August 11, 2008...10:01 pm

Getting the Mojo Back

Jump to Comments

After four glorious days in Seattle I’m back! It was so good! The city made me think of Montreal with the brick apartment buildings. I didn’t understand the point of Pike Place Market- what’s the fascination in visiting a market (especially when Customs rules prohibit the importation of certain fruits and veggies from the US into Canada and vice versa! Even if my local supermarket buys bananas from the same supplier as their branch in Seattle, I cannot bring my Canadian banana into Seattle- on pain of death!) 

The object of our visit, the fabulous Ms. K_____ made it all worth getting fingerprinted at the US border (I learned that for all my knowledge I need to think for a minute as to which is my index finger! Don’t ask- I knew it wasn’t my thumb or pinkie or ring finger…it was one of the other two. The US Homeland Security officer was v. nice about it- clearly intelligence isn’t a factor when permitting entry to the US of A or not). We spent Saturday marking K’s 30th birthday with her friends, particularly Dr. T___ who had me in stitches for most of the evening- picture a bunch of people high off the alcohol saturated fruits in Sangria cackling away well into the wee hours of the morning! Fun!!!

We had some really good meals while in Seattle. From tapas to the best breakfast since I left Montreal (aka home of the best breakfast places in Canada)…if you know of a good breakfast place in Vancouver…let me know!!!

Tonight I’m sitting here after a long day at the office (day one after vacation and all that) cranking up the volume on Jennifer Hudson’s single “Spotlight”…it is just DIVINE! I don’t care about all the brouhaha regarding her album cover (in a word: airbrushed!). So what if they airbrush her to within a sliver of herself in real life? If the rest of the album is as good as this single! We have a real treat in store this fall! The song is a real Ne-Yo-style song…but in a good way. You can hear echoes of “Because of You” in the beats as it plays, but that’s cool ’cause it’s not as similar as the Rodney Jerkins hits from the summers of yesteryear (listen to J-Lo, Brandy, Chante Moore, Destinys Child, Monica, Toni Braxton, Debelah Morgan etc etc from 1998-2000…ever get tired of hearing him interject with a ‘Darkchild’ or two between lyrics? Me too).

I’m reviewing the status of projects that I gladly dropped to rush off on vacation! Feels good to be up at 10pm (missing Q on CBC radio!) working on  ideas for a Kenyan ladies’ event this September, a possibly huge gala event at the end of August, my podcasting debut (more on this later), a joint production effort with one of my fave collaborators…being busy is all  it is made out to be! I got my mojo back!!!!

Soundtrack: Jennifer Hudson ‘Spotlight’ (single, release: 2008 )

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tags: ,

6 Comments

  • Mwari Wa David
    August 12, 2008 at 3:17 am

    The holiday did you good, atleast your writing. It feels different, in a nice way…unless ofcourse there remains traces of alcohol in your system, in which case, shall we say, does good to your writing? Incase I am misjudged, I do not advocate alcohol to anyone. If I may say so myself, I loathe the stuff. My current headache is to convince my hubby, ever so gently, that I wish to do away with even that little glass on Friday evenings.

    I am yet to do a post on my summer vacation.
    Glad that you enjoyed yours, and that you still managed to keep your job. Tell me, in Canada, does one lose their job when they take a vacation?

    Thanks! Now that you mention alcohol: an interesting (unscientifically proven fact) is that the first alcoholic drink for most Kenyans of a certain age was Vodka. As you get older though you cannot overindulge…it’s not just that it’s a sorry sight to see middle-aged drunks, it’s the pain/misery of being hungover that curtails any overindulgence on my part.
    In Canada vacation isn’t considered a no-no. Most people get at least 2-3 wks of vacation a year…some companies have Summer Fridays i.e. Fridays off in the summer and other innovative vacation benefits. Rather unlike our neighbours to the South

    Reply
  • 31337
    August 12, 2008 at 5:42 am

    me, i am all about the mojo. glad you are back safe.

    There’s a Jay-Z number about getting your mojo back (just thought about it now). Glad to be back safe especially since we took a bus down…days after a mentally ill guy murdered his seatmate in a gruesome manner on a long distance bus in Canada. Let’s say nobody slept on our bus. We were all watching each other!!!

    Reply
  • Mwari Wa David
    August 12, 2008 at 8:44 am

    …and perhaps it’s me that’s high from alcohol, (perhaps the air I breath has some…) because, why am i convinced that I read a line in this post that saidsomething to the effect…. you managed to keep your job….? Please tell you edited the post, thereby deleting that line, then I will rest assured that I am still sane…

    Reply
  • Mwari Wa David
    August 12, 2008 at 8:46 am

    :) :) and have you noticed that I abandoned my blog and moved into yours?

    Karibu! Keti! Chai? LOL. He! I want some of whatever you are on…I did not edit :) maybe you read it elsewhere. BTW how is the new job?

    Reply
  • Medusa
    August 13, 2008 at 12:48 am

    Hey lady..habari gani. I have fond memories of my seattle trip a few yrs back..summers there are gorgeous..and that Pike place, me thinks the attraction is the fish mongers- they do that whole throwing in air thing that seems to really excite the folks(esp tourists)..besides getting some really nice flowers in the market..er..its just a soko! And oh..this place(forget the name) had the most delish Sangria..wawawa..(want a pitcher right NOW!) Must make some soon..*drool* Did you drive out towards Mt.Rainier…the scenery is breathtaking..or was that towars Portland?-Mommy brain..

    Yes, the seafood being tossed is probably the attraction. I definitely liked the flowers (v. good prices, pity I couldn’t take them back to Vancouver with me). The visibility wasn’t great but we did catch a glimpse of Mt. Baker on the way down. Portland is on our to-do list. We’re hoping to go down and cheer our friend as she runs the marathon on Oct 5 (I think)…can’t wait ’cause I hear Portland is even nicer than Seattle! Go get/make some sangria…my recipe was pretty simple- fizzy fruit drink (you could try Appletiser or something like that, gingerale also works), sliced fruit (strawberries & clementines), Red wine (we used a pinot noir which had some great colour to it, then a shiraz), and some fruit juice (orange or pinneapple). I found that orange juice turned the wine a funny colour so i’d probably not use it a second time- generally I find orange juice too acidic so I wouldn’t choose it. For added kick you can add some gin/vodka or liqour of your choice (as I type this I think of Grand Marnier)…more experimentation definitely needed…

    Reply
  • elm
    August 14, 2008 at 9:20 am

    Seattle sounds like fun- I can see how the fishermen tossing seafood in the air can be fascinating after that sangria of yours.

    And LOL @ “Darkchild” interjection. It’s sooooo annoying. A bit like the DJs in Toronto. You can’t go clubbing and just dance to a song- every 5 seconds there are shout outs to akina everybody!! Arrrggghh…

    I guess those DJs grew up in the age of advertisments every 5 mins on TV- in case people forget where they are LOL. Actually even puffy/p.diddy/whatever-his-nom-du-jour-is also did alot of interjecting except it was more like an “uh-huh”, “yeah” or “m-hmm” every now and then- less invasive, but annoying all the same.

    Reply

Leave a Reply