It must be frustrating for the government when it gets bombarded with criticism from its citizens from every possible angle, I imagine. Sometimes the criticism is justified but sometimes it’s unfair. Challenges are challenges, and they are impediments even for a government- people stealing, poor roads, high cost of living, lack of funds etc. For an African nation, we have a good government! Be my guest and check other African countries, its only right for us to see the good (and there is no shortage of goodness) in our government and give a little respite for just a moment. I can’t help but wonder, why didn’t anyone go up in arms over the spoiled food (except for one angry tweep whose probably searching for any Red Cross worker to do them who-knows-what), that wasn’t tax money, should it not have been more enraging? Or did it have to be the government for people to consider it a wrong? Sometimes when things go awry, its no one’s fault. And sometimes it’s our individual faults.

The total amount of money that was raised by Kenyans was nearly a hundred million Kenya Shillings (or one billion, I forget). That’s a lot of money even in Zimbabwe dollars. People donated, even the poor gave the little they could. This was only the second time in my Kenyan life to witness masses of my fellow countrymen and women brought together and act as one. I mean people joyfully gave! It was a good campaign, it felt to me like a contest of who gave more. One was almost compelled to send cash since it seemed selfish and inconsiderate not to, especially when everyone else was doing it. It became a fad. Hypocritical. I’m inclined to think some people gave for themselves and not for the hungry, just so they could sleep well at night after seeing the devastating images on the nine o’clock news, neutralizing the guilt knowing they did something. But they gave nonetheless.

I say if you want to give then start with the needy that are close to you and make it a habit. And the most you can give is not just money, its the love and hope you give to another human being. I trust its what led this blogger to start a campaign to raise money for her friend who needs money for a new lower jaw. It is to me a good place to start this habit, where are all the good people at? The update so far here. I wish Savvy and her friend all the best.

PS: This blog’s third anniversary is this month, traditionally I drop a tiny post to celebrate it. But this short note is just fine for this year . Your good wishes are now welcome. *ululation*

Ladder of Knowledge

If you are Kenyan and you read books, you probably have poor reading habits in my book, don’t take it personal it’s just a personal opinion. After about two days of contemplating what I should write about to make my much anticipated comeback to the blogosphere (I have fans who read me, what?), and because I just finished reading a book I would describe as quiet riveting, I decided I might as well teach folks good reading habits. Here are my fundamentals that I think everyone should abide by;

1. Ditch The Novel

Rule number one, if it’s a novel it’s a waste of time! You get much pleasure when you read but once you close the book there’s not much to show for it. It’s not how much you read, it’s what you read, can I get an amen? Okay, so you read for pleasure only, see that right there; that’s a bad habit. I do not refute, there are some good novels worth reading like I read Paulo Coelho again recently, good read, there is something more to gain than just pleasure in some of these novels but if you make novels your habit, you know what kind it’s going to be.

Novels’ shortcoming for a curious individual like me is that I’m compelled to take everything that the author writes as is. Whenever I ask myself ‘why?’, the answer is always going to be because the author wrote so. If you were anything like me in my reading habits, you would like to at least be presented with empirical evidence from real life experiences to make the fiction live, impossible! Fiction is dead, it cannot come to life. In a novel, even if the made-up story is credible, does it not make you wonder if things would happen in that exact sequence in real life? We probably will never know! And that might be my own bad habit, I always want to know.

2. Practice What You Read

You read something, test it. It will make you feel empowered and a better person. If it fails the test, dump it. On to the next. Wise men said; don’t believe everything you read, take a moment and digest this. In this era, it’s so easy to get a hold of a good book, one humongous reason why I’m glad to be living in it. Life is short, learn as much as you can, explore. There is no where a book cannot take you… I know, that sounds corny.

In the news this week, a woman was killed in a stampede in a Johannesburg university while scrambling for a chance to register for the limited spots (I guess they have not yet discovered online registration), that same day a debate was broadcasted on BBC’s World Have Your Say seeking to answer the question: is university education a privilege or a right? {To listen to that broadcast, download the podcast here, it had Kenyan contributors who misrepresented us (Kenyans) from my vantage point, the catch is that that particular podcast is available for download only for 7 days from the 10th of January 2012} It was interesting to note that education meant different things to different people, others considered online education as second class.. if not third, others considered education without certification as no education at all, check this story of students getting university education that they will not be credited for, they call it Freedom University. My point: when you read, you learn. And when you learn, it’s for your own development in the different facets of life. When you develop you become a better person because you think and understand things better, and there is some education for you.

3. Self-help Scrolls

Don’t even get me started, I’ll start by myself. Books that help you help yourself, read them in private and avoid sharing them with everyone. There may not be anything intrinsically wrong with these books, except for the fact that they can sometimes sap the excitement out of life by pointing out where the pitfalls are (or might be), I mean, noble but boring. But being spotted reading them is rather an admission of weakness, which is different and has nothing to do with the actual presence or absence of the said weakness. It’s like using a dating service.

Bonus

This week I learned about independent candidature in Kenyan politics, excuse my ignorance but I just recently learned that to vie for the position of  MP or senator, the constitution does not necessarily require you to  be a member of a political party. Well, I’d like to see an independent candidate win an election, that would be something to watch.

Today I remembered an awkward time during my high school days, I was in the company of two of my high school friends when we bumped into my mother, after she had left one of them told the other “His mom is hot!” I mean, what do you say to that? Awkward indeed. *shaking head vigorously*

Happy new readers!

If God were fair… to the devil, He wouldn’t have sent His only son to die for us (if you believe in the Bible like I do) and we would all go to hell! Frankly, I think that’s what sinners deserve, I deserve hell but God said no! I’m going to make a way for Wyndago to be redeemed, I can’t let him go to waste. And why? I have no desire to understand it further than to just know that He loves me, period. Of what use am I to God? Ptch, I have been redeemed and there is way for me to be made pure of my sins, that’s all I need to know.

God interfered in my life, He probably has many times but this time I was conscious about it being the hand of God at work. I was ensnared by the devil and right when I was about to give in the fight He showed- true story. He said, you need to think this through and come back to your senses, you’re only going to hurt yourself and I’m not going to be there for you when choose to go down that road, kinda like what He did with Saul, I mean Paul… the guy who killed Christians, that one. Then the devil went like “arrgh, drat, not again! Are we having a contest or not?” Thank God we are not Job, that man had it bad.

I apologize for going all church on you on this one, but it is what it is. There is only one way to live, the sooner you find out how the better for you… forever. Or maybe I shouldn’t be sorry for this, okay I am… probably, maybe.

Less stress my code, no worries ’bout nada shit pays a visit I let it talk to my God. That’s my lawyer my all that takes care of my living, if I need something it’s no problem at all. I don’t know the whole truth yet though, I handle one day at a go. Until that day when I have I have to go. I gave sacrifice of half a goat, the skies opened and it poured, had to build a boat. This is not your regular post this is a poem written in continuous prose. Now you see me now you don’t, that’s The Synctum‘s blog. I take a break but bounce right back in it.

I feel restless now that I’m all lawyered up, I just set the ladder against the wall. What’s breaking a couple of laws and having a few records? Flying without wings and being the first to do it meanwhile the devil heckles. A free spirit, happy-go-lucky individuals that won’t take no for an answer. We are not go-getters, we just show up to receive, no secret. I’m just part of the team so I play my part. I sit and wallow in my thoughts for hours thinking about how this whole world is ours. How lives are just like smoke when they fast disappear in thin air, does it make any sense?

That hard-headed maverick, screw what you thought.

So when I open the ‘Add New Post’ page I come in with a lot of zest and the sight of the page alone is a motivator. It speaks to me, it says Wyndago this is it, this is your playground begin to play. Most times I don’t know what I’m going to write about, I just open the page and stare. Countless ideas jet through my mind and I grab one and go with it, developing it as I go. Few times do I show up on my playground with things to write about in mind. Albeit I have noticed that when I have an idea of a post, it may not go away until I unleash it, the one you are reading now is one of them.

Over the years I have been blogging I formulated rules for myself along the way to guide me in my blogging. I compare myself with me so I don’t know about the rest, these are just my thoughts so please no lawsuits, lol. Ever since I found myself at the epicenter of controversy on Twitter I’m bound to be cautious about what I say in public but that’s a story for another day. Without any further ado, here are my blogging 101 tips, for me by me;

1. Keep It Short

This has been evident in most of my posts. This I came up with because I realized how hard it is to capture and hold on to a reader’s attention for long. That reader is me. I see myself when I read other blogs, for the long ones I can’t help scrolling down every now and then in the middle of reading just to check if the end is near. I want the reader to catch the concept of what I’m saying fast so he can move on to the next blog, he most likely has a long list of better blogs to read and less time at his disposal. But this is a nice blog to read no doubt about that, I know because I write it but you know what I mean. This keeping it brief tip is also convenient for me because I’m lazy and lack the patience to write a long one. I have something to say so I just want to blabber it out at once so I reckon it serves both me and the reader fine. I allow myself a range of 530-700 words per post.

2. Keep Your Private Life Private

I am careful not to reveal too much, this I started not too long ago. When I was growing up people used to have diaries, now they have blogs. I kept a diary too but I don’t want my blog to become my diary but rather a medium where I can dump my not-so-private thoughts and at the same time share them. A place to share my point of view and get feedback… that sounds about right I think.

3. Say Something

I fail at this sometimes but the idea is to have a theme and surround the whole post around it without being distracted into digressing to something else. I basically strive to have some sort of message or notion that I want to put across.

4 Break The Rules Occasionally

I had to throw this one somewhere because I’m past the 700 word mark. I do break the rules at times and that is part of the rules.

5. Have A Photo On Your Post

The rule says; thou shall have a photo on each post but ye is allowed up to two consecutive posts without photos after which the third one will by any means have a photo. This is to ensure that the homepage does not miss at least a photo at any given time since The Synctum displays three posts at a time, for aesthetic value.

Photos shall at all times be relevant. The rule goes ahead to state that; thou shall not have a white person’s photo on a post that is distinctively Kenyan, strictly for pertinence reasons, not racist. Talking about road rage on Kenyan roads and displaying a picture of a bunch of white folks squabbling in a traffic jam is rather conflicting to me (no pun intended). On that note, it is fair to add that photos of black people, let alone African, are hard to find on the internet if they are not celebrities.

That’s blogging 101 for you.

But anger is just one emotion. We have to deal with a spectrum of emotions as human beings, we are special by virtue of having the capability to feel. However, it is the duty of each one of us to control and tame our feelings and to me the best way is to figure out what things trigger which emotions to yourself. It’s an enduring education of self. There’s something about descriptively knowing your adversary that gives you power over it/him/her. Anyway, if I could summarize this post in one sentence I’d say; try not to allow your emotions to dictate how you make your arguments or judgements.

Some people would say I like to argue, I say I like to debate. I would like to believe there is a difference. For this reason I’m always massively disappointed when I enter into a debate with someone who because of their emotions wouldn’t allow reason to be the basis for their arguments anymore, and worse still, not be aware of this themselves. I have been wrong many times, I have lost many debates and gave in (as embarrassing as it may be sometimes), I have caught myself in the dilemma of having to choose between fact or feeling, I’m just thankful that over time I’ve learned how to tell the difference. Take for example the controversial subject of homosexuals and their rights, a homophobic will naturally argue against but it shouldn’t be so natural. I just want people to be able to say- I don’t like or even approve of what they do but they are entitled to this or that because of that and this.

Please do not be mad at me because I hold a different view from yours. Please do not hate me for that, if it’s a stupid opinion to hold you would do me more good to enlighten me because it would be definitely because I am under informed. I am more than willing to learn new truths. Please do not resort to calling me names because you don’t sound so convincing to me, you will lose your credibility in my eyes and hence the chance to rescue me from my ignorance and then what would be the point of the debate in the first place? You are better off quietly leaving me to rot in my ignorance. The point is to learn from each other and sometimes from ourselves when we trigger thoughts and ideas in each others’ minds, is it not?

If I ever offend you just take a deep breath to calm down. Hold your tongue before you say something profane, it will pass like a wave then you’ll be able to be reasonable again for the purpose of the debate. That’s what I do but I won’t tell you how it’s worked out for me so far though…

Most Popular Post

Judging by the number of hits it got, it has to be the recent post I wrote on Rose Nasimiyu, Hats Off For Nasimiyu. This post has attracted more than 600 hits and counting, thanks to google searches, linkbacks and the little girl’s sudden popularity.

Post That Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved

I don’t know, maybe The Dream of Nairobication? I wrote that from the heart. Usually I prefer to write with a clear head, so that’s perhaps why I desperately wanted this post to be read by many. But it wasn’t.

Post Whose Success Surprised Me

Without a doubt that’s How Safaricom Almost Conned Me. When I moved to WordPress from Blogger, most of the comments on my posts got lost so check it here to read the article with all the comments. Comments kept coming even months after I had posted it.

Most Controversial Post

I do not like controversies so this is tough but if I have to choose, then this is the one- Letter of Apology

Post I’m Most Proud Of

I’m proud of many of my writing. Again, if I have to choose then- Metal Breaks. People who read it said it made them ask themselves questions, which was my intention- to make the reader see themselves in the story. I think I delivered the message effectively too. Though I’m not quite sure what that message is, it depends on the reader. Read it yourself if you’re curious.

And those are my five links.

Enjoy.

1. Anyiko

Anyiko’s writing makes me tic, takes me to different places and evokes different emotions in me as I read. And she has managed to be consistent in having this effect on me. Always leading me to want to write some more… to write better. I have once borrowed one of her blog posts and had it posted on my blog here (of course with her permission) and part two of that post here. I liked the post so much I wrote my version here. So when it comes to inspiration, she is at the top on my list.

I’m an avid writer, words mean a lot to me and Anyiko knows how to use words, making your mind stretch and twist in ways that you didn’t figure possible. To add to this she is also very prolific, something I am not. Envy that.

2. ShikoMsa

One part of the duo (you’ll find out who the other part of the duo is, read on) that welcomed me to the universe of blogging this one. I like how she tells her stories, and how she makes her arguments. Her blog has always been nice to look at and always has the most appropriate photos for her posts, very neat. She’s unique like that. I also like how she writes about things that are specifically Kenyan and sometimes.. Kikuyu. Like the gizzard story here, it stuck on my mind that one.

3. Mama

The (d) in inspire above was put for her sake, she seems to have vanished but a part of me wants to believe that she just moved to a new url that i do not know of. She is the other part of the duo I talked about above.

4. Ourkid

He also doesn’t blog nowadays but his presence is still felt from the comments he makes on blog posts. Brutally humourous! Also one of the first bloggers I read. I just don’t know how he did it, he made me literally laugh out loud with his writing, something not so common with most writers. Mostly I giggle or smile at funny pieces of writing. I hope he writes again soon.

5. Bikozulu

A great story-teller with a wide readership. His writing is the type I’d be willing to pay for. Also funny in a clever way. I don’t even think myself fit to write about his writing, he is of another level. I rarely leave comments on his blog because I think he gets enough and someone is most likely to have spoken my mind for me but I always read through the long but captivating posts. It’s always a pleasure.

There, that’s my list. These are the blogs whose url’s are etched in my mind. I visit their blogs anytime anywhere. If you are not on my list don’t fret, I’m most probably not in yours. Again, these are the 5 blogs I most cherish… there are many a few more.

I have a friend, lets name her Julie. Our relationship keeps oscillating between the statuses of friends and non-friends so it’s not even appropriate for me to call her a friend right now, our relationship pendulum points at the non-friends side. The reason; I said an insensitive thing that I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for it but that’s not my point. The point is I miss her and I have borrowed the mother’s way of dealing with guilt albeit with slight modification. I have decided that I will keep sending my ‘friend’ texts letting her know how I’m doing and what I’m up to every now and then but not expecting any response. That way, my screwed up self thinks that I’ll be paying for my baloney but she won’t have to. Its crazy but I want to pay the price. If I can have my cake and it too then why not? Unless she warns me to stop. I coincidentally loooove cake, I thought I should mention.

Anybody out there suffer from guilt? I can help you soothe it or better yet, get rid of it. Here are my theoretically awesome but practically unproven pointers on how to deal with it.

Strategy No 1: Simply Forget

As Swahili wise men once said; bury it in the grave of oblivion (my translation is accurate, eh?), whatever it is that makes you guilty . Yes, brainwash yourself and allow yourself to undergo selective amnesia BUT, and this is the catch, while applying this strategy never under any circumstances should you apologize! This works well with dudes, just walk up to the guy whom you wronged and start talking like everything is cool between the two of you. He will thank you for it! I don’t know about other men but I find it disturbing for another man to apologize to me. My long time friend tried it on me the other day and I couldn’t kill the conversation any faster. Like; “I know it was my fault and I shouldn’t have done that and I’m very sor…” Dude! Its OK! I don’t even remember what you did.

Strategy No 2: Make It Right

This is where you need to know your flowers, what each colour means. Buy yourself some gifts, pamper yourself.. or sometimes them. If you killed someone (a little extreme I know), make it your business to save lives, trust me it helps. If you were caught cheating with your best friend’s wife, you can let them have yours… kidding lol XD. You generally get my point, you can make your bad deeds seem less deplorable by doing a few good ones. And you have to work hard at convincing yourself that they are. I prefer people to apply this on me, just buy me cake and we are fine.. not less than a kilo, did I mention that I like cake? I like them with lots of cream.

Strategy No 3: Find An Outlet

My first year in high school I was a depressed kid, if it were not for writing I would have exploded or something. It’s the same with guilt, find an outlet. This is best suited for those things you do or don’t do and are not proud of, things that are undoable, like not telling a loved one that you love them enough times, then they die on you. I’m sorry, my examples are just tragic but did the message hit home? Oh, like Jay-Z bought his nephew a car and the nephew died in the same car in a road accident, then he felt guilty like he played a part in it. Such stuff. Find an outlet, for Jigger it’s music. Find yours, it could be boxing.. whatever.

Three is my magic number and my word count is way beyond the minimum that I set for myself for each post so… I end it here. Until next time.

-A quote from the movie Fast5

We are a mob, that’s what we are us Kenyans. In most things we do including how we think, it has become a part of us to the point it drives us into having latent fears of being ‘lynched’! When engaged in arguments, the mentality is always who wins and not what’s best. The new constitution for example, dare question it and you are an anti-reformist, case closed *bang!*.  That’s just one example and I choose to leave it that, you can spot other examples by yourself if you live in Kenya and are keen enough. 99.9% of the times I correctly predict the outcome of news opinion polls. Now, either I’m just too smart which I doubt, or we are too predictable because we are scared of being in the losing lot and care so much about being ‘right’. A more saddening thing is that we are not so accommodating to people of different opinion, just to put it mildly.

In a totally unrelated issue, I recently read- more like tweavesdropped (eavesdropping on twitter), on two tweeps arguing on a very tricky matter. The subject at hand was the refugee crisis at the Dadaab camp here in Kenya where there are many starving people, Somalis and Kenyans alike. One person commented that if the Government of Kenya had taken any relief food to that part of the country, then starving Kenyans should be given precedence over the foreigners. A few people didn’t take this comment so well. I just enjoyed the exchange of tweets that ensued. I would like to hear what you think.

But Kenyans are my people. I’m behind all my Kenyan people. Our leaders are all good, not perfect but they are all good. The education system could improve but at least we have schools. Super highway on Thika Road didn’t come by itself, my Kenyan leaders made it possible. We are among the first African nations to have fibre optic, we have a new constitution that’s all-inclusive… who did that? That was my people! Touch one of my people and see me get all crazy, we the mob! lol.

Back to planet earth as if I didn’t mean a word of the previous paragraph, no secret that it’s an unpopular opinion that our leaders deserve credit for anything. So either of two things may happen; I’ll have to face the wrath of the mob and be verbally lynched in broad daylight for taking the side of the enemy who for years has imbibed funds from the public coffers for their own good or I’ll not be taken seriously enough because it’s just too ridiculous it only deserves a good laugh. Either way, I’m just trying to be positive for my people! Is it wrong for me to attempt being positive that my leaders are positive enough to make positive decisions, execute positive actions that will have a positive impact on the rest of us? Is that wrong? Well, let me get back to my sleep and dream because I refuse to be ‘right’.

Signed,

The Mob.