Django over Les Miserables

Oh my goodness so last night - I went to our downtown Cinema Salem I used to drive past this place and would smile coz its so tiny from outside that I would wonder really is there anything that really happens in there like big screen movies...But boy oh boy I had the time of my life last night - Les Misearables was not showing at AMC loews and the nearest place was you guessed it - Cinema Salem...So I forfeited my trip to the laundry - what a tough decision here lol - and trotted to Cinema Salem.I texted Ms J if she was interested but after no response it was me and my warm self and my Ketepa tea I was ready to put up a fight if he refused me in with it - it was 17 degrees by the time I was getting there...so anyhu long of the short I watched Les Miserables even after a little back and forth with Ms. winter between that and Django and omgeeee Les Miserables is oscar worthy. Yani the last movie I sat big screen for two and a half hours was Benjamin button.So anyhu I enter Cinema Salem and not quite the shocker it was just me and some other couple who sat three rows ahead of me.The girl even turned when I entered and shouted I hope you like it I am here for the second time to watch it....So after kiss kiss peck peck of watching the lovely couple infront of me the movie started - lol me and my lonesome self and cup of tea what a funny sight huh but I was so determined to watch the movie I had heard great stuff about it and sure enough it did not dissapoint. Well let me put this caveat I guess you have to love musicals - kina Rent sister act to really enjoy this.It was like theater had come alive on big screen the costume the set the music the vocals - Hugh Jackman nailed it -looking mighty fine, Anne Hathaway - darn you princess of Janovia!!! am telling you the singing is beautiful the script is stellar - you are transported to the world of the French Revolution, and the love story yani there was a time I was crying - well thats not surprising  I was weeping for the Help...So after two and a half hours of non-stop music I was like Django aint got nothing on this...So after the movie I met the ka girl in the bathroom ms. I-am-watching-it-for-the-second time and she was crying and I was like I feel you sista - white sista!So long of the short dont let the title fool you its beautiful its captivating the trailer did not do it justice and am glad Anne Hathaway got a golden globe for something...so here is the trailer for you to get a sense of  my excitement ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuEFm84s4oI

Back in the day buffet

If Jam a delic, Rustrut, KTN Niaje mean anything to you this video will make you smile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prlz9VRdJB8

What greater Love has he ...

 Yep yep yep today we have pics finally (after requesting permission of course)So yes today I was on that dreaded monster that everyone has sworn to stay away from as part of their new year resolutions - yep Facebook - cmon guys you know you miss it.... and I was moved by my friend Ms. B who shaved her hair in solidarity with her boyfriend who is undergoing chemo.Betty told me "he is the bravest person she has met and he inspires her everday and she would shave her head a thousand times over if she could."I first met Ms B a couple of years back we were bridesmaids at a wedding.The thing that struck me the most about her is that she is one person who knows the real meaning of YOLO .she takes life by the horns and is not afraid to let go of the shore.... The first pic is him in a chemo session and she is holding on tight to his hand.Then you can see he is the one shaving off her hair and finally the final product....And for real I immediately thought of the scripture what greater love has a man that he would lay down his life for another...well this is a whole different kind of sacrifice but for me it resonates with what true love is and should be all about - standing with you through the thick and the thin.Through sickness and in health till death shall we part....I have been thinking a lot about this the last couple of weeks I work with a population in their early nineties - yes  people who have lived through the first and second world wars.These are people who have dined in Paris , one of my favorite ladies has been all over the world six times, some were CEOs of companies I cannot write here, they have mansions in Florida but at the end of it all ...only one thing stands the loves of their life....There are so many couples who bring me immense warmth and joy.One of them the wife is a hospice patient - like literally on her death bed and EVERYDAY the old little husband comes in with a walker to sit beside her and hold her hand and she says nothing and he leaves after half an hor but for him thats the best half an hour in his day.I remember last week when we took he out of bed for dinner he found her in the dining room the husband was so happy I overhead him tell a perfect stranger "They took my wife out of bed to the dining room today." I could not help but smile.Another couple married 68 years every day at four pm the husband visits from downstairs and trust me at three forty five Mrs X is always antsy 'I wonder where he is ?" Penny we have been married sixty eight great years!!! she tells me, and they have been the happiest of my life.And then sure enough at 3:59 you hear the door open I hear her "There he is!!" and I am suddenly forgotten and there he goes -  wheeling her down the corridor...This by the way is EVERYDAY...I am saddened to think of the day when the clock will strike four and the door will not open...what will I tell her? Usually they say such couples when one dies the other never lasts long..There are so many other little vignettes of love here and there but my main thing is how beautiful love is...I looked at the pic of my friend Ms B shaving her hair and was like these are the moments that define life so you go gal stand by your Mr. man!!!

Using 19th century solutions to solve 21st century problems

This seems to be a blog post I started sometime last year...and since the book I am reading is right up this alley I think I just might finish it today...........Okay so the other day I was packing lunch in the wee hours of morning - lets say 5:45 - yeah the perils of a morning shift  and as I had the cars rush past - yeah my house is like right near the road it hit me wow I am as good as the workers in the industrial revolution.... I have become number one fan of Seth Godin -subscribe to his blog follow him on you tube, twirrer you name it.... he is one of the best inspirational speakers of this century - esp on matters that are enterprenural related.so anyhu...Seth - yeah am on first name basis is on a quest to get peopls mindset away from the industrial revolution mindset and realize *in a flavor Flave accent "What time it is!!!So anyway back to my little morning prep so as I got ready I begun thinking of how Seth talks of the era of industrialization was characterized by mass production of the same good, people doing the same routine only with specialized tasks (read as job description) and as I packed my lunch this morning and heard the cars zoom by as people went to work I had a Seth lightbulb go off.I instantly remembered the days going to primo stuck in traffic on Mbagathi road and crowds of people from Kibera would walk past in groups going to Industrial area to look for a days pay for a days work doing menial labor for minimum wage.It hit me that right there defines the age of the industrial revolution where hoards and hoards of workers would go to the industries work from dawn to dusk and get cash money at the end of the day.You dont show up you dont get paid simple...So anyhu for me I feel that so many of us are industrial workers and yet we do not even know it...I think thats a reason I LOATHE punching in and out of work - it reminds me that I am working on a clock if I dont punch in I dont get paid.I remember the first time I went to Six Flags with my good friend Priscie and I told her "wow I would love to be one of these people running the machines. it seems like such a fun job," and she told me "yeah but after a while I think it gets monotonous you doing the same thing over and over again - strapping people in giving a smile and saying enjoy your ride over and over again..." I think my gal Priscie figured it out long time ago - I see on her Linkedin she is the founder of a food retail company...ok I am sooo digressing let me get back in focus...where was I yes....so what was I saying there was a friend of mine we went to college together after high school well one semester before we both dropped out (yup my name is Penny and I am / was a college dropout) yes we both dint finish the CPA course...so anyway the other day I saw he mad the top 30 under 30 enterprenuers in Kenya he started an online financial advising service called Pesa Talk.So I checked out the webpage - you can check it out here http://pesatalk.com/ and damn the brother has done over and above what school taught him. And this is one of the two prinicipals I will touch on....The first is seeking job creation as opposed to job description.I feel a description limits us in terms of the things we can do and limits our going over and above anything we set out to do....And that is why in so many "work" places especially in this great nation of America I often hear the phrase "Its not my job" and trust me that makes me want to gag!!Reminds me of the British sitcom Whose Line is it anyway? Why limit yourself to just  that little cubicle and computer you have been assigned to?My family was in the States for six months and one thing my mum said is that the American system can/ has made you people zuzuz i.e dumb lol(said with love) .Reason being there are "jobs" left right center you go to Mc Donalds we are hiring you go to Macys we are hiring and guess what you will get hired to do the same thing that Mr X who was fired last month was doing...and as long as we have "jobs" we get comfortable as long as we are paying our bills we are comfortable forgetting that The world has changed Governor!!One of Seths quotes from his book Linchpin is  once someone is hired and given their description the presumption is " follow these instructions and you dont have to think.Do your job and you dont have to be responsible for your actions.In every corporation in every country in the world people are waiting to be told what to do..."
However for me I think The difference between here and Africa is that  jobs are not handed to you on a silver platter instead there are "opportunities for job creation"  - startup companies are everywhere - people are using the little they have to trade (read as Soko Kuu) , invest in the stock market...So anyway I can go on and on and on but I think we are living in a society / world where things are changing so rapidly - where knowledge can be deemed useless unless applied to figuring things out and creating new ideas and inventions that can change people lives.And the interesting thing is that we are all born with this innate ability to be curious - dont you remember as a little child how you would crawl into things open things - want to know whats inside this box but as we grow older society has a way of "tricking" us - for lack of a better word into conforming to the status quo by giving us a map - do this, go to college, graduate get a job settle down and just be quiet in your role....However I can say with full confidence that the changing world belongs to those who are not waiting to be handed a road map by anyone - but instead are braving their own paths that others may follow.Those creating new projects - like the Chariots of Destiny Adopt a chair project - brilliant idea to raise funds to donate a wheelchair to a disabled person each month.(mini sales pitch)..Okay thats my welcome 2013 blog post with a bang as you can see...I hope its not a blog post thats made you go like huh whats all this???

One of my fav quotes from the amazing book I am reading

Stand up and be remarkable.Be human.Contribute.Interact.Take the risk that you might make someone upset with your initiative , innovation  and insight - turns out you may probably delight them instead.

Suicide : and why we need to have this discussion and many others...

I know I know the title is not that great...actually none of the blog posts this year have been feel good pump you up blog posts lol but trust me I am in a much happier place than I was last year at the start of the year and the posts are just to stir conversation and get you thinking....Sooooo this past weekend after church D and I had lunch with one of our dear friends lady E...We had a blast of a time laughter, great food, great convo it was awesome...so the discussion shifted to a girl who was found dead in her dorm room at one of the colleges last weekend.So they said we will be awaiting the postmortem results and of course in the hush hush that was, everything has been swept under the rug - however there are reports that it may have been suicide.So lady E says "you know what I do not even want to know how she died I only want to remain with good memories of her." Which granted is a fair statement to make of course no one wants to know the details. I however I feel its about time such discussions are brought to the table before its a little to late.Yes I know you may be wondering hallo what is there to talk about with something so wrong so painful so unnaterable in a public setting (even in a private blog its hard for me to type out the word suicide) and maybe this is just the public health person that I am trying to prevent disease instead of cure disease which is all public health is about. I think the importance of having this discussion especially with Africans is because just like HIV AIDS in the 90s was stigmatized and oh my goodness once you heard so and so died of AIDS everyone kind of turned the other way.Even as recently as two years  I have an aunt who passed away because for one she refused to believe that she had contracted the HIV virus and hence refused to take her ARV medication.Needles to say she was gone less than three years after she contracted AIDS.So my thing is we as the 21st century generation we need to start having conversations on matters that were and maybe still are considered taboos in our society because needles to say they are affecting people we know and we cannot continue to to turn a blind eye...My uncle it took almost two years before we all knew he had colon cancer -and this was when he was almost gone- I used to think "cancer is a disease of the Western world - of those bad people living in UK and America" I remember thinking as a little girl.But cancer is real and alive in Africa as it is in the US. Sooo back to the topic of the day suicide..I remember in my mental health class in college we had a whole topic on suicide and a couple of things that stood out for me was that no suicide will happen in isolation - there is always that one person who has been told either in passing or directly.The proffesor I remember said if someone tells you they are thinking of committing suicide the first thing you want to ask them is do they have a plan?Secondly before someone commits suicide they will always try reach out to someone...Third there are a couple of warning signs - from increased depression, lack of interest in things that previously brought pleasure (anhedonia) etc etc...So with all this in mind it begs the question why sweep things under the rug - yes right now its so painful for the family to even think and of course there is the guilt trip Oh my goodness if I had listened more spent more time reached out etc etc so probably right now the discussion would not be so great but somewhere down the road and even in regular social circles we need to be able to reach across the table to our neighbor who may be hurting.So thats my little spill for the day - I just felt its necessary to put this out here for as long as such discussions keep being avoided we will see more and more people fall victim to our own ignorance - for lack of a better word here.If you or a family member has / had breast cancer start doing breast self exams, if a family member has Alzheimers dont ignore early warning signs - the forgetfulness, if you are sexually active make sure you know your partners status,diabetes, if you can afford have a blood pressure monitor in the house and check your blood pressure regularly - high blood pressure is a silent killer its the only one disease secondary to AIDS with no immediate signs and symptoms - your pressure could be in the 200s and you look fit as a fiddle for months on end until you start crashing all of a sudden,  if your a man over fifty make sure  you go have your prostate checked for PSA - an antigen that tests for prostate cancer. I am so passionate on public health matters - I grew up knowing I wanted to go to med school at some point but over the course of my college career and after I find more passion (and its less costly) in trying to prevent instead of cure so public health seems to be my passion project  well...for now...lol