Takeover Arts

02/07/2024

The world was silent while we died. This is a refrain from Chimamanda Adichie's book ‘Half of a yellow sun.’ It is a book about the struggle for a budding country called Biafra to attain independence and extricate itself from the larger Nigeria against the will of the people of the entire world. The world was against Biafra and still they fought....

The world was silent while we died. This is a refrain from Chimamanda Adichie’s book ‘Half of a yellow sun.’ It is a book about the struggle for a budding country called Biafra to attain inde…

08/03/2023

The woman and the man walked through the dark streets, their footsteps echoing off the empty buildings. They were afraid to be caught, afraid of the consequences of being found out. They kept their heads down and their eyes on the ground, trying to blend in with the shadows. In the distance, they saw a group of people approaching. The woman grabbed the man's arm and whispered urgently, " Lazima tujifiche."...

The woman and the man walked through the dark streets, their footsteps echoing off the empty buildings. They were afraid to be caught, afraid of the consequences of being found out. They kept their…

20/02/2023

Beginnings are grand affairs. They are anticipated. Marked on calendars. They are Celebrated with gifts and showers. People gather in joy and thanksgiving. Everyone marvels at the sight of a beginning. Endings are more sombre. They are not acknowledged. Silent affairs. Endings swoop in awkwardly like uninvited guests, take what they came for and leave. Everyone averts their eyes. It is easier to feign ignorance than to acknowledge them....

Beginnings are grand affairs. They are anticipated. Marked on calendars. They are Celebrated with gifts and showers. People gather in joy and thanksgiving. Everyone marvels at the sight of a beginn…

19/03/2021

Yup. We moved to a new site. Bring out the party hats and confetti. Shout out to the architect Mike Laria for the design. We're closing down things here at Wordpress. This blog has come a long way since it started, sometimes as a diary for a curious and restless 20 year old, sometimes as a place to air out the little frustrations of life....

Yup. We moved to a new site. Bring out the party hats and confetti. Shout out to the architect Mike Laria for the design. We’re closing down things here at Wordpress. This blog has come a lon…

06/03/2021

I don't like bars when I'm sober. I find them depressing. They are places where old men go to lie to each other and slap each others backs heartily. The lights are usually dim, painting the place red or blue with sh*tty music playing from sh*tty speakers. Bars seem like an alternate reality to me. A place where it's perfectly acceptable for a stranger to plop himself on a high stool next to you and start chatting away as if you're best friends....

I don’t like bars when I’m sober. I find them depressing. They are places where old men go to lie to each other and slap each others backs heartily. The lights are usually dim, painting…

25/02/2021

And on this week’s episode of Pass the Mike, we have….drum rolls please…Nothing. Nothing meaningful anyway. In fact this is going to be the shortest piece I ever do on this blog. Or maybe it’s going to be the last piece I ever do on this blog. I’ll tell you why at the end. I wasn’t going to write anything this week....

I wasn’t going to write anything this week. I’ve been in a deep funk since Sato, which is just a fancy way of saying I was drunk as a fish. I went on a bender. All that therapy and sobriety crap fl…

18/02/2021

This week, I tell you guys about my journey with Nairobi. After all si we said the theme this month is movement? And as we all know, nothing moves like a stationery city, am I right? There is truth in this joke actually. I have found that as I have grown up, so has the city. I walk past the same places but they have changed almost as much as I have....

This week, I tell you guys about my journey with Nairobi. After all si we said the theme this month is movement? And as we all know, nothing moves like a stationery city, am I right? There is truth…

12/02/2021

The best 30 seconds of my day is when I get to ride downhill on my bicycle. When I get to let go of the handles and let the bike just roll. (Do people still call it ‘Free Hands’?) In those moments I feel untouchable, even though it only takes so much as leaning the wrong way and I land in a ditch....

The best 30 seconds of my day is when I get to ride downhill on my bicycle. When I get to let go of the handles and let the bike just roll. (Do people still call it ‘Free Hands’?) In those moments …

04/02/2021

"Na usiozee kuenda haraka hivyo kijana." The cop says as he pockets the 2k I have just handed him. Photo gotten online because I like my phone. "Mutethia ebu sasa niambie, umetoka Meru pande gani?" He asks as we walk back to the car. Just like that I am now his friend. He has forgotten his threats about court dates in Barichu and hefty fines....

“Na usiozee kuenda haraka hivyo kijana.” The cop says as he pockets the 2k I have just handed him. Photo gotten online because I like my phone. “Mutethia ebu sasa niambie, umetoka…

28/01/2021

On this week's episode, we pass the Mike to Chelsea Laria. Chelsea is Mike Laria's sister. I thought it would be best if I let Mike Laria do the introductions but he's currently all the way in Isiolo looking at buildings and writing his Architecture thesis. He sends his regards. Anyway, Chelsea went to Canada a few weeks ago. She wrote the following story....

21/01/2021

On this week’s episode of Pass the Mike, Mike Muthaka visits a therapist and sips gin in a Subaru. ** Three weeks ago I started seeing a therapist. One-hour sessions each week. It’s not like what you see in the movies. Ati sijui you lie down on the couch in a plush office with a potted plant. There’s no potted plant in my therapist’s office....

On this week’s episode of Pass the Mike, Mike Muthaka visits a therapist and sips gin in a Subaru. ** Three weeks ago I started seeing a therapist. One-hour sessions each week. It’s not like what y…

14/01/2021

Erm.. Mic check… one two. Is this thing on? Can you guys hear me? (You think you’ve heard enough Mike puns but we’re just getting started) Ok, so I’ll start with a short introduction. My name is Mike Mutethia Laria. I hail from the hills of Meru. Michael has described me before as a tall, light, bespectacled, bald guy. I find the description apt....

Erm.. Mic check… one two. Is this thing on? Can you guys hear me? (You think you’ve heard enough Mike puns but we’re just getting started) Ok, so I’ll start with a short introduction. My name is Mi…