Category Archives: My Guests

Of Finding Lights

Guest Post

  I make her giggle like a child—so pure, so contagious. Zainab smiles with her whole face and laughs so free; so generous with it. I am the funniest man alive. She gets me. Against a million odds, her energy matches mine. She is all I’ve been waiting for. We are on the same wavelength. We hear each other, see each other and mimic each other’s vibe. My heart wants to spend every second with her. She sparkles. Her presence makes my core shiver. Zainab wants me and she is not afraid to show it. Courage of emotional expression. This I like the most about her.

  We have been dating for two months. Love’s zest climaxes at the beginning of a relationship. I’ve experienced this before, but with Zainab the level is unprecedented. Love’s zest climaxes at the beginning and its endurance peaks at the middle. At the end, zest and endurance tussle it out. What wins depends on the couple. And sometimes, love loses to another love, other times it loses to hate. For now we shine the brightest. She is my star, I am her star and we travel in this galactic world side by side. Same energy.

  It is a few minutes past eleven. I am in my pyjamas, calling to say goodnight. “48:51”, the call timer says. We will probably talk ourselves to sleep. She is in her pyjamas too. She even told me its colour and what’s not under. My room is chilly with the rainfall and my bed is cold. Her voice, which exudes her warm heart, warms me. The lights are out but their power rationing cannot stop me from beaming.

  “I have been meaning to ask” she suddenly says “why you’re still friends with your ex fiancé, Hal?”

 Where is this coming from? I ask myself. In my silence, a lot of things cross my mind. Like she’s not really my ex fiancé. I popped the question, she said yes, then changed her mind the next day. We didn’t even get the chance to start talking about wedding plans.

  “What do you mean?” I finally say “though we had different opinions about our future, we still respect each other. We dated for three years. She knows me, you know”

  “Wow” she says “you should hear yourself speaking right now. Do you still love her?”

  “What? No” I say, sitting up “I love you. Why does it bothers you so much that I’m still talking to her?”

  “You really can’t see it, do you? You barely go an hour without bringing up her name”

  They just brought back power, I say. The first time this weekend. I need to iron some things. She says she could hear the ceiling fan turning. I ask her if we can talk about it in the morning.

  “Ok” she says “but you should really think about this tonight”

  How could I not? She didn’t sound happy with me.

  Why can I be friends with my ex without it meaning anything to my new relationship? Zainab means everything to me right now. That’s all that should matter. Hal knows me. We share a deep history. It is important to me. If only this doesn’t concern Hal, she would have advised me on what to do. She is very good with people. But she is too selfish to be reasonable in a case like this.

  Why am I thinking about her right now?

  I read something somewhere about black holes in space. They are regions of intense gravitational field. So strong nothing can escape out of them, not even light. I am ironing my shirt and can’t help the thinking, maybe Zainab is right. There is a black hole in my space and part of me is in it.

  This is trying to taint our run. Zainab and I are on a streak, superbly fitting into each other’s lives. I guess love comes with all the excitement just to show you how good it can be. Then it quickly pushes you into the endurance stage to see if you’re worthy of it; worthy of a happy ending. Is love fair demanding more from one partner than the other? Again, I guess one decides if it is fair by deciding how much his partner is worth to him. If one can give his all and get love back in return, then it is fair.

 The air in my small apartment is getting uncomfortably warmer due to hot steam from the pressing iron. I am eager to finish, edgy. Perhaps I am edgy about something else. This is making me anxious. No sacrifice is too much for keeping happiness. Look at Hal. She gave up our future for her “happiness”.

  I reach for my phone.

  “What” her sleepy voice says “I’m trying to get some sleep”

 “You don’t have to worry about Hal anymore. I love you. You’re my priority” I say, surprising myself.

 Sometimes, I don’t know what I want to say till I say it. The time is 1:07 in the morning and I decided this love is worth holding on to.

Ibrahim Oga

Bio: Ibrahim Oga is the author of Sisyphean Mind Anthology. He has an ongoing series on channillo.com titled Vista of a Sisyphean Mind.

Twitter: @ibtouchdown

Of Oh Stop It, I Like It #2018BOTY

Day 21 of 25 Days of The Best Of The Year #2018BOTY

If you ask me why I blog, I would probably make some joke about about how I would like to immortalise myself the best way I know how, using the medium of the internet to express myself, sharing the beauty and chaos intertwined in the country I call home and most of all celebrate the magic in my ancestry…….

I cant do magic….. so I write

Even though some people consider blogging a hobby, it is something much more than that, its a tool with possibly far reaching unimaginable consequences, that can change perceptions, raise awareness, giving one the power to document their own history while it is happening and even safeguard our memories from the ravages of time. Long after we are gone our words will live on, if thats not imortality, it should be….

The compliment that made my year was from Pamela when she asked if she could print out a blog post of mine to share with in the journalism class she teaches; on the usefulness of blogs and blogging. How they can easily provide insights on world wide events or simply gain knowledge on living in other countries from the point of view of someone who is there, experiencing the life.

And how can I leave out all the responses to the tweet below, reading them has been making my heart melt. Sometimes I think no one notices the little things I am trying to do and other times I am completely taken by surprise by the blogging community I am a part of; helping to shape and build….

Blogging means comunity

Oh stop it…..

~B

Of #BlogIndabaWednesday Life is Poetry: SoulfulMiss #2018BOTY

Every Wednesday my blogging circle Blog Indaba The meeting place picks a blogger to crush on and hype them up all over the interwebs because blogging means community^_^

Introducing this week’s Creative Crush Anesu of SoulfulMiss

Sue Nyakubaya Soulfulmiss

Sue is a Poet | Blogger | Writer | Frolover She uses poetry as a way of expressing her thoughts; the soul of a young woman making her way in the world – hence the name of the blog SoulfulMiss

The last series of poetry on her blog were for the 16 Days Of GBV and some a feature posts by various poets

16 Days Activism

Her blog has several expressive pieces but one of my favourites is one of her earliest posts simplistic yet…… deep.

Butterfly

I am bolder
I am proud to be me
I own my struggles
I am beautiful
I am a better version of me!

Like a Butterfly…

Every Wednesday evening, as Afrobloggers we host a twitter poetry session; the Afrobloggers Wednesday Poetry Session #AbWPE.

Afrobloggers Wednesday Poetry Evenings #AbWPE

During the month of November, Sue helped connect and partner with Poetritis group to bring about a fused PoetritisWPE on Wednesdays

My Day 19 post is about an event people must not miss; well why not join us in an evening of Poetry this and every Wednesday on twitter simply follow the hashtag AbWPE and bring your words……. where will the muse lead you?

~B

Of Coffee With Stephing Out Loud #2018BOTY

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you its Day 15 of 25 days blogmas celebrating highlight moments of the year #2018BOTY

If you were coffee with me, I would tell you that earlier this year, I met someone I have been friends with, for what feels like forever….

Stephanie Kapfunde #Stephingoutloud

She used to be a radio personality at a local radio station and I would tune in to her show from 6 to 9pm and tweet about it for the radio shout outs and well just to let them know someone was out there listening

If you having coffee with me I would tell you this tweet may or may not have been a story about falling in love with a voice on the radio and falling asleep to the sound of their voice.

Almost six years later we ran into each other at FVDN’s  Creative Hack where she was one of the speakers….

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you Stephanie Kapfunde used to speak for a living and now she is a digital storyteller using New Media to help generations of young Africans to identify themselves while conceptualising Internet based ideas for brands to relate to a growing Afrollennial Market through people, places and experiences.

Thats how her profile reads !!!!! She is doing the things, with Enthuse Afrika with a K

Its strange how we never met all these years even though we seem to move in almost the same circles, maybe the universe was waiting for the world to get ready.

I hope you laced up its about to get interesting

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that I also met her again and the Enthuse team because they were working on the Connect.Hubs project by British Council Zimbabwe and Hivos Southern Africa with training led by NESTA, and support from Electric South , Enthuse Afrika and Young Blood Africa, when 22 Creatives Hubsters met and connected

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you the future looks like collaborations 

Compliments of the festive season

~B

PS have you met any interesting people you know only from the internet in the real world, maybe you are reading this thinking I should meet this guy for a real cup of coffee, yeah lets make it happen

if you have stumbled here why not say hello so I know you been here and yeah feel free to drop a link in the comments and if you see any links at click on them I like to say I roll with awesome company

Afrobloggers Comment thread

Of Awesome Impact: Coffee with Noloyiso #2018BOTY

Day 14 of 25 Days of Blogmas celebrating the best moments of the year 2018 #2018BOTY

The story @Nolo_yiso shared on her blog when she nominated me for an Awesome Impact Award (oh thank you for tagging me by the way)

Awesome Impact Award

A guest post by Noloyiso

If you were having coffee with me – well, I don’t have coffee in my matchbox. Maybe I would go out and buy coffee, you know, in the name of hospitality. Or maybe I would let you choose a tea. Tea is my preference – my matchbox, my rules! There would be a cheese cake – a recipe I recently tried. I also prefer an adventure of the tongue, you see.

If you were having tea with me, we would talk, my Muse, about our daily struggles. I’ve been struggling lately and cannot understand the human selfish nature. We would find some ways to cope with the world we find ourselves in. Over a cup of tea, I would ask you about your life, about what gets you excited. What gets you out of bed every morning.

If you were having tea with me, I would ask you what you think this life is for. What is the point of all the difficulties and all the people we cross paths with. I would want to know what your take is on this. I would want to see if you are living the first half of your life or the second.

If you were having tea with me, I would be constantly checking how your cup of tea was compared to a cup of coffee. I would also share my very easy cheese cake recipe, because of I can make it, anyone can!

Bio

Noloyiso is an English Teacher by day.

Blogger by night.

Lover of the written word. 

 1noloyiso.wordpress.com 

Twitter @nolo_yiso

Insta @nolo_yiso


PS If you wish to take part in the awesome impact award consider yourself tagged


The rules for the challenge are very simple:
1. Tag and thank the person who nominated you;
2. Post your Awesome Impact Award picture;
3. Talk about an incident that impacted your life in a positive way;
4. Nominate other awesome bloggers for the award.

Of #BlogIndabaWednesday : TeeMadzika #2018BOTY

Every Wednesday my blogging circle Blog Indaba The meeting place picks a blogger to crush on and hype them up all over the interwebs because blogging means community^_^

creative crush

The creative crush for this week is Teemadzika


Pretty much everything has been said before, I just tell it differently or at least I think I do.

Tafadzwa is A fan of all things life especially oxygen |Poet among other things|Foodie and he brings all these things together into a blog with a bit of everything where its always a quarter to quirky

I have been an avid follower of his blog watching it grow just like his hair ha! He thinks he has the good hair but between you and me mine is longer.

My favourite category on his blog is the Stories From An African Childhood

which is about, no prices for guessing the childhood shenanigans he got upto, some of it is relateable, in the way all most parents seem to be the same person and some of it will have you angling your head at an angle thinking to yourself are you for real?

Stories From An African Childhood

Today is also day 12 of 12 days of festivities issa blogmas challenge; one blog post a day celebrating the best of 2018 hashtagged #2018BOTY

One of the things I am super pleased about this year is how people have found inspiration or been mused to explore their creative side and embrace the medium of writing as a means of self-expression 

Its little things like that, finding out someone has also started their own blog because they read yours, or how a comment you make can sway’s someone’s decision; seeing how even the things you thought no one noticed can open up whole new worlds of possibilities….

I am a muse and a brand

Tafadzwa has a fiction series he is working on which can be found in the RANDOM PIECES OF WRITING category:

Chapter 1: A corrupted mind

While we were discussing this story, he mentioned he wanted to do a sequel but didnt want to ruin it, cause well it was some darn fine story, I told him to go for it, and he did.  Its a remarkable feeling when someone who is good at what they do value your opinion like that.

Chapter 2: A corrupted mind
Chapter 3: A corrupted mind
Chapter 4: A corrupted mind

You can find posts by the other members of the BlogIndaba community under the hashtag #BlogIndabaWednesday

Makupsy – 5 Tips On How To Write Attention Grabbing Blog Titles

Dante – Does Poetry Ever Dribble?

EthneticMe – How beautiful is right now? Creative Crush

 

~B

Of #BlogIndabaWednesdays: Life With Dimples

Welcome to this Wednesday tradition, #BlogIndabaWednesdays where every Wednesday I am part of community that picks one blogger to hype up on and crush on the interwebs because blogging means community

Blog Inddaba the meeting place blogindabawednesday

The creative crush of the day is  Life With Dimples

life with dimples

Her blog LifeWithDimples.com is about life and whatever tickles her dimpled life.

The blog is “fairly new” but she is not new to blogging, she did the big move from lifewithdimples.wordpress.com to selfhosted lifewithdimples.com.

One of the posts I found inspiring on her blog was the dark skin appreciation post

To me, there’s something magical about dark skin. That black, velvety skin that reminds one of a moonless night. It’s almost, dare I say, hypnotic? 

For some reason in between body shaming and being bullys people tend to look down on the darker toned folk and you wind up with people bleaching their skin and undergoing rigorous routines to get lighter skin tones. Anyway the posts simply celebrates deeply melanated gods and goddesses no rhyme or reason, well maybe a few reasons just read the post.

And of course there’s her #WCW Woman Crush Wednesday post  on the enchanting songstress, with the sultry contralto Toni Braxton, you can tell I kinda had a life long crush on Toni right?

Toni Braxton

I’ve been a Toni fan for AGES and I have most of her discography. Her songs are timeless. You can listen to her music over and over again without getting bored. She’s from that era when music actually had meaning you know? 

Whats your favourite Toni tracks? Check out lifewithdimples’ s top ten.

~B

PS if the idea of bloggers hyping up your blog for a day and also discovering new bloggers just hit up the hashtag #BlogIndabaWednesday 

Of #BlogIndabaWednesdays: LeoMuzivoreva

Wednesdays are #BlogIndabaWednesdays where we pick on a blogger to crush on and hype up over the interwebs because blogging means community

And today’s creative crush is TheLeoNationZW  and his blog LeoMuzivoreva.WordPress.com 

Leo’s blog is a land of non-fictional chronicles, debacles and anecdotes on life as an African.  Leo says that he writes for everyone as he thinks of himself as a creative-non fiction writer, writing about real life events with a bit of creativity.

On how his blog came about he says:

I have always had a keen interest for writing. Having started by freelancing for my hometown weekly. So blogging is a passion- I mean who wouldn’t want a space to write without an editorial policy?

You can tell browsing through his posts he has a thing about history, and reads from quite an shall we say interesting and varied spectrum dropping interesting quotes. 

One of the posts I found highly informative was when he explained the Icelandic surnames during the World Cup craze, I am not a soccer enthusiast but this post gave me something to talk about and appear like a man about the world  

Did you know?? In Iceland the use of surnames is forbidden by a law, which passed in 1925. Mind boggling, Right?

For those wondering if they should let their family read their blog:

Part of my family does read… My brother, my cousin and her mother- those are the 3 who actually read and give feedback…

I like how his posts always start being about something else and then suddenly switch up into something out of a history class, I would guess man was a history teacher, like this post here which starts on being about summer in Capetown moves to English Premiership break then Olympics in South America and then the black power salute

The Black Power Salute

Dont take my word for it got to his blog read for your self LeoMuzivoreva

Also check out posts by other bloggers:

uBu ~ Transparency an inspiration

Life with Dimples ~ BlogIndabaWednesday

EthneticMe ~ Editorial policy for what?

TeeMadzika ~ Wednesday share a creative #2

Of #BlogIndabaWednesdays: EthneticMe

And its a Wednesday!!!!! So this and every Wednesday in one of my blogging circles Blog Indaba The meeting place we pick one blogger to crush on and hype them up all over the interwebs because blogging means community^_^

Blog Indaba

creative crush

And today’s creative crush Nobuhle and her blog EthneticMe

Ethneticme

So Nobuhle is a Dreamer | Extrodinaire  |  Believer

Her blog EthneticMe comes from a fusion of Authentic and Ethnic and everything there is sincerely from the heart. She started her blog as a place to heal following the unfortunate passing away of her father. With the support and encouragement from her brother it grew to become a space for her to be herself.

Her relationship is goals too her biggest fan is her husband!!!!

“Every time I am unsure about a post he reads through it for me and helps me with words”

EthneticMe

My favourite post from her blog is You Can Always Edit A Bad Page But You Cant Edit A Blank Page The post is titled  after the quote from Jodi Picoult on a talk about habits of effective writers.

I have since learnt to write down the sentences and come up with a paragraph that will eventually turn into paragraphs and voila I have a story.

—Nobuhle

So that idea you have make today the day you start working on it dont leave your pages blank ♥♥♥♥♥

On what she would do differently if she could start all over again knowing what she knows now she says:

I would definitely write lots of content like maybe even 20 posts when inspiration hits, then space them out so when I am  going through a dry spell or too busy to write I always have content to upload

So do give her blog a look see and you can find her on the interwebs just search EthneticMe 

And here are links to other posts from #BlogIndabaWednesdays 

Makupsy Dream African Child

uBu Then My Heart Heard A Voice

TeeMadzika wednesday-share-a-creative

~B

PS Yeah, feel free to join our blogging fam all welcome ^_^

 

 

 

Of An International Coffee Date

Guest post

virtual Coffee date

Of The International Coffee Day

If you were having coffee with me, I’d probably have to explain that I basically copied that phrase from my Zimbabwean ‘friend’ Beaton. You’d probably brush it off; not forgetting to point out that I already told you about the phrase. This would pretty much be after a five-minute hugging session with sincere declaration of how much we miss each other.

Ideally, I come to your city driving, book into a hotel and make a point of sending this email right before I set out to that coffee shop you definitely consider your favorite. You probably recognize me at a glance, thanks to my laid back dressing, the same afro hair I wear, and the same position I sit at pretty much every coffee shop or restaurant.

CareyJK

I face away from people and just lose myself in that mental isolation. You will notice that there is still an innocent glow about me; one that comes from my efforts to fight age and this quarter life crisis you don’t seem to have affecting you at all. If all goes well, I have managed to shed a few pounds off my five foot frame and maybe tried to take care of my skin better than I used too.

As you order your drink, we will catch up and excitedly talk about our recent adventures, or lack thereof. I’d tell you that I was planning to come here sooner but got delayed and now I’d have you listen to my almost excuses. So, about five days ago, my sister and I were discussing my love of coffee and how important it was that I celebrate that on the 1st of October; the international coffee day. The following morning, as if on cue, I felt this sudden sharp pain in the left side of my chest that got me so sure it was a cardiac event. So I got checked out and it was actually a gastric issue; thanks to the ginger shots i was taking last week, sometimes on an empty stomach. At least my heart was going to be okay, right?

The downside; no coffee for a while for me. No chili and a million other things I don’t care much about. So, on first, I did go to one of my favorite coffee shops in Nakuru (Kenya) and took Mocha instead of my usual latte. At least it had some coffee, right? But today my friend, I’m letting myself off the hook and allowing me the double café latte that you will soon order. Maybe we won’t do so much to celebrate the impact of coffee in our lives, but we can sure love it and drink it as much as we want.

Happy Belated International Coffee Day

CareyJK

Bio: Careyjk

A twenty-three-year old Kenyan who is just trying to take life a day at a time and blogs at Careyjk.wordpress.com 

 

This is a guest post that was set to appear on the 1st October to celebrate International Coffee Day but the technology fiends that haunt the internet and sometimes possess laptops found it hilarious to mark her email as spam and move it to that folder.

Faced with a decision to either not post this article or wait till the next first of October; we decided that  its always international coffee day somewhere and on my blog we can hang out on coffee date any day….. And so here we are, and here we are.

What are rules but conventions, so carpe diem

~B

PS remember to check spam folder