A mini ketchup session

Heya!

So last week I promised to catch up with you on things that happened over the past two years l went AWOL. A lot happened and l have 3 major things I want to share with you.

1] Becoming a published author

In 2018 October my debut novel, The Curse of Red Bottom Heels was published. The novel was co-authored by myself and a former classmate Ndabezinhle Mpofu. What led to the birth of this baby was the discovery that him and l loved writing and had written works before, though not published. This was in 2015/16, first year at NUST. We agreed then that we would definitely write something together. We weren’t thinking about publishing then, just writing. We didn’t pursue the matter until 2017 in August during attachment.

A decision was made to write a novel addressing ‘blesser’ relationships and thus giving birth to the book, an epistolary fiction. The book was published in October 2018 at the NUST campus. I won’t go further about the book, I will probably have a blog post about it on its own. What you can do in the mean time is buy the book. It is available from The Art Gallery in Byo at zwl150. It is also available from Books of Zimbabwe (14/15th Avenue and George Silundika), same price.

This was a major thing for me and will definitely go down as one thing I am proud of myself for.

2] Graduating

I always knew I was going to graduate; I didn’t suck that much with my courses. What l did not know was that I was going to graduate as the best female student in my department. Way before finishing the degree I had my mind set up on not attending the graduation ceremony, the only reason for that was because it hurt me to think that my mother would not be around to attend. That was a deal breaker. The graduation day drew close and l was still leaning more on the side of not attending. Consulted BFF, she told me her thoughts. What completely changed my mind though was the thought that what l wanted to do was selfish and very unfair to my family who were very much looking forward to the day, to celebrate me and with me. And surely, Mrs Nyathi (mother) would have wanted us to celebrate this day. And so, sis put on the black and white pant suit and went to shake the President’s hand. I looked pretty while l did that, a big thank you to Thandi a MUA from Bulawayo for the ‘make up did’ (@bubbly_thandee on IG). The day was great, but what I will also never forget is how mean heels are. I am okay in sneakers! Celebrations were also cool; shout out to family and friends. Need help with editing, book publishing? I am at your service, at a fee of course.

3] The big chop

Okay saying ‘the big chop’ is really being dramatic because my hair wasn’t that long but yes, I did currit. This had been something that l had been thinking about for a very long time, for over a year. I didn’t have the courage to do it until the day before my graduation. I hadn’t done much research about ‘the cut life’ and I didn’t know any cool barbers around town to go to. But I did do it anyway. When he (umagela) did that first trim I freaked out on the inside but it was too late, also, thank God for a friend who accompanied me, it helped having her there.

Do I regret cutting my hair? No. Not yet, and I think I have passed the regression stage. I am enjoying it to an extent that I even bleached it yellow. I say yellow because I don’t think blonde looks likes this lol. The day I got it bleached, I sent a picture home to give them a heads up. Didn’t want no one fainting on me. They actually liked it, one of my nephews (you got that right) was/is planning to get the same haircut #AuntyInspiration!

Let’s talk about my barber for a minute. His name is Malume Kalusha (sp). I was referred to him by a very good friend, Melissa, shout out to Melz. He was not the barber l went to the first time l cut my hair. I went to Malume to do damage control. The initial barber had done a shitty job but its okay, I forgive him. Malume Kalusha is one person l know who loves his job. His does it to perfection and that makes him slow. He shapes umqhekezo for a whole 30-40 minutes *cries*, he’s taught me patience this man. He’s so good with hair (he doesn’t only cut hair, but he does plait wigs, braids…everything hair nje) so much that he has a lot of customers. You need to book Malume a few days earlier, and keep on reminding him. On the day, be on time, if not early. On the day of my appointment, I make sure I eat and I am full and my phone is fully charged. I just put my day aside for Malume. Kalusha works from Fabulous Hair Salon, between 10 ^and 11^th Avenue and G. Silundika.

I don’t have a reason for cutting my hair. I just did it because I had been wanting to. There was no breakup or anything like that. I was very much in love LOL when l did it. And the whole, ‘a woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life’ isn’t applicable in my case. Now, I don’t know what the plan is but for now I am enjoying the cut life. Dreadlocks are in the pipeline, might as well start ‘brewing’ them when the short hair storm is over.

So that’s whats up ladies and gents. Continue keeping safe.