I cannot remember being busier than I have been the last two weeks. On and on, the calls kept coming, every day and every client with different issues. This often meant me getting up at no later than 5 a.m. every morning (sometimes 4.30 a.m.!) just so I could have time to collect my wits as I prepared to leave the house. I have long realised that bolting out of bed and into the bathroom then my clothes and out the door makes a forgetful, confused and irritable me.
So that has been my fortnight; up at cockcrow, work like mad all day then drag myself home and into bed at 9 or 10 p.m. I sound like I'm complaining...I really shouldn't. Okay, so I really missed sleeping in especially now that the mornings are so cold. I'd try and catch a nap in the matatu as I rode to town but there was so much on my mind that my eyes just couldn't stay shut. Before I knew it we were in the city and I was sprinting off to put out whatever fire my first client of the day had lit.
When I'd finally be through with client number two, which was around 2 or even (in extreme cases) 4 p.m., THEN the sleep would come; in great waves and so thick that I'd feel like I was actually passing out instead of falling asleep. Off I'd go to my favourite eating spot to gobble down a late lunch after which I'd head over to a cyber cafe for an hour or so of surfing.
If by the time I was through it was rush hour, then I'd decide there's no way I'm going to stand in a queue for goodness knows how long (in my weakened state) so I'd go have a drink alone for an hour or two until I thought the queue at the matatu stage was gone or at least greatly reduced. The rest is obvious; matatu, home, bed.
Miserable as this sounds, there is a good side to all this. I have actually improved discipline-wise. Wheras I used to find it incredibly hard to sacrifice an extra hour of blanket time in the morning, nowadays it's almost a piece of cake. I say 'almost' because I don't always leap out of bed immediately I wake up, but my response time is WAY better than what is was. So I guess I should be happy, especially since I get the feeling that this stressful couple of weeks was a preparation for something great in the near future. As I'm thinking about that, my heart beats a little faster and I have a slight grin on my face. A new phase in my life is forming, and I can hardly wait to see what it is.
Oh boy!
Friday, 19 August 2011
Monday, 18 April 2011
Mavuno tele...white and black
For those who remember, I once vowed never to darken Mavuno church’s doorstep after they almost ruined a weekly meeting I’d really gotten to like. Well, like the man that I am, I’ve changed my mind *blushing in shame*. Unbelievably, I’ve become quite a regular at the church’s Sunday services. What happened to make me alter my previously militant stand?
I can’t quite put my finger on it but my current excuse is that I need to have something to talk about at the weekly meeting with my friends. Since the meeting includes discussing the previous Sunday’s sermon, well, how else to have something relevant to say than to attend service and take notes?
The experience hasn’t entirely been a waste of time if I can be honest. Some of the sermons have been pretty insightful. I also like that every week they feature testimonies from real people who’ve had real issues like alcohol, sex and drug addictions, which they overcame and are now helping others do the same. That’s really cool. That kind of boldness is what the church needs if it is to attain the perfection that the Lord requires of it.
One peculiar thing about the services though. Before the preacher comes on, there’s normally two people (male and female) on stage who give announcements and do a back and forth comedy skit. Sometimes they’re funny. Other times I feel like they’re the only ones getting their jokes. They praise the audience quite a bit too, making sure they always tell us how lovely we’re looking plus asking us to tell our neighbour the same thing (just in case they weren’t listening?) But no matter how many times I try and avoid thinking this way, I always end up wondering: is all that pre-sermon entertainment really necessary? I mean, really?
Ok, I understand that Mavuno is a happening church and the people in charge want to spice things up a bit. But sometimes I think they’re in danger of straying from the essence of what Christ said the church was to come together for. When I read the gospels, I see that when Christ had a message to preach he did it in plain language and using parables. There isn’t any record of him going out of his way to coat his message with song dance to make it easier to swallow. His basic method of preaching was to talk to his audience and get them to understand his message, not to give them a good time, but to tell them the truth which would set them free.
When I go further and read about normal activity in the early church after Christ resurrected it appears that what they regularly did was (Acts2:42) to continue in the apostles’ doctrine (the Word), breaking bread (the Lord’s supper), fellowship (social interaction, discussion) and prayers. Later verses in the same book and in others say they praised God in song too. So we can infer from this that the meetings were not a dull affair. However I fear what we have nowadays is focused more on tickling our fancies with entertainment and jokes, you know, to get us to feel really good after the sermon.
Perhaps, someone may say, if you don’t do something to catch the audience’s attention they will not listen to the message. I get it. Thanks to television, radio and the internet we have non-stop entertainment bombarding us from all sides. So much so that a lot of us have become entertainment junkies with short attention spans. But surely, if you give an addict more of what made them sick in the first place, aren’t you just making their condition worse?
I can’t quite put my finger on it but my current excuse is that I need to have something to talk about at the weekly meeting with my friends. Since the meeting includes discussing the previous Sunday’s sermon, well, how else to have something relevant to say than to attend service and take notes?
The experience hasn’t entirely been a waste of time if I can be honest. Some of the sermons have been pretty insightful. I also like that every week they feature testimonies from real people who’ve had real issues like alcohol, sex and drug addictions, which they overcame and are now helping others do the same. That’s really cool. That kind of boldness is what the church needs if it is to attain the perfection that the Lord requires of it.
One peculiar thing about the services though. Before the preacher comes on, there’s normally two people (male and female) on stage who give announcements and do a back and forth comedy skit. Sometimes they’re funny. Other times I feel like they’re the only ones getting their jokes. They praise the audience quite a bit too, making sure they always tell us how lovely we’re looking plus asking us to tell our neighbour the same thing (just in case they weren’t listening?) But no matter how many times I try and avoid thinking this way, I always end up wondering: is all that pre-sermon entertainment really necessary? I mean, really?
Ok, I understand that Mavuno is a happening church and the people in charge want to spice things up a bit. But sometimes I think they’re in danger of straying from the essence of what Christ said the church was to come together for. When I read the gospels, I see that when Christ had a message to preach he did it in plain language and using parables. There isn’t any record of him going out of his way to coat his message with song dance to make it easier to swallow. His basic method of preaching was to talk to his audience and get them to understand his message, not to give them a good time, but to tell them the truth which would set them free.
When I go further and read about normal activity in the early church after Christ resurrected it appears that what they regularly did was (Acts2:42) to continue in the apostles’ doctrine (the Word), breaking bread (the Lord’s supper), fellowship (social interaction, discussion) and prayers. Later verses in the same book and in others say they praised God in song too. So we can infer from this that the meetings were not a dull affair. However I fear what we have nowadays is focused more on tickling our fancies with entertainment and jokes, you know, to get us to feel really good after the sermon.
Perhaps, someone may say, if you don’t do something to catch the audience’s attention they will not listen to the message. I get it. Thanks to television, radio and the internet we have non-stop entertainment bombarding us from all sides. So much so that a lot of us have become entertainment junkies with short attention spans. But surely, if you give an addict more of what made them sick in the first place, aren’t you just making their condition worse?
Thursday, 6 January 2011
A price on Santa's head!
Hey y'all!
Something wierd happened...last year I put up a very anti-christmas post here and guess what: in less than a week it was gone. That's right: deleted! Someone definitely hacked into my account.
My primest suspect is Santa; he'd better run and hide. Punk!
Something wierd happened...last year I put up a very anti-christmas post here and guess what: in less than a week it was gone. That's right: deleted! Someone definitely hacked into my account.
My primest suspect is Santa; he'd better run and hide. Punk!
Thursday, 11 November 2010
I'm free. Finally.
This is one of the few times that I'll be annoyingly secretive. I have something that's really been bugging me lately. Today, after days of agony it feels totally gone and I'm really elated. The weather's conspiring too to make my mood even better. Nothing but brilliant sunshine since early morn. What a glorious feeling. Peace like a sleeping babe.
Why I'm not telling just yet: I really must be sure that 'the monster's dead before I throw a party and tell the whole world. Plus there are a few smelly bits of monster droppings lurking around somewhere that I must clean out.
Until then, just share my joy and be happy for me. That's all I had to say.
Why I'm not telling just yet: I really must be sure that 'the monster's dead before I throw a party and tell the whole world. Plus there are a few smelly bits of monster droppings lurking around somewhere that I must clean out.
Until then, just share my joy and be happy for me. That's all I had to say.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Dullness to the nth power
This week is BORING! Boo! I hate it. Some action please, somebody, anybody!
Perhaps I'll take a random trip out of town, charge my batteries kidogo. Can't go on this way. Gilgil? Hmm, Soysambu Ranch might just do the trick. Lemme call my cousin and see...
Perhaps I'll take a random trip out of town, charge my batteries kidogo. Can't go on this way. Gilgil? Hmm, Soysambu Ranch might just do the trick. Lemme call my cousin and see...
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Breakthrough! Silver lining!...etc. etc.
To neutralize the sulky mood of the previous post, today I have some super news. After several attempts at getting my foot into a media house, my efforts have borne fruit. Woohaaah! That's how it felt the day the sun finally shone on me. Quite a welcome relief to the way things had been going the last two months.
Remember my frustration with trying to get audience with some fellow who works for a daily newspaper? Well, I gave up following on that lead; it felt like such a dead end I could actually touch the cold concrete of its wall. Happily there were better times right round the corner. Here's the saga.
I'd gone to see my cousin at some exhibition where her company was participating. As we chatted, this guy with a broadcast-quality video camera came to the stand and I naturally inquired what station he worked for. It turned out he works for one of the new digital TV stations that's been hovering around undetected by most mortals that don't have a digital set-top box (like me). The station is a sister company to the one my cousin works for. How coincidental is that?
Without a doubt I was immediately on my cousin's case trying to milk each detail about the station out of her, but she was rather ignorant and only knew that it was in the same building that she worked in. She however knew someone she worked with that was more clued in than she and after she pointed her out to me we got acquainted and arranged a date when we would meet and chat.
Long story short, my contact this time was the real deal and eager to help so in a week and a half I was at the TV station's offices talking with the current programs manager about the station and my desire to work with them. That was meeting one. By meeting two we were discussing an idea I had for a show that the programs manager actually liked. Wow! "Not to worry," I told him. "There's more where that came from." And with that I was given an invitation to visit the station anytime and present any other gems that I'd mined from my creative mind (rhyme?!).
Had things taken a turn for the fabulous or what? The rush I had after that meeting; a mixture of relief, delight and maybe a little fright, is indescribable!
Is this finally it? Have I hit the media jackpot? Will I soon be the talk of gossip mags, radio stations...wait...might I even end up on The Bench with Jeff (gasp!)?
Whoa, slow down homie. There's still lots to be done plus your first script hasn't even been officially accepted yet. And the programs manager could be a crook who gladly takes your ideas and runs with them, giving neither credit nor money to you, leaving you crushed and dejected in the dust.
What's with the negativity all of a sudden? Take a deep breath and just relax. Enjoy the experience and keep writing and hoping and praying. The rest is up to someone else.
Remember my frustration with trying to get audience with some fellow who works for a daily newspaper? Well, I gave up following on that lead; it felt like such a dead end I could actually touch the cold concrete of its wall. Happily there were better times right round the corner. Here's the saga.
I'd gone to see my cousin at some exhibition where her company was participating. As we chatted, this guy with a broadcast-quality video camera came to the stand and I naturally inquired what station he worked for. It turned out he works for one of the new digital TV stations that's been hovering around undetected by most mortals that don't have a digital set-top box (like me). The station is a sister company to the one my cousin works for. How coincidental is that?
Without a doubt I was immediately on my cousin's case trying to milk each detail about the station out of her, but she was rather ignorant and only knew that it was in the same building that she worked in. She however knew someone she worked with that was more clued in than she and after she pointed her out to me we got acquainted and arranged a date when we would meet and chat.
Long story short, my contact this time was the real deal and eager to help so in a week and a half I was at the TV station's offices talking with the current programs manager about the station and my desire to work with them. That was meeting one. By meeting two we were discussing an idea I had for a show that the programs manager actually liked. Wow! "Not to worry," I told him. "There's more where that came from." And with that I was given an invitation to visit the station anytime and present any other gems that I'd mined from my creative mind (rhyme?!).
Had things taken a turn for the fabulous or what? The rush I had after that meeting; a mixture of relief, delight and maybe a little fright, is indescribable!
Is this finally it? Have I hit the media jackpot? Will I soon be the talk of gossip mags, radio stations...wait...might I even end up on The Bench with Jeff (gasp!)?
Whoa, slow down homie. There's still lots to be done plus your first script hasn't even been officially accepted yet. And the programs manager could be a crook who gladly takes your ideas and runs with them, giving neither credit nor money to you, leaving you crushed and dejected in the dust.
What's with the negativity all of a sudden? Take a deep breath and just relax. Enjoy the experience and keep writing and hoping and praying. The rest is up to someone else.
Monday, 27 September 2010
P.U.S.H.
Keeping up with your dreams is hard. Especially when there are disappointments. Just today I've been trying to get a hold of some contact I got who works for a daily newspaper and meeen! He seems to be constantly in a meeting. What gives? Is he really busy or is he just dodging me?
I normally wonder, when trying to interest a contact in something I have to offer, should I just apply pressure ceaselessly until they break? Or make a phone call once every few days just to give the poor fellow space to breathe?
I tend to be very sensitive to people's feelings so I hate to think that my persistence is bugging someone. The flipside is, I don't think I have the luxury to be a ka-softy. There are many folks I've spoken to and others whose books I've read that claimed that if it wasn't for their pestering certain people they'd never have gotten the opportunity of a lifetime that changed their destiny.
So I guess I'll just have to 'kaa ngumu' like that dude I really don't like (Fred Gumo) and P.U.S.H.: Pressurise Until Something Happens!
I normally wonder, when trying to interest a contact in something I have to offer, should I just apply pressure ceaselessly until they break? Or make a phone call once every few days just to give the poor fellow space to breathe?
I tend to be very sensitive to people's feelings so I hate to think that my persistence is bugging someone. The flipside is, I don't think I have the luxury to be a ka-softy. There are many folks I've spoken to and others whose books I've read that claimed that if it wasn't for their pestering certain people they'd never have gotten the opportunity of a lifetime that changed their destiny.
So I guess I'll just have to 'kaa ngumu' like that dude I really don't like (Fred Gumo) and P.U.S.H.: Pressurise Until Something Happens!
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