Tuesday, May 24, 2005

A Peddlers' Paradise


Back in Form Two (9th/10th grade), a teacher we thought wasn't coming in for the mid-morning double lesson caught me and two other classmates scribbling & drawing some bizarre stuff on the class board while the rest of the class acted as harsh critiques. We were all good students but often fooled around in class & got away with all sorts of crazy things so long as it wasn’t too noisy to get the monitor in hot water.
Now, nothing wrong with the occasional "playing Mr or Miss X" and imitating the way they talked, after all, most teachers are often aware of this...they did it too back in the day when they were little, right?
This day was a little different in that Waleed, my homie on my right & Ibtisam ('sam), the honey on the left and I got too excited, lost our heads in the fun & we soon had lots of different colored chalk plastered all over us. We went nuts messing up the way our literature teacher talked…the different voices she used for the characters in the novels, her tone, pauses, the many rhetoric questions, how she praised & even chastised the class. The class lost their minds as everyone literally rolled on the floor laughing their arses off (rofltao!).
The 3 Musketeers that we were relished the moment so much we wanted it to last forever, but nope... in an instant we noticed all our drawing & monkey business wasn’t getting the same reaction as before. Turning to check on our audience, we realized that the lit teacher, monitor & the senior teacher were taking in all the madness while seated in our seats, ouch!!! All hell was surely about to break lose! Don't want parents coming to see the head only to get more madd at us!!
Fast >>>Forward:
The outcome wasn't as bad as we thought, no parents called (phew!) but we each had to buy a box of chalk and became the laughing stock of the class as we were denied any chance to go clean up all the chalk dust which made us look like clown-faced fools trying to pass for miners in S.Africa or the Ukraine,lol! I was humming Bob Marley's 'Pimper's Paradise' when we got caught. Our classmates turned that into "Peddler's Paradise" for the way we looked like some powder peddlers caught in the act:).
Now that I think about it, I was busy drafting logos & signing my nick name which later became my logo/brand name (wink!), Waleed, the artist was drawing an oil tanker in the high seas...now he's working for an oil company in the Qatari desert. Ibtisam was sketching scenes reminiscent of what we read in the school books...haven't made contact with her but I hope 'Sam is also putting her Peddlers' Paradise skills to good use:))

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

The Touch


Touch somebody, mhm,mhm, not so playfully...
but for all those times U needed them to steady up your courage,
and for all those moments that life's a challenge
that shook up their faith & confidence
and they came running to you for solace.
-akiey-

"Nishike, Tushikamane" -Swahili Saying
"All that you Touch, you Change. All that you Change, Changes You" -Octavia E. Butler

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Turn It Into a Happy Home


"Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer" --The Lion

After all is said and done, I feel like I need me some vacation. Six long months will do ... just so I can visit Mombasa's North & South Coasts for 5 months & then spend a month in either Bahia or at one of my dream places in Cuba. Wanna come along? Suggest a destination then pack a few Tshirts, 3 pairs of jeans, sun hat, swim suit/trunks, sandals, iPod (beg, borrow, steal but get one) & camera. Until then,....gotta turn this into a Happy Home>>>
PS: Just read this wonderful poem by Mshairi & realized that a trip to the Geerewol ceremony among the Woodabe in W. Africa won't be a bad idea either:) (updated May 25th,05)

NB: Tafsiri is now a bilingual blog thanks to all the love shown by fellow members of KBW. I appreciate u all. Ur welcome there as well. -akiey-