Closing Shop

I would like to inform my esteemed readers that I am making a switch to blogging on Wordpress. This has been occassioned a number of issues in blogger which have been bugging me for a while not least being unable to comment on my own blog among other blogs suchs as Wambui's and Nakeel's, Sorry si kuwalenga its just the bloody program.

My new address is:

http://mountkirima.wordpress.com

So to all who are still interested in by 2 bob worth of opinions please update your links

Thank you

Vote for Me! So I Can Get Rich

One of the promises I made to myself when starting this blog was to avoid writing political posts since I often don't have the passion to argue with the various shades of opinion that may arise from my views. That said I have been rudely awakened by some of the events that are occuring in our country over the last 2 weeks. Undoubtedly everyone has heard of the salary award in disguise of a winding up allowance that the Minister of Finance was trying to sneak into parliament. Many people have had alot about to say on this matter and almost all the commentators are understandably sick about this 9th Parliaments sheer greediness.Unfortunately alot of the political debate in this country is centred around personalities and parties which tends to cloud the issues and principles that should be at the centre of the business of government. I have long held the view that parties in Kenya are basically meaningless camps which politicians can use and misuse at leisure and are neither based on common values or visions the only purpose they serve is as vehicles to political power. Therefore to me the whole lot are basically just the same.My worry is that Kenyans have abdicated the role of being masters of their own destiny and handed it over to our leaders. The powerful Presidency has always been (mostly rightly) seen as the biggest hinderance to Kenya acheiving true democracy and economic development thus there has been constant clamour to reduce these powers.There have been moves to enhance the independence of the judiciary so as to serve as a check, There has also been a clamour to enhance the power of Parliament so that it can serve as a safeguard againist executive excess which are all good measures. A strong and independent Parliament since they are supposed to be representing the voice of the electorate. To enable them to be more independent a Parliamentary Service Commission was created which was to look into the terms and conditions parliament including renumeration. Although all these measures were enacted in good faith and with the intention of improving governance the current 'peoples representatives' have taken it as a vehicle to improving their personal worth.Where does that place the common mwananchi? Who will speak for him if his representative is busy speaking for himself? My belief is that we cannot complain about poor representation if we are the same ones who vote them in time and time again. It is high time we stopped being just mwananchi wa kawaida and become the masters of our own destiny by making the right choices.I strongly hold the view that the problem in Kenya is that we have tended to look up at the leadership to take us to promised land forgetting that it is we who should be the drivers. We must start making the right choice if we choose the right leaders according to their demonstrated values we will end up with the right leaders. Instead we tend to look at what tribe, party, family the aspirant comes from. It has been said that the problem we have is the flawed constitution but I don't think so. We cannot forget that in 2002 we were able to change the government by just our collective will even with all the oppressive forces brought on by the executive and a flawed constitution. So anything is possible if we as Kenyans have the will. Of course all did not go well after that but it at least demonstrated what we are capable of acheiving and from what we have learned from the leaders we must avoid making the same mistakes.Making the right choice shouldn't be too hard all it requires is for you to examine your most sincere values and if you think the candidate has demonstrated those values and will be honest to those values then you should vote for him/her and hold them againist those promises.So as we rant (rightly) againist the outrage that the greedy bunch at parliament are trying to achieve we must remember that it is you and me who hold the keys to their return. Let us all watch carefully how each and every MP will be voting on this manner and use that to help us make the RIGHT CHOICE!

Dating Dilema

Last week I was out in one of the city's coffee houses with the company of some ladies and my pal and as we enjoyed the bottomless coffees (actually they refill your cup only once, I wonder then why they call it bottomless) the conversation inevitably switched to the boy/girl issues aka relationships. Well one of the mamas had beef with the issue of jamaas who can't or won't pay the bill when they take you out. I am sure every one has horror stories of dates that went wrong i.e. ending up in the wrong type of restaurant, peeling potatoes, trying to eat spaghetti elegantly, your date, your date ordering the most expensive item on the menu or the worst one for ladies getting to the restaurant and discovering that the table cloths are made of the the same material as your dress! LOL!!
Anyway the story was that there was this jamaa - a client, who had been pestering this mama for several months that he would like to meet her for coffee one day after work. So mainly out of the need to just get it over with the mama agrees to meet him for coffee, the jamaa asks her to meet him outside 2oth Century (first wrong move) the mama trys to convince him that it is better for them to meat at a restaurant somewhere rather than outside a cinema hall which si soo teenagerish but the jamaa inisted so outside twentieth it was.
Once she gets there she meets the jamaa waiting (ok) but once she asks where are we going he says "I don't know, where do you want to go?" (Second wrong move). The mama wonders to hereself where kwani he did not know where he wanted to go and starts thinking whats nearby Trattoria? Winebar? Java? but since she just wants to get it over with she says we just catch a cup of coffee at Lavazza's so off they go.
Once they settle in the coffeshop and order the guy in trying to make conversation asks her 6 times - yes six - "How is life?" (Third wrong move) and she seriously thinks this must be a trick question and asks him as much. Clearly this date is not headed in the right direction and the mama is wondering when it is ever going to end but the worst is not yet to come.
As the coffee arrives the jamaa tells her "By the way, Hii Kahawa ni wewe unalipa?".
"What" She asks, clearly thinking she didn't hear him right
"You are the one paying for this coffee" he repeats.
That was the end of the conversation and the date as far as she was concerned, First she had to be coerced into coming, second he didn't know where to take her, third he didn't have any vybe to tell her and now it turns out she was the one to pay for this disaster of a date. What if she had said we go to Trattoria and ordered a Pizza and cappuccino she wondered. Fortunately she had 5oo on her and she could cover the bill and tempted as she was to pay for her cup only and walk out she perservered. Thats not the end of it, as they were finishing up he asked her.
"By the way there is one more thing I want to ask your"
"What? Fare?" She retorted, quite pissed off by now
"No, Its just that I have been watching you and I think you would make a good mother for my children!" he quipped.
WTF!
I don't need to tell you that was the end of the date and the story. If it wasn't a true story I would have laughed it off as a episode of Redykulass or something like that.
Now the questions are

• Would you ask someone out on a date expecting the other pary to date?
• In this day and age should the guy always pay?

The first one for me is a no brainer I mean if you are interested in someone you should jipanga and you should be able to first gauge there expectations. I can't make excuses for this jamaa on ths front especially since he had been pestering her earlier.

As for the second one I think it is still expected that the man pays for the first dates but as they become a couple the mama can be expected to chip into the bill and once in a while actually take the guy out. Some of my most memorable dates is when I have been asked out by - Her treat. It is always amusing when the waiter brings the bill over to you and you tell him hapana Madam ndiye analipa.

So what do you think and have any of you been on such dates?

By the way can you guess who ended up paying for those bottomless coffee's we were having?

Disclaimer: I am absolutely NOT the jamaa in question here!

Now onto other matters, There has been misunderstanding created by a comment that was left in my previous post about an alleged wedding. Due to some weird behaviour by Blogger I am unable to leave a comment on my own blog. Aaaargh. So now I want to state without fear of contradiction that : I AM STILL AVAILABLE now that said hiyo story iishe.

Tagged one too many times!

It looks like no matter how much I try and hide the tags won't go away, It seems that I was tagged by 3 Types of Crazy and Half and Half to post some 8 random things about myself. Despite the fact that I had already given seven before plus a videocast of myself. HnH was right I don't like tags but I hate not being a sport even more so I just have to do something.


I wont post the rules cos' I'm gonna break them all - kwani what will happen if I don't will I be doomed to a streak of bad luck or will I be smitten by a bolt of lightning? I don't think so.

1. I love eating out; the more exotic the better, of course finances and living out of town is a major impediment but when I can I like to try out new restaurants even if all I can afford is a cup of coffee and a snack. When I was younger I harboured the secret ambition of being a restaurant critic like that lucky jamaa in the Sunday Nation.
2. I hate confrontation; Whenever there is an argument or disagreement I often choose the walking away option, argueing and fighting is not for me. Even arguments between other peeps I will shun therefore being UN Secretary General is definately not one of my ambitions.
3. I am a Lazy Shopper; Shopping doesn't do anything for me and will only buy something if it has run out or is absolutely necessary.
4. I constantly need new information: Not news by the way but I soak up information like a sponge that is why google and wikikpedia are my constant companions as well as the blogs in KBW. If I was to get DSTV it would be because of Discovery, Animal Planet and National Geographic not Supersport, I can always watch soccer in a pub anyway.
5. I like being straigthforward; I am easily bored by relationship games and rules, the playing hard to get and other dating tire me out I like some one who comes straight out and anakupenda au hakupendi all that beating about the bush will just tire me out.
6. I have no patience; Especially with lateness, I will always ask when do you want us to meet and trust me I will do everything to be there on time but if the other party keeps me waiting I end up seething with frustration. This is especially worse when someone requests you to pick them up at a certain time and when you arrive there are not ready yet.
7. I can't sing; Enough said.
8. I used to stutter; I used to have slight stammer when I was in school which made me very self concious especially when called upon to speak in front of people. Happily now I have been able to conquer that especially that now I am occassionally required to address all the employees at work (over 600 of them imagine).
9. I had a Yellow Car; This is a bonus, My first car was a bright yellow Toyota Starlet. It certainly was unusal and always managed to attract alot of attention unfortunately it was also difficult to hide your self anywhere especially in a small town like Embu and as soon as you parked it somewhere you would start getting all sorts of messages by folks asking when are you leaving or can we come over. On the good side and in an odd kind of way it was also a babe magnet. I surely miss that car as they always say you never forget the first

That meets my end of the bargain as for the rules I don't think I can tag anyone since I can see almost all the bloggers out there I know have already been tagged.

Of Cold, Paper Bags and Tremors

The buzzwords around Nairobi nowadays seem to revolve on 3 issues that are threatening to cloud the ever present politics in popular coversation. Hardly a minute passes before someone mentions how cold it is to be frank I have also been complaining every minute I can despite the fact that I have the luxury of cuddling up in bed all day but today there is a blackout and the house is so boring that I had to step out. The monthly forecast from our friends at the meteo are not encouraging either so we just have to pack those sweaters a little bit longer.
The other issue and this one I have beef with is the ban on plastic bags, whearas I wholeheartedly support the ban on thing plastics I beg to disagree with the way the City Kanju is carrying it out. There is no way the Kanju askaris have the capacity to gauge the thickness of plastic bags to determine whether they are 2o microns or less what they are engaging in is wholesale harasment of city residents as they go about there business. what they should target is the actual littering which is the real environmental hazard and proper garbage disposal which is their job ( and which they are carrying out with much less zeal!). It is really interesting the way the Kanju has woken up and discovered all these old bylaws againist, hawking, spitting, peeing, jaywalking etc but my concern is that the Askaris have turned it into an avenue for collecting bribes I mean how many of those caught in the act can actually produce a legit city council receipt for the fine paid?, Archer and M have met their wrath may be they can answer that.
The other big topic is the quakes or tremors hitting the city. I know it is quite unnerving and scary to feel the ground moving beneath your feet but the widespread panic experienced in town yesterday was absolutely out of proportion to the actual experience. I was woken up at 6.00am by a call claiming that a major earthquake was about to hit Nairobi in 15 minutes peeps must have thought I was crazy when I laughed it off and jumped right back to bed. My geology must be rusty but I know for sure that there is no way to predict when and where an earthquake is about to strike, although Nairobi is situated near a major faultline at the rift valley it is not a high risk area like California, Iran or Japan where major Tectonic plates meet.
Every one is complaining how long this week is you can imagine how long it is for me who is not at work but anyway looking forward to the weekend when I hightail it to Nakuru (someone please tell me if it is cold there as well) for a wedding where the groom only casually informed me last week that I would be his Best Man! Talk about surprises!

Resurrection

Contrary to a certain popular serial story I am very much still alive and blogging. I have now enjoyed one week of my vacation and I am begining to feel refreshed enough to blog. Of course the biggest hurdle is how to get internet connection I have been trying to do it from the house using GPRS but as you can imagine this is not kind to my cellphone credit but at least it allows me to read posts and with some patience put up a few comments.
The major predominant factor that has been influencing my activity is the cold and man has it been cold this has not been helped that there was some activity on the homefront that required me to spend many hours at night outdoors but fortunately that is now over. This cold has been inhibiting my movement and activities since I am now aclimitized to a warmer environ.
There is quite alot to catch up on the blogosphere it seems that our GuestBlogger has been extending his Collabos all over with the latest being at Milo's, For his shennanigance (sp) over at Unyc's it will be my mission to ensure that his name changes from 'Guest blogger' to 'Ghost Blogger'. JM is yet to update us with what happens when I bring the BT down to a grinding halt alot of the boys and some girls are awaiting this episode with alot of anticipation but since I have been consigned to the netherworld words won't hurt me so bring them on. By the way I was touched by Three Types of Crazy who is organizing a harambee for my departed soul (LOL) just make sure that baby mama gets the chums alright. Thanx alot girls!

Meetup
There was the issue of the meetup. Mocha has been requesting, nay demanding that someone posts something on the meetup. My contribution was just too brief to make up a substancial review all the same I enjoyed the brief minutes I spent there. I checked in at around 10:30 wich was quite an effort since at 8:00 PM I was still in Embu I was able to drive quite safetly trees nonewithstanding. It was my first time at Alehouse but locating it was not too difficult, the only worry I had was how to recognize the group since I didn't know anyone except Inexes who I had met in Embu the week before. Fortunately the first face I bumbed into was Inexes on the dance floor with a bevy of damsels. After some quick introductions I was able to meet some of my Blog Hero's and Heroines including one of the pair responsible for my untimely demise. My revenge was not forthcoming yet. But all said and done I had quite a nice time despite the personal circumstances that were prevailing on that day. I hope someone who was there longer can be able to do justice and tell us more of what happened earlier and later that night. So for those who finally got to meet the reclusive mountain I thank you for your warm welcome. BTW I was in the company of two other bloggers from my family (this one and this one)who were also happy to make your acquintances. It is such a pity I missed the famous dancing I was so looking forward to seeing this, therefore there has to be a next time, ama?
I am yet to get the hang of blogging from a cyber hence the rush to finish and the lack of links but as the weeks run along I am sure I will get the hang of it.

STEPPING OUT
Now I have crossed the last t and dotted the last i. My leave has officially started like 20 minutes ago.
Baridi here I come.
Don't you worry I'll keep on blogging.

SPORTING WEEKEND

Lack of Premier league Football has not dampened my sporting mojo albeit from a couch potato view.
Begining yesterday with the Wimbeldon Womens Tennis Final which was won beautifully by Venus Williams I had to admit the game was a mismatch since everyone was expecting a Venus vs Henin final but all the same Venus showed some powerful serves which blew her French oponent away. I thoroughly respect the way Venus who was an outsider(I think seeded 23) was able to rise to the occassion and blow away everyone else including favourite and media darling Maria Sharapova.

Saturday was the eagerly awaited British Grand Prix, much was said about the possibility of Lewis Hamilton winning at Silverstone on his inaugural British Grand Prix but that alas was not to be as a few minutes ago he was beaten to third place behind Kimi Raikkonen and World Champion Fernanado Alonzo. It was still an admirable finish for Hamilton having finished all his F1 races on the podium. For me being a Ferarri fan I was extatic at the especially since the disaster at the grid where Ferarri's Felipe Massa had to start at the pit due to some engine failure. Ferarri is now showing its potential to snatch the lead from Mclaren I am not hating on Mclaren or Lewis I admire the chap but it is not enough for me to change loyalty from the most iconic team in Formula 1.

The Mens Wimbeldon final is still on but I am rooting for Roger Federer to Beat Rafael Nadal but since I am tired of following the match on the web on BBC sport I will now retire and wait for the scores later in the evening.

Approved

At long last I get my 5 weeks of R & R perhaps with this break from the bundus I will be able to refresh my mind and get back to full blog mode. As for now I have to tie up all the loose ends up here in preparation for the long break.
I haven't got a clue what I will be doing those weeks but as long as it doesn't involve being at the office at 7:00 AM its all good, Bila cash so vacation at the coast is out so I guess I'm resigned to being a tato for a while so frequent visits to Tom Mboya Street are a must. On the downside there is no free vsat at home so I either have to rediscover cybers (I loathe most Nairobi Cybers) or I have to lug my laptop to Java once in a while but the coffee there is quite a penny so it won't be any cheaper if I am to keep blogging. I hope that will resolve itself with time or is there any cheap internet connection available nowadays.

BTW I understand temparatures in Nai are perfect for locking yourself in
bed so I guess my itenerary is already set out in advance.

_EX Wars

I have an accute case of Bloggers block if there ever was one. I can't for the life of me come up with an original idea for a post this week. I have a few ideas brewing but they require some time to gel and definately when I can get some free time I will dive right in.

So in the mean time I will do another one like this. This week I have noted alot of men vs women wars erupting all over KBW I guess it is the same old story since men and women always never seem to get along despite the fact that we are always struggling to hook up with someone to complain about.

It seems to have started last week when HnH's old half decided to crawl back after being dumped by his new half only to encounter the scathing and utter wrath of his past. then Archer who introduces us to the potato wars (not this tato!) beginging with a chick who decides to play mind games and tempt her jamaa with her pal in order to test his loyalty but tough luck cos he failed the test but the question is who actually lost since she lost the jamaa (probably the pal as well!), Baadaye he chomoas a take-away chips episode with a new age sophisticated babe which leaves a poor dude as leftover. Inexes after last weeks fiasco with Rihanna look-a-like is busy reminding us of his undergraduate tally.

Klara got us thinking of how to handle a tricky situation like getting invited to an Ex's wedding would I go, maybe depending on the nature of the parting I guess it can serve as a form of closure cos you are resigned to the fact that she is no longer available while still single the possibility always lingers. Talking of Exes and weddings Mocha is perplexed by the Ex who doesn't know how to tell her he is getting married and then an old friend confesses he has been getting some Bill Clinton action on the side while still considering himself to be faithful to his mama I don't think that trick can work again, Meanwhile while dishing out this issues Mocha still lets her share in some beautiful shots. Gishungwa had us questioning whether we are in love or in lust my take is that isn't possible to have both wrapped up in one Yaani Lust for the one you love? We are still all waiting very patiently for Unyc's story to unravel.

Top prize leo is 3N who has organized a Seminar in Kigali for Kenyan men to scope out the action with the hutu and tutsi babes since Kenyan Mamas have declared their disinterest in us. Apparently I will be one of the resource persons. My my what to say?

The question I ask is why cant we just get along?

Not only bad things happen in Kenya this sounds good

Easy Sunday

I',m having an easy sunday today so after my tough week I decided to come up to the office and catch up on some blogs but to my disappointment it seems that KBWers seem to have taken the weekend off, even the aggregator is down so all that is left is going back over last weeks posts and seeing if there are any new comments. So to keep my bored self busy I have decided to do a weeks digest of whats been happening in the kenyan blogland. In the meantime a little social bookmarking wont hurt as well.

First I got an email from these people on my yahoo email which I don't even use much, looks interesting but I don't think I'm ready to move to another blogging service right now. Inexes bounced back on the blog scene this time in Dar where he seems to having drama with Rihana look a like and her Mshikaji he has polished up his swahili as well, welcome back bro. EGM on the other hand was very much around less pictures but more geekstuff his latest on capturing Youtube videos is one I will definately be studying in detail when I have some free time. Kayliz gives us a view of second life while Archer updated us on his late night chats and introduced us to his dog sunkuli but is now looking for an upgrade for his Nokia 6600. BTW I succumbed to Nokia mania and got myself a cheap 1110i to resuscitate my Safaricom line which despite M's exposition ,I still retain some of the Kenya peculiar calling habits and suffer which Safaricon have translated into incredible profits. Half n Half entertained us with a Cheeky quiz then went full blast at a desparate clueless ex, and apparently is still scoring in her war againist BAT, keep it up. Betty has abandoned hard labour and is busy reminding us of girlie playground songs was it hopskotch? :-)

Aegeus finally revealled the real story of the 7's after party with Wanja and 10 wild ladies, hitting the dusty road and gave us his weekend plans, I wish I could join you there and why did you stop bolding? Talking of parties Chatterly gave us a lowdown of what cuts at Kenyan Bashes in the US made me feel that our home made parties are not that bad afterall while Aco gave us some humerous flashbacks of Kenyan parties gone wrong at home. Komi made us look at our calling while Unyc and her co-conspirator kept us in suspense waiting for Part IV in the meantime part III continues to elicit all manner of requests looks like some peeps are expecting an orgy, as for me, I just want to know whether I come out alive seeing that I have a penchant for knocking trees and apparently Mungikis might be around. Majonzi had us examining the issue of Models I don't mind looking at them though but it seems most of us forget they are supposed to be selling clothes not their bodies. Mwangi apart from having rodent problems has been posting cryptic clues on his hanjamaz making those of us who are poor at riddles look slow. Modo took us on a humerous ride with him on his daily endevour not be be confused with a Mungiki. Bomseh decided to give us some kibwagizo's on his posts. Mocha gave a much demanded expose' and Farmgal took top honours for being a sport and giving us a peek at what happens on hen nites unfortunately peeps just want more and I can hear the chants of show us more.

Missing in action though were, Klara, Ichiena and Princess I hope you step up next week.

On a happier note my leave application is on the bosses desk and if he agrees its going to be 4 weeks of sleeping and full muenjoyos. I can't wait.

I like my new keyboard!

Long Week now Numb with Relief

Leo ni Friday lakini I am too numb to do the usual Friday Stuff.

It's been an unusually tough and bloody long week, swamped with jobo. Its a surprise that I was able to squeeze time to blog regardless, this was not helped by the fact peeps put up either very long deep posts, technical posts and crypic posts that require more mental capacity than I could spare plus the suspense. Lakini thank you all for helping me keep my sanity.

Fortunately it has all worked out and the company can keep its certification otherwise I wouldn't be able to face the boss on Monday since the project is my baby.

Leo nitarudi nyumbani mapema, take a shower and doze on the sofa, aki thats performing very poorly for a Furahiday.(yes! even here in Embu we get some action occassionally)

What I would do for a massage right now. Kesho nikiamka nikiwa freshi I'll be back at full mental.

Cheers!

A Comic Voyage

Inspired by Mwaris history of book reading it brought back my earliest memories of what introduced me to reading and got me hooked. From a very early age I remember getting attracted to comic books in those days I remember there was a small bookshop next to citymarket where an elderly Asian lady used to sell used books and any time I had the opportunity to go into town with my dad we used to make it a point to drop there. At one end there was a big pile of comic books and I ussually used to make a beeline for it straight away and plead with dad to buy as many as possible.

Some of the earliest comic books I fell in love with were the British children comic books of the day such as:

• Beano: Who can forget Dennis the Menace and his ally Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, Rodger the Dodger and the Bash Street Kids
• Dandy: Remember Desparate Dan and his apetite for Cowpies, Korky the cat, Desparate Dawg
• The Beezer & Topper: The Banana Bunch, Colonel Blink the Shortsighted Gink, Pop Dick and Harry, The Hillys and the Billys and my all time favorite - The Numskulls which I believe inspired a Sitcom

While I was enjoying these british comics I also started picking the Disney comics and quickly went through tens of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and Tweety and Sylvester.

Before long the superhero DC Comics came my way and I discovered Superman, Batman, Spiderman and the Fantastic Four. At this stage I was hooked and it helped that my mum was in UK for a while back then and when she came back she had a full trunk full of Superhero comics. I totally loved Superman and I believe he is the coolest of all superheros and I secretly fantasized that I had the supepowers of superman.

Further along on my voyage I started getting interested in the the Archie and Jughead comics it was at this time that Yaya centre was opening and there was a nice little bookshop called Bookstop where they also sold secondhand books and comics and using the pretext of going to buy comics for my small bro I used to make sure that I put in a number of Archie comics which of course were for me to read first. The Archie characters were priceless, I always enjoyed the tag of war between Veronica and Betty for Archies attention (I always rooted for Betty though), Jughead and his love of food laziness and hate of girls (Ethel was it?) and how was Big Moose despite being rather slow was able to bag such a lovely girl as Midge which caused Reggie alot of pain whenever he tried to slice in.Also not to be forgotten was the Adventures of Tintin many of the breaktimes in school were spent comparing notes on the number of Tintins we had read and by Std 6 I am pretty sure I had read them all, My first was Cigars of the Pharoahs and my favorite was Explorers on the Moon. Again the Characters were unforgetable, Captain Haddock, Bianca Castafiore, Proffesor Calculus, Tompson and Thompson and who could forget Snowy. My favorite character was of course the drunk always swearing Captain Haddock with his "Billions of billious blue blistering barnacles in ten thousand thundering typhoons"

Now the ultimate classic is Asterix and for your information I am not yet over this one and I am capable of snatching it from your baby bro so watch out :-). I find the Asterix strips so creative, humerous and entertaining I clearly remember my first one which is still my all time favorite - Asterix and Cleopatra "That nose!" The naming of the characters was hillarous, Unhygenix the fishmonger and his wife Bacteria, Fulliautomatix the blacksmith, Vitaltatistatistix the chief, A Roman centurion named Poisonus Fungus or Crismus Bonus the sterotypes and puns of the various European Tribes is quite uncanny. It always made me laugh out loud whenever Cacofonix the Bard was tied up during the banquent except in one adventure, The banquets which everyone had a whole wildboar to themselves. Obelix my favorite charactor was never allowed by Getafix the druid to have a sip of Magic potion cos he fell in a cauldron when he was a baby except in one instance in Asterix and Cleopatra.

This Frisky Gaul and his obese friend Obelix in their myriad adventures has kept me entertained for over 20 years and I am sure many more to come.

All pictures from Wikipedia.com

No News is Good News?

I think Not.
After todays morning explosion is took it think like an hour before scattered rumours started filtering into the office about a blast in Nairobi. Of course with the typical Kenyan rumour mill there were already around 101 different theories floating around and that was even before morning tea was served.
Being away from news sources in the office apart from the internet I wasn't able to get any verifiable facts until around lunch time when I checked the newsfeeds on my newsreader from CNN, BBC and Reuters they were still bila story from Nairobi. Of course Google news searches for Nairobi picked up the news feeds from around 10.00 am. I was late for lunch time news at 1.00PM and when I got to the house all the channels had live coverage of KANU's Special Delegates meeting so again no news updates for me. Speculation was rife as people rushed into all sorts of conclusions blaming this and that group or persons, blaming the government, blaming the opposition, blaming foreigners, looking for religious, political, social and economic angles.
As a typical news junkie you can imagine my frustration as I searched for information about the blast since all my folks and and alot of my friends are in Nairobi but from all those I have heard from I guess they should be all OK.
Perhaps the blast was too minimal or inconsequential to the world media to attract widespread and quick coverage but I still wonder how it would have been if it featured one American or if the hotel in question was the one associated with a certain pseudocelebrity who is currently languisihing in an American Jail the coverage would have been any different. As the country grapples with addressing the role of the media, the media bill and the information superhighway I hope we shall be able to find a solution to this information gap when it comes to breaking news.
As I struggle along trying to get more news I pray for anyone who might have been affected or hurt in todays events. Since I don't want to miss the 7.00PM news let me sign off now.

5 Reasons Why I Blog

Ichiena the funny one decided to challenge me by tagging me to do a podcast on 5 reasons why I blog. I Fond this extremely difficult cos 1. I thought I blogged for no reason at all, just cos I can really and 2. I didn't even know how to start in uploading a podcast. Being a fella who thrives on challenges I thought I should at least give it a go and since I google everything it was not long before I had completed Podcasting 101 and I believe now I am ready to post my premiere podcast. Although I won't make a habit of it (too much like work!) I enjoyed making it and maybe if you ask enough I will do some more.
I used a background of images from Embu where I live for the Video so that some of you can get a perspective of where I am coming from. As I listened to myself I realise I still have a sligth stutter I hope you will forgive me for that but those who know me can tell that my stammering has improved a whole lot since them days.
Otherwise ji-enjoy.

Live Weekend

Quite a hectic Madaraka day weekend I had. Its been a while since I enjoyed 3 whole days of no-work pressure. It was also time for me to travel downtown (not upcountry like most folks) to spend some time with the folks. I was also able to catch up with several friends as well including one very senior blogger who we grew up with. There were several highlights of the weekend but I will only talk about two of them.

Sawa Sawa Concert.

Despite a very busy schedule on Saturday I was able to drag my self to the Aboretum to catch a glimpse of the Sawa Sawa festival that featured among others Jazz Maestro - Hugh Masekela and Roots Reggae icon - Burning Spear. As can be expected for any free concert in the city the whole area around Aboretum was jam packed with people up to State House Road and therefore despite my enthusiasm and that of my posse we were not able to see much of what was going on stage but I generally liked the atmosphere which was largely peaceful and lively. I had my doubts initally especially after the rowdy scenes that have been experienced in reggae concerts in the past. I was able to pick a few nice CD's of local music to enjoy including Eric Wainainas Twende Twende. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long and was not able to see the fellow who brought us out there i.e. Hugh cos we had advance tickets for our next assignment.

Pirates of the Caribean - At Worlds End.

At long last after 7 days of anticipation since it opened I was able to watch Pirates 3 over at Nu-Metro we arrived just in time to grab popcorn and drinks and sink into our seats to watch this years mega blockbuster. I had to admit the massive expectations that were heaped on this movie were impossible to surmount but it not deter my desire to lap it up. The movie of the year finally opened and I sat back to enjoy the ride.


Enjoy I did! Captain Jack Sparrow and the rest of the Pirates cast did not disappoint it would take a massive effort to match the levels reached by Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Mans Chest but at Worlds end matched them in quite a number of levels. There some issues I had with the overall movie but I'm dead certain I will watch it again and again, I believe it is the small and suttle things that you don't notice at the first screening that make for a great collectors movie. I already have DVD's of th first 2 and I am pretty sure as soon as P3 is available on www.amazon.co.uk I will be one of the first buyers.

Parts I liked

• What is a pirate movie without elaborate sword fights and canon fights - some critics have said the action scenes were too long but I say there were just what the fans wanted
• The wisecracks were there in plenty as usual and Captain Jack Sparrow was Hillarious as usual my only complain was that there was not as much of him as I would have wanted and I think he did not take as much rum as required.
• Keira Knightely was as ravishing as usual this time the sexiness was more overt as she gave us generous glimpses of her lovely thighs in the Singapore scene and in the last scene just before Will turner goes on his 10 year voyage on the BT - sorry! :-) on the Flying Dutchman.
• For me the movie was a fitting conclusion to the Pirates of the Caribean Trilogy and I hope Disney lets it remain a Trilogy they can make more money by using the movies popularity to sell tickets to its Disneyland rides.

Parts that didn't quite click.

• The movie took too long to introduce Captain Jack and the first sight we saw of him was a humongous nose. It is standard to introduce the main character in the first 5 minutes but I belive it took almost 20 minutes before we saw Jack but when he appeared he took over.
• Very very long over 2.5 hours is quite long for an adventure movie
• Admiral James Norrington deserved a more fitting demise considering his role in the development of the plot.
• What happened to Calypso? Surely that thread deserved a more fitting end

The biggest mystery in the whole movie is: Where was Keira hiding that big fat shotgun that she pulled out from under her clothes? -Just a thought :-)

Tagged Again

What is it with tagging these days I had barely recovered from the first tag then Ichiena went ahead and tagged me to do a podcast and before I had finished figuring this out Aegeus decides to tag me to show what I have on my Home Desk. I will have you know that I do not have a home desk all I have is a dining table which of course doubles as a desk when I dont want to drag my laptop to the couch or the bed. But since this is much easier than the Podcast I will jump ahead and heed Methus Tag and give you a glimpse of what a bloggers desk in shaggs looks like.

My Trusty Toshiba Laptop, my Motorolla Cellphone - important for connecting to the internet, My DJ box - with my ancient CD collection, My PDA - in case I forget what I am actually supposed to be doing, My FHM magazine - for those much needed creative breaks and most important of all My COOKIE JAR - Bliss.

The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself

Pennywise from Stephen Kings IT

What scares me? I guess everyone has got some fears in their lives some that are secret and some not so secret. As for myself I do have a few fears that bother me although not so severe these few things get on my mind. I believe the first step in conquering your fears in first admitting them then facing them. There are definately a few of them I would not care to face at any time.

Here are just a few.

• Dentophobia; Fear of Dentists. I always feel sorry for dentists, they must be the ony profession where the clients are only willing to see them when the pain is too numbing for them to bear and considering the level of pain most people are willing to tolerate in order to delay that appointment is an indicator of the degree of fear. (no wonder dentists have been reputed to have among the highest suicide rates for any group of proffessionals cos they feel so unloved). I have faced this fear several times but luckily for me my Dentist belives in not prolonging the agony and he ensures that most procedures are completed in 10 minutes flat. Luckily I haven't had to face a root canal.
• Ophidiophobia; I am really afraid of snakes. I used to have these recurrent nightmare that consisted of having a snake run up my trouser and being unable to take off my pant. admittedely the fear has been made considerably worse by the fact that I live in a part of the country where coming across a snake on your front door is literally an every day occurrence. I have actually woken up to find a 2 foot serpent coiled on the window sill of my bedroom (inside) I have never left the house so fast before. Due to the frequency of encountering them I am now able to see a snake and let it slither away in peace but the though of accidentally stepping on one or having it crawl under my bedcovers still haunts me.

Someone forwarded this so I just decided to add.

• Catagelophobia; Fear of being ridiculed or loosing face; I am loath to make a spectacle of myself, I enjoy keeping a low profile should I get noticed it must be in a positive light. This may not be a bad thing but it keeps me from letting go thus avoiding overexposing myself e.g. dancing, getting drunk, singing etc
• Claustrophobia; My fear of enclosed spaces combined with my fear of crowded places has ensured that box type(7-aside) matatus which incidentally are the only matatus in these parts and crowded lifts are out of limits for me. I remember having to visit a friend at KNH and anyone who has gone there knows are the huge and during visiting hours are tightly packed immediately the doors were closed I got a massive panic attack and was literally out of there at the first stop needless to say nowadays I always take the stairs at KNH.
• Isolophobia; I fear being alone, may be not in a physically but socially, I don't understand how some people would rather stay away from people it would be very difficult for me to stay away from people and will always try and go out and mix with people even if it is just going to the club and sitting and watching rather than staying alone at home.
  

Definately there are many more but these are the few I wanted to share. It is very interesting to discover some of the things that people are afraid of there are a few interesting ones. (with a few links to help you face the fears)

• Caligynephobia - Fear of beautiful women
• Alektorophobia - Fear of Chickens (doesn't afflict Luhya's I guess)
• Cyberphobia - Fear of Computers (Don't expect any bloggers to suffer from this)
• Mageirocophobia- Fear of cooking (I might have a mild case)
• Dipsophobia-Fear of drinking (Does this exist in Kenya?)
• Gallophobia - Fear of France or french culture
• Philemaphobia - Fear of Kissing (?)
• Philophobia - Fear of falling in love
• Chrometophobia - Fear of Money (?????)
• Pentheraphobia - Fear of Mother in Law (Now you know why he/she refuses to get married)
• Peniaphobia - Fear of poverty
• Pupaphobia - Fear of puppets (How do you get scared of Kermit?)
• Tyrannophobia - Fear of tyrants
• Phallophobia - Figure it out yoursef.
  

If you suffer any of the above I hope you can face them soon, perhaps reading this post will have given you a severe case of Hellenologophobia- Fear of scientific terminology. And in case you are afraid relax there is no tagging here.

You Savvy??

I guess May 25th is Approaching faster than I had expected. The big movie season is already upon us I have already watched Spiderman 3 and it was quite good acutally despite my initial reservations but it did have one or 2 uhh? moments. The big movie for me this season is bound to be Pirates of the Caribean: At World End. I have been waiting eagerly for this one since I watched Dead Mans Chest. I know that eagerly anticipated movies often tend to disappoint but who can deny the enduring swash buckling charm of Captain Jack Sparrow and the delicate tomboyish beauty of Ms Elizabeth Swan?
I probably may not watch it opening weekend but I shall be trooping to watch it as soon as I can meanwhile I have temporarily redecorated my house for the upcoming Pirates season. I shall be I shall be returning to Middle Earth soon.

I am not saying anything about todays game

A very Strong Woman

I just an inspiring profile of this Strong Woman.
Her articles on the Saturday magazine make my day as well.
You can see the other Inductees to the Kenyan ICT Hall of Fame here.
Nice week!

Lets Dance!

Yesterday as I was crawling around KBW trying to learn a few things about my fellow bloggers after the tagging virus that was spreading from Friday I discovered that quite a number of the KBW mamas revealed that dancing is one of the things they love to do most. Akina Princess, Klara, Quintessence, Mamashady, Unyc, Betty, Chatterly, Ichiena have said it their posts, comments and profiles and I am sure several others. Ok some of them say they prefer to do it privately but it's dancing all the same.

I find this coincidence most intriuging and quite delightful as well you may wrongly assume that bloggers are not outgoing persons. Although I am an awkward dancer and often have to be dragged to the dancefloor under duress nonethless I thoroughly enjoy the experience. I would definetely hate to go out with someone who doesn't like to dance. Even just sitting and watching my Kenyan sistas getting down and shaking what their mama's gave them fills me with joy.

From what I have read these last two days I'm sure if there was ever to be a KBW get together one day there will definetely be a lot of dancing.

Now I feel like Shaky leggy!!

The Seven Hidden Habits of the Highly Effacing Mountain

I had planned to take a blog holiday this week and bask in the glory of ManU winning the premiership but it seems that I couldn't hide myself and have ended up being tagged by Egm, 3N, Unyc, and God knows who else! This cannot be easy for me since I don't ussually get too personal but I believe in being a sport and there are few dares I chicken out off. So here goes.

1. I am Allergic to big bodies of water; I dont' swim not because of lack of desire but I just don't trust that I can be able to keep my head above water.
2. I am introverted. Some people call it shy, I don't easily break the ice when meeting new people but when I get to know them and open up to them they can realize that I am actually quite easy to get along with.
3. I am anti violence; Any form of violence by one person to another turns me off I can never understand how you can get your points across by hurting people, I believe human beings are capable of reason and conscience therefore trying ot beat or shoot sense into people is a futile effort. As a result of this I oppose corporal punishment and the death penalty if people think thats too liberal thats up to them. I carry this attitude in my character and people tend to view me as a softie because I will rarely say or do anything that is deliberately hurtful to anyone.
4. I Love Sci-fi and Fantasy; These are my favorite movie genres, my original movies collections include all the Star Wars movies, Lord of the rings, Star Trek. Michael Crichton and Stephen King are my Favorite authors therefore horror doesn't turn me off. Comic Superheros also fascinate me, Superman is tops followed by Batman, Spiderman comes third (sorry spidey)
5. I could be a geek; I am a scientist by profession therefore I am comfortable in a lab isolating enzymes and disceting all forms of invertabrates, I also have an obsessive love of gadgets I must have a top range cellphone, laptop, digicam, MP3 player, PDA, Bluetooth you name it I just can't resist admiring the latest electronics in the malls. I also love comps and am quite compent in them even if it's not my field at all.
6. I love strong women; I don't like the damsel in distress type of girl or timid and insecure types, I admire mature (not old!) women who are sure of themselves are not afraid to speak their minds, go for what you want types and who are not a pushover for men. I guess this is to compensate for No. 2 above.
7. I am not that young. From my interactions in KBW I can sense that I may be a bracket above several of the peeps but as consolation I am still very young at heart.

Now if the following victims can please stand up and be counted so we can quench our curiousity: Klara, Majonzi, Ichiena, Chatterly, Archer, Farmgal, Gish, Komi

The Champions

My Hats off to these boys for making me proud!

My Heartfelt condolences for families and friends of the passangers fo flight KQ 507 May the lord give you strength through this difficult period.

Facing My Ghosts

Ouch!!! Did I do that?

Today I am in a reflective mood, Its Labour day no work and it being a Tuesday makes it totally useless since I can't do much rather than lounge in the house and reflect on my experiences over the last year. One experience that has stood up in my recent past is when I was struck by the ghost of bad luck and ended up raming my precious auto on a stuborn tree.

The Red Circle indicates where my house is.

It happened on one of those long weekends when a public holiday falls on a Monday (now thats the connection with my current thoughts!) I was coming back to Embu after having a splendid time in Nairobi which involved a drive down to Olepolos to devour some prime goat ribs. Having set of pretty early I was in Embu by 4:00 PM and was looking forward to relaxing after the hectic weekend in my house.
Around 20 Metres from my driveway I veered slightly off the middle of the murram road leading to my house and suddenly I felt the tyres near the edge of the road begin to spin on the loose surface, because of the unequal traction on the left and right wheels the car started swinging uncontrollable as I tried to correct the direction with the steering wheel. I know from prior experience that applying emergency brakes on such a loose surface or when in a skid is a recipe for disaster so I had to try and regain control. Unfortunately on both sides of the road were closely spaced rows of trees and before I knew it I had collided head first with one of those trees. I think this all happened in all of 2 seconds. Fortunately I was moving at fairly slow speed not more than 20 KPH since I was already inside the company premises and I managed to escape unscathed just slighly shaken (Thank god for Airbags). The car on the other had ended up with a thoroughly disfigured front end which actually looked much worse than it actually was.

Front end in desparate need of a 'Nose job'

As I reflect on this mishap which is the closest I have ever come to meeting my maker I made a few observations.

• You don't have to be drunk to cause accidents; It annoys me to no end when people rush to assume that when you have an accident that you must have been drunk, In this instance I was as sober as judge which is what I ussually am whenever I drive long distances.
• You don't have to drive fast to have an accident; Another assumption people make is that you have to be speeding to loose control I will have you know that a half tone saloon moving at 20 KPH will do untold damage when in comes across an immovable object such as a tree or wall if it meets you head on at that speed trust me we shall be discussing you in past tense.
• Accidents don't always happen far away; I was only 20 metres from my house I find it amusing when people tell you that they only need to wear seat belts on long journeys, Kwani it's OK to die when you are near home? Nowadays even when going for a packet of milk at the duka I belt up.
• Insurance Pays; I was always skeptical about the need to pay insurance and agreed with those who said that 'Insurance is like an umbrella on a sunny day which is taken away when it's raing' well I was forced to eat my words since I had only just paid my first premium on that car and yet they were able to finance the total repair on the car and it actually looks better than new.
• Automatic transmission is crap on offroad; I was all praise for my automatic transmission until this mishap although I have no way of proving it I'm pretty sure that if I had my trusty stick shift I would have been able to bring the beast under control.
• Murram is a whole different ball game; when you driving surface resembles small ball bearings anything you try and do with your steering will be like running on an Ice rink with high heeled shoes.
• Nose Jobs don't only refer to plastic surgery; while consulting with my mechanics on the repairs I learnt new terminologies such as Nose-cuts, Half-cuts which are not the preserve of cosmetic surgeons but refer to the art of removing the entire front of the car and replacing it leaving your car looking like new. It will now take a very meticulous fella to detect that my car had such a disfiguring accident.

I hope now after this reflection I can now look back at this incident and be able to laugh.

Now on to more pressing matters. Man U tomorrow meet up with AC Milan for Semi of the Champions league. Now that we almost have the league sawn up I a have kazaad my butt for the game cos if we do it will probably set up the momentum for the treble I can hardly wait. Good luck to the Liverpool tonight and lots of Luck to Arsenal on Sunday as you can see I am in generous spirits even though there is a glimmer of selfishness inherent (Hehehe...)

Mind Your Language.

Why do we as Kenyans so hung up on peoples accent until our entire comedy industry is based on just merely mimicking accents from different communities around the country. I have always wondered if Kenyans have got a unique Kenyan accent like South Africans, Nigerians or Ugandans that is because we are so diverse. Even for a city born person like me I find myself occassionally slipping in a kimeru shrub once in a while. Whenever I go upcountry my cousins and aunties are always teasing me on my pathetic mothertounge which I keep on mixing up with Kikuyu. Many times we try and guess where people come from by how they speak but with all the intermarriages and a generation that can barely speak their mother tounges I forsee that ability to differentiate kenyans slowly disappearing.

I got this forward from my bro' which made me laugh!
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English.

• "In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c" . Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.
• There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.
• In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where! more komplikated changes are possible.Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.
• By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".
• During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi blriten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza.

e drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted inze forst plas.
If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl

How Rich are You?

I used to think that I was very poor, but after visiting this website I had to change my mind. Just try it yourself by entering your annual salary and see where you lie in the global rich list.

Definetely food for thought!

Kenyan Ethnic Montage

In the last 2 weeks I have had to defend twice myself from accusations that as a person from the slopes of Mt. Kenya I must be one of the people who are the “eating” and that we are members of a certain infamous Mafia. I would normally take great exception to such notions since there is no evidence whatsoever that I have personally benefited in an extraordinary way as a result of my ethnic heritage but since it is the nature of Kenyans these days to label persons due to where they come from I can only rack my brains and try and understand why?
It bothers me why it is that we are so quick to stereotype the negatives about certain ethnic communities while there is all evidence that any vice or unfavourable trait is evenly distributed in the population. Does it mean that there are no positive attributes in other communities which we do not come from?
It is with this background that I wish to share this Montage that I came across which extols some positive values of a few Kenyan communities. I hope I don’t offend any one out there because I believe in the saying that “If you cannot laugh at yourself then you should not laugh at others”

The Perfect Kenyan should have:

• The Entrepreneurship of a Kikuyu
• The Sophistication of a Luo
• The Perseverance of a Kamba
• The Eloquence of a Mswahili
• The Generosity of a Nandi
• The Honesty of a Luhya
• The Courage of a Maasai
• The Contentedness of a Meru
• The Wit of a Mtaita
• The Fleet foot of a Kalenjin

There are no doubt many other positive things we could share with each other because all this bits and pieces from all the different communities are what make up the collective Kenyan Identity.

On a lighter note here is the Montage of a Perfect Kenyan Woman

The Ultimate Kenyan Mama should have:

• The Lustrous Hair of a Somali
• The Radiant Face of a Borana
• The Bountiful Thighs of a Luhya
• The Generous Booty of a Luo
• The Scintillating Hips of a Kamba
• The Determined Confidence of a Kikuyu
• The Patient Loyalty of a Meru
• The Mouthwatering Cooking skills of a Mswahili
• The Cool Demenour of a Nandi
• The Flawless complexion of a Taita
• The Elegant Poise of a Maasai

If there is one out there with all these qualities please Holla!!

Tweaking

Caelai sai o ai eis talaer Cosostae
Sor air ei vyr ail si Aelor Jhalendri
ailosaer shia si Jhys os Si Vol

Hello to you all my name is Kirima
This post is written in elvish
Inspired by the Lord of Rings

I have just finished tweaking my template to suit my favorite theme which is inspired by The Lord of the Rings Trilogy which counts as my favorite movie. (I actually own the Extended Edition 12 disk Boxset) I thought of frustating all my readers by doing the entire post in Elvish or even worse in Tengwar the Elven script used by Tolkien in his books but mercifully I do not have the patience of painstakingly translating them word by word nor am I that Evil.
After a hard evenings work I must now retire to my quiet peaceful home for 'dinner' then 'supper' (not as peaceful as the Shire)

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them

One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them"

Ten Ways to Marry the Wrong Person

Someone sent me an email message recently which covers several mistakes persons make in looking for a partner. I am certainly not an expert in these delicate matters and I still have a long way to learn but seeing that in the past weeks I have come across these 2 posts on what Women want and what men want I thought I should post this email as well just to add some fuel on the fire. It is rather lengthy but I didn't want to dilute the content by editing it so here goes:

Disclaimer: This is not an original post so I shall not be held responsible for the views contained within nor shall I be liable for any breakups or dissolutions of marriage that may arise from reading the following post - kirima ;-)

For my brothers and sisters who are in the process of finding a marriage partner and for those of us in this noble institution, this is for you.
With the divorce rate over 50%, too many are apparently making a serious mistake in deciding whom to spend the rest of their life with. To avoid becoming a "statistic," try to internalizethese 10 insights.

1. You pick the wrong person because you expect him/her to change after you're married. The classic mistake! NEVER MARRY POTENTIAL!! The Golden Rule is, if you can't be happy with the person the way he or she is now, don't get married. As a colleague of mine so wisely put it, "You actually can expect people to change after their married...for the worst!" So when it comes to the other person's spirituality, character, personal hygiene, communication skills, and personal habits, make sure you can live with these as they are now.


2. You pick the wrong person because you focus more on chemistry than on character. Chemistry ignites the fire, but good character keeps it burning. Beware of the "I'm in love" syndrome. "I'm in love" often means, "I'm in lust." Attraction is there, but have you carefully checked out this person's character? Here are four characteristics to definitely check for:
   Humility: Does this person believe that "doing the right thing" is more important than personal comfort?
   Kindness: Does this person enjoy giving pleasure to other people? How does s/he treat people s/he doesn't have to be nice to? Does s/he do volunteer work? Give to charity?Responsibility: Can I depend on this person to do what s/he says s/he's going to do?
   Happiness: Does this person like himself? Does s/he enjoy life? Is s/he emotionally stable? Ask yourself: Do I want to be more like this person? Do I want to have a child with this person? Would I like my child to turn out like him or her?


3. You choose the wrong person because you do not share a common life goal and priorities. There are three basic ways we connect with another person: a) Chemistry and compatibility b) share common interests c) share common life goal. Make sure you share a deeper level of connection that sharing life goals provide. After marriage, the two of you will either grow together or grow apart. To avoid growing apart, you must figure out what you're living for while you are single-and then find someone who has come to the same conclusion as you. This is the true definition of a soul mate. A soul mate is a goal mate....two people who ultimately share the same understanding of life's purpose and therefore sharethe same priorities, values and goals.


4. You pick the wrong person because you do not have deeper emotional connection. To evaluate whether you have a deeper emotional connection or not, ask: "Do I respect and admire this person?" This does not mean, "Am I impressed by this person?" We are impressed by a Mercedes. We do not respect someone because they own a Mercedes. Yes, you should be impressed by qualities of creativity, loyalty, determination, etc but do youactually respect and admire this person who possesses these qualities? Also ask: "Do I trust this person? " his also means, "Is he/she emotionally stable? Do I feel I can rely on him/her?


5. You pick the wrong person because you choose someone with whom you don't feel emotionally safe. Ask yourself the following questions: Do I feel calm, peaceful and relaxed with this person? Can I fully be myself and express myself with this person? Does this person make me feel good about myself? Do you have a really close friend who does make you feel this way? Make sure the person you marry makes you feel the same way! Are you afraid of this person in any way? You should not feel you need to monitor what you say because you are afraid of how the other person will view it. If you're afraid to express your feelings andopinions openly, there's a problem with the relationship. Another aspect of feeling safe isthat you don't feel the other person is trying to control you. Controlling behaviors are a sign ofan abusive person. Be on the look out for someone who is always trying to change you. There is a big difference between "controlling" and "making suggestions. " A suggestion is made for your benefit; a control statement is made for their benefit.


6. You pick the wrong person because you don't put everything on the table.Anything that others you about the relationship must be brought up for discussion. Bringing up the uncomfortable stuff is the only way to evaluate how well the two of you communicate, negotiate, and work together. Over the course of a lifetime, difficulties will inevitably arise. You need to know now, before making a commitment: Can you resolve your differences and findcompromises that work for both of you? Never be afraid to let the person know what bothers you. This is also a way for you to test how vulnerable you can be with this person. If you can't be vulnerable, you can't be intimate. The two go hand in hand.


7. You pick the wrong person because you use the relationship to escape from personal problems and unhappiness. If you are unhappy and single, you'll probably be unhappy and married, too. Marriage does not fix personal, psychological and emotional problems. If anything, marriage will exacerbate them. If you are not happy with yourself and your life, takeresponsibility to fix it now while you are single. You'll feel better and your future spouse will thank you.


8. You choose the wrong person because you get involved sexually too quickly. This can be a big problem because it often precludes a fully honest exploration of important issues. Sexual involvement tends to cloud one's mind. And a clouded mind is not inclined to make good decisions. It is not necessary to "test drive" in order to find out if a couple are sexually compatible. If you do your homework and make sure you are intellectually and emotionallycompatible, you don't have to worry about sexual compatibility. Of all the studies on divorce, sexual incompatibility is never cited as a main reason why people divorce.


9. You pick the wrong person because the man doesn't understand what a woman needs most. Men and women have unique emotional needs and more often than not, it is the man who just doesn't get it. Jewish tradition places the onus on the man to understand the emotionalneeds of the woman and to satisfy them. The unique need of a woman is to be loved. -To feel that she is the most important person in her husband's life. The husband needs to give her consistent, quality attention. This is most apparent is Judaism's approach to sexual intimacy. The Torah obligates the husband to meet the sexual needs of his wife. Sexual intimacy isalways on the woman's terms. Men are goal oriented especially when it comes to this area. As a wise woman once pointed out, "Men have two speeds: on and off." Women are experience oriented. When a man is able to switch gears and become more experience-oriented , he will discover what makes his wife very happy. When the man forgets about his own needs and focuses on giving his wife pleasure, amazing things will happen.


10. You pick the wrong person because he/she is involved in a triangle. To be "triangulated" means a person is emotionally dependent on someone or something else while trying to develop another relationship. A person who hasn't separated from his or her parents is a classic example of triangulation. People can also be triangulated with things as well,such as work, drugs, Internet, hobbies, sports or money. Be careful that you and your partner are free of triangles. The person caught in a triangle cannot be fully emotionally available to you. You'll not be their number one priority. And that's no basis for a marriage.
    
    Ability is what you're capable of doing....... ......
    Motivation determines what you do.......... .........Attitude determines how well you do it!KNOW HIM/HER WELL B4 U DECIDE

No. 9 Now thats why Jewish guys are so in demand :-)