A one day trip to Wrocław

Today I have visited Wrocław again. It has been around four or five weeks since I have been there last time: you can read about it in one of my previous posts. This time I came here with my boyfriend to merely hang out and on the occasion we visited the old square, where we had a dinner and took some pictures to capture this moment. Some of them have been taken with GoPro; in a post about Sky Walk trip I also attached a photo made this way. I think it is a alternative for those who are bored with simple photos made with a manual camera or with a cellphone.
From my perspective Wrocław is one of the most beautiful polish cities and I know many will share this opinion. Not only the old town and old square are very picturesque but it's newer parts are well-cared and harmonious. Not mentioning about Wrocław's railway station which, renovated a couple years ago, is particularly impressive. This entire city seems to be a great place to live and work. I have been living in Poznań for almost five years now and now I definitely feel tired of it. Maybe in the future I will think about moving to Wrocław because, from what I've heard, there is a lot of work connected with my education. In fact, there are lot's of italians living in this city.

On a concert

As I mentioned some time ago, I play the bass guitar and some other musical instruments. For this reason I have many friends who also play musical instruments or sing: yesterday a few of them played a concert in a  music club in Poznań 'Pod Minogą'. It is always a nice experience to watch your friends perform on a stage and create something altogether new. Composing music is not an easy thing and, being myself a musician, I appreciate the enormous amount of work they have done and I can easily imagine all the difficulties they have had to face.
Coming directly to the point, two bands from Poznań have taken part in a gig: Headwind and Sunstripes. Both of them are rock bands but the music played by Headwind may be definied as heavy metal and the genre of music created by Sunstripes is alternative rock. As you can guess, the gig was very loud and there was no space for delicate vocals or gentle guitar playing. I must admit I am not the biggest fan of this kind of music but, as I said before, I have had a really great time watching my friends play and enjoying their public. Anyway, I finally had an occasion to reunite with some of my friends I haven't seen for a long time.
I put a link to my Instagram account where you can watch a fragment of Sunstripes gig:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcF2EDbldPu/?taken-by=kay.dee.ar

Sky Walk

Hello!
Recently I have been to a very special place called Stezka w oblacich (in english Sky Walk) which is a lookout point situated in Lower Morava in Czech Republic. The construction is all made of wood and metal and reaches the hight of 1171m above sea level (being located on a 1116m high hill). From my experience, it's best to visit this place during the spring or the summer. As I have been there in the november, the weather was rather harsh: there was a strong, cold wind. Even though, the wievs were still beautiful: at least the fog wasn't very dense so we could admire the Lower Morava Valley without any obstacles. I would certainly recommend this place to those who love the mountains but do not have enought willpower to reach the top of a mountain: the Sky Walk is easily accessible; there is a cable railway leading directly to the hilltop.

My master's thesis

Hello!
Today I would like to tell about my master's thesis subject as, in my opinion, it is a very unusual thing. The tittle reads as follow: 'Language of videogamers'. I have chosen this subject because videogaming is my hobby; especially when I was younger I used to play a lot - now I have less time that I could dedicate for it.

In this work I would like to analyze the way of speaking and writing of people who play videogames, such as League of Legends, Warcraft, etc. In summary, I will describe the mecanics of games I am taking into consideration, make a transcription of some videos on Youtube showing people playing these games in multiplayer mode, analyze articles written by videogamers about gaming strategies, giving advices for begginers and reviewing new games on market, and much more.

Obviously, the work will be all written in Italian and, what is more, will concern the language of videogamers coming from Italy.

There is a lot of things to do, and being honest, I haven't started yet. I hope to have my masters thesis's discussion in June or July. Wish me luck! :-)

All Saints' Day in Poland

All Saints' Day in Poland is celebrated on the 1 of November. Because it is a non-working day, many people spend it going to cemeteries and, in general, commemorating their beloved ones who passed away. There is an universal practice consisting in lighting candles on graves, which, accordingly to what is said, are to bring relief to the dead. The festivity is strongly connected with Christian faith and was first introduced to honor every Christian that reached the state of salvation. The date is followed by the All souls' day. In accordance to the teachings of the Catolic Church, on the 2 of November we should commemorate all the deceased ones, reserving the 1st of November only for those who have been canonized. However, not many follow this rule and it has became very common to dedicate All Saints' Day to all people who passed away.

Without any doubt, dedicating those two days to the dead is a noble concept but for many it is an only time in which they recall their relatives and friends who died. Many treat it as an obligation to light a candle on a grave and forget the real meaning of this festivity. In fact, we should keep the memory of our beloved ones who passed away live in our hearts also during the rest of the year as, despite the fact of being dead, they continue to influence on who we are today.

Wrocław Afrykarium

 

Photos from above seem very real, as if they have been taken in those animals' natural habitat but in fact they have been taken this weekend in Wrocław Afrykarium. I've been there with my boyfriend and our friends and we all enjoyed it will all our hearts. Even though I am rather against keeping animals in captivity, it has been a breathtaking and experience. All the lights have been set to create an atmosphere of mystery and in connection with slow movement of fish and other sea creatures in aquariums they have made me very relaxed and calm. For this reason, I would wholeheartedly recommend this place not only to families but also to everyone who lacks moments to slow down in their everyday life. Finally, I cannot mention the darker side of this place - entrance tickets are extremely expensive, also the discounted ones for students. So far I have visited two places like this: the first one in Genoa, Italy and the second one - in Wrocław. Many would expect Aquarium od Genoa to be way better and more entertaining but, from my experience, even though Wrocław Afrykarium is smaller and offers less sea creatures' species to see, I enjoyed it more. Anyway, it's only my subjective opinion and possibly influenced by the fact of spending time in a much more pleasant way and being surrounded by kind and friendly people.

My first work

Hello!
Today I finished my first real work: for almost four months I collaborated with a company based in Poznań connected with video games market. My main task was to translate from polish to italian: as I study italian culture and language, it was a great opportunity to develop my italian language abilities. What is more, I gained a lot of experience concerning working in an office and from today's perspective I must admit it's not as easy as I have imagined it to be. Apart from 'tasks to do' there is a lot of paperwork that, in my opinion, is time-consuming and, in general, pointless. Thanks to that experience I now know that, no matter what, I am not to look for a work like this anymore. Spending eight hours in an office is a real challenge for me: when I work at home I prefer to divide my working time in smaller parts depending on how many things I have to do, think something over and go back to it later, go for a walk to relax, etc. I know many would say that eight hour workday is a great option, but not for me. My dream work is to work remotely, whenever and wherever I want.

Has something changed so far?

Yesterday I thought I should go back to what I wrote in January about my... New Year's resolutions! Yip, it's not an hallucination, I might be one of those never satisfyied people who think about this stuff in May. Let's see what were those things I decided to improve:

What is more, I would like to share with you some of my New Year resolutions:
1. To do more painting
2. To do more sport
3. To do more music
4. To focus less on my imperfections and to appreciate more myself
5. To study more.....
NAH
6. To spend less time online
7. To not complain about the weather
8. To be more spontaneous
 ( Jan 9th, 2017)

Thinking out loud I must admit that I managed to do most of this stuff so far! I remember complaining about weather in April but hey, who didn't! It was more than awful 😂. Anyway, there is still much to do but I feel okay with what I've done so far. I know I will have much more time to do all this stuff when this semester ends, can't wait for it. This year, in contrast to what happened in previous years, I hope to pass every exam in June. Fingers crossed! 😊
But I'm still not that spontaneous as I would like to be!
Oh, and I have studied more even though I didn't want that previously.. Good job, me!

Translating poetry

Today I decided to have some fun (?) and translate some italian poetry into english. Of course, there are many other ways you can have fun, real fun, but still.. I love challenges!
I have chosen a poem of a great romantic poet Giovanni Pascoli entitled Sogno (en. Dream). Here is original text followed by my clumsy translation (please don't judge me 😊):

Sogno

Per un attimo fui nel mio villaggio,
nella mia casa. Nulla era mutato
Stanco tornavo, come da un vïaggio;
stanco, al mio padre, ai morti, ero tornato.

Sentivo una gran gioia, una gran pena;
una dolcezza ed un’angoscia muta.
– Mamma?-È là che ti scalda un po’ di cena-
Povera mamma! e lei, non l’ho veduta.

Dream

For a moment I was in my village,
in my house. Nothing has changed
I have been coming back tired, as if from a trip;
tired, to my father, to the dead, I was back.

I felt great joy, great sorrow
gentleness and mute distress.
–Mom? - She's over there, warming up some supper-
Poor mom! And she didn't see that.

Mother's day in Poland

 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀

Happy Mother's Day to every mother! 😊😊
Today it is Mother's Day in Poland! It is a perfect occasion to reminiscent on our mothers and everything we can be grateful them for. In the streets I have seen many people carrying flowers or other gifts, and it made me think that even though we may have disagreements or arguments with our mothers, we never forget about them in days like this. We want them to feel special to us and to feel loved. And what makes a better occasion to give flowers and sweets to a women? Except for women's day - we are considering mothers only at the moment 😋

💮🥀💮🥀💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀 💮🥀💮🥀

La La Land (spoiler alert)

I've just watched La la Land and it's such a lovely film! Some would tell me that it was boring but.. In my opinion it just has loads of space in it. And that's what makes this film so fantastic. I love movies that let us stop and forget about our everyday lives, but in a very calm and relaxing way. I also cried every second scene and that's something positive too! I managed to kill two birds with one stone: not only I watched something gripping and charming, but I also gave vent to my emotions which is very important; we should remember that sadness is something we first must let ourselves experience so later we can let it go and forget. And films make a perfect opportunity to do so!
I must also add that the last scene literally killed me! Why couldn't they be together? And live happily ever after? It's not fair. They would make such a beautiful couple of artists!
Oh, and all that jazz! So delightful! I just love this genre, it's perfect. It has always been my dream to become jazz musician as well. This film just strucked too many of my responsive chords (not only those related to music), so I am currently feeling positively devastated 😊.

In terms of jazz - "maybe it's dying but not on my watch" (an imprecise quotation of Sebastian's words). Nowadays people just became too lazy to even try to understand this beautiful and complex kind of music! Yes - we are a "fast and easy society"; we love fast food and easy money, we hate anything that comes slow and it difficult to obtain. We see, we buy, we want everything RIGHT NOW. I am not that type of person, I'm in love with waking up an hour earlier just to look through the window and sip my morning coffee, then I eat my breakfast for another hour, etc. I just hate being in rush, it makes me feel sick. And that's why I love the process of building, learning, etc. And for any musician - jazz is the hardest thing to learn.

Now you may reflect on, and listen to a masterpiece of a polish jazz-pianist, Leszek Możdżer playing with some international friends 😊. Enyoj!

P.S. I am going to buy a chello and.. I am goind to play it!!  It has been on my to do list for TOO MANY YEARS now!

What happened in Manchester

Is it the way we are forced to live now? Waiting for another strike and fearing not to be another victim of this sick ideology? There is really nothing european governments can do about it all? They wont take any extreme measures because it may be politically incorrect? And when will Europe stop reveicing migrants from Africa and Asia Minor? A very large majority of them doesn't even come here to work, they don't even want to assimilate. They want US to deny who we are and what we believe in, they wont let themselves be treated as subjects.
The guy who carried out suicidal attack in Manchester was at my age. And even though he was an european he didn't consider himself as such. Because being born here doesn't mean much. It doesn't mean much to grow in this culture and live amongst  those people who you were allowed to. For many of you it will be something new but they believe to go to haeven after having killed a Christian. This is a high-end prize for extreme muslim.
Thank God our government refused to receive a single refugee.

The death of Chris Cornell

A few days ago we lost one of the most talendet vocalists of our times. Chris Cornell was a lead singer of two well-known american bands: Soundgarden and Audioslave. For the first time I came across his music time when I was around twelve. He comitted suicide at the age of 52.
I often wonder what makes people kill themselves. Is it the grey everyday life they can't stand anymore? Or is it because of more complex emotions they can't manage with? It's easy to tell "I am currently feeling suicidal" but there must be some deep and dark dimention of this feeling that makes people loose interest in their lives. Unfortunately, for many who reach that point there is no return. What an overwhelming feeling it must be when you loose every little spark of hope. Seriously, what does it feel not to wish for sunshine anymore?

It's not easy peasy lemon squeezy anymore...

Why is studying so hard.. Or should I ask: why is being a student so tough. I remember being at this point only 3-4 months ago. I mean, exams. And with every passing year it becames worse and worse. Or is it only me being less and less resistant? Or is it the fact that not only there is much more to do but also I am always more and more.. and more tired of everything related with studying? Hope not, because I still want to complete one or two additional university courses. We will see. Now it's not the best moment to reflect about those things.
Thank God I've already planned a trip to Italy (yes, another one) with my friend Olga! We are going to have our stronghold in Bologna and from that point we will be making our excursions to nearby locations like San Marino, Rimini, etc. Thank God only 4 weeks left!!

What does it mean to change your life?

Many times people ask me questions like: how I did this or that, or how I managed to change this, etc. Here comes my answer and it is what I trully believe in.
People who want to reach some goals too often rely on their willpower that keeps them moving on only for short periods of time. The problem is they exclusively focus on the GOAL and instead they should pay more attention to introducing permanent changes in their lives. For example: there is a group of people who will only want to loose some weight when they stand on the threshold of summertime. They will try to get shredded before June ends so that they will appear a little bit better in a swimsuit. Have you ever heard of someone who was successful with this kind of strategy? I haven't.
When trying to change our habits we don't feel comfortable with or trying to become a better version of ourselves, we all should rely on why-power. It is good to motivate WHY we wan't something change and, instead of running a short distance at top speed (which is obviously exhausting), we should visualize our long-listance objectives. Writing them down is a good option when beggining. Then, step by step we can reach the goals we have set before, whithout unnecessary pression and without trying to fix every little thing at once.

Poetry of everyday life

I must confess I am not a big poetry fan..  At school, when we used to analyze poems, it just.. didn't interest me at all. For me it was like reading labels on food products. I was never inspired, and I would never say "What a beautiful poem" because for me it was nothing but some words put together pretending to be something exceptional.. Music is inspirational, painting as well, but poetry - is not.
And finally, after all those years of not appreciating poetry, I found out that there is a kind of poems that may interest me and may touch my emotions as well, which for me - was highly unexpected. That is the poetry of everyday life. For the first time, I discovered it when watching "Paterson" at the cinema, a film directed by Jim Jarmusch. It was a really profound experience as the film is very tranquil and has a lot of space, in contrast to other modern films. The action is really slow and everything is about beauty of everyday life. As I used to forget that this kind of beauty exists, for me it was a moment to stop and think, and it encouraged me to appreciate every little moment more.
Anyway, the most beautiful moments were those ones when main caracter recited his poems inspired on William Carlos Williams poetry, who was the first to discover this style of writing. Everything accompanied by airy, tranquil music..

I've been to Italy!

Hello everyone!
A few weeks ago I visited Italy with my collegues from university and one of our's professors (I must confess it has been my fifth time in Italy so far!). The leitmotif of our trip was "Made in Italy" and very soon you will find out why.
Our plane landed in Pisa and that's where we started our trip. To my displeasure I must admit that the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and of course, it's sourroundings, is not that great as it's told to be. The next day we made it to the city of Perugia, where we visited the museum of Perugina chocolate. We had "some" chocolate treats and I felt a little bit sick for the rest of the day. Anyways, it was definitely worth it as Perugina is one of the most known italian producers of chocolate and sweets in general. And those treats were too delicious not to taste them all!
Our next destination was Milan where we arrived in the late evening because on the way from Perugia to Milan we stopped in two other places: Pontedera and Florence. In Pontedera we went to the museum of Piaggio wehicles and it didn't impress me much as I'm not a big fan of automobiles. In Florence, since we waited for another train and had only like 2-3 hours, we watched some of the most important monuments. For me it wasn't a big loss because it was the second time I have been in Florence. This city always reminds me of one of the most popular computer games Assassin's Creed set in fifteenh-century Florence.
So, in Milan we visited the museum of Campari and, thanks God!, there were no treats because surely no one would pay attention to what was said about this company's history. The next day we made it to Bergamo from where we had our flight to Poland. We landed in Wrocław.
Summing up, our trip's leitmotif was pretty accurate as we visited some places related to one of the most known italian products: Perugina, Piaggio and Campari. By the way, I really enjoy travelling to Italy, I always make some great memories there! I love the atmosphere! There is nothing more pleasant than a cup of cappuccino and a warm cornetto in the morning and then off to some beautiful places.

Modern beauty standards

I know it is one of those touchy subjects, but it is also the one that I often tend to think about and analyze it from my point of view. People have always set beauty standards and probably will never stop to as the Beauty represents one of the most important parts of human culture and art creation. There is nothing wrong in considering one thing beauty and another not-beauty (ugly then). But nowadays there are more and more restricted rules governing this part of our lives; people, without any exceptions, are expected to appear in one particular way: lean and muscled body, spotless skin, flawless hair and teeth, attractive facial shape etc, etc.. People who don't satisfy these conditions often feel dejected, deceived or even excluded from social life! Or I should tell - they even exclude themselves socialy because of their insecurities concerning the fact that they don't fit within the framework of being "perfect".

And who is to blame for this situation? Advertisement for spreading images of unrealistically beauty people whose faces and bodies have been corrected and improved digitally, social media for applauding this and people themselves for following this blindly without any reflection, striving for goals that often are beyond of their reach and depressing those who are not into following this path. But it is still possible not to move in this vicious circle, surrounded by omnipresent beauty tutorials, diet and fitness tips, workout motivations, etc..? Nope.

I must admit that all this makes me feel overwhelmed. Sometimes I have an impression that in this world there is no room for otherness. Is it only me? or is it true that most of people who share their photos (selfies..) on social media look all the same?

A very busy period

This time of a year has always been very busy for me since I have became an university student - as I mentioned in my previous post, final exams are fast approaching. I have to do my best so later on I can relax and do more things I want to do, for example to follow through with my New Year's resolutions. Even though two weeks of 2017 has just passed, I am not giving up on them. It's only a matter of time. But I really need to have more time for my own; even if I manage to find a moment for something pleasant I feel guilty and stressed. No matter what I always try to stay positive and keep telling myself it's only temporary. I hope you all have a better january than I do 🙂😊.

Byes!

Hello my lovely friends!

It has been a while since I have posted something, but at the time I am very busy; finals are fast approaching! Even though I decided to write a few words so you could know I am still alive 😀. And no matter what, I keep painting! Here emerges the subject I would like to touch on: motivation. For me, sometimes, it's very hard to stay on this track that leads to success. I often feel I am less talented and even not able to reach my goals - not only those concerning painting. But, keeping to this subject, there are my paintings I totally dislike or even hate. I often can't put it in my mind that there are worse and better days which leads to worse and better creations. And then I feel demitovated because something I did, did not meet my expectations. I totally know it's a vicious circle, from the other hand I often can't prevent myself from thinking this way. I am aware it may sound like some age-old cliché but what I like to do is simply.. not giving up. First I fail, then comes "the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth", and finally I think to myself: okay, let's try some more. Even if it's very difficult for me, I really really really REALLY try to be a better man everyday. What else can I do, give up on all my life?
Okay, there is a fox I did some time ago. I swear it looks better in a non-digital version 😂.

 It's already ninth day of the New Year; time flies too fast! That's also the reason why we should "cherish every moment we have been given" 😀 A little quote from my all time favourite band...

What is more, I would like to share with you some of my New Year resolutions:
1. To do more painting
2. To do more sport
3. To do more music
4. To focus less on my imperfections and to appreciate more myself
5. To study more.....
NAH
6. To spend less time online
7. To not complain about the weather
8. To be more spontaneous

Feel invited to write in comments your New Year resolutions. Byes!