The Man Known as…”Kevin Bean”

Ello Gadys & Lentlemen 🙂
Its been another few days and an especially funny moment in my house has led me to another nostalgic post.

Dads. Trouble & Security all in one. 🙂  So for fathers day I made my Dad a giant “D”, painted it a stripy red/pinkish/orangish colour in my interpretation of a Kikoy which looks something like this:

And here in Kenya people use them for everything…

I love them to bits and have several in various colours.

However back to the story….. (Attention span of gold fish :D)

I then proceeded to write many things that I want to tell him before I move out and into an entirely different country. The thought of leaving my Home, Kenya, is really beginning to hit me now that the time is flying in and I feel more than ever before that this is no doubt my home. British, maybe. But in my heart, i will always be part Kenyan .

However, In honour of my Dad and the most amazing and supporting man I know, I wanted to dedicate a post to him and his new found nickname Kevin “Bean”.

So, my dad is well known for his hard work and dedication but after a few beers, wine or….anyway, his humorous side begins to shine through and we see his truly amazing colours within.

For example, leaving a friends party, he fell down the stairs and then continued to get in to the car after slamming himself in the eye with the door. Ouch! (when he got home, he kissed my nose, lol).

Or the time we were invited to my friends garden party and my dad tried rock climbing the side of the house leading up to the chimney only to get 1 and half metres of the ground before falling & flailing in the harness.. more vodka?

Or One of my favourites which i mentioned in the blog about Maasai Mara, where he was sitting in the mini-bus, when he turned to my mum and said

“Myra, do you smell something burning?”

and my mum said,

“yes, but im sure its coming in from outside”

only to turn and see my dads eyes closed and his cigarette setting his hush puppies polo shirt on fire… and yell:

“Kevin, Your shirt!!! “

Then followed by my dad ripping it off and throwing it out the window faster than Usain Bolt could run the 100 metre sprint!

Silence…. then the whole car erupted in laughter. And the random Angolan friend, Jelele, looking shocked whilst he laughed insanely!

Another highly enjoyable memories of mine & my dads was the time my parents had to go out for a work function. They were going to one of the fanciest places in the area, often used to celebrate super important dates, such as 18th birthdays and Christmas. They dressed up nicely and told me to lock all the doors and to call if anything was wrong as usual. Normally, they would be out quite a while and return happy and joyful. This time, however, 2 and half hours later my parents arrived home. Compressing a grin, my mum bolted through the door before my dad in time to warn me of the situation.

Apparently, my dad had gone outside in his chinos and shirt to have a smoke, only to fall into the pond..Then the driver came in to tell my mum that she was needed outside. When my mum got outside my dad stood, soaked head to toe in muddy water with the guard holding an umbrella over him.. as it was raining…I know, dont ask…

 

Or Much more recently, A few days ago my maid threw out a bottle that my mum wanted to put disinfectant in. So, my mum had nothing but an old bubble bath bottle. So she put it in there and then placed in with the rest of the cleaning utensils. Later on Mr. K Bean went to get a bath, completely didn’t notice the shower gel hanging from the rail & so went to dig through every place he could find, to locate some. Unfortunately, he mistook the disinfectant for bath gel and well.. as the label had said.. “Disinfects and Protects Most Surfaces”. As my mum had said thank gosh it wasn’t bleach for we may have ended up with a Tone Deaf Michael Jackson look alike…

Anyway back to Kevin “Bean” 😛

My Dad may be the ultimate real life Mr. Bean but I’ll always love him, whether he accidentally knocks a pint of beer round me in a restaurant, leaving me with eau d’alcohol or introduces himself as Sweeney Todd to guys my age. At the end of the day, I know he’d drop everything to support me and make sure that Im better than ok!

Dad, I love you. Always x

Just another epic day for the girl in the worn trainers… :)

SO! GUYS! SATURDAY CAME!

I got all dressed up, even skyped to confirm my outfit was flawless and popped on my favourite black peep toe wedges and trundled off to my friends house where she proceeded to get ready. When everybody was all dolled up we walked to my school which is just round the corner from my friends house. However, this isnt like Europe. Typically the moment anyone of a different racial tone hits the streets they get looks of shock from the gardeners and road workers who pop out to take a look. Typically if you are of pale colour, they often yell “MZUNGU!” full blast…Mzungu is Kiswahili for white.

So after marching down the wonky hill, we arrived at the stage to do our test play, make sure the mics were working and all was well.. I got up on the stage to do practise the solo and it was ….HORRIBLE. I couldn’t recall any of the lyrics. It made me real nervous but i couldn’t back out now.

So a couple hours passed of nervously gathering and chatting to my friends as more and more people began to arrive and my nerves began to grow and grow… Time came, Mr Herbert, my headmaster, wondered up to me and told me it was time for me to hit the stage. First me and my friend played/sang our duet. Me on guitar, and her glorious voice holding the rather large audience to awe. But after the first verse we realised that I had forgotten the capo and had to stop to go get it causing a large chuckle to erupt from the tipsy adults. But we performed and it was fine..

Then it was my turn. My solo. My nerves in my stomach, sprawling everywhere. My leg shook as I sang and my hands fiddled nervously with the sheet of lyrics.. but it was…AMAZING! The song came out as if i had nerves of steel and I bounded off the stage grinning eagerly as all had gone better than wished!

Carefree, I enjoyed the rest of my day and night with a grin like no other 🙂

Not just Art…. Dramatic Art xD

Well, tomorrow is the 30th year Anniversary of the opening of my current (soon to be old) school’s first opening. 
As unexpected, I’ve been asked to perform. But as anyone who has ever got up on the big stage knows, its not too easy…

So, here I am blogging about it. 😛

Last year, I performed in Nicholas Nickleby’s Smike as Smike (even though im not a guy, or really resemble one lol) but it was ok, including the two solos I sang. It was my first leading role and I loved it! My favourite night out of all the performances was the second, where during the first solo I sing about being an orphan, I actually managed a few tears and had some people in the audience crying too…(hopefully from the lyrics and not my singing lol.) 

Well, tomorrow I have been asked to redo the song about being an orphan at the reunion and to play Story by Brani Carlile  on guitar whilst my good friend and amazing vocalist bud sings along.

Although the thought of returning to the stage brings a grin to my face, I cant help but revisit those pre-performance jitters. So…I guess we will just have to see how it goes… 

Fingers Crossed 🙂 

Holls