Positive Quote for Today

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."— Maya Angelou


Animals We Kept in the '90s

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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Scroll Droll. All rights reserved worldwide.

My home had a rural feel when I was growing up in the '90s. We cultivated crops and kept a variety of animals. The animals that left a lasting impression on me were cats, dogs and cows.

Well, I have no particular cat that I can remember, perhaps because they all appeared the same to me. But I do vividly recall that some of our cats were a nuisance. They would defecate in our living room, causing a repulsing smell.

Apparently fed up with one of the noisome cats, some of my family members bundled it up in a sack and instructed my brother Bob Njinju to go throw it in a stream that was about two kilometres from our home. Bob carried out the task but the damn cat found its way back home. What a mystery!

One night, an uncle of mine, who must have been disgusted by the sight of cat feces, closed the door of our living room, cornered the misbehaving cat and attempted to kill it. I can't recall if he accomplished his mission. All I know is that the cat never injured him while acting in self-defence.

The dogs we kept in the '90s were more memorable than cats. Since my parents had only boys (and you probably know how boys love dogs), we always had a dog in our homestead.

One dog we called Toss had a habit of feasting on human feces. When it died, my brothers buried it in a shallow grave that someone put a cross on. I think I am the one who added the cross to the grave. Not that I missed Toss!

We had another dog we named Poppy. I think it was a German shepherd given how it looked and how brave it was, the bravest dog we have ever had in our home.

Poppy once bit an elderly woman who visited our home. Though I never got to know if she was seriously hurt, I am thankful she never sued my family.

And then we had another dog we called Scubby Doo. Other than that name which sounded nice to my ears, I can't remember much about the dog. I still like that name, "Scubby Doo".

As for the cows we kept in the '90s, I particularly remember two: Judy and Mukuyu. Judy was docile and didn't produce much milk.

Mukuyu, on the other hand, was the opposite of Judy. It produced plenty of milk and was protective of its calves. Whenever it gave birth, it would charge at anyone who dared to go near its calf.

I think it's Mukuyu that bore a mad bull we owned in the '90s. The bull, which was red in color, could only be handled by men like Uncle Ndonga who stayed with us. Even though it never caused damage, I am sure my family was glad when they sold it - if not for safety then for the money.

Back in the '90s, I was sometimes tasked with looking after our cows in the grazing field. While driving the cows back home, I would fix my gaze on the calves and adore them. They appeared so cute and so innocent.

It's probably due to the cats, dogs and cows we kept in the '90s that I came to love animals. If I ever get lucky to own a home, I will have to keep a dog and several cows. So help me God.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on the animals we kept in the '90s, you might also enjoy another one on "Some TV Shows of the '90s" which I wrote several weeks ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Reading Widely & Wisely

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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from All About Learning Press. All rights reserved worldwide.

In 2017, I shared a blog story in which I displayed a photo of the 2006 Fire-fighting Squad of Starehe Boys' Centre, my high school. One Charles Muriithi informed me via Facebook that he was the squad commander in 2001, a year before I joined Starehe. He went on to tell me that he was working as the DCIO of Turkana North, an arid region in Kenya.

I didn't know what the term DCIO stands for, so I googled it. After some deft navigation on the internet, I landed on Wikipedia where I learnt that the term DCIO stands for Divisional Criminal Investigation Officer. And the officer is part of the Kenya Police Service.

Wikipedia gave further information on how the Kenya Police Service works. It said that the service is sub-divided into the following departments: flying Squad, anti-banking fraud unit, special crime prevention unit, anti-terrorism unit, ballistics unit, anti-narcotics unit, bomb squad, cyber forensics, forensic department and kanga squad.

The words "kanga squad" made me giggle because they sounded funny to my ears. But I quickly got serious and pondered about the crimes that the police combat. Man, we live in a fallen world for shizzle.

It has dawned on me that the most effective way to cushion ourselves from crimes is by being discerning and knowledgeable. That means we should acquire knowledge daily like our life depends on it. And, in my opinion, reading is the best method of increasing our knowledge base.

When it comes to reading, I think it's unwise to read only motivational books about how to be rich and successful. Doing so can make us unrealistic, a recipe for depression and other mental illnesses.

You see, motivational books tell us that we should just do it, that "if Obama did it, you can do it better", that "whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve", and that "whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

Such motivational quotes do contain some element of truth but if that's all we read, we are bound to become, as I have said, unrealistic. We will end up doing things that are not right for us, or doing the right things at the wrong time.

Maybe it's the tendency for some books to make us unrealistic that compels framers of school curriculum to expose students to a wide variety of knowledge. They even make maths and languages to be compulsory subjects.

Not wanting to be one of those unrealistic people, I have diversified my home library by including such books as:
  • The Holy Bible
  • Glencoe Health: A Guide to Wellness
  • The Africans by David Lamb
  • A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (a memoir)
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
  • The Butterfly Box by Santa Montefiore (a novel)
Reading such a wide variety of books has made me, well, not as foolish as I was before! As my fellow country youths would put it in Sheng, "Hizo vitabu zimenichanua."

To prove that I have grown wiser, I recently got rid of fifteen counterfeit books that I had purchased. Some of the books, such as Michelle Obama's Becoming and Robin Sharma's The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, were very captivating.

Those counterfeit books cost me about KSh 8,000, money that I would have used to buy genuine books. Even though the genuine books would have been fewer, they would have been worth their weight in gold.

You may be asking: Why did I have to get rid of the counterfeit books? Because I believe we do authors a disservice when we purchase books that don't earn them royalties even after they expend a lot of effort in writing the books.

Now that I have only genuine books in my room, I am looking forward to acquiring more books once I start earning good money from my blogging hobby. Oh, how I enjoy reading widely and wisely!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on reading widely and wisely, you might also enjoy another one on "Books I'd Love to Read Again" which I wrote a couple of years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Nationality: Kenyan
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just for Laughs

There was this drunkard named Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination. So I am striving to enjoy each moment even as I anticipate to fulfill my dreams, especially meeting my soulmate and traveling abroad. Tomorrow may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tip

So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help to give you that greatest blessing of all - good health.


Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

Great Example for Politicians

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

Although I'd like to be rich and famous, my supreme desire is to be radiant: to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without hate, guilt, worry, jealousy, cynicism and envy. I wish to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so and to treat all men with kindness - to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)