out and pay for drinks... but maaaannnn majority of these kids are Zambian and the other one is british.... they will "drink me broke". It's like 7 of us all together and they probably drink like fish...so i have to give them a 5 drink maximum per person and that should suffice as their xmas prezzy! lol.

Hope is for suckers!

So I decided that hope is for suckers...and faith is more so. See the thing is, I had all this hope and faith in something and it didn't happen! I prayed over it several years ago. Okay scratch that. I knew i was making a mistake... but I prayed about it and did it any way in the hope that the result wouldn't be what i predicted it to be and that heaven would protect me from the consequences of my action...but dude...I found out the hard way that it don't work like dat boo boo! Okay so I'll give heaven credit...the results could have been waaayyy worse.

The only thing is, what is life without faith and hope? I am still mad at heaven though.
And for the weekend, I'm thinking sonoma in D.C first, then twins jazz (i love the set up there...not necessarily the food, but more the music- grassroots performaces), or maybe...dancing at an African club...hmmm...we'll see. I will come up with more ideas by the end of the week:-)

Religion and elections

The New york times has an interesting piece today about the rise of Mike Huckabee and how the christian rights groups. It reminded me of something I heard last week on NPR about how important religion is to elections. I think a lot of people underestimate how much clout the christian rights groups have in American elections. I remember my cousin telling me during the last presidential election that her church and the surrounding christan churches kept prompting/ promoting that president Bush should be re-elected d/t his being better morally prepared than his contender.

The one of guys on NPR having the discussion was Jacques Berlinablau and he was discussing his book 'Thumpin it' http://explore.georgetown.edu/publications/25868/
and what I think he was trying to say is that it's not possible to leave out religion in politics.

The funny thing is, quite a few caller stated that they believe in separation of church and state, and feel that religion shouldn't play a part in politics and morals should be the deciding factor. The thing is.... where do people get their morals from? They learn them at home and from the communities that they live in. Now supposing their family is religious and instills religious based morals in their children. Cann't we then suppose that religion will make it into the government any way?

Ofcourse the politians aren't sitting there saying the are making decisions based on their religious convictions... but at the same time if you think about it...they sort of are. I guess the bets thing about separation of state and shurch is that nobody in governement can sit and push their religion on you...which wouldn't matter to me if they did because I am comfortable in my religion anyway and wouldn't be mad if they wanted to sit their and talk about theirs.

Well that's my take on things.

The African Jigsaw

Woman. Woooman
Unhappy woman
Yours the pain
yours the burden
where now the beauty
where now the truth
where now the eyes
that were your pride?
A heavy heart
an empty bowl
a suckling babe
defeat your pride.
(Written by Peter Rose and Anne Conlon for African Jigsaw)

Someone found something I had written 7 years ago about the 'African Jigsaw' musical and emailed me which was a surprise! I sang in the production many years ago and that was one of my favorite memories from childhood. So after the little reminder, I purchased the music yesterday. I can only buy the song sheet and not the tape/ CD because that's all there is but that really made me happy and I will write a few of the song words here when I get my book! I wish you could hear me sing! The songs are all beautiful and thought provoking. The two writters have done other work and I also perfomed in their other one 'Yanomamo'.

I guess I really wouldn't be opposed to helping direct 'African Jigsaw' one day, and in fact it's one of my dreams to help participate in one of those shows one day. When The book gets here I might just sing something and post it here:-)

The power of one

Okay so I got to bethesda and my aunts place had no parking. So I parked where I wasn't supposed to and stood by the car for a while since I was chatting on the phone. Well this Volkswagon passed me 3 times and slowed down each time when it got to me. Ofcourse because I am so damned attractive, I didn't pay him any mind. Finally I look up as he's walking towards me, and I start walking as well singing in my head "i'm too sexy for my dress...too sexy for my self, too sexy for sure" and doing my model on the cat walk stroll. Then he pauses to speak to me and i'm like "thank you Jesus!" because he is soooo flippin HOT! Then he goes "excuse me but you're parked in my spot."....tee hee hee! Here I was thinking he was circling me coz I'm irresitable! aaahhhh the mind of a conceited hussy!
So yesterday, I got my behind to DC on time and we ended up not going to Adams morgan because by the time I got there, the two love birds had decided they were having a romantic evening alone...and i really didn't feel like going out with only half the group, so I cooked dinner for the house hold and went to meet my friends.

Today I watched the power of one for the hundreth time. I was in my 'lest i forget my history' mode. (seriously if you understand what that means...you need HELP!). Any way, if you ahven't seen it before you have got to watch it. I can not say enough nice things about it. It's a story of a young English boy groin up in South Africa during the apartheid error. It was also the same period that the Boers had taken over...and they couldn't stand the English either. The guy foes through a lot and makes friends with the Africans...and the story gets more interesting when he falls in love with a boer! It's not something that blockbuster would necessarily carry...well maybe. I got my copy off Amazon. Love it, love it love it!

I was out for the evening and just got back. They said the weather would be bad today, but I don't see any snow coming down yet. So I am happy:-) I all of a sudden have the urge to sing, but I would hate to wake the nieghbours up:-) waahhh!

Unrestricted...

Dance like no one is watching....


Hey you know what? God is good! and the judges in London are just! So the story goes...My one friend was trying to renew her student visa in Engy right, so her application for renewal was denied because she was working 2 hours over the allowed 20 per week! So granted she did break the law. She went to court to appeal and the Judge told her "yes, you have broken the law, but based on your being an orphan and proving that you have been working hard at school and attending class, it would be unjust for me to send you back in your last year of school." Oh my!!! I will pray for that judge...he is soooo good!

any way...

So...ummm what have I been up to. Okay for one thing, my intuition was right about that one thing that I thought. The only thing is, I want it in writting. See the thing about me is that I'm very slow to anger and the reason is that once the line is crossed...it's CROSSED!

I was treated to lunch today...wouldn't really call it a date. But i had fun, then tonight I have to go out to Adams Morgan or something like that. I'll play it by ear. I have a few cousins visiting from various countries at the moment, so it should be a fun few weeks. My brother's due in next week too, so it will feel like I'm back in Zambia...a little bit.


My popularity has been soaring this week... I can not imagine what's up! I think someone let loose that I'm bored and lonely or something coz shamwari my phone has been ringing off the hook...and my date card has been busier than usual! It's just random people...I even heard from 2 people that I haven't spoken to in over a year. Well they called and showed up out the blue...and so the story begins :-)


I had a mini party over the weekend as well. Lord knows what we were celebrating coz it sure as hell wasn;t anyones's b/day. Oh and those heiffer's signed me up for a belly dancing class...should be interesting... I will be unrestricted and uninhibited. Shazaam!
Shoot! I think secret santa has a crush on me! I have been getting a present each week since after thanksgiving and all it says is "from secret santa", I have surely enjoyed them all! I am not saying santa should necessarily stop sending me stuff... I jess wanna know who it is!

Oh and I have stuff to say about the Tampax/ always pads advert. Will do that tomorrow, coz i'm gonna be running on African time tonight if I sit here typing.

Also I think I got taller...don't laugh!!!

I could have danced all night...

I had a lovely weekend as usual... I had cause to celebrate on friday and so i did. Went with the girls for sushi, and had a really nice time. I have been threatening them for a while that I'm going to find new friends coz they rarely like to do anything but wine related activities! They suggested a hike near harpers ferry for saturday, but friday was sooooo flipping cold, I vetoed that idea quick, fast and on the double! Then I woke up saturday morning only to find that it was a really nice warm day:-) oppsy!

Any way, I took advantage of the weather and went to my aunts, then we drove to Leesburg Virginia for some shopping. I guess we got carried away with the sales coz we were very late getting to the airport to pick my other aunt up who flew in from Holland. She promised us a lecture for being tardy, but after a glass of wine and dinner... the party was on! I danced like it was 1999 and my legs ache today:-)

My work mates also had a party saturday, and i feel bad that i didn;t go, but really I have a policy "never drink with the people you work with", you know separation of work and play... tha-sort-o'fing... They are a great bunch... but I am just borderline anti social! Okay so i wouldn't really say antisocial, I guess i was just spoilt by the large number of cousins available to hang out with me when i was younger that i didn't develop the skills to make new friends. My cousins were in my classes at school, and at home, so what more did I need?. Yep. That's it. Lets blame this on my family:-) At the time time, I have known 2 of my closest friends since...forever! Those ho's know a lot of my secrets. I'll have to put them in a box and mail them to Uzbekistan when I run for president:-)

Talking about presidents. Don't you think Gordon Brown's boycotting of the Afro-E.U lets-pretend-we're-working talks was rather silly? For one thing, I think he's making Mugabe think he's more powerful than he really is, and 2. boycotting the talks does nothing for the Zimbabwean people and 3. the talks were about more than just a crazy power hungry old man and his country. I mean if you don't want to listen just tune the dude out! It's easy.

I wouldn't las a day in my job if i didn't have extra thick skin and the ability to tune people out when they are spewing too much verbal diarrhea.

Oh and another loser picks up a gun and shoots people in the mall to be famous!!! Famous? in another 2 years or even months, the only people that will remember his crazy ass will be the families of the people he killed! what is the dar gon world coming to?
Oh wow! Look what I just popped out of the oven? I haven't made lasagna in a while so i am verry impressed at this:-)

Nigerians and juju

So I am having a tiff with this one babi pancake from nijah okay. So here I was ranting and raving to my buddy C-$, about stuff. I understand that my mouth will be my down fall! I think i abuse my right to express myself at times. Oh and I found a pidgin dictionary online.. so i'm going to abuse it na wah!

so any way...between the chick and I, watta pass gari. So as it stands, after watching a plethora of Nigerian movies, I cracked a joke that maybe that's why things go wrong for me...she might have put a curse on me se bi? C-$ decides to go a step further than me and declares 'my sistah O, she go send a pigeon or turtle with a message for you!" I cracked up at that and she's like "seriously, I have been around enuff Nigerians to tell you that a lot of voodoo/ juju/ hoodoo, goes on around them. This reminded me of what my other friend Rita had said. She insisted that she doesn't eat food cooked by Nigerians other than those in her immediate family..."you never know who has bad intentions for you"

Any way I don't want wahala, so here I was looking for incense and holy water in the house and making sure my cross above the bed is intact!
joke na joke! If i find her levitating in my room she go see fire O! Bicos why? my God is bigger than her god! walahi!

Anniversary

I almost forgot that this is my little Condo and I's first anniversary!!! I am so proud of myself:-)
Let me break into song for a minute:- 'they said...i bet...they'll never make it, but just look at us going on...we're still together, still ging strong! lalalala you're still the one i run to....' okay let me stop:-)

When I first went house hunting, I decided against buying single family homes and stuff that would involve me mowing the lawn or something! I settled for a condo coz it's nice, neat and cute...u know, kinda like...me:-) I was working full time and in school full time when I was trying to see about getting a mortgage. I figured I wouldn't qualify for some reason...well maybe because I hadn't checked my credit score in 2 years, so I didn't know what to expect. Then I got the shocker news! Fannie mae and Bank of America thought I was worthy of a 6.5% fixed interest rate for 30 years mortgage! I couldn't contain myself! I bought my condo at $30 000 below it's value and the realtor I met that lives in the area assured me not to worry coz we have one of the best schools in Maryland right here. So I guess by 2009 the crazy house prices will go up again... maybe.
I was so busy at the time I made my purchase, yet I made sure that sucker said FIXED interest. I took a 2 minute crash course on mortgage rates on the fannie mae website, and voila! That's why I don't get it when people sit and moan about variable interests and how the loans officers didn't "explain" it right. C'mmon! who the heck thinks the loan officers give a damn whether you drown in payments? You need to look out for youself and investigate stuff! The loan officer is paid to sell the loan to you...comprende?

Any who... i have been contemplating refinancing my mortgage to try and lower my interest rate...coz a sista needs some extra cash and out of the mail box came this letter from Sentrust Mortgage LLC. They are based in the DC/MD/VA region and apparently offer something called the 'community Reinvestment Act' passed by congress to do...blah blah blah... all I remember from the mail is that they offer a discounted program for mortgages and offer great debt consolidation from what i see here. The catch is you have to make under $60 000 a year... with all the cancellations i have had at work, I might just be under that goal, or be right at the mark. Which ever way, i will wait till the feds cut more rates next week...lol. The recession might work to my advantage:-)

I am blessed with a job that doesn't lay off... so I am not worried about things going down hill. I remember the last recession in 2001, and my friend was laid off. I was a manager at some cafe and I had people with mba's coming in looking for a job... i was like...OMG!

Not everything is positive though coz my damned condo fees went up:(

And the Idiot of the year award goes to...

....drum roll please! param parampamp pamp! Miss MANENA !!!! balloons, applause, flickering lights!
(Back ground music- no other than the beatles- blackbird)

Manena's speech: OMG! I can't believe I won! I have never won anything in my life *sob*... I would like to thank God, the academy, my family and you my dear fans without whom none of this would be possible! Looking back, I really can't believe how much of an idiot I was...i mean there were rumours, but nothing really concrete, and now to be standing here being acknowledged for this great feat... i mean I am in awe!

Dude... I am not sure what's happening to me, but i can't sleep. Okay so i was pms'ing and quite irate. I ate a whole box of lindtz. Nice. I have to work this morning and it's 2 a.m and her royal highness is not asleep. Now I am mad that I can't sleep... wha a gwan!

I had this experiment thing going... and the results were just as expected. Wait a minute... I might be sleep writting:) Let me call Zambia instead... someone should be awake now:)
Agony is: this right here...sigh...

Curiosity killed the cat

They say curiosity killed the cat and expect you to leave certain stones unturned, but my personal experiences say other wise.

Trust me. Always ask questions when you have them.

Although sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Will expand on this later..

any way how about those sudanese and the Teacher? The kids named the teddy bear muhammed... not the teacher. Their parents should be the ones punished for not teaching their muslim children that 'muhammed' is a name reserved only for people! Talk about intolerance!

Also on thanksgiving day, some dumbass in Maryland went out and shot his ex wife and all three kids.

In addition...I had no clue queen latifah was a lesbian!!! imagine my shock when i found out she proposed to her girlfriend???? I must have very poor gay-dar!

I had a nice weekend and hope you all did.

World AIDS day & Circumcision

I would like to start by asking you all to pause for a minute in memory of all the victims of AIDS that are deceased.

Next I would like to applaud all families taking care of the 'orphans of AIDS' and to those taking care of patients with AIDS/HIV related complications. You guys are magnificent people!

It's amazing that years after the discovery of this 'new disease', things seem to have worsened and not improved. Just the other day, news reports said that estimates of AIDS cases have risen in America. In years past, the misconception was that Africans we're too stupid to understand the cause and effect of unprotected sex and that was why the cases were increasing there. I can attest to the fact that this was not so.

By the time I was in high school in Zambia (mid-late '90's), we had representatives from various NGO's that would come in and talk to us about HIV and show pictures of sickly men, women and children. We saw pictures of penises oozing with puss and vaginas with various stages of decubitus wounds. We saw sketetons or children- reminiscent of the Ethiopian children in the 'we are the world' videos. There were countless numbers of billboards screaming out 'prevention is the cure' or something in those lines.
The message was loud and clear: Abstinence or Condoms was the key to a life free of HIV/ AIDS.

A few months ago, I found out that my cousin is HIV positive. My cousin is TWO DAYS older than I am. We saw the same billboards and heard the same messages. We knew almost the same people, including those that had AIDS.

Yesterday, news stations were abuzz with the story of the Zambian reporter Kenneth Gondwe that was recently circumcised. While I commend him for bringing this story to light. I fear that we will go back to the days when circumcisions were perfomed enmass and the same tool was used to cut the foreskin of the men in attendance. Most of the people in rural areas can not afford the $50 needed for the circumcision. In addition, if the message isn't sent out right, there will be a growing number of people that will assume that because they are circumcised, they will not get HIV when they fornicate sans condoms. Also, i can imagine a growing number of penile infections due to people performing their own circumcisions in the privacy of their own homes for lack of finances.

So any way, that's my little sermon for today.

Lowest life expectancy

The U.N. report came out with the best and worst places to live in the world. Iceland is the best place...so lets see if we can get those boats from Africa to iceland! (okay that was like a stupid joke), but seriously with that new report out, they are fueling the misconception that 'all countries north of Africa are the best' and that if you want to be happy and healthy you need to get on that little boat and become an illegal immigrant. I wouldn't be suprised if more boats are intercepted by Spain...etc.


Also...as if it was news, it turns out Zambia has the lowest life expectancy! taa daa! (I thought we've known that for the past few years). Japan on the other hand has the highest life expectancy. So I was thinking, and this is just you know... throwing it out there....why don't all Zambians Marry the Japanese and balance things out:-)

I also found a fun story about the "gulabi gang" a.k.a the pink gang, because they wear pink and are led by a woman- Sampat Pal Devi. It was only a matter of time before this could happen:)


Did you guys see the story about the two year old found in a plastic container in Texas? Who the hell knocks around a two year old? If the mother was tired of her, she could have just given her up for adoption...the cute little thing was blonde and blue eyed...you know they're first to be adopted!

The other disturbing story about mothers that i heard was 2 weeks. This little 13 year old (A) had a fight with a friend (B) of her's. So friend B's mum sets up a fake boy on myspace and fake boy pretends to be in love with friend A. Then after a little while he slanders her name and dumps her. So friend A kills herself!!! WTF? A suicidal 13 year old? Over a boy??? I'm sorry, I guess I was a late bloomer, but I certainly didn't feel that strongly about boys then...and I still don't now! I haven't met a guy I consider worthy of my life.
But that's beside the point. What was a mother getting that involved in her 13 years old's life for? How could a mother sit there and help her create a fake guy to tease her friend with? They knew they girl already had low self esteem and hit her where it hurts! How totally cruel!!!

Any way I haven't been to work in a week, so i suppose I should prepare for tomorrow.

Na leloline ali tutemwa!

Gosh! I ate myself silly on thanksgiving day...so much that I Manena- requested a walk after dinner because my belly felt too full. I am thankful for being fortunate enough to afford to have food in my belly every day. Really!

Christmas started last week as evidenced by the christmas carols on the radio! I don't mind the carols, but to listen to the same ones till christmas seems like torture!

Oh and I got a better explantion about the 'trucking biz' in Zambia. So as it turns out, we think the government mandates that the mining companies create jobs in the areas for the locals. So then the mining companies ask that locals provide trucks and then in turn pay $20+/- per ton carried, so yes in a day you could easily make $5000 per day if your truck driver is very proactive and the distance the load is carried is short. So it makes more sense to me now.

Peace talks will be held this week in Annapolis well mostly for the Isrealis and Palestinians because they don't know how to act, so Condoleeza's going to teach them how:) Well basically that's what it is in short right?

Oh I went off to talk on the phone and lost my train of thought...oppsy! well enjoy the music video... I really like it:-) and if you don't...well you're a doomass!

Ni Putes, Ni Soumises

My aunt Helen just won the commonwealth book writting competion and as you can tell I am proudy- woudy! This is the second big competition she has won... see the story here: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/shortstory/cssc2007results/

The ifc has two job openings for Zambia if anyone is interested www.ifc.org

Good lord! Iam Smith just died! I thought he was long gone by now! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7104552.stm

Oh and hate crimes are up about 7%, with Jews, Gays and blacks and hispanics being number one on the list:-) although in a few more years, I can see Moslems and Hispanics toping the list- Immigration issues and the war will see to that!

I also think I have semi-road rage. Okay so i'm not about to hit anyone or run anyone over...but i seem to swear a lot when i drive! I get soooo irritated with a lot of drivers, especially when it rains. Why do people do crazy things when it rains a little bit?

I should also learn to lighten up on Sarkozy because has he appointed 3 women of African origin to very Condoleeza like positions in the French governmnent. You might argue that it was only affirmative action, but which other non african country would have done that?

I am clueless at to what I'll be doing for thanks giving, I know I aint cooking, well I hope I wont be cooking anything. My plan is to eat. Then maybe I'll do some Christmass shopping in black friday (why is it black friday any way?), well the sales are great on that day, so might as well take advantage of them.

and remember ladies - we are "Ni Putes, Ni Soumises" oh wait..I think that is only for me to remember...lolololololol!

Namaste my friends!

amazing race: So I accidentally ended up on the CBS tonight and they were showing this 'amazing race' show. The contestants had to go to Ouagadougou and I haven never heard that much ignorance in my life! They have these 2 racist sounding blondies that on day one declare that the cab driver will rob them, then one asks her friend where they are going...and she responds "oh we're probably goigng to be sold into slavery!" then when they're on the train, they start laughing at people coming on and saying they smell... they are like "what perfume is she wearing?" and the friend goes "perfume d'afrique!" I was like what the hell????

Oh and like we don't have enuff bad news, China announced last week that it was reducing it's holdings in US assets! I just want this whole economy thing to fix itself and be done with! I guess I should cut down on reading the economist!

Any way on more positive news... I did a whole stack of laundry today, read several books this weekend, spoke on the phone for hours, finally saw shrek 3 and ratatouille ( i know right? I am so far behind in movies!) and I ate ifisashi and ichifu...and should be feeling very fat right now:-)

While we're at it, the popular mine "trucking" business in Zambia doesn't make sence to me. So supposedly, you buy a truck at $20 000 +/-, then you lease it to the mines and make any where between $11 000- $60 000 per truck per month according to sources that are currently doing the business. To me it just isn't economically sound for the company to do it that way. It seems to me they can buy a truck a month and trash it if they have that kind of disposable income!

So any way... why is it that when some zed girls date muzungu's they tend to act all stereotypical? Well I have heard it called "booggah life"! I have seen people make major transformations speaking in strange accents, dressing in strange attires, doing strange zungu like weaves (blue, purple, gold..hey!) and basically just doing stuff that's waaaayyyy out there!
I know this real life "pretty woman", and just like in the movie, she was taken from a hooker like setting in zed by this zungu diplomat-ish guy...and she pretty much gets to see these amazing places and meet these celebrity type people...but my thing is, you've been together for so many years, and what if one day he says it's over and sends you packing...what do you do then? you have no college degree, no work experience per se, most of your friends probably have moved in the last few years--I mean I feel sorry for her...

Oh and like when Hillary wins... it will make things easier to remember the American predidents, coz you can go, bush, clinton, bush, clinton, bush?...it's like a conspiracy btwn the two families! different parties my ass!

Any way, its late... I am going to admire myself in the mirror while pondering the meaning of life:-)

Excitey whitey!!!

I had a really really really great weekend! It was so great that most of my favorite people in the world called me...and they are neatly lined up in my 'received calls' tab on my cell phone... how cute is that?

So any way, we were supposed to go to Georgetown friday night, but the weather wasn't to my liking, so we ended up at Jaleo's in Bethesda. We took a cab so nobody could go home sobber :), the cab guy pissed me off honking like he owns the building and lucky for him...he was an older African guy playing classical music in his cab... so I spared him the lecture!

Any way I love Tapas...they remind me of the Zambian concept of 'ozamwina', you know like when you drink they bring out all the little rosted bits and pieces such as chicken, t-bone, michopo's (come on! don't front like you haven't tasted them before!)... the only difference is that the spanish have more variety I guess n the fancy things you can choose from while you drown in a bottle of something delightful:-)
After dinner we tried to locate the other African Club in Bethesda and were lead instead to Bambule (a spanish club) by the some dumbass at one of the bars we inadvertently stopped at. The patrons were too hillarous for us to stay, so we went looking for live music in the rain...while cab hoping. That's what you call 'really looking for a party'.

Saturday, we went lookig for chocolate cake from Balducci because I had a major craving... unfortunately they didn't have any of the kind i like damned them! so i settled for my other craving- scrabbled eggs and bacon! Balducci also had a 20% off all cases of wines sale...who i'm I to pass up this offer??? you better believe i took advantage of it!
Then we went spent most of the afternoon and evening at Neiman Marcus and Saks fith avenue...lord have mercy! you all know I wasn't buying anyting there, I was just an escort. The day I shop there will be the day you all either know I robbed someone or finally landed that sugar daddy I have been scanning the market for... aka Bill gates! lol! but seriously...why should a plain cotton dress cost $1000? que? The store had kids with their parents actually purchasing this stuff. I for one believe that kids shouldn't have a dress costing more than $200 if they have no jobs...how do they learn the value of hard work? lol... I'm probably only writting this way coz i'm poor. If i were ricj i would probably do the same thing for my kids.

Saturday night we parted ways... one going this way and the other that way. We met up again Sunday for lunch and to talk.

Then i finally got my inheritance that I really wanted from my grandmother after many negotiations, sanctions, vindications and summons! It's a hymn book (united church of Zambia U.C.Z) of the songs that my grandma used to teach me. I was soooo happy! I also found a few more CD's with songs I like that I haven't heard in a while. I also got the new Oliver Mtukudzi album...

As predicted the girls weren't too thrilled with me ditching them on friday, so they stalked me saturday and sunday, and they finally got me this afternoon to go to lunch with them at Panera. I will not be going back to panera- I found bug in my soup!!! how disgusting!

Any way I had a greeeeeeeeaaaattttt weekend:-) hope y'all did as well.

By the way ticket prices to Zambia are so disgusting! we'll soon have to start walking there!

Romance novels

So i've been quiet for a while... pretending to be busy so you guys could think i have alife or something:-)
No seriously though, I have been caught up in my novels and had a lot of contemplating to do.

If you have never had the opportunity to pick up a romance novel I would like to suggest that you pick up one that's circa 1800's... They are just fabulous! I don't read the modern day romance novels because they do nothing for me. The men are only half as gallant, they don't take as many risks for their women and really it's too much like real life... that I know it's fiction.

The 'historical' novels though have so much passion! The are no emails to send, no telephone to call, and when she's missing, there's no google, or 'people finder' to help locate her! There's always a lot of drama.... you know like she walks into a room and people stare at her coldly because she's so hot. The way the men express themselves so...so...the word evades me! Instead of just the plain old 'will you marry me' or 'I love you'... they come up with descriptions of how her eyes did something to him, or how her laughter just leaves him weak. The drama of thieves, trollops, conniving wenches and the deceptive people of the ton just puts you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out how far they will go.

When Sir whats-his-name or the duke of Nenaland beholds her bossom....ummm the room just gets too hot you have no choice but to take a cold shower!

So needless to say, since i was cancelled from work today... i picked upi a copy of a Cheryl Holt novel and I am now blissfully happy in my make belive world!

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as for the real world... Musharaf thinks he's so slick huh? We've seen those little "state of emergency" stints in Africa... he can't fool me!
- Darryl Perry's story is another reason why you shouldn't be too hasty to pull the plug when someone is declared clinically dead in the hospital. The story is so heart warming.
- The USA just purchased a new hand bag...aka newly separated Sarkozy!
-The mafia commandments have been found-- I am intrigued enough to want to know what they contain:-)
- We have approximately a $6 trillion deficit in the USA. Wow! All i need is a fraction of that amount... if i should be so lucky!
-One of the doctors at work thought I hated him because I hardly ever said a word to him... so yesterday I had to explaijn myself to him...it was very funny. later in the day, he told a co-worker that I'm awesome...and i was like- so what else is new?
- Tonight is sushi night, but I am on my way to Georgetown...and i haven't told the girls I wont be meeting them... so i gather i will be holding my own funeral tomorrow when they kill me:-)
-Oh my... winter is here... why couldn't it just not come this year?
- The picture is really of my cousin bungee jumping in Zambia... she's got more guts than me man!

Namaste!

I am sooo excited that tomorrow is Friday.... I am sure you're tired of hearing it... but gotta love fridays! I will be off saturday, sunday and monday! excitemundo!

Hey does anyone know a good business lawyer? I have a question but I'm cheap and I need a free lawyer:-)

Also why do people like to ruin it for others? wha a gwan with the aid workers in Chad taking all those kids? I betchu the families were partially involved! Also I don't buy the "we were just trying to help" defence... coz nah wow! how many people in the world adopt black children-- other than Madonna and Angelina? what were they going to do with that many kids once they got there?

In addition, doesn't the Menezes story kinda remind you of Amadou Diallo? except the other dude is hispanic and in England.

The Hollywood writters are threatening a strike teeheeheehee! WTF? It really doesn't concern me, but I have no pity for their plight. Do you know that a new writter in hollywood makes approximately $7500 per episode? So imagine something that comes on weekly like 'sex in the city' that pretty much lasted years... how disgusting is their salary at that point??? C'mmon now! I clean poop and only make a fraction of that amount! Talk about the wrong profession

Winter is going to be bitter this year!!! I can feel it! I wish I could work from home and just never leave till spring!

I am so grown up! I wrote to my congress people or what ever they're called to let them know not to raise taxes when O'malley puts his proposal in. I have been assured that my representatives are all Republicans, so I can rest easy coz they wont let that happen:-)
any way Shalom... I should be in bed:-)... oh it's the last season of scrubs... kind of a sob sob moment:-)

All Souls Day...

So in preparation for all souls day, I have a list of people I would like remembered. P/S if you're not catholic, don't worry about it:-) and if I forgot someone it really wasn't deliberate:-)

Daddy
Granny Kili Granpa Alick Granny Damaris
Grandpa Lefted
Uncle Douglas
Uncle Owen
Uncle Wisdom Uncle Salvatore
Aunty Lenny Aunty Susan Aunty Lengwe Aunty Hilda
Uncle Patrick Uncle Hewit Uncle Sam Uncle Bootsie
Uncle George Uncle Henry Uncle Mwenya Uncle Bukali
Stella Kondwani Chabala Ba Topani
Wezi Euwell Aunty Florence Chipasha
Baby Michael Aunt Barbara Bana Nthanizi Uncle John
Chansa sisi Mary Ba Jennifer Ba Eunice
Uncle Mike Uncle Michael Bana Steve Banakulu Kondwa
Mutinta Chidongo St Louis Nick Tutu
Grandpa E.S Grandpa Blackie Granny Anne
Uncle Churchill