I got to do three amazing things this past week and they are things that I love doing.
Traveled to Makueni for work- ever sat on a boda boda for over an hour? Well, I did and got to visit frontline teams at work in the communities we are in.
Started reading Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. I love strategy and systems and I think now years on I have finally found what I love doing and what intrigues me and reading this book has got me asking and answering so many questions-work related.
Eleven days into January 2024 and it’s been a whirlwind of activities for me.
I truly thought of not setting any goals this year, but there is a part of me that has been at it for years that could not be numbed. So, for this year I would like to:
Read 100 books for the #GoodreadsChallenge .
Write and publish a book.
Travel, locally and abroad.
Eat better, drink less milk.
Commit to promises I make and not feel bad when situations arise that stop me from doing so.
Work out more. I love wall pilates. I did some exercises for a week and found myself enjoying them.
I have been writing stories in my head. Yes, not just telling or vividly imagining things but writing them so well that at times I get disappointed when I wake up and read the notes I took down mid-sleep. However, I am confident in my love for and ability to write historical fantasy. If it involves an African kingdom, the spiritual realm of gods, spirits, seers and women- well, I enjoy writing such stories. The previous books I’ve published which explore these themes are: The Currents Series ( Fire, water, Wind & Earth) and Zuri: The Chronicler of Enzi.
On writing: It is my love for fantasy and such stories that have me confident in saying that I am finally releasing my latest book, Laana: Daughter of the Middle World, in the first week of July 2022.
On reading: I read Everyday by David Levithan this morning and the concept was quite appealing to me, because it is told by A, a 16-year old boy who is a drifter. He wakes up in a different body of someone of his age everyday, and he’s used to not making a fuss or disrupting their lives for those 24 hours, that’s until he meets a girl he likes. I am currently reading another book by another David. It’s The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt. The blurb states it is based on the life and relationship between Mathematicians, Ramanujan and Hardy- and if you love Math and know about the concept of Infinity-this is must read, and personally, I just finished watching Melancholia where both Mathematicians were referenced.
On life and work: The month of June has been involving with travel to schools and with work, I am learning to schedule and plan out most of my responsibilities. On the fun side, my love for kiondos has seen me but a variety of kiondos (shapes, sizes and colors) just to have the collection. I bought three this month and can’t wait to carry them.
I look forward to July and to the experiences that I would be involved in and can only hope for the very best. Until then, I stocked up on notebooks, pencils and a lot of pens to gather my wits and ideas for the next book.
It’s Wednesday and I am still wrapped up in a warm duvet as I type this on my phone. It’s my way of checking in with the blogging universe while doing everything I can to stay warm here in Nairobi.
I’ve been here for 3 days and I have consumed more coffee, worn more socks and sweaters than I could ever comprehend at such a time. It’s got me fully aware of how much I am sunny through and through and I know I will enjoy some heat when I travel back to Mbita soon.
Every time I come to Nairobi I love visiting places that call unto me like book shops and jewellery shops mostly to buy earrings and accessories that I wouldn’t get at a fair price either in Kisumu or Homabay. So this time around I got notebooks and pens from Miniso, body splash from a store in town and bookmarks from Hilton Arcade.
There’s something about freedom of movement that has me appreciating life pre-covid. We could breathe freely without masks, walk in and out of places without fear of contracting such a deadly virus and travel to places unhinged. Now, coming from a town where the curfew is at 7pm to a city where it’s 10pm, it’s given me more time to catch up with family while still adhering to social distancing rules and regulations and that is something I found so precious in such a long time. I truly hope that we would overcome this pandemic, build upon our health system and come August next year elect more leaders who are accountable to us and responsible in fulfilling their duties.
On writing: I have been writing and it’s good to have that going so I truly hope it’ll work out and I have to push the release date given how many rewrites I am engaging in.
All in all,it’s been a good week thus far and I hope for the very best going forward. Have an awesome week wherever you are.
How’s your week coming along? I was looking through this blog and almost kicked myself for having taken such a while to check in with the blogiverse…I hope you are well and working towards whatever resolutions you made.
So, here’s a list of some insights into what I’ve been up to in the past 8 days:
I traveled back to Mbita
Dusted, aired and mopped where I stay and it never hit me just how exhausted one can get from bending under a bed trying to retrieve an eraser!
Visited a school in Mfangano Island which is considered to be in one of the extreme inaccessible places in the whole island.
Gained weight 🙂 thanks to all the coffee dates I had with my cousin and the holiday food.
Started working out- just finished day 6 of the 30 day fitness challenge! I can’t feel my thighs.
Gave this blog a new look, grey is so last season!
Writing the next book, hoping to release it this April.
Receiving reviews, through calls and texts from readers on just how much they were moved by reading my book, Sifuna, and recommendations on how to distribute the books.
Updating my wardrobe, wearing more jean trousers and a bright t-shirts 🙂 okay, I did this once! I still love my black and grey t-shirts.
Drinking lots of Love Tea from Kericho Gold- because I love the strawberry/vanilla/raspberry flavor.
Can we just take a moment and appreciate this moment right here? Happy Saturday world, or should I say blogiverse? Well, it’s been a minute (as Kenyans, Nairobians in particular love to say when they haven’t seen you over two years) and I have so much to share and adventures on the road that involve Chinese contractors and a bit of conversation around politics and whatsapp.
I visited Homabay county last week and in my stack of cards it means I’ll be relocating to the county to work with various communities as scheduled in my time frame. So I boarded a matatu from Kisumu and settled in the front seat right next to the driver. He was chatty and threw in a few jokes here and there but as were approaching Oyugis, this guy just slowed down and turned to me and asked “Mrembo uko na shuka?”
I shook my head as aggressively as I could because hey, I have seen to many Nigerian and Bongo films to know that no stranger is allowed access to my personal items, what if I start doing handstands in supermarkets? Or worse off barking like a dog? Eh, gaki!
So he says, “Hawa wa Chinese wanatengeneza barabara na vumbi iko hapa, hata mimi naiogopa.” I released the breath I was holding and told him not to worry about it and he does his best to shut the windows even though his window doesn’t go all the way up…he drives off and let me tell you, there’s nothing as interesting as stepping out of a vehicle and spitting dust! If there’s anyone from Oyugis…please, drop a comment, ease my tender soul and tell me to suck it up, it’s just dust!
So, that was the beginning of my short visit and turns out there’s a lot that Homabay county could serve but hey, you know a place that’s in need of a shake up, because it’s like a sleeping giant, well…that’s how I felt and still feel about Homabay.
I loved visiting the Mbita Tourist Hotel because the fish+kachumbari+sukuma is to die for and the view, amazing because I’m a water sign and a daughter of the Lake, so water’s like my feel good, peace out, chill out vibe.
My view from the restaurant, it was a bit cloudy.
Now, it’s been 21 days since I wrote anything and my manuscript progress report could easily be scored as an F, but I am not so worried about it. Given how much time I’m spending on getting things done at work, I feel too drained to write anything coherent and will have to work harder to build up on my process and schedule writing time.
In other news, I can safely say that following (10 reasons why I’m not fit to be a Fashion Blogger) I have since become a better sister, keen on the instructions my younger sister gives me while she’s taking photos of me. She’s still peeved that I do not wear make-up, my attempt at wearing a red-lippie still didn’t cut it.
I think I aced this pose, but Jackie thinks not 😦
On reading, I’ll say that I read Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow and that book gave me shivers. I’m looking forward to reading Grit & Grind by Rhonda Vetere to get my mind in the frame of hard work, passion and goal pursuit.
It’s all good world, have a lovely weekend and I’ll probably share some village chronicles once I settle down.
Hello Monday! Is there any #NanoWrimo2017 participant freaking out because it’s three days to the end of November?
So, yesterday I went to the market and got my favorite things: Tamarind ( I used it to make some sauce for the fries), mangoes, lemons and of course the irish potatoes for making the fries! I had a laid back Sunday afternoon and when the sun was up, I managed to bask in it for a few minutes before making some calls.
On writing:
I am past 40,000 words on the project I’m submitting for NanoWrimo. It has been a very difficult week because my writing schedule has seen me waking up at 1 A.M. to write till 4 A.M. I’d admit that an hour of it was spent listening to drunkards argue on their way home, like the guy who lost his car keys on Friday and he had to let his friends flag down a tuk tuk for him 🙂 I wish I got the whole conversation, but the man kept shouting “my wife will think I sold the car!”
I started working on a new novella. Can I do my happy dance now?
On reading:
I have found myself drawn to a couple of titles this weekend and I am looking forward to reading these four titles this week:
On traveling:
My feet are itching to go backpacking and now that I have completed the 31 Day Fitness Challenge (by totally ignoring the planks and abdominal crunches) I can safely say that I’m ready for some adventure.
I have been listening to JP Cooper‘s album “Raised Under Grey Skies” when I write. This album has kept me company for almost 20,000 words of the NanoWrimo challenge!
My colleague told me yesterday that she heard some drivers and touts saying that a matatu (the one known as chopper) transformed into a donkey at Ahero. This transformation was witnessed by some people and word of it spread through some radio stations but it never got to TV because by the time the witnesses recovered from their shock, it had turned back into a vehicle and sped off. This is an example of a chopper, courtesy of Google Images.
She said, aki ghai unacheka na ni ukweli, ati chopper iligeuka punda!
I asked her what about the passengers? Did they get caught up in the transformation?
And that’s when we both laughed. She hadn’t thought of it in that sense, all she remembered was getting off the chopper she had boarded when she heard that story and waiting for half an hour to squeeze into a Probox!
When I asked if she did so because of fear, her answer was “sitaki kuwa punda afadhali kuwa ngombe lakini punda ati sababu ya chopper, wacha nipande Probox!”
(I don’t want to turn into a donkey, it’s better to be a cow but not a donkey worse off because of boarding a chopper, I would rather board a Probox.)
So,on my way to see the District Education Officer today, I found myself seated next to the Driver in a chopper and before it could dawn on me a tout took a jab at the driver, “omera mad ilokri punda to iting’o Jaber! Ne, Jaber idh matoka werigi punda!”
(Hey, you had better not turn into a donkey while carrying this beauty. Hey, there beautiful lady board a vehicle and leave the donkey)
Before I could take it all in, the driver shook the man’s hand and drove off but what was evident was just how fast word of mouth can build or destroy your brand or business. I say so because so many passengers did not want to board the chopper because they didn’t want to turn into God forbid, a donkey. I just wanted to make it to my meeting in time and I did.
P. S: Wrote this yesterday, and I woke up at 5 am to post it ✌
My day has been delightful because I was approached by two suitors and let me tell you nothing beats being proposed to while sitting in the boot of a Probox leaning against sacks of dried fish!
I made my first visit to Nyatike today and had to proceed to Sori and Muhuru Bay to visit a few schools.
I loved Muhuru Bay and took a shot of this:
On our way back I was granted my wish of sitting in the boot. See, I thought that I would sit there all alone with enough leg room to listen to that new song by One Direction, Perfect,see I like something light and once you throw in a word like rendezvous then am sold! So, there I am sitting and setting up my earphones for a great one hour ride when the vehicle stops and the driver picks up two guys.
They are offered seats in the boot and I sit there looking at two men thinking, “please say no.”
But they cozy up on one side and suddenly there’s nowhere to look at.
See, I learned that sitting in the boot of a Probox is not as great as I made it out to be because there’s nowhere to look at but where you’ve come from, and with unwanted company the view gets blurry if not completely unappealing.
So, before I plug in my earphones for a One Direction experience, the guy in green shoes says, “Madam, si you give me your 07 ijaber!”
I thanked him and told him I was not willing to give him my phone number because I was in a relationship. He smiled and said it was all right, and then we started talking about Migori and his friend joined the conversation.
When we got to a place called Masara, one woman seated at the front shouted at us to remind us not to step on her dried fish. I was leaning against a sack and the stench of it had become a great friend, just like the one who farts doesn’t smell the stink of his/her fart.
But the other gentleman who was with us decided to try his luck too, and he said, “Madam, you have turned down my friend here, but listen to me, I am very light, ratong’ and in Black Beauty si together we can make very chocolate or ango’wa cha? Yes, caramer babies, what do you say Mami?”
The driver slowed down and the women laughed saying that I should accept his proposal. He looked at me waiting for an answer, but all I could think of was the smell of dried fish that had become one with my skin erasing the cherry bodysplash I had.
nilichoandika 