Big Bang. Evolution. Taylor Swift...

I want to tell you about my ambivalence for Taylor Swift.

It annoys me that I even expend the slightest bit of emotion on that girl but there it is.

You see, the thing with Taytay is...she's like the epitomisation of the Entitled White Girl. It's a species I know well, both because of my upbringing and through encounters on +Twitter.

Growing up in the eighties means that every white or yellow person I ever came across felt that they were better than me. Hell, light skin Africans felt they were better than me. Lucky for me, I understood that intellectually without internalising it. It's only when the Internet came to be that I understood that other black people actually believed this lie. As in Michael Jackson believed it to the extent of developing Body Dismorphic Disorder. Michael was maybe an extreme case but I think it's much more common than that. And many more people would have done what he did to himself if they had the money and the doctor. 

Have you seen +Botched ?

Anyway, my point is, those people who felt superior, they approached me with an attitude which assumed that I would automatically defer to them, because they were/are lighter than me. Unfortunately for them, I'm no respecter of Persons and I genuinely, genuinely DGAF. On top of that, nobody wins arguments with me. No one.

Ask anyone I know. I think it's probably the single most annoying thing about me.

Want to know my secret?

It's very simple; No Bullshit. I just hit you with the facts, and the truths. Most people attempt to prevaricate. You can't fight the truth with bullshit and expect to win.

That's what the Entitled White Girl does.

First of all, she makes a statement of her opinion as if it was a fact.

Once you tear that statement into tinny tiny pieces, she's taken aback; wondering at the temerity of you; so she tries to attack something about you. Your language. Your race. Whatever. 

My language is impeccable and my race is better than all a yours. Very difficult to undercut someone who feels nothing for your insults. Being a secure bitch is...a bitch.

So then they begin to prevaricate.

No, I didn't say that.

Did I say that?

Obviously I didn't mean that.

Have a nice day?

All of which I countermand by sticking to the point. You're supposed to get side tracked. When side tracking doesn't work, the next phase is becoming the victim.

"I can't do this anymore."

"You're a bad person for making me feel bad."

"You insist on misunderstanding me."

I deal with this by sarcastic mocking. Sometimes, they don't even get that they're being mocked. It's kinda fun.

Underneath all these responses is a certain disbelief that you're not rolling over and letting the poor blonde delicate flower win the argument. 

Why are you being so mean?!?

The thing is, I'm not sure if this is something they learn at their mother's knee, in school or are they just born that way? I do enjoy destroying them though. It makes me feel like a superhero. They've gotten away with this shit for waaaayyyy toooo loooonnnnggg.

Love Yourself or Fuck Yourself

I spend a lot of time gnashing my teeth.
Not even on my own behalf, just on the various ways that people insist on not looking after themselves.
It annoys the fuck outta me.
Classic case in point.
My son just came home for exeat and he was telling me (once he was through communing with his phone - did I see a porn site on there? nope) about the Kenya Music Festivals that he's participating in. Now his voice is still going up and down so I was wondering how he can even sing, but apparently he and his crew were reciting a poem. The school they were staying at, because the regionals are out of town, was one of those nobody's heard of. I forgot the name as soon as he said it.
Anyway.
So he tells me that they hadn't been able to go to the loo the entire time they were there because the loos were a hole in the ground. And not even a deep hole; shallow ones where you can see generations of poop floating around stinking up the place.
Mind. Explodes.

They were there for three days.
Three. Days.
My son held his poop the entire time.
Bad as that may be, and I impressed upon him the dangers of holding in poop that long; I am more in bogglement over the pupils and teachers who day in day out, use these facilities on their daily ablutions. Putting aside the risk of disease...
shudder...

Pooping is a very cathartic experience which one should be able to do in a way that doesn't compromise your mental and physical health and the rules of hygiene. At the very least, can they not cover up the hole and dig a proper latrine or five? It's self-neglect. It's an attitude wherein someone, somewhere doesn't feel like it is necessary for an entire school to have a place to relieve themselves with dignity. It's a violation of human rights people!
I saw on +Instagram that some reality star named, Aysia or something was asking for donations to pay her medical bills.
Why?
Because she had a car accident and she wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

The girl is lucky she just broke the bones in her face. I know people who have died from that. What does it take away from you to grab the leather strap and click it into that little holder put there for the purpose? It takes like one second. And it saves so much heart ache. Come on people! Do better.
But the thing that really makes me gnash my teeth and rent my garments (or whatever the expression is, I haven't read the bible in a minute) is people not paying attention to what they put in their mouths. Girls in clubs taking drugs from strangers because 'It'll give you a whole new high' or whatever. What is it you're escaping from which causes you to be that reckless? Maybe, whatever it is, you just need to face it and move on.

Worse than that, a doctor or a chemist gives you some drugs, and you don't even enquire what they're for. You don't even remember the name of the drug; have no idea how it works. Some 'medical practitioner' gave it to you, so you're just gonna take it. No questions.
What's the worst that can happen?
One word.
Prince.
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person I know who is interested in long term survival. Like people laugh at me for being so careful and conscientious about things. For wanting a plan, for thinking ahead. To me, it's just basic self care.
Loving myself.
Why don't y'all love yourselves?

Speaking of loving yourself, +Google is celebrating world emoji day or something. And they are asking TEEN GIRLS to code an emoji unique to them. I feel like that's an oxymoron. You've already grouped them as 'teen girls'.Hardly unique. I thought these days we were all about 'identifying as' whatever the fuck we want. So what about 'teen boys'? what about older people who 'identify as' teenagers? I don't understand the exclusivity. I really side eye Google these days. What with searches for 'nigga house' showing the white house and the whole mess with "Professional Hair" vs. "Non-professional Hair".

I cannot conclude this post without mentioning +Taylor Swift 's take down by +Calvin Harris. That was just about the most epic thing that happened this week. It makes me feel good to know I saw through that hypocrite years ago. It also makes me feel good that before I saw the video, I did not like This Is What You Came For. It sounded more like something Taylor would sing than Rihanna.
huh
Turns out she wrote it.
No wonder.
The #TaylorIsOverParty is ongoing over here if you're late so come on down.

Thank You!

I really really appreciate it when you leave a review on my work; it warms the cockles of my cold dead heart. You need to know that.

You know Child of Destiny is my baby don't y'all? I'm so glad that you're enjoying it. Thank you for the five star reviews!

International Author's Day

It's that time of the year again; International Author's Day. Yay.
This blog hop is hosted by book r3vi3ws.

This blog hop is about the authors who have touched our lives. They are so many and I could take this time to talk about established authors that I read; +Diana Gabaldon +JK Rowling or +Anne Rice all of whom have influenced my own writing...but then there is someone who has impacted me and my writing; we've collaborated on a never ending story and he's that unicorn. A cerebral guy.
His name is Munyasa Khasiani and his digital footprint is minimal; but he just released a book of Poetry called Of Vice and Pen Volume One.
Now I'm not really one for the abstract, or poetry for that matter. I barely understand complex rap. If Jay Z didn't have such catchy beats his raps would literally fly past me at speed because...what? I mean if someone explains it to me, then great. I enjoy learning. But on my own, I'm not able to comprehend that shit.
But if you're into the deep stuff, the real stuff, the really emotional stuff. Munyasa's your guy. Check him out on Amazon and let me know what you thought. Better yet, let him know.

In addition to introducing an author to you, the blog hop is about me giving away something author related. So click on the link below and win!

Enter Blog Hop Giveaway here
Giveaway runs from 14th - 18th July.

Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale!

Congratulations! 

You now know about the +Smashwords summer/winter sale which takes place from one minute past midnight Pacific time on July 1. On that day the special Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale promotion catalog went live. Find it on the Smashwords home page.  Readers are able to browse the catalog and search by coupon code levels and categories.  At the stroke of midnight Pacific time on July 31, the catalog will disappear.

The coupon codes only work at Smashwords, not at retailers served by Smashwords. Coupon code levels are for 25%-off, 50%-off, 75%-off and FREE.

Here is the summer/winter sale page link: 

All my books are enrolled in the promotion so 'Have at it!' * Klaus voice

Lives Matter

A few years ago +Trayvon Martin was killed by +George Zimmerman because he was wearing a hoodie. He was seventeen years old. A jury of his peers found George Zimmerman not liable for this murder. His defence was something called 'Stand your ground' where apparently you're allowed to shoot someone because you feel threatened.
Since then, several people have been killed, with video evidence, and their killers have gone free.
Every time it happened, there is a message which was sent out to the Black American Community. That message was;
'We can kill you with no consequences.'
'Your life does not matter.'
A gorilla died, and so did a lion (in Zimbabwe, named Cecil). The deaths of these animals incited more outrage than the death of #TamirRice, a twelve year old child.
Every time some black man was killed on camera, his life was dissected and any wrong thing he'd ever done was displayed like some sort of justification for murder. The message this sent was;
"Look at this guy. He wasn't perfect. Therefore his life didn't matter."
Hashtags were born.
#handsupdontshoot for Mike Brown
#IamTrayvon and wearing hoodies.
#Ican'tbreath for Eric Garner
And finally #Blacklivesmatter because there were too many lives lost and hashtags couldn't be individualised anymore.
And now this week, some of the most traumatising videos yet. A man held down and shot for asking what the fuck he did. Another man shot in his car because well...reasons.
It was too much.
It was too much for Micah Xavier Johnson.
He couldn't take anymore.
So he took a sniper rifle or five (which are readily available anywhere) and mowed down some cops.
These are the consequences of lack of justice. Lack of accountability. Nobody takes responsibility so everybody pays.
What's the solution?
Justice is the solution.
Doing the right thing is the solution.
On all sides.

Meet Me At the Finishline

I don't know what to think of +Beyoncé . On the one hand, her performance at this year's BETs (which has won the award of Best Award Show of All Time for this year's show) was out of this world. Hell I watch it every morning as I have my breakfast just to start the day right. On the other hand though, she's such a package rather than a person that one doesn't really know if she's just really discovering her blackness or jumping  on the 'freedom' bandwagon. I mean the hair is still blonde...but it's braided now. What are we to think?

The New Face of the Resistance?

Does anyone else feel like the world's gone mad? I wonder sometimes has the world really gone mad; or has the fact that social media enables us all to witness the madness in real time make things seem more escalated than they are? I mean not that they're not bad - but maybe they've always been bad - the difference being that now, they're bad in 3D; on +Facebook and +Instagram. Not to mention +YouTube and +Snapchat.
Speaking of social media, I have to say I'm proud of us as Kenyans. In this sea of confusion and discrimination, Kenyans seem to have their hands on the pulse of what is right and what is wrong. They protest at the right things; a lawyer getting killed by police for defending a guy against the police (have you signed the petition by the way?). Nobody is trying to defend the police. No one is talking about 'protecting' law enforcement. Everybody can see that what they did was wrong (well except for Cliff Ombeta who is looking after number one. They must be paying him a fortune to defend them - he better be able to retire after this).

He beat up a 14 year old girl coz she was swimming

If you go across the sea to somewhere else that has come into prominence for police injustice however...
Have you seen the +BET Awards 2016 yet? I mean seriously if you haven't, please go and watch. #Jesse Williams gave a speech that was memorable not just for its poetry, vivid imagery and general creativity; but also it's content. He called what was done to Tamir Rice, a twelve year old playing by himself with a toy gun, who was shot by police, a driveby. Now the reaction to this...was basically this petition https://www.change.org/p/abc-sign-petition-to-fire-jesse-williams-from-grey-s-anatomy-for-racist-rant. And people attacking +Justin Timberlake for being inspired. Like seriously, what followed such a transcendent speech was such small minded pettiness that I officially gave up on Americans.Y'all seriously cannot be helped.

Another thing Kenyans are protesting about on social media is the visit by Israeli (former?) PM +Benjamin Netanyahu . Apart from the traffic jams his visit is causing, there's also the fact that his nation practises apartheid. Now watch someone say me pointing that out is 'antisemitic'. Just like Jesse Williams pointing out that police killed a  12 year old child is 'racist'. Like seriously, can someone define for me what racial or religious prejudice is because clearly I don't understand. Because these things are just facts. They're not opinions. A twelve year old boy was shot. Fact. Israel practises apartheid. Fact.
But that is the way of oppression I suppose. Keep your fucking mouth shut or we take away what little 'freedom' you still have left. Honesty is not allowed. You must allow the people to keep their illusions at all costs. And most people are too scared of the consequences to say a word.
Why do I feel like Muhammad Ali is nodding in agreement right now?

#Brexit happened. You know when you think human beings cannot get any dumber than they are? Then seventeen million people vote to leave the European Union because of...what? Is it to enhance their economy?
Nope.
Is it because they're oppressed in some way?
Nope.
Then why then? why?
Oh because of 'immigration'. Because 'we want our country back'. How's that working out for y'all UK? Have you lost a few pounds? Is your society now a better place to live in? Have your jobs increased? Is your economy thriving? Really congratulations on being dumber than any rock that ever existed.
As for 'your country'; I like how people appropriate the whole to themselves like other people don't exist. Do you know your history? People have been trading in Europe ever since those damned Romans built roads. Travel and trade has been happening as long as people have been alive. At what point did one piece of land become the property of...who are these people anyway? Norsemen? Vikings? Gauls? Who owns Britain really? Tell me. I'm curious.
I think the world would be a much better place if more people were curious. If more people knew their histories and didn't just make them up to suit whatever agenda they currently have.

'History' may always come down on the side of those who did stand up; who did point out injustice - Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, the Dhalai Llama, that Asian woman on house arrest I forget her name, Jesse Williams...Jesus Christ - they're full of 'Oh you were right' and 'You fought for our rights'...but in the present, when it counts, when it's not the popular opinion; how many people hide? How many people say, "This isn't my problem?"
It's your problem.
You're either part of it, or you're part of the solution.
Choose.