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Nairobi Metro Fantasy Map

When I posted my Kenya Railways map earlier today, I said that I was tempted to make a fantasy map for a Nairobi metro system. And I ended up cranking one out way more quickly than I expected to!

I’ve never actually been to Nairobi (and given the state of LGBT rights in Kenya I might not ever be able to go), so I don’t claim to have a good understanding of the city’s geography—so this is mostly just me doing my best with a mixture of Google Maps and Apple Maps to try to estimate commute patterns from the street grid.

With that being said, let’s get into the routes. I’m envisioning this system as light rail—where some segments use the existing commuter rail right-of-way, some segments run in streets or medians, and there are a few tunnels. The colors of the Purple and Blue Lines were chosen arbitrarily, while the colors of the other three were chosen to make the flag of Kenya in the central trunk line.

The Blue Line begins in Ruaka and follows Limuru Road to Two Rivers Mall and the Northern Bypass from there to Runda, before following United Nations Ave and tunneling under the Sigiria Forest to Westlands. From there, the route follows the Uhuru Highway all the way to Imara Daima, joining the Red Line along existing commuter rail tracks to Syokimau and continuing into a tunnel to the airport.

The Purple Line begins in Mihango and follows the Eastern Bypass to Ruai and Kangundo Road from there to New Njiru Town, where it turns onto Komarock-Mwiki Road until the Kassarani West station at Thika Road, which it follows all the way to the Globe Roundabout. A quick jog along University Way takes it to join the Blue Line until Bunyala Road.

The Black Line begins in Gitaru and follows the Uhuru Highway all the way to West Parklands, before taking Ojijo Road and Parklands Road to reach the Globe Roundabout. From there, it follows Tom Mboya Street to Central, where it joins the current commuter rail mainline and continues to Embakasi Village.

The Red Line begins in Wangige and follows Highway C63 through Kikuyu, joining the existing commuter rail line just past the hospital. The route continues along the existing right-of-way through Central, and uses the same new tunnel as the Blue Line to get to the airport.

The Green Line begins at Galleria Mall and follows Highway C63 to Langata East before tunneling to the existing commuter rail line at Mbagathi. From there, it follows the existing right-of-way all the way to Ruiru.

If anyone familiar with Nairobi wants to weigh in on the route choices, please let me know! Although I will specify up front that I’m fully aware that the funds to build this system do not exist—but that’s the fun of crayon maps in the first place. Assuming the funds do exist, where should the routes go? That is the question.

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James Lloyd Cole 

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checking your phone in the middle of a task

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I think I’ll always be a romantic, you know? Someone could completely rip out my heart and walk away and I’d still be willing to believe in love again. They say hope breeds eternal misery, but really without hope, what else have we got?

Kristie Betts (via wnq-writers)

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“The Italian philosopher Vico had this theory that time moves more in a spiral than it does in a line. He believes that’s why we repeat ourselves, including our tragedies, and that if we are more faithful to this movement, we can move away from the epicenter through distance and time, but we have to confront it every time. I’ve been thinking about trauma—how it’s repetitive, and how we recreate it, and how memory is fashioned by creation. Every time we remember, we create new neurons, which is why memory is so unreliable. I thought, “Well if the Greek root for ‘poet’ is ‘creator,’ then to remember is to create, and, therefore, to remember is to be a poet.” I thought it was so neat. Everyone’s a poet, as long as they remember.”

- Ocean Vuong, What’s your mood when you write?

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You will reach

for a door and suddenly you’ll be out in the wind touching all the

horribly beautiful things. You’ll say this moment is not my enemy and

sometimes you’ll believe it.

— Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, from “What It Takes To Leave A House,” published in Lambda Literary

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I was so desperate to be understood that I would grab people and shove them inside my heart- where they stuck out like splinters, and it would hurt every time I felt anything.

Eliot Knight (via eli0tknight)

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Mustard yellow ; Hammock; Seaside towns; Milkshake; Warm poolside evenings; Violin; Fireworks show; Florals; Butterflies; Honey

dusky pink or mustard yellow? bean bag or hammock? seaside towns or neon cities? milkshake or smoothie? misty forest mornings or warm pool-side evenings? violin or acoustic guitar? fairground or fireworks show? stripes or florals? ladybugs or butterflies? maple syrup or honey? 

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so as it turns out, there is no such thing as superhero movie fatigue. we all just tired of watching the same white dude in the lead. 

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Book: *ends on a cliffhanger*

Me: ...

Me: am I missing pages or did that genuinely happen

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Wtf is sephora

It sounds scary

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He is fingering me and I can’t cum. He looks angry like a pirate who follows the map but can’t find the treasure I close my eyes like the books say; imagine I am chasing nirvana through sunny, green meadows instead of squirming above a 26-year-old’s sweaty bedsheets with his mother in the next room I once told a boy I’d never had an orgasm but what I meant was, “I’ve never really felt okay inside.” I don’t know if the problem is up here or down there, but if you say them real fast they sorta sound the same, anyways; less than five minutes later, both of our mouths are exhausted. He says, “maybe you’re just not in the right mindset” I reply, “maybe you’re just not very good at oral” I grab my sneakers and never speak to him again (Sorry, Jack!) I ask my gynecologist about it (because that’s easier than asking my psychologist) so she peers into me with flashlight-bright eyes I am praying she sees the beast in my body One I’ve begged boys to taste, tongues wet on my thighs But she’s blind. So I ask my psychiatrist He says, “maybe promiscuity is not a solution, but a symptom” So I call my insurance company ask for a new doctor Not that it matters; I can’t hear them over the sound of my fake moans, anyways.

“Anorgasmia And Orgasmia” by Kelly Blaus (via wildsoulz)

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The fact that colonialism is so central to science-fiction, and that science-fiction is so central to our own pop culture, suggests that the colonial experience remains more tightly bound up with our political life and public culture than we sometimes like to think.

The Atlantic discusses the link between science fiction and colonialism. (via ceeturnalia)

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Frank Morrison

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Rage is not to be avoided, diminished, belittled. Rage is God. Better believe my rage is steeped in love.

Shira Erlichman, as quoted in Jacqui Germain’s When the Ghosts Come Ashore (via lifeinpoetry)

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WANT!!!