and what of modern society?

Success; we think we know what it means. in the 21st century society, being successful is having (a)made lots of money or (b)having achieved exceptionally at some field- medicine, politics, engineering and what have you. What many people don't understand is that we can't be successful at everything, we all lose at something. We must admit, or accept the element of loss. We have to own or idea of success, we shouldn't aim at being like another popular person. Success is unique to every person.  

Modern society fears failure;especially the judgement and ridicule that comes with failure. The biggest which comes from newspapers, tabloids, lets just say the media at large.
In the 1700s England, like our own modern society, there was a clear distinction of the nobles from the poor. The poor, at the bottom most of society, were referred to as 'unfortunate' Now, in 2013, the same people are called 'losers' See the difference? Two words, describing the same people, that have nothing in common, at all.
After 400 years of revolution; the fate of humanity no longer lies with the Gods but ourselves.

Envy- a resentful emotion that occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement or possession and wishes that the other lacked it. A common Jane can't possibly be envious of a person like the queen of England. If I met such a a person I would ask them 'why? you can't even remotely relate with the queen, why be envious of her?' Envy thrives amongst people in the same level of society, those who can relate. That is why, i strongly recommend that we don't attend high school reunions. They are the one place where the 'loser' in your class is now a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company; where that girl you all used to make fun of is now a supermodel. Avoid the reunions at all costs

What happened to hand written letters? They were romantic. Gone are the days when a suitor would write a girl a romantic letter, and she would turn pink with blush, and would bite her finger nails from excitement, oh! and how she giggled when she read her lovers letter. Now?! its all about emails, and instant messages. Letter writing was an art, it was a beauty in itself...

what of modern society? 

rich men are attractive

Rich men are attractive?! For some its awe, others may have scorned at the title, and those in agreement with me nodded their heads in the affirmative. I’m not trying to justify my statement, i just want to lay out the facts here- the why and how... 

A few weeks ago, a young man makes a move at me and invites me for dinner. He takes me to a reasonably good restaurant, is all gentlemanly (pulling the chair for me...opening the door). Well, i liked it. So he asks me to make the order for a bottle of wine (I thought this was a man’s job!) i did anyway. To cut the long story short, we had a pleasant meal, all smiles and giggles....until the bill came! The dude flips! ‘kwani we unakunywa wine ya thao mbili?’ ‘Yes, I do’, I answered. ‘Hmm! Madame siku hizi!’ The guy laments on and on about how expensive the whole dinner was. First, I will not lower my standards and order a cheap drink, you asked me out, remember? Second, I can afford my own dinner, you were not doing me a favor. I dress myself, feed myself, pay my bills on time...what makes you think.... that was the last time he saw me.

Lets go back to the old stone age where men went into the forest to hunt, and in the evening, of after a couple of days, they would come back with their kill. Mwafrika comes back with an antelope, and Mwarabu comes with a rabbit! Get the picture so far? Whom do you think will attract all the beautiful girls in the village? Mwarabu? No way! With the large kill Mwafrika came with, all the girls  would smiling at him, dancing for him, singing praises for him. He is a man who can provide, Majivu’s(one girl who wishes to be married to him) future children will never want for anything, they will never go hungry, they will never lack hide to make clothes with.... 

Back to this century, men no longer go hunting. Your kill can be equated to how much money you have, not only in your wallet, but also in the bank. Do you have any properties in your name? Don’t get me wrong here; there is a difference between being a gold-digger and thinking about your future. I’ll tell you what all ladies want in a man. We want a man who can provide for our endless needs, pay our bills, take me on vacation, take my children to the best schools, se to it that I’m dressed in the best clothes and that my feet only fit in exceptionally good shoes...name it! If you can do all this for me, as my man you will get only the best out of me (be creative in your imagination here) Affluence even makes men handsome.

But, there is a catch here. Yes, you are rich, but you got to be intelligent. We love the geeks too, there is this thing about them that is so magnetic, pulls us to them- it’s like how some women like men in uniform, and vice-versa.  Being rich gives a man that boost, the umph over the other guys, if you were a 6 on a scale of 10 without the money, then you got rich, you would rocket to a 9- that's a fact! 

So there you go! Rich men are really attractive!

All About Beauty

Beauty (also called prettiness, loveliness or comeliness) is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture. An "ideal beauty" is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection- this is Wikipedia's definition of beauty.  

The characterization of a person as “beautiful”, whether on an individual basis or by community consensus, is often based on some combination of inner beauty, which includes psychological factors such as personality, intelligence, grace, politeness, charisma, integrity, congruence and elegance, and outer beauty (i.e. physical attractiveness) which includes physical attributes which are valued on a subjective basis.

Standards of beauty have changed over time, based on changing cultural values. Historically, paintings show a wide range of different standards for beauty. However, humans who are relatively young, with smooth skin, well-proportioned bodies, and regular features, have traditionally been considered the most beautiful throughout history.

Psychologists argue that gorgeous people get preferential treatment is a not-too-pretty fact of life, long attributed to the halo effect(The halo effect or halo error is a cognitive bias in which our judgments of a person’s character can be influenced by our overall impression of him or her. It can be found in a range of situations). Now there's evidence that beauty and intelligence (and other positive characteristics) go hand in hand. Evolutionary psychologists have opened a tantalizing line of inquiry onto age-old questions about beauty, and not a moment too soon. Clinical psychologists observe that men and women alike appear more concerned than ever with attractiveness and perceived physical imperfections.  

Well, beauty is relative: what might be beauty to one person, may not be to another hence the saying - beauty lays in the eyes of the beholder. Some may disagree and say that 'the beautiful are not yet born', but does this mean that mankind has never seen beauty? or that mankind will never see beauty?


For others, beauty is in nature.the trees, rivers, flowers, birds, butterflies.... name it.... 

Nature can bring alot of beauty into our lives, it has a way of changing our moods, how we feel, and even what we do, and how we do it. when it is sunny and bright, we feel cheerful; when its raining and cold, we get all gloomy; at night when the moon is up in the sky, we say what a romantic night it is. 

What is beauty to you? Well, some people I asked think that womanhood is beauty. One friend of mine categorically stated that God created women so that men would know what beauty is. I second him. A girlfriend of mine- who madly loves babies- said that beauty is when a little baby grabs you pointing finger in its tiny little hand.....(get the picture?) We can talk all day about beauty, and probably won't come to an agreement- beauty is all around you....

this is what i truly mean

There are all kinds of men in my life: my dad, my boyfriend, my brother, uncles, cousins, friends,and ‘others’. Many of the times I feel like they don’t really understand me, especially when we argue. so I’ll try and set things straight here… women and men are very different! And I don’t mean the obvious physical difference, I mean we are a whole lot different, including the way in which we communicate. Women process things differently from men,and as much as we would like to think in your way, we would like you(men) to understand us too,especially when we are pissed at you. Below are some of the words we use in our conversations and there is an explanation to what each word means. Men, read them carefully and understand them, and if any woman in your life has been using these words a lot more lately, beware! Because  her wrath will soon be unleashed(if it has not happened yet.)  

  

If you made your wife, daughter or girlfriend angry; and she’s giving you a hard time (she doesn’t want to forgive you despite of your efforts asking for forgiveness) just bear with her, but don’t give up and snap and start saying things like ‘well, if you don’t want to forgive me then it’s your loss’ or whatever it is that you normally say and make her alot more angrier than she was. Women like being bribed to forgive. The cheapest bribe is a kiss. And if u promise me a box of chocolates, or a pair of shoes that I’ve always adored, then be sure to keep your promise, coz it was a bribe in the first place, and I can easily go back to being annoyed.  

One more thing; we really don’t care (we care, but not that much-we care that it makes you happy like a little boy but not at our expense) how much that football game means to you but if you stand me yup coz you were watching a Chelsea game! That’s it!

Even though that lady doesn’t show it she loves being taken out on dates. Be proud of her and publicly show her off- but not too much because she’ll think that you see her as a trophy.

The last thing is what many men tend to forget, compliment her, as much as you can. If she changed her hair, take note. If her outfit is sexy, please let her know… and if her shoes turn you on, tell her. Always tell her how much you love her.

my land, my people

 The other day I'm watching this program on t.v about discoveries in Africa and Southern America. Well, something came up that made me really angry, so to say; and i updated my status on Facebook complaining. this is what i had to say(at the moment of course because i got more):

let me set things straight here: those ancient white explorers and missionaries did not discover nothing in Kenya or Africa for that matter....rivers, lakes, mountains...nothing. kwani wale Africans mlipata hapa hawakua wanaziona? ati u discovered them?!! nktest!!! 

Before the European explorers came to these lands in what is popularly known as The Age of Discovery, there were inhabitants in both Africa and S.America. Those European explorers saw our beautiful lands: the mountains, plains, rivers and lakes and our people (who respected nature and worshiped it) and went back to Europe saying that the had made discoveries: they even renamed some of the sites; as if our forefathers never had names for their mountains! To make things wrong they thought our ancestors uncivilized! Give us a break here: we had laws governing us, governments, we had our own medicine men, our own religions. They saw us as pagans not remembering that in ancient Europe paganism was vibrant, and those with belief worshiped gods just like our ancestors did. 

So the Europeans came back to our land with an aim of 'developing' our land and 'educating' our people: by the way, we had our own forms of education. What did they end up doing? They tricked our leaders into signing treaties that led to our colonisation and in most instances they used force. 

What I'm trying to put across here is that the settlement of Europeans in Africa between the 17th 1nd 19th centuries did Africa alot of harm and no good. Colonisation ruined this once beautiful place...and it will take Africa long to free herself from neo-colonialism since the West is still trying to control us with all their crap- first fix yourself before u try to fix us. and i still stick to my word(status update): you did not discover nothing. 

this is the meaning of discover:to see, get knowledge of, learn of, find, or find out; gain sight or knowledge of (something previously unseen or unknown) Did these explorers mean to say that our land was unknown or unseen to us?

the world as i see it- albert einstein (part 2)

To inquire after the meaning or object of one's own existence or of creation generally has always seemed to me absurd from an objective point of view.

And yet everybody has certain ideals which determine the direction of his endeavours and his judgments. In this sense I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves--such an ethical basis I call more proper for a herd of swine. The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Without the sense of fellowship with men of like mind, of preoccupation with the objective, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific research, life would have seemed to me empty. 

The ordinary objects of human endeavour--property, outward success, luxury--have always seemed to me contemptible. My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced freedom from the need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I gang my own gait and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties I have never lost an obstinate sense of detachment, of the need for solitude--a feeling which increases with the years. One is sharply conscious, yet without regret, of the limits to the possibility of mutual understanding and sympathy with one's fellow-creatures. Such a person no doubt loses something in the way of geniality and light-heartedness ; on the other hand, he is largely independent of the opinions, habits, and judgments of his fellows and avoids the temptation to take his stand on such insecure foundations. 

My political ideal is that of democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and respect from my fellows through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the one or two ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that it is necessary for the success of any complex undertaking that one man should do the thinking and directing and in general bear the responsibility. But the led must not be compelled, they must be able to choose their leader. An autocratic system of coercion, in my opinion, soon degenerates. For force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels. For this reason I have always been passionately opposed to systems such as we see in Italy and Russia to-day. The thing that has brought discredit upon the prevailing form of democracy in Europe to-day is not to be laid to the door of the democratic idea as such, but to lack of stability on the part of the heads of governments and to the impersonal character of the electoral system. I believe that in this respect the United States of America have found the right way. They have a responsible President who is elected for a sufficiently long period and has  sufficient powers to be really responsible. On the other hand, what I value in our political system is the more extensive provision that it makes for the individual in case of illness or need. The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the State but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling. 

This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does by the name of patriotism--how I hate them! War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business. And yet so high, in spite of everything, is my opinion of the human race that I believe this bogey would have disappeared long ago, had the sound sense of the nations not been systematically corrupted by commercial and political interests acting through the schools and the Press. 

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. It was the experience of mystery--even if mixed with fear--that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms--it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves.

An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the

single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature.

the world as i see it- albert einstein (part 1)

The Meaning of Life

What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost

disqualified for life.

The World as I see it

What an extraordinary situation is that of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he feels it. But from the point of view of daily life, without going deeper, we exist for our fellow-men--in the first place for those on whose smiles and welfare all our happiness depends, and next for all those unknown to us personally with whose destinies we are bound up by the tie of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labour of my fellow-men. I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force. I also consider that plain living is good for everybody, physically and mentally.

In human freedom in the philosophical sense I am definitely a disbeliever. Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity. Schopenhauer's saying, that "a man can do as he will, but not will as he will," has been an inspiration to me since my youth up, and a

continual consolation and unfailing well-spring of patience in the face of the hardships of life, my own and others'. This feeling mercifully mitigates the sense of responsibility which so easily becomes paralysing, and it prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it conduces to a view of life in which humour, above all, has its due place.

the power of words

If I could use words

Like falling leaves

What a bonfire

My poems would make

and what of music?

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols 

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

― Bob Marley 

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”

― Victor Hugo  

“If music be the food of love, play on,

Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.”

― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night  

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination

and life to everything.”

― Plato 

“Play it fuckin' loud!”

― Bob Dylan

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.”

― Aaron Copland

 “People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands - literally thousands - of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss.”

― Nick Hornby, High Fidelity 

what do you think of music?

I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense…. Schopenhauer’s saying, ‘A man can do what he wants, but not will what he wants,’ has been a very real inspiration to me since my youth; it has been a continual consolation in the face of life’s hardships, my own and others’, and an unfailing wellspring of tolerance. This realization mercifully mitigates the easily paralyzing sense of responsibility and prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it is conducive to a view of life which, in part, gives humour its due.”

― Albert Einstein, The World as I See It