Poetic Fever

Soft words yet unspoken
Funny jokes now untold
Witty and long conversations now unheard
Hearty laughs a distant memory
Lengthy emails now unwritten
I miss you friend!

Been a minute since I got all Love Jones-esque poetice and so this haiku is me trying to find my way back to the land of 'poetry'...lol..

No surprise I'm a Gamu Nhengu fan (on XFactor)  y'all know this girl is as patriotic as they come! So go Gamu!



I'm part of the recently launched Miss Zim Diamond - FB Fan page on the top right, please click the 'like' button and for more info on this visit our site www.misszimdiamond.com

Untitled......

“Get your popcorn ready, 'cause I'm gonna put on a show.”Terrell Owens

Late on Tuesday evening I decided to watch the above NFL Player's season finale!!I'm vex! The end left me cussing and wondering WT.. in the world of reality tv was going on...did he just propose?And even the girl-friend had a WTF look on her face. Whilst I'm cussing and all my cute lil José has a message - its saying he's being attacked! I don't believe it, after all he has all the body guards to keep him safe and those sending me the message look like they attackers anyway. I go and get my warm milk(supposed to make you sleep...that ish doesn't work!)get back to José and something's wrong! He really has been attacked!Those useless bodyguards, to think the amount of money I spend paying for their services! I call the Helpline, we go through the recovery process, he says there's hope, we might be able to bring Jose back, I'm hopeful...but halfway across recovery José  goes into cardiac arrest  crashes.

José

The tech guy says to me 'I'm sorry ma'am you'll have to take your netbook to the nearest PC World/Currys Store. It might take 10-15 days but some have been fixed within 6 days' *dramatic gasp* TEN  to FIFTEEN DAYS without José?The darn anti-virus I have didn't work, how am I going to cope??

I went to the ZimConnect networking event and must say I was proud to be Zimbabwean and meet many young Zimbabweans who are doing their own thing. Was pleasantly surprised! Got to see and meet the young Tinashe, he is very talented and I enjoyed his performance!

Now random thoughts and questions: I don't want to hear or read about Wayne Rooney!! Is it wrong that a grown woman like me likes 'Whip your Hair' by the young Willow Smith??Why do some women never have vex money set aside??Is the name Jayden the latest trend??What do you do with an attention seeking friend?Who else has a vision board??Any-one go to Hillsong Church? Ah well I just decided to update my blog......

Reason 1001 Why I'll always say Obama Rocks!!

Love that some chose to wear their traditional garb!! Anyway guys watch, enjoy and comment...

A Blues for Nina...tears for Mer-mer

 

  Video: Nia Long & Larenz Tate’s “Love Jones” Flashback….
- Watch more Entertainment Videos at Vodpod.

If you know me, then you know what my greatest movie of all time is.The poetry, the actors, the humor, everything about this movie I LOVE..so you can guess who was having a groupie moment screaming at her tv, forgiving Larenz Tate for cardinal sin of wearing sunglasses indoors, actually recorded the show just so they can watch this clip...qui moi! Miss Nia Long is killing it in this video, love the short hair and the dress...darn love her whole look!

And in the spirit of awards, *brings all her sister-friends, friends of friends and cousins of cousins on stage*, starts *Chris Brown crying* I would like to thank God,*chokes* my fans,*chokes* my family,*chokes* the Academy, and all those who not only nominated me but voted for to win an Nigerian Blog Award for the second year running. But y'all showed your clear dissatisfaction with my sporadic blogging over the past year because it was a TIE!!..LOL...so does that mean I get half an award??..lol..

From childhood to adulthood

From pictures with front teeth missing

To my last ever hockey match pictures

I feel a chill down my spine

I remember the laughter

I forget the tantrums

I remember the banana clips

I forget the Tevin Campbell posters

The tears well up in my eyes

I can’t erase the pain

I remember the birthdays

They said calm and loud

Different and yet so alike

I forget being grounded

I remember the long phone calls

I read your short and sweet emails

I cry at the memories

They refer to you in the past tense

The prankster

you pulled the biggest one on me

I have a lump in my throat

Over the past month since my last blog post, I lost some-one very dear to me. I've been referring to her as my childhood friend, but last night as I remembered our memories I realised she wasn't from my childhood but she grew up with me! Its been a week and 3 days since she passed. The pain. It hurts.


Ok I won't get you sad. Let me share...This past Friday evening, I'm at home, hear a noise, it sounds like rain or at least water dripping. Weird. It's coming from outside...I go to check...its vomit..I kid you not its raining vomit! My idiot, nasty neighbour from upstairs is vomitting out through his window and all his vomit is going on my plants! WTF?? I'm repulsed,  sickened and dead furious, so I rush upstairs *with a jug of water in my hands* oh yes I fully intended to chuck it in his face as soon as he opened the door..start pounding on his door shouting 'Stop *bleep* vomitting on my plants you *bleep*bleep* Use your *bleep* toilet' . Idiot doesn't open his door!!I'm furious!I write him a note. My friends see the 'humour' in all this (especially my jug carrying). Next day, who do I see in the corner shop trying to duck and dive from me?Nasty Neighbour! I rush towards him, he's turning red, I'm wishing for that jug of water, the shop keeper looks scared. As I get to him I ask him 'What the *bleep*? Don't you have a *bleep* toilet?Who vomits outside the window?And on my plants?And why didn't he open the door?' First he went into a 'I don't speak English veli welle' mode until I said 'I'm going to call your landlord and tell him about this foolishness'. Next thing the dude can not only speak it but he does veli welle! He's apologising, offers me new plants, to clean my windows, but I'm not having it! If I hadn't cornered him in this shop, he wouldn't even have acknowledged this foolishness, so yes I called the landlord and also sent him an angry letter!

The Rock Cries Out to Us Today

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes,
Into your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning. 
Maya Angelou

This post is just random thoughts going on in my head...





* Lil Kim/Nicki Minaj – ok first off I didn’t have Barbies as a kid, well ok I had a one but it was one neglected Barbie(my mother tells me its still intact) as I  grew up with four brothers I didn’t have the ‘joys’ of playing with Barbies, instead I was riding bikes,climbing trees, playing with action heros and all that other stuff. Anyway, shouldn’t the props of the original Barbie go to Mattel?They created that damn doll but then again one can forgive them(Kim and Nicki) because they do have enough plastic to get confused on who’s the OG Barbie!! So I don’t get why these two women are dissing and beefing with each other and honestly I don’t care. Just make good music and shut up!

* Lewinsky Minaj, Aoki Lee, Ming Lee (the jury is still out on calling these people insane), Swizz Beatz, Diddy, Trey Songz, Drizzy..no I’m not just naming famous folks, these are some of the names people have decided to call themselves on Facebook !.*seriously?!?.why do that? Aoki and Ming are kids…and two grown ass women have decided to call themselves that?!?Yes they’re cute kids but come on now this aint Flavour of Love or For the Love of Ray-J!

* Drake – I’m on the fence about this guy, and now that I’ve succumbed to peer pressure*side-eye to @mskkj, @vimfromzim @senkwe*, I’ll be listening to his music, as Jay-Z said in ‘Everyday A Star is Born’ ‘Next its Drake, lets see what he will do’..so yeah will update you all soon

*My sister-friends – yes I fell in love with this saying ‘sister-friend’ when I heard Maya Angelou use it. Its got so much meaning when you have close friends who are just like your sisters. So yep, I’m now calling all my cherished and dearest friends my sister-friends. I'm also still going to continue raving how I'm surrounded by positive women making it happen in their own way, with such people around, you know you've got a strong support base!Some I'm yet to meet in person but still feel I have a friend in them!Guess its just the modern-day pen-pal right?Except that you actually talk on the phone/email/tweet/bbm each other!!

*Maya Angelou – I heart that woman, her voice, her work, just how she is...heart her!If you're not aware of her work, the title of my post is a title of a poem of hers..I love it!!

*Summer – for moi summer is synonymous with braais (bbqs to you non-Southern African folks) meat,meat and loads more well-seasoned, marinated meats. And also summer gives me an opportunity to hang with the sister-friends! Ohh summer is the season for weddings and summer romance too*apparently*!

*Reality shows – I’m a US reality tv junkie, watching Tiny&Toya(I like Tiny and errr Toya when did she start ‘rapping’?), Basketball Wives(wrong name for this show as there’s just two members of the cast who are actually wives!), Brandy& Ray-j’s Family Business (why did Brandy keep calling Flo Rida Flo?use his government name ie Tramar Dillard..ok maybe that’s why she called him Flo, love their dad), What Chilli Wants (I felt for her when Floyd stood her up)…yes as you can see I watch reality tv way too much!

*Yourlovepunch.com, An Open Letter to my ex’s – Forgive me if I’m late in coming across the site and FB group. Anonymous letters are written to exes, thing about the anonymity is you get it off your chest but they never know right?Apparently its a 'healing process'.Ah well..

* Slim Thug - when I was reading what he said, I had to scratch my head, headover to YouTube and remind myself who he was, then I was hella annoyed at myself for even trying to remember this knee-grow!KMT!

*IamShonaTV - So the day I decided to start filming footage for the videos I  went all guns blazing to different shoe stores with my video-camera(thinking I'd the female  Noel Clarke), I was told by those shop assistants 'Sorry we don't allow filming in the store'..I felt disappointed after hearing it 3/4 times(but of course  I'd managed to get some footage), so how was I going to do this?Then well genius idea and the lil 'thug'  blagger in me got to work...so yes videos will be put up soon, I think I will put up an interim 'hey,I'm here one' for the time being.

*Twitter - Gotta love how Justin Beiber was a trending topic for ages, I have nothing against the lil man..go Justin. Anyway, I wonder if some folks realize that you are what you tweet and therefore folks should really think before they 'tweet'. I now have my view of certain folks the bi-polar, the ignorant, the plain #whatrockhaveyoubeenunder and then the funny,informative,interesting etc.And to all my twitter folks you know its hard not to put the hash tag right?I did put it in a work email, thankfully realised it before I clicked send..lol!!#twitteraddict

*World Cup 2010 – Its soccer fever all over!In the office sweepstakes I picked Slovakia and Algeria (a friend told me that I had no chance ever..as if I didn’t know), anyway I’m supporting all the African teams, Brazil, Germany and France – if you ask me I have valid reasons for why I’m supporting all these teams.

*Clogs - Fugly, fugly, fugly!!!One trend like harem pants that I will so not be following. And oh whats with folks who follow every darn trend?? The above definition of a fugly pair of shoes is Ralph Lauren and goes for $4,500 yep four and a half grand for that eye-sore!!To Ralph Lauren folks I say 'You Teefs'!! Whoever I'd see paying for that I'd have them sent to the gallows!!#nojoke

Zimchic - email moi : shona@iamshona.com

L'Afrique c'est chic

A luta continua

I am who I am
Not because of the colour of my skin
Not because of the accent in my voice
Not because of where I’m from
The poverty you say defines me
The corruption you say influences me
The wars you say I’m out to fight
The fraud you say I’ve mastered
The chip you say I carry on my shoulder
No I am who I am
Not because of how much I have in my wallet
Not because of the tribe I belong to
I am who I am
Not because of the languages that roll on my tongue
I am who I am
Not because of the scars not visible to the eye
Not because of the graciousness of my walk
Not because of my gender
Not because of my alumni
Not because of my political affiliation
Not because of personal affliction
I am who I am
Because of the essence of me
Because of my worth, my voice,
My education might mould
Who I might become
But what makes me unique is
the soul of me!
The soul of an African


*Vent Alert!* '

I always say this – I am a product of Zimbabwe and child of Africa. I’m sick and tired of the view the foreign media gives us Africans! Yes, we have our problems but please come on…Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children, The World’s Most Dangerous Place for Women, Welcome to Lagos, Blood and Oil, Unreported World: Nigeria’s Killing Fields. Now I cried watching Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children for I never went through that as a child, my Zimbabwe childhood memories are precious and watching The World’s Most Dangerous Place for Women I shed more tears for raping a 3year old is just evil! But, I’m sincerely upset, real mad like Joe Jackson (thanks ‘Ye) because I know there’s much more to Africa than poverty, corruption, rape and all these negative things being shown by the mainstream media!

Why won’t they do a programme on Africa’s Wealthiest People without mentioning corruption and how unfair it is for them to live such a lifestyle whilst the masses suffer? Patrice Motsepe, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Onsi Sawiris, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali (I used to love saying his name as a kid..)? How Africans are investing in their countries?How educated we are? Or maybe as Africans we should do a programme on how some London Boroughs are still using mass graves to this day till an African baby was dug out and eaten by a fox?

'Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek'. Barack Obama

We as Africans need to dispell the single story or rather multiple negative stories and right now my mind is in overdrive, now I'm wishing I'd done a film and media course! Hmmm summer school maybe? For we know, they won't do it for us, we NEED to do it OURSELVES! My dearest readers, bloggers and friends, let's rise up, and show them we are not from a 'dark continent! but that L'Afrique c'est chic.

*Please excuse any typos, grammatical errors - this is an improptu piece - so if my prose isn't flowing...apologies!*

UPDATE:

Following publication of this post, LondonDiva and I have set up a Facebook Group which you can join if you feel the same way as we do. This Facebook Group is just the beginning - once we are the change that we seek! www.facebook.com/wedemand!

Our Stories

The above Chimamanda video never ceases to inspire me when I'm suffering from writer's block and lawd knows I've been suffering from it such that this cold winter's Saturday evening I had to reference to it..and voila I'm tapping away on my keyboard!

I have a story to tell that's the reason for the re-vamp, not that I'm disowning my first blog..never because without it, I wouldnt be such a confident blogger or writer, you all wouldn't know or say Happy Sexing for I shared part of my stories, made a mark, and now its time to broaden the horizon and share more bigger and better stories. A balance of stories, sharing the thoughts of this Shona woman, a proud Zimbabwean, Africa's child, a black person, an ethnic minority in the diaspora, a Barack Obama Supporter, a book worm, a student, a shoe lover...see there are many stories to tell on the many labels we all carry. Its having the guts to move from the 'stereo-types' but sharing not my world but my world of words through my eyes, those around me, those who brought me up, those who love me...as each and every one reading this post has a story or stories to share and so with each post, you might want to share your story too!

On how single stories lead to stereo-types here are some 'light-hearted ones'

a) Big guys = big tings…(u know what I'm talking about!!)


Unfortunately for some Big guys = chipolatas!! My friend says some might have suffered ‘shrinkage’ after going to the gym and all..lol!

b) Sexy person = Sexy Voice


Gosh, have you ever seen some-one and given them an accent or a voice, deep, sensual, smooth and then from the moment they say ‘Hello’ that’s it??Its like wrong voice dude, wrong voice?

c) Sexy voice = Sexy Person


Some radio dee-jays have disappointed many a listener!!

d) Black Women = Angry Woman

Nope I'm not angry, I don't have any daddy issues, I don't think all black men are dogs and yes I AM a black woman!

e) Short guys = compensatory behaviour, short-man syndrome, egotistical

Honestly I’m still on the fence with this one because some short guys have the arrogance of André the Giant..lol..I've been told that 'dynamite comes in small packages'. I know short guys who are confident a little cocky but not arrogant bastards!


Anyway I do look forward to sharing stories with you all!

What Do You See?

"I am an African, not because I was born in Africa but because Africa is born in me." Kwame Nkrumah

I saw the birth of my dreams, I saw my foundation, I also saw the future for my yet unborn child,I saw a people as a whole with warmth, the beauty Mother nature gave us, (Victoria Falls, the Namib desert, the wildlife, the jaccarandas) I saw education values, I saw resourcefulness, I saw resources (diamonds, gold, oil, farming, coal,copper, educated people)I saw how I might be from the South I will relate to some-one from the East or West side of Africa! I saw history - the pyramids, Gora Island, Robben Island, Great Zimbabwe. I saw the cities. I saw the pride that we live with inside our hearts, I heard our many languages, I heard our great rythms. Yes, I also saw the dark-side, I saw the civil war in Darfur, I saw the Aids pandemic, I saw poverty, I saw the pain we go through in the diaspora to be who we are, I saw the struggle of past and present, I saw the stereo-types they give us, I saw the silent tears we've shed just because of where we are from, I saw it all BUT I also saw HOPE!!

Kwame Nkurumah, Kofi Anan, Julius Nyerere, King Mswati, Nelson Mandela, Wole Soyinka, Fela Kuti, Mansa of Mali - Salif Keita, Angelique Kidjoe, Miriam Makeba, Idris Elba, Thomas Sankara, Djimon Hounsou, Wale Ogunleye, JayJay Okocha, Didier Drogba, Queen Nzinga, Agbani Darego, Winnie Mandela, Brenda Fassie, Kirsty Coventry, Tshaka, Caster Semenya, Chimamanda Adichie, Tsitsi Dangarembgwa, Petina Gappah, the Masai warriors and many more are all children of Mama Africa

Africa rises and stands tall and with children like all you here on Blogville, she beams with pride...

When you see this map what comes to mind and what do you see??

PS:And as I happily sing 'I am leaving this place now, letting go of all my fears, saying good-bye to the memory I hold dear, I can finally breath again, its a new day farewell past, as I close this chapter, I set free at last!' This is no Jay-Z type of retirement(did that one before) this time its real.. I would like to introduce you to my fellow Zimbabwean bloggers ie my homies/top aces/chynas (a la Jigga-style shoutouts @ the end of his concerts) : I stalk her blog and we have our own lil chatroom on her comments page my girl Vimbai , MyBestFriend'sLittleSister she's a newbie blogger and her blogs hold memories of home, Hadassah a yummy mummy to be , Daughter of Eve gots to love her , my lawyer who's the definition of fabulosity ZimChic , repping Zim in Sweden and with style Emilia , she's my lil sis/chyna deep with words and I heart her to bits Non-Non ,his blog is of his trips around the world but this man has a lot to say..actually as I type this I had a Eureka moment..Super you remind me of Simon Cowell..lol.. Superstar! & a dapper, swagger-fied(yes its a word) man who's yet to blog but ladies trust that he's smoove & great with words ProfChicago . I had overlooked her but she's made sure I add her to that list otherwise she'll come after me..he-he but y'all already know her MissDefMaybe . So do visit their pages for some good ol' Southern loving! Stay true to yourselves, love some of u and as always Happy Sexing xoxo

Love Jones

U've got this jones forming in your bones

Love flowing through your veins

caused by this man

who indeed took over your soul

This man’s got swagger,

He’s not a Mr All Talk no action kinda guy

When he moves his lips its to speak the truth

He has his flaws and that makes him real

For we know you’re not Miss Perfect

He talks just like how he should,

He can roll out the mother tongue and

Switch it up in the next minute

He's your friend and your partner

He’s a hard worker and go-getter

He’s the one you’ll only ever truly love

He's the medicine to your pain

And you're not ashamed to admit to the world

You've got the love jones in your bones