Ifehenia's blog

RIP Guka Kibira. Up until last week when I read bikozulu's blog post on a kikuyu burial , I had never questioned the sense behind our burial customs. Now that I viewed them through a fresh pair of eyes, it is a wonder that I have never questioned the logic behind taking photos at a funeral... posing behind the casket! On Wednesday we buried my grandfather, my mom's uncle, and it was a sober, dignified ceremony befitting the respectable 87 year old man. During the now infamous photo session, the MC called for the late man's nephews to take a photo. he mentioned one of them by name: KiMuriithi Kinene (The big Muriithi), jokingly referring to him by his childhood nickname. As an aside, he added that Muriithi was clearly still kinene (big). I glanced across at my mum, remembering this set of pliers that Muriithi had left at our house when I was only six, and that we had taken to calling KiMuriithi Kinene . I can bet that you are imagining Muriithi as a hulking, big-b...

Maya Angelou passed away last week. I will be frank and say that I know more about her now than I did when she was alive. I love her poems: Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise because they affirmed my feeling that I am a beautiful, strong, black woman (ignore my total lack of upper body strength). But isn’t it always so. Humanity has a knack for celebrating great people post-humously.  The day that Maya died I attended a funeral. The really sad kind that leaves you angry at the world and greatly pained… the kind that you can’t talk about because talking makes it seem more pointless. Days on, the acute pain gives way to a pensive mood where you realise that you have to live vicariously; greet the world with arms wide open… else you will not be doing right by those who will never get the opportunity. Those candles whose flames go out too soon. The greatest tribute one can give them is to live.  Several people have asked me why I haven’t written in a while. I have given ...

I lost Nigel... or rather; he was taken away from me. (Speaking of taking, Takers- The Movie makes stealing seem like such a worthy profession! Especially when the guy with a British accent says: “We’re Takers, gentlemen. That’s what we do for a living... We take.”) Unfortunately, Nigel’s Taker was not some sexy, black man with a British accent... that would have made it better somewhat. He was taken by a pale-faced, pregnant woman with shaved eyebrows that had been drawn back on. I can’t even remember her face... just the eyebrows. Nigel is was my phone. Take a moment to roll your eyes and tsk-tsk at the fact that I named my phone while ignoring the more appalling facts of life like the fact that some people name their children ‘Bruno’ and ‘Rufus’ yet it’s pretty clear that those are names sorely reserved for dogs. He (Nigel) was a Samsung Galaxy Mini and though according to his manufacturers, who claim the SIII is the phone designed for humans, he wasn’t fit for human use; I ...

I had issues about posting this because it felt kinda personal but hey, my blog, my rules. So here goes: Feel free to gag if it gets too sappy. 2012 was a one-of-a-kind year... but aren't they all. Thinking about it, if I were to sum it up in one phrase, without getting too personal... I would say that 2012 was a good year for Indie Rock. 2013 will be an even greater year because now the rest of the world will finally be catching up with the select few who've had ‘Mumford and Sons’ and ‘Of Monsters and Men’ on their playlists over and over. 2012 has also been a great year for Kenyan Rock. I need only mention ‘Parking Lot Grass’ for you to get my drift. If I were to sum up 2012, in one phrase, being completely personal, I would say 2012 was the year I lost some... and then more. Sounds depressing, I know. I lost the trust I had in a person I believed I could ultimately trust... and with that I lost a friend, because though we are a lot of things now, we’ll ...