31. Emenugne,mechereshaw arif new!

                         Been around the world ayayyaya

                         Been looking for some good porn… 

Whuz good everyone?!  

Like I hinted it would be, this was to be a dirty post. But regrettably, there were some hiccups. Here at andthree, we plan to pride ourselves in posting unpredictable yet credible shit (don’t we, guys?). Taking the case with most porn movies, their plot is predictable that it could be summed up in three words –the guy comes(unlike Godot). And the in between, it is like once you have seen one, you have seen them all: I wonder why we bother watching another one ¡ And besides, not only is the plot predictable, but it also lacks all credibility. I mean, no sooner has the postman delivered the post than them being at it. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that, there ain’t gonna be no vulgarity on this site anytime soon. That is unless we come across one with a knockout storyline or that exhibits knockout positions- in the pedigree of &§. 

Getting back to our humdrum regular blogging services……..  

Nina Simone:

                                            

I first heard this name way back on the movie point of no return. The main character, an assassin played by Bridget Fonda, was fond of listening to Nina‘s songs. I got to hear the mood indigo years later and recently I found a collection of hits of the sixties that has five of her songs.  Wild is the wind has to be my favorite song at the moment. I hear it and it sends me to this room with the curtains blowing in the wind, revealing the blue waters. I know the title is supposed to be a metaphor. I read she lived in Barbados for many years. That, added to the fact her ashes were spread in many African countries (I am not sure if Ethiopia was among those) and the very remote probability that I might have inhaled part of her, may be causing my vision.

 Along with Anita Baker and Rod Stewart, she is on the list of singers whom I want to own many cd’s of. 

If memory serves me right, I first heard Semahegne Belew’s debot enisira  around this time last year. Then, I thought  it  was going to blow up given the fact that in my opinion it has what it takes to make one break out in eskista –at least when no one else  is  watching; and a nice video to boot. Strangely, I happened to hear it on tv /the radio only twice ever since; the last time being Friday. Still I have to maintain it is quite groovy.  

I know it is the season for gize lekulu. Though I still can not understand why he would decide to use the sound of a dewel after a verse about a meleket, I think it too is a great song .But you will not find me blowing that trumpet (no sexual pun intended). 

Why? In addition to avoiding the risk of respiratory infections with too many people on the same trumpet, I prefer blowing trumpets little blown. Or should people lay down a much blown trumpet, I am the guy to pick it up. That is one reason why I decided to talk about Gigi (told ya, no sexual pun intended!).  

She is due a dope album and her sister is due a dope mezmur album. Gigi’s last one many people did not feel. I never gave it a good listen; may be I would have liked it. Sofia showed a lot of promise on her first album but her second solo one was not like I expected. May be it too I need to listen to good.

Girls come on!

 Taking a wild jump, or a not so wild one as will be evident shortly, to Professor Lukuman Yusuf, he is a renowned Obs. Gyn. He was among the people asked by a magazine to name who they thought were the best in various fields in the last 1000 years. His unexpected choices for the category of best song and music writers has cracked me up ; and this on a day I was finding laughs hard to come by. He picked Ayalneh Mulat (I know of him as a writer and translator of novels and the like) and went on to add Johnny Ragga.  

Doc Luk dutty yeah! Big up yourself for for me main man!! And may you excuse the “doc” for it strictly was for rhyming purposes. 

Getting back to Gigi, I heard her family’s hotel is being sold. Foreclosure is a bitch!  I hope they sort out through any financial troubles they may be having and someday get to buy back what is theirs. Now I feel like I am gossiping. I brought it up only because I wanted to talk about where I saw the haraj announcement  –, and how it was damn near the only thing (along with the brilliant int’l Coke commercial  that shows what goes down in a vending machine) I care to remember from what I have recently seen on ETv. The rest of the programs I had/have the misfortune of watching, I sat/ sit through saying to myself “I am going to explode if I hear one more ‘hidase’ or ‘ ….. hagerachinin beachir ametat wust mekakelegna gebi kalachew hagerat terta lemaselef…’  “; fighting the urge to commit harakiri.

                                                                                

 Enter ETv, where damn near everything is lackluster, dreary, uninspiring, dull, jaded, tame, monotonous, boring, bland (thanks MS Word 2003!); where damn near everything is propaganda or turned so ( case in point:  Demera at Meskel Square, which by the way I think rocked –from celebration point of view.)  It is like the attack of the clones each and everyday. And events transpired  that I would be on the receiving end of this attack- events like DStv losing Premiership broadcasting rights to Gtv. DStv has lost its glory having lost  the Premier League or some 294/380 of it .Arab Sat is not that attractive an option either. Champions’ league is on DStv and Gtv and Showtime Arabia are not official yet. It is dire straits for DStv, DStv betoch, watchers, me … 

There is a web competition called “the goal cup “. What you do is sign up (for free) and pick your own team made up of six players with the option of 20 transfers through the course of the season. The goals members of your team score each week are going to be added up and prizes will be given at the end of the season for the winning team. My team, “the” team, comprises Rooney, Messi, Shevchenko , Fabregas, Ribery and Gabi Milito. Messi has got our team to a good start yesterday. You can also set up your mini league, invite people to join you and enjoy some friendly competition. My league is only me at the moment and its name is, you guessed it, “the” league! 

Please, see if   it  tickles your fancy. 

I used to enjoy reading Addis Admas. But nowadays people I have talked to and I myself feel like it is not worth the trouble. It is like one, two and thirty two or whatever. What happened guys?  With printing costs going up by 87%, you better get your act together and swift. Otherwise, I predict there is going to be a major shift in the reader force towards blogs and andthree is going to be a force to be reckoned with. You may think that it is a bit unrealistic in Ethiopia but you have been warned!

They still make sure they come out with the weekly dose of obituaries. And although those things are always sobering, I bet you this one tops them all.

                                                             

It is from a lady who lost her husband, three kids and a friend in a single car accident a year ago.  She says the driver of the other car which caused the accident posted a three thousand birr bail and has been free for almost all of the time her beloved have been dead. I can not blame her for feeling hard done by the justice system. And I doubt if any amount of sentence would make her incomprehensible pain go away either. And one can not help but see, hear about and be exposed to irresponsible pricks , including oneself, on a daily basis.

I kindly ask anyone who happens to pass though here to pray that she finds solace.

                                                                

……..no, really I am a saint! Should you see my halo flicker, it might be that it has short circuited or something.

                                                                       

Blogspot is still blocked but sms is now kosher. I have told you entries ago about the acquisition of the “tachycardia inducing” girl’s phone number courtesy of my brother. For months I had been reluctant to put it to good use. Then under a crazy set of circumstances, and woe this crazy circumstances as Lauryn would say, a fair bit of texting has been going on between us for three days starting on Wednesday. I told her my first name only yesterday evening and it may/ not be enough for her to recognize me by; I am not sure because I have not read from her since. 

Watch this space for the continuing coverage of my life in a way that the people I‘d like associated with it might find overly revealing or offensive even.   

BS

“A company in Cambridge wants to an enthusiastic and creative person to join their dynamic and friendly software developer team…”. My reply “Dear Sir/Madam,….to conclude I believe that I am an ideal person for the position and I hope to hear from you soon”.

 

This is all that I have been doing for the past two weeks. Reading BS and writing BS. Why do they want me to explain why I am interested in the job? Is it so hard to understand that a brother needs some money to keep his freezing ass in a room with a heater?

 

The careers page for one famous company starts with “Can you do what 1000 people can’t do”. LOL. Can it get any insulting than that.

 

Full of crap. In fact, one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, problem that I faced in my studies here is how they picture things to make themselves look so big. “You will write a research review which will critically evaluate research previous research under a topic you choose..”. Course descriptions, evaluation guidelines, the curriculum, are full of this crap. But you pass even if you write a not so good paper, which would have been a fail under their description. Ignoring these things and believing in myself to do what I am able to has taken me some time. Now it has recurred in job applications.

 

If I am allowed to fantasize for a moment, I dream of having a company where I can take any hard worker. Just anyone who is dedicated to learn and work. Maybe it wouldn’t be a fantasy after all. Companies have moved from hiring people depending on the subjects that they have studied to seeing their degree levels (BSc, MSc, PhD). Someone with a PhD has a good background on planning, carrying it out, analyzing things, rigorous work, etc. For example, Microsoft prefers to hire people with PhD in a numerate degree for it’s research center. They can have a background on mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc. Speaking of Chemistry, we have one leading researcher in the school I am in (Informatics) who studied Chemistry first.

 

So maybe people will see even the bigger picture and start hiring hard workers. More weight can be given to what you started with, what you have achieved, etc. Instead of what type of degree you have, how much experience you have, what your marks were, where you graduated from, etc. These things do matter but I think they shouldn’t be given the weight as we are doing now.

 

Let me give on example: youtube. Can you imagine how many people have now got the chance to show their talents? Sometimes you see very funny or creative videos. If these people went to Hollywood they could get negative replies. No woman in a suit trying hard to please you, no fake smiles, etc. just simple, bet yaferaw and so enjoyable. one of my favorites is a video from a guy who was bored. He was so bored that he made a video “are you bored?”. And the video has nothing in it. Just the guy sitting on a chair and playing with whatever he could lay his hands on. And it is still funny. One other guy had a cat and he made a song about her “mean kitty”. It got very famous that he made another video explaining how he came to own the cat. That video was famous too.

Efoy metsaf dekemegn.

 

30. Menebeb

 

Depressed, clueless, apprehensive ……. a few words to describe the way I’ve been feeling since the holiday came to pass. What’s stressing me?  Well, I have an assignment to submit, an exam to prepare for and a project to pick up from a slump ; not to mention that girl I have yet to tell how I feel about her.  And how am I faring on all those fronts?  Not good! Not good!  

 My days are spent, for fear I should do some actual work, working on a sloooow computer with a lethargic internet connection to match. Whatever amount of time is left, I spend on the thoughts and hopes of her dropping me a line. 

 

You must be thinking “It has been 11 months and loser has not yet given up!?”

Irately I say unto thee: no, not that girl!  Though she remains to be a sensitive case, if I may add in a softer tone. Just yesterday I ran into her and ……. tachycardia!!! (It was inevitable that I would pick up on some medical terms.) But it was not like I got “that old feeling” or something.  

 

Shit happens; old habits die hard and I am web-promiscuous. A.k.a I have been e mailing another female whom I think is some kind of wonderful. As opposed to the former, she wrote back for a while. And when I was thinking that it was going great, she ups and blows me off.   As far as she was concerned, may be it was  going not so great from the get go. 

 

Now I am trying to recover from the setback I suffered going about love the only way I know how to.  

 

Methodology aside, another aspect open to debate is what I expect the outcome to be – should there be any outcome, that is.  The next (as in the first) girl that comes along, I think of marrying.  Of course we have to pass through the propers first –date …..have sex (*) ………get tested for HIV ( ene lay reagent eyabakenachihu new)  ……..have more sex to celebrate our negativity .

Legend: * = * 

And once we get married, hopefully  the sex  keeps coming in the commensurate amount. Gots to make up for lost time. 

 

It sure would be nice to get married and stay blissfully married, content in the knowledge that you are with the one person that makes your heart beat slow and fast, all at the same time.  I think it could be done and I have my enat and abat to testify for that. Today is their 42^nd anniversary. They did not exactly say the words in the opening sentence of this paragraph –I heard it somewhen somewhere on a movie whose name and plot I fail to remember. Still, they are pretty happy. 

 

Guys, to you I raise my keyboard and mouse in unison!

 

 

I wish that my wedding could be a low key affair: nothing too hectic as in I do not want any kind of ceremony or party. I wish my conceptual significant other and I could spend the day maxing and relaxing on a beachfront somewhere; somewhere like St Kitts and Nevis……  

                                                                     

Their deputy prime minister was here for the celebrations. The leaders of neighboring countries I had no problem understanding the reason behind their presence.  It is like senbete or buna tetu and while they are at it, one may ask the other to stop supporting one’s enemies. 

 

But St Kitts and Nevis?!  

 

Now I would think that people from the Caribbean have to be the ultimate party animals. Then again, it may be that we command admiration from yet another country from that part of the world. Well, right back atcha ! Heaven willing, I am getting hitched in your country. 

 

This morning I told my mother that Mourinho quit and she went “Wiy, ya kezgkazgaw?!” Then she went on to add “……,gentle ….” explaining who he was to my father. My father, at first, thought that I was going to speak about Meles : with all this talk that he will not run for the next election. He was asked about it and answered it in a lengthy roundabout way in which the words “metekakat” and “mesfafat” featured prominently and the gist of which appears to be “I ain’t going nowhere:: ”

 Yes: Jose was gentle – in a kezgkazgha kind of way. And he will be sorely missed- by Chelsea fans J . I like him though and think he could do a great job on the Ethiopian national team. Forget about Portugal, Real, Inter, Spurs …….. With all the money that he is likely to get/keep on getting from the untimely termination of his contract, it should be no object. He must be hungry   for a new challenge and I am sure we will prove to be more than a challenge. And should he insist on getting paid, we can always look Al Amoudi ways. 

 

Yoseph yimrihano leItiyopiawian  wezeAfrica Wanchan yeAlem Wancha!  

Speaking of managers, Arsene Wenger was talking about how he does not like reality shows like big brother. He reckons that they make people famous for sitting around in a house the whole day doing nothing: as opposed to actually working hard as footballers do to earn the status. I think he is right. I also think that blogs are popular for the same reason. Granted they serve as an outlet. But I suspect there is an undercurrent of hunger for popularity in bloggers’ minds that makes them bare most facets of their lives to complete strangers –facets that, in the good old days, were meant for diaries alone. It is like who wants to be the next Ann Frank. Forgive the bold and inconsiderate comparison.

We keep writing about the mundane and hope someone somewhere will be interested. 

 

I know I fit the above description.  

 

I do not know about the co-authors of this here blog, but I want to be famous for my blogging prowess. I want people from all walks of life and walking on different parts of the planet, not the least of whom his my latest fixation, to stumble upon this site and fall in love with it. And hopefully, the latter will get to realize that albeit a bit demented, I clearly am  a tender loving thing. 

I want millions of visits; not the one thousand one hundred sixty one it is standing at present – a significant percentage of which ,I fear , is a contribution of random redirections. 

 

Oh! You two have not checked the blog stats?  The number of visits to andthree has been plummeting since the end of May.  I am ready to do all kinds of raunchy stuff to up the numbers- porn posting inclusive.

 

 

I want to be read, damn it! 

 

And whatever happened to mr. “man of few words” ? 

 

One

29. Ketsehay /damena betach….

                                                                        

 This your boy from the other side! No, dummies, I am not dead. I was speaking time wise. And that is not the white light either : it is the sun setting on the sixth. 

The celebration on my part was not category five stuff. But it still was enough to afford me four carefree days. And now reality has kicked me on the balls (ouch! very ouch!) and I have been reminded that I have things to do.

  On a national level positives from the whole thing include thousands of prisoners being freed, millions of trees being planted,  sms  being relaunched, all the people who had a good time the way they did ……  

On a personal level, I now have a favorite verse from The Bible. It goes “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage” Psalm 27: 14.   

One  

You might have noticed that I have become a man of few words. That is because I think friends do not need words to communicate with each other: beating each other up would suffice instead.

You may ask “what has got into him?” Then I will ask you “How was your  holiday?” .I want the answer in uppercuts, please. 

One already!

28. Mastawesha leras………….10 hrs. and 30 mins. to go

Nature, God’s Gift (a friend), and something from the world

The past weeks have been good. I got to see Jeff Corwin after a long time absence. He was in Alaska. He is still his usual self  being humours and all. My God I didnot know I missed him that much when I just opened and listen to what he is saying. He stood atop of one of the pick points and he said it is a place where you can only hear the kiss of the breazy cold wind, and nothing else but it is beautifula and specatcular, at that moment I remembered William Wordswoth’s peom,”Tintern Abbey”…… boy oh boy,,,,, I just love this peom… Somebody said to me once , Wordsworth is so good that after reading one of his poems some words still stay with you…. Well lets see if you figure this out.FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length
      Of five long winters! and again I hear
      These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
      With a soft inland murmur.–Once again
      Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
      That on a wild secluded scene impress
      Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
      The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
      The day is come when I again repose
      Here, under this dark sycamore, and view                        10
      These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
      Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
      Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
      ‘Mid groves and copses. Once again I see
      These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines
      Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
      Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
      Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!
      With some uncertain notice, as might seem
      Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,                     20
      Or of some Hermit’s cave, where by his fire
      The Hermit sits alone.
                              These beauteous forms,
      Through a long absence, have not been to me
      As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:
      But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din
      Of towns and cities, I have owed to them
      In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
      Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
      And passing even into my purer mind,
      With tranquil restoration:–feelings too                        30
      Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
      As have no slight or trivial influence
      On that best portion of a good man’s life,
      His little, nameless, unremembered, acts
      Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,
      To them I may have owed another gift,
      Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
      In which the burthen of the mystery,
      In which the heavy and the weary weight
      Of all this unintelligible world,                               40
      Is lightened:–that serene and blessed mood,
      In which the affections gently lead us on,–
      Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
      And even the motion of our human blood
      Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
      In body, and become a living soul:
      While with an eye made quiet by the power
      Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
      We see into the life of things.
                                       If this
      Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft–                        50
      In darkness and amid the many shapes
      Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir
      Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,
      Have hung upon the beatings of my heart–
      How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
      O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro’ the woods,
      How often has my spirit turned to thee!
        And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,
      With many recognitions dim and faint,
      And somewhat of a sad perplexity,                               60
      The picture of the mind revives again:
      While here I stand, not only with the sense
      Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts
      That in this moment there is life and food
      For future years. And so I dare to hope,
      Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
      I came among these hills; when like a roe
      I bounded o’er the mountains, by the sides
      Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
      Wherever nature led: more like a man                            70
      Flying from something that he dreads, than one
      Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then
      (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,
      And their glad animal movements all gone by)
      To me was all in all.–I cannot paint
      What then I was. The sounding cataract
      Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
      The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
      Their colours and their forms, were then to me
      An appetite; a feeling and a love,                              80
      That had no need of a remoter charm,
      By thought supplied, nor any interest
      Unborrowed from the eye.–That time is past,
      And all its aching joys are now no more,
      And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
      Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur, other gifts
      Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
      Abundant recompence. For I have learned
      To look on nature, not as in the hour
      Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes                    90
      The still, sad music of humanity,
      Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
      To chasten and subdue. And I have felt
      A presence that disturbs me with the joy
      Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
      Of something far more deeply interfused,
      Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
      And the round ocean and the living air,
      And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
      A motion and a spirit, that impels                             100
      All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
      And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still
      A lover of the meadows and the woods,
      And mountains; and of all that we behold
      From this green earth; of all the mighty world
      Of eye, and ear,–both what they half create,
      And what perceive; well pleased to recognise
      In nature and the language of the sense,
      The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
      The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul                  110
      Of all my moral being.
                              Nor perchance,
      If I were not thus taught, should I the more
      Suffer my genial spirits to decay:
      For thou art with me here upon the banks
      Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,
      My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch
      The language of my former heart, and read
      My former pleasures in the shooting lights
      Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little while
      May I behold in thee what I was once,                          120
      My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make,
      Knowing that Nature never did betray
      The heart that loved her; ’tis her privilege,
      Through all the years of this our life, to lead
      From joy to joy: for she can so inform
      The mind that is within us, so impress
      With quietness and beauty, and so feed
      With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
      Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
      Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all                    130
      The dreary intercourse of daily life,
      Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb
      Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
      Is full of blessings. Therefore let the moon
      Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;
      And let the misty mountain-winds be free
      To blow against thee: and, in after years,
      When these wild ecstasies shall be matured
      Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind
      Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,                       140
      Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
      For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then,
      If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
      Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
      Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,
      And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance–
      If I should be where I no more can hear
      Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams
      Of past existence–wilt thou then forget
      That on the banks of this delightful stream                    150
      We stood together; and that I, so long
      A worshipper of Nature, hither came
      Unwearied in that service: rather say
      With warmer love–oh! with far deeper zeal
      Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget,
      That after many wanderings, many years
      Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,
      And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
      More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!
                                                              1798.

A long one huh…. yeah I know I know, I am going to hear all about it arenot I? Well I am willing to take the risk. I wonder if jeff feels the same as Wordsworth when he is in the city.

I have met someone here, canot say his name but let’s call him Matteo….. He is like God’s gift to me. He is helping me see clear pictures of my weakness….. before we started talking I was singing

Then my heart did time in Siberia
Was waiting for the lie to come true
‘Cause it’s all so dark and mysterious
When the one you want doesn’t want you too

Now I donot anymore.

Iremeber this siberia, although  TIBE  you donot have anything to do with me singing the song….. Do you remeber one of the questions that you were asked on TV ……………………. has the answer SIBERIA in it…. or was it HEGE…. any way ………….

 Matteo is my Gift hopefully you will get to meet him.

Something of the world………………………. I was shocked to hear Pavarotti died…….. Now I cannot say I understand opera….. I admire those who say they get it. I mean …. oh never mind now I couldnot come up with a word…. any way I believe it is a loss for the opera world,,, there are times I listend to him …. I didnot get it but it has some power that just stops me……PAViI ( I hoped my calling him this isnot an insult, if it is my apologies to whom ever and tibe you know me I cannot helpit, I mean remeber Lampi, Joye, terrr..)any way  he left a great legacy that will stay on forever……. I cannot even believe a year has passed since STEVO (  I know he wouldnot mind) passed away.

 I was hoping I could get excited about the millenium…. apparently I am not…… is something wrong with me. But I am jealous of all those who are able to get back home….. I close my eyes and I could smell … the smell of ” Addis Amet” or the ” beal semon”…… it feels me up with this feeling that I cannot quite explain solidly…. but I feel happy and I want cry at the same time….. all Abesha faces ‘ inde abeba fekto’ …. this is something I always turn to …… for reassurance that I belong somewhere in the east africa where I am loved no matter what…………………. I guess it is just like Wordsworth puts it.

But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din
      Of towns and cities, I have owed to them
      In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
      Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
      And passing even into my purer mind,
      With tranquil restoration:

I hope all of you have a great HOLLYDAY………………………Melkam milleneum

Enough of this…. There is a wedding coming up…… so excited about it…… and I am hoping for that ” FIORE” who will sweep me off my feet…… I know both of you are saying….. yeah betty ” keep dreaming on”….. well you just never know……….

 Ciao for now

27. Yesebaot talka gebinet ………………………..4 days to go

Now you would have thought that there is nothing special being done to mark the ….. except for the hype as exemplified by the mention of the word countless times a day. Of course the word morphs to Barkume (bar= zemen and kume= shih) on Oromigna  programs and  Shihgna  on the Amhara kilil program . I have not checked but with all the resemblance to  Geez, it is probably Esira Miet on Tigrigna programs. 

 I know I am left with about 77 translations. 

But Saint Ruphael came through for us. I fail to remember a Pagume 3 with such heavy rain. I am writing this with my clothes still wet and this despite taking  shelter for most of the duration. Way to celebrate the mi……., Rafa !                                                                     

                                                     

 The House of  Federation has declared that any Ethiopian flag that is hoisted up or posted up on places and buildings should have the blue disk in the middle.  I do not know why they have to fixate on it. Hailesellasie had a coat of arm (moa anbesa) and Dergue had one too (I remember the Ehdri arma). I just learned that dergue in Geez means council or committee. But still could not find out who used to rule Ethiopia in 1007 AD :could be  an Axumite or a Zagwe .The grievances that people associate with past regimes should, if it must, be associated with those previous coats of arms. And the kings before that …….. anyway, does it make a difference? Did the change make anyone feel better? If it did, I think those people are not being realistic and are diminishing the realness of their problems.

  

  Granted a flag represents the being of a country. But it is the seal that symbolizes the regime.  We are unlucky in that everytime a new era comes a new seal has to follow. It is not like EPRDF is going to stay forever –how many flags can we go through? And it is not like that EPRDF was ruling the country for the past thousand years -why should people be  prohibited, at this momentous occasion , from flying the plain green ,yellow and red – the only constant through the years? Or does not the past matter at all and they, in their usual self-importance, have ruled 1000 to be 16? 

 

 A small blue disk drowned in a flag hanging from the top of a building I do not know how tall = aesthetically   pathetic. 

And you have to fear for the shemanes ; should the edict force them to incorporate disks into the tilet for the netela and gabi. 

 

Where was I?  Oh, yes Black Eyed Peas! Or is it where I am at now?  Anyway, I am expecting a solid performance from those guys. I have seen one or two of their concerts on TV and … pretty energetic. I hope they do their break dancing stuff. 

Another singer I am looking  forward to seeing  is Tewodros Tadesse .

 

                                                               

 Now, there is no denying that his last album was a CLASSIC ; no wonder he is yet to release another one . I mean talk about great expectations! His old songs are not that bad either; his mp3 is one of our favorites at the lab.  Let him do his thing and I promise to sing along to   “ begude ewotana “ or may be “ emiye Ethiopia ‘’ which my siblings say was my favorite when I was little. Talk about  arbegngnet kelijnet ! 

 

And Abinet?  His song “ yezaren” is tailor-made for the event. I believe I have forwarded the song to Tilaye.  Its message in short is to enjoy today because yesterday and tomorrow belong to someone else.  That is anticipative  song- writing for you. 

 

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26. Yehatiyategna nuzaze /mewezageb …………. 7 days to go

Tilaye: I meant this to be a comment but it got too long. So what the heck?!

  

A good point you make.

  

I too happen to think that we live for the sake of finding someone else to crucify. The crucifixion that should have mattered the most and the message contained therein often take second place when it comes to living our lives. 

  

What have we done with the teachings of Jesus and what He is all about? We did not abide by them. Instead we have used them to create divisions among ourselves. Divisions the most absurd of which is the many Christian sects we categorize ourselves into. It is like using the right thing (love) to give you carte blanche to do wrong (hate)

  

I believe that if any of the groups represents true Christianity, then it should have been the only one existing. Jesus was one and He taught a single teaching of love. (Trying to fathom the essence of other religions and why there is so many of them becomes overwhelming a t this point) 

  

I think every sect of Christianity has lost/added something  in translation to be the real one. And Rousseau (?) said it best  when  he said ” The last Christian was the one who died on the  cross ” .  

But do I take my sect to be the right one? Yes, I do. That is supposed to be the basic tenet of every religion.

And there arises the contradiction which I face.

  

I do not think that I will get to solve this contradiction any time soon. But what takes my mind off of it? Getting back to His teachings and hoping if I try to live by them then everything would be fine and the contradictions should  not matter.

  

Living in a world full of distractions from and perversions of the truth, the most one can do is hope and try to live right by oneself. It’s a struggle man! It should not have been but it is. I am afraid that nothing can guarantee that we will break away from worldly needs ; not even religions.

  

Two verses that show we tend to get it wrong :

  *He tells us ” …..yemibelutin satisetuachew beselam hidu tigebu bitiluachew min yitekimachewal? ….” .Yet “egeziabiher yistlegn ” is  taken to be a proper way of dealing with beggars.

Another contradiction arises  when we consider the fact that we are a society that condones begging and our little gifts could in fact be could be fueling a vicious cycle – give because someone is begging you and beg because someone is going to give you .

*He tells us to see Him in the faces of the less fortunate and hence be nice to them. What do we do? We go on living hoping to see Him one day while at the same time neglecting others.

Apparitions, as rare as they might be, should not have made news- we face Him on a daily basis afterall.

  

And a story I heard a while back:

  

In a vision Jesus tells this priest that tomorrow he is going to appear in the parish and to be ready. News spreads and the next day every parishioner waits in the church’s compound clad in their best clothes. It is at this moment that a poor lady carrying a child approaches the crowd. But she is shooed off because she was not dressed as supposed to. 

  

Nothing happened that day and in the evening the priest had another vision. He bemoaned “You said you would come but….”   

       Let us for a minute imagine that this took place in the US .Then  TV stations like WDQB and UPBG news would have been there and sure would have been disappointed.

Anyway Jesus replied “I was there with my mother ….”

  Don’t know if I told the story right but you get the drift.  

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sinful life

Speaking of beggars, why do we have more than one dress? Now don’t tell me Jesus said it just to give examples. He meant it literally! If you have two dresses and if someone else does not have one, then you should share. Now is that so hard to accept? How on earth can someone take it as one of those just-example-nothing-serious things? Given the whole theme of Christianity, what the Old Testament says, what Jesus has done for us, is sharing your possessions such so abstract?

These days in the news there is story about African Churches (in Kenya I think) strongly opposing gay marriage. Why is that? So are we (the straight ones) free from sin that we have the right to decide the privilege of gays in the Church?

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye

Of course, I’m not turning my argument like one of those which are favored by the “smart Questers”. When you tell them that what Quest is doing is draining foreign currency from the country, they ask you why you are wearing a nike shoe. As if to say “if you are doing, it then I should be able to”. It is like someone smashing the windows of car and that being a reason for a second person to blow up it’s tires.

But the fact still remains that all of us keep thinking about how the world is bad and how we are so good. If there is anything which could potentially prove us wrong then it must go out of the way. We categorize things into good and bad as accurately as we can but making sure that we are always on the good side. As we being good is of utmost priority. Double standards. Hypocrites we are. We are Christians who own two cloths.

How can one break away from worldly needs?

25. Sewoch vs. ampoloch ……..9 days (as in single digit 9) to go

                                                                          

Coming from where I do , being a graduate student is almost always synonymous with having to brandish a flash disk at any opportune moment. Yep, I have one. And after I have done all the downloading I can, there would be all these pdf’s and what not lying around. The common practice (at least for me) is to open new folders, stash the documents in there and hope to get back to them someday. It looks nice and tidy when E:, F:, G:,H: or … is opened but Lord knows I am not familiar with many of the inhabitants of those folders. 

I have heard news of beggars being taken from the streets of Addis to……anyway the where does not matter because it is unlikely to be something permanent. I do not enjoy the sight of people begging; neither am I the charitable type. The jury is still out on whether I have a selfish streak or if I feel that in most cases my contributions won’t make a difference or even worse, would aggravate the situation. Still, it is a shame, the way the destitute are being treated like unscenic garbage that is spoiling to the festivities. 

The same kind of shit happened in Harar when it celebrated its thousand years’ anniversary and African Union meetings and the like are also known to entail such acts.  

The people in question are the symbols of our failure as a nation. If they are to be concealed somewhere, somewhere where they can not bother all the fancy looking foreigners, then I think that we, all 80 million (before deduction) of us should join them. Hiding what we cannot solve does not make it go away. And not security, convenience or any other reason behind can make it right. 

I still come across many beggars everywhere. But I do not want them to get off the streets: not like this. People, however poor, will go a long way to brighten up streets than do some fancy lights. Whether we like it or not, we are all we got. So why worry too much about pleasing others with an unreal “upgrade”? And if this “upgrade” is meant for our benefit, do we really deserve it?

And what kind of a sorry ass privilege would that be?   

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24. Ruchaw tesereze ……………………… 11 days to go

I was eager to partake in the Great Ethiopian Run which was scheduled for 4 Pagume.  It was my first and hoped that I would be doing something memorable before the you know what. But it was canceled owing apparently to security concerns. A music concert that was planned for the eve on Mesquel Square was also scrapped off earlier for the same reason.    

This policy of minimizing the fun in order to protect it is turning the holiday into the millelame.  Would have been nice if they could have protected our fun as is. You know, make us have faith in them and make some amends for all their misdeeds in the past.  

May be they feel inapt to rise to the occasion given that they are inexperienced in handling its type.  And may be they should flip through the records of the Axumite  police force for inspiration. Or could it be that they have heard that Eritrea is helping the Tamil Tigers and the number of groups posing threats has thereby increased? Strange news though, I must admit. I wonder what could possibly be in it for the Eritreans.  

I had reported some entries back that the playground of the elementary school I went to was now covered by concrete. Actually, I happen to think it is for the better. It has goal posts and nets and is pretty decent.  My only reservations are the injuries that might occur and the limited number of students that can play at any given time. 

Gossaye’s album is growing on me.  

The streets of Addis Ababa are lit up in a way that some people say is reminiscent of the Esepa Misreta Baal. Or was it Asiregnaw Yeabiot Baal?

   

              

Talaku rucha regardless, we still run this. 

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