freshly sharpened pencils...

so here i am with yet another dilemma in my simple life. you know when you think you've closed certain doors for various reasons, they start begging to be open again. what is it with the female race? you meet, you decide you like each each, you go out, test the waters to see if it's for real, the decide maybe this just may be it. so it gets really serious. so serious even the 'rents ask about the other significant other. then things go slightly amiss, there's elements of doubt, so the whole show is called off. okay, i've simplified things, not that i'm insensitive but the fact that i'm just a pedantic dude.

how does one explain life and what one seeks in life? how does one keep his ground without making offense. i know that i speak for myself. i am good person and not the sort to make people upset. i'm not out here to create offense in my short life. the prime reason i wanted to take a step back was simple: there just was no future. but the sad aspect of life is that people will always have then own perspective. nothing wrong with that, but we need need to appreciate that fact.

the new job's actually really interesting. i work with a back office team for a financing company on a pretty cool campus in north briz. they've just closed their hq in london and so there's plenty to be done. but i've been warned. yes, today, my very friendly supervisor warned me against working myself out of a job. yep!! if i'm too effecient and finish my tasks sooner than timetabled my ten week assignment will be cut short - with no extra pay. such is the price for being a hard worker.

besides that, i'm busy house hunting. i'm crashing on a futon at a friend's flat. it's pretty cool coz i'm out of the elements and have plenty food to eat. houses are in such short supply though. especially ones with nice big gardens for summer bbq's. and then there's the car issue. i really need a car. i need car like yesterday. even a £300 micra will do for now. i'm so sick of buses - already!

thinking i need a second job i walked into a large tesco's to ask for an employment form and the lady smiles and says they have no vacancies. tesco's - no work!! is life that tight?

phela it's easy to forget that one blogs. when was the last time i let rip? anyway, i've been dying to let out a bit of air. i hope to make this as painless as possible.

as i type, i'm watching australia play croatia at the wc. this is sad. okay flip channel to see some real skills from brazil. football has taken over my life. i'm sad i missed ghana THRASH the usa. man!! my ghana friends in the states must have gone crazy.... rather crazier. i'm glad they're through to the knock-outs but they'll probably meet brazil.

other nyanyas in my life. i went to that interview almost two weeks back. the lady was really pleasant, making all sorts of good comments about my CV, bringing my hopes up. then when she found ukuthi ngivela eZim, i-smile saphela!! sayenzani kanti? so much seems to have happened since i was away, i wish hadn't come back. cut my long story short, i was promised a second interview, then izolo they ask me to come in. so mina leaves my little piece job (will describe mbayi bayi), leaves the shift, leaves the clock ticking, to go to this second interview. i get there, she's all plastic smiles. her exact words were as she led me to this interview room, "take a seat right there, dear." dear... dear... since when wena mama? why fake the nice-ness? then, she sits down and says, "sorry but you're not quite what we are looking for."

pause

mina cabangas, hang on lady, is this the interview? ngitshiy' ishift yami to come here for your ngcekeza. yindaba ungadobhanga ifoni?
[ohhh nkos'. japan just scored!!!]

we carry on. wena mama, uqinisile sibili? uzangibhadala yini imali yami? long story mfitshane, i thanked her and left. in fact, i'm tempted to write to the company to ask them what was wrong with my application. it's called feedback.

anyway, the agency calls me almost immediately afterwards. a finance company needs a sharp mind, can i start tomorrow? now we're talking. so i started at this new place and it's pretty much going to be solid for most of the summer. working on some interesting work on a pretty nice campus. there's free drinks so vele my nkomitsho is never empty. my direct supervisor, the guy i'm working under in this assignment is a really flambouyant "banana type". wavy arms type. tolerance levels will have to be increased. but i'm sure it will be fine.

about that piece job: i was openning letters at this place. yes, that was the job description. i laughed when they told me until i saw the boxes that needed attention. i cried for my mama-lo.
[brazil has equalised. woti sibon' idiski.]

you know, i've been pre-occuppied with plenty this end. it seems as though england is being way too kind to me. i'm staying with my very generous cousin's family. in fact her husband is a main instigator when it comes to the art of imbibing. i can never keep up. he actually took a week off work just so he could entertain me. he seems to be doing such a good job.

and then as if i've had enough fun, brother decides to join us. so here we were here in the midlands trying to copy dance moves from a video from eGoli. why am i trying to explain? just click PLAY below and watch for yourself.

that was a quickie for a flight. only six hours. i could live in new york and commute to work in london!! 'tis only a dream. still at the airport waiting for my coach to brum.

i had an entire row to myself. i bought one ticket but they gave me three seats - no complaints. had so much space. iJuda across the aisle kept giving me an evil eye. i only made it worse by setting up my own bar, naba-ed a bit and settled down to my movie marathon. the trolley dolly was good to me. i asked her if they had a particular chardonnay and after that she kept on asking me if i wanted more. how could i say no?

anyway, i'm tired. my clock is now five more hours ahead with zero hours of proper sleep. plenty sleep is in order.

ps. public phone is 30p!!! it used to be 20!!! used to be.

you know it's funny how i started getting phone calls from friends and family in england this week after spending ten months in this country. suddenly because i'm coming back, they want something!! ahhh, khohlwani.

nonetheless, i went to do some really last minute shopping in harlem and down in midtown. midtown's all touristy with white peeps flashinf their cameras and flaunting their cash. boring stuff. you know, grand central, empire state building, 42nd and park, times square, broadway and shops like saks fifth ave and macy's. but ngapha, this end, phezulu, up, kubo 125th, kuseKasi! yah. this is the place to be.

the unique smell hits you as soon as you exit the subway station, bawos' umumbu! carry on down martin luther king blvd, kulabafana selling da vinci code on dvd. hang on. that movie came out last week. yebo, sibonile. go a bit further, caph' isistridi, kulempahl' ezicayiweyo konapho ku-pavement. jeans $15. and it's akademiks! mina thinks: prob'ly fong kong. then ekhoneni, uspoks tries to sell me i420. all around walking past me are omama smartly dressed from eSontweni with little kids in sharp suits lamabhothayi. the old man across the street could pass for a Dlamini and umama loyana looks like umaSibanda.

i was impressed. faces and places are same wherever man. as long as you're black (sorry for the generalisation) they'll always be something familiar about your neighbourhood anywhere on this planet. even in england. another funny thing is that i was stopped by this guy giving out fliers protesting against the redevelopment of harlem. apparently, they are gentrifing the neighbourhood, cleaning it up and improving the housing. but they don't want the face lift. they want to keep the grime, the dirt and the smells. that way, according to this gent, rent will stay low and it will keep the black folk in and the white folk out. after all, ngobani abafun' abelungu eKasi?

as my time here in the land of the free comes to an end, i thought i might remind myself how this blog got it's name. a product of exam stress and venting useless rants after copious amounts of alcohol.

1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

2. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.

3. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some coffee to help you concentrate.

4. Stop off at the third floor on the way back and visit with your friend from class. If your friend also hasn't started the paper yet, you can both walk to McDonald's and buy a hamburger to help you concentrate. If your friend shows you his paper, typed, double-spaced, and bound in one of those irritating see-thru plastic folders, drop him.

5. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

6. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.

7. You remember that you owe that old friend from high school who’s now in Australia a phone call. So you decide to call him now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.

8. Go look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

9. Listen (and sing along) to your favorite Coldplay CD and that's it, I mean it, as soon as it's over you are going to start that paper.

10. Listen to it again!

11. Rearrange all of your CDs into alphabetical order.

12. Phone your friend on the third floor and ask if he's started writing yet. Exchange derogatory remarks about your professor, the course, the university, the world at large.

13. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

14. Read over the assignment again; roll the words across your tongue.

15. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren't missing something truly worthwhile on TV. NOTE: When you have a paper due in less than 12 hours, anything on TV from Masterpiece Theater to Monty Python is truly worthwhile.

16. Catch the last forty five minutes of Monty Python and the Holy Grail on channel 52.

17. Phone your friend on the third floor to see if he was watching. Discuss the finer points.

18. Go through your entire blog and add a new entry.

19. Look through your roommate's book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.

20. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.

21. Read through your entire blog and check for any silly mistakes.

22. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

23. Read over the assignment one more time, just for the hell of it.

24. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.

25. Lie face down on the floor and moan.

26. Leap up, realize that you have just two hours to deadline and write the paper. After all, you work best under pressure.

my favorite site today is Overhead in New York. the things people say and the things people say in response. it's been raining today and i found solace in laughter - plenty laughter!!!