Glad to have my net back, and artworks.

Finally I got back my net. Last night I was so pissed I totally felt like:
(╯°□°）╯彡 ┻━┻
It would've been awful not to have net during the weekend, and I hope they won't attempt to switch the ISP during the Easter's holidays. As you can notice on top of this block of text I uploaded a new drawing of CodeP-chan. Something is different from the previous iteration, because as Enrico pointed out "She looks a little older, more mature, but also more feminine and stilish". I am still experimenting some techniques and checking what style would suit her the most. It was a pain drawing her hand. I am particularly uncertain about the eye, even though I think it's drawn well on its own, I am not sure if it fits all the rest and I might change it later. As always, feedbacks and critiques are warmly welcome.

As planned, I went out tonight and had a good time. I could finally wear my light shirt and my leather jacket since the weather is warmer now, even at night. We ate a lot and had fun playing bowling. Tomorrow when I'll get the pictures (and a video) I will upload it. It was particularly interesting because I got to know some stories and sides of a person I didn't know, and that it would've been hard to discover in other circumstances. Overall it was nice.

Here is another of the works I am experimenting on. It's based on a picture of mine (kinda low quality and definitely not one of my best expressions as "someone" already pointed out >.< but I needed one on the fly and I didn't have the time to prepare and take more) and I used it to experiment some tecniques for the colors (the shirt, but I don't like the left part of it), the details (check the necklaces, I think they are okaish), and the hair drawing/coloring (I think they're okay, but I am still unsure about the use of white shades on black hair to  define the hair-strands, I'll keep trying with something else I suppose).

See y'all tomorrow! :)

=_= Crappy Net.

2:04

Bah! 

I planned to post my most recent works... but my net is totally crap tonight.

I suppose it must be caused by the change of ISP I requested (I am upgrading my net to 20 Mbps).

I barely managed to post this message, but there is no way I can upload pictures.

So I suppose...that's it for tonight.

Good night, and hopefully tomorrow it will go better.

[Append]
11:42
I am online from uni, when I checked this morning the net was still behaving oddly. I might show online on skype, gt, but msn and webpages are screwed.
I hope that when I get back at home the issue will be gone. In case it doesn't, the only good thing is that I had planned going out tonight to have some fun.
Oh well...

Unexpected encounter from past

I'm writing this flash post from my seat in class waiting for the time to go home.

I woke up early (last saturday we switched the time due to daylight saving and I think my already messed body clock didn't adjust to it yet) and as usual the bus ditched me. The train was late, so I managed to catch it.

It was full, like...really full. I think I understand now how a tetris block would feel.

In the midst of all this mess (It kind of reminded me of a swarm of zombies from TWD) I felt someone pressing on my shoulder. I turned to look and it was a familiar face... but a face that I hadn't seen in 5 years or more. It was the same as I remembered it, literally the same, exactly the same. So I thought at first it was one of the younger sisters of this person, that having grown, would closely resemble her. After a second look, while I was still wondering about it, she smiled and called my name...it was indeed her. I was amazed at how time apparently stopped for her. I would never expect that after all this time she didn't change at all. Not one bit.
After high school we lost track of each other and since it seems she's not fond of social networks & Co. we didn't have any contact till this fate's prank. It was kind of...unexpected.


Today at lunch there was a luxurious menu: Lasagna, Huge Shrimps & Tiramisu!

Last week the final episode of the 2nd season of The Walking Dead was aired (it's currently the show I enjoy the most, even though some of the 2nd season's episodes were a little less action driven than the 1st one) and now, since also Misfits 3rd season ended, I am stuck with just Alcatraz (first season) left.

I need something new & interesting to watch...suggestions please? :)


P.S. Isn't that doggie licking the screen just adorable?

A pinch of Folly.

Observe with what providence Nature, mankind's mother, took care to scatter everywhere a pinch of Folly. She infused in man more passion than reason so that everything would be less sad, hard, ugly, flavorless, annoying. If mortals bewared from every relationship with Wisdom, old age would not exist. If only they could be more vain, merrier and more insane, they'd enjoy happy an ethernal youth. Life is none other than a game of Folly. The Heart is always right.

This passage is taken from the Praise of Folly, written by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. I read that essay several years ago, but recollecting it, gave me the cue for a reflection.

Everyone of us thinks of himself/herself as a rational person, that behind every action we do there is a reason, a logic, a well-thought motive. We've heard many times that our reason, our judgement, is indeed what discerns man from beasts, even this is argueable, but that doesn't want to be my point.

Just how many times in our lives have we done things despite knowing they would be unhealthy for ourselves? 

Sadly most of the times we resort to such stuffs to run away from despair, from sadness, from ourselves. We don't follow our head but our istincts because that is the easiest way, the simplest path, though harmful.

We can do so to escape from difficulties, but we rarely do so to pursue a goal, a dream, a love, something hard, something that seems unreachable. We bind our heart, we chain it, we mute it repeating relentlessly that what it says it's unreasonable. In truth we are just cowards, we're ready to discard wisdom only for our convenience, because we are lazy, lazy to build our own future. "Be actors of your own lives, not just spectators" used to repeat my teacher.

I am a person that at times thinks too much, many have told me that. But it often happens that despite how much I would think over and over something, my heart in the end wins over my reason and decides for me. Not always that is the "right" choice. But what exactly means to be right? Who decides what's right and what's not? I honestly don't know. But rather than being bound by the laws written by someone else, by "the common sense", I prefer to listen to my feelings.


There are times when things change depending on the eyes we watch them with. Take our past experiences, our memories, our story. Despite of how we felt when those events occurred, when we recollect them we can see them as good or as bitter according to *how* we want to remember them. I read somewhere that lucky and unlucky gamblers don't exist. A lucky gambler is someone who can forget more easily his losses than the unlucky. I think it's a little like that, it depends on how we want to look back at what happened.
Likewise, our positivity/negativity influences us on how we look at our present.
It's easier to point at something bad, that maybe it doesn't even exist, than recognize something good right in front of our eyes. We shouldn't think that everything in this world is against us, that everything others say is an attack.
It would be so much better to open the eyes and look at the hidden hints to what of good others want to tell us, it's not difficult, it's right there, it's only a matter of will.
Before thinking we are born alone and we'll die alone, let's keep in mind that to the world you may just be someone, but to someone you may be the whole world.

We should try to forget our reason at times, and overcome the limits we self-imposed to ourselves.
Afterall people call something "Impossible" till it's done. There is always someone who doesn't know that it's impossible and manages to do it.
You can be that someone, just taste that pinch of Folly everyone has inside.

CodeP-chan: Questions & Answers!

Yup, the picture on the header has nothing to do with this post, but I saw it, I thought it was funny and I wanted to share it.

I'd like to start saying thanks for the warm welcome and support to CodeP-chan. Some of you defined her as "Absolutely adorable", "She's amazing", "Totally cute", "Cheerful and full of life", I'm glad she's been perceived like that since that is how I imagined her to be.

I've also received a few questions, and I'll try to answer some of them.

• About the barcode on her wrist: yes! of course it's a barcode, she's the mascotte for our game and as the name and the logo should hint (Legendary Codes), the barcodes will play an important part in it.
• No, the barcode doesn't have a particular meaning (unlike the one in our logo). Frankly speaking, it would be too hard to draw a meaningful barcode in that little space.
• The ones in her hair are two hairpins, fixed in a cross shape.
• About her necklace...CodeP-chan says "No comment" about that :3

I really hope I'll be able to draw her with other good expressions, the response of her presentation gave me a bit of confidence since I always considered myself unable to draw well. We'll see :)

Spring started, and as if the weather was waiting for the 21st of March, it suddenly became warm, pleasurable. I can keep my window open, even after dinner, and watching the nature waking up, it makes me wanna jog in the park...if only I had the time for it ._. . While that is nice and all, I had to take off my extra blankets and now it feels a little lonely...I think I use them more for the "weight" sensation than for their warmth.

Today is friday and since we are waiting for Easter, meat is out. Usually it's troublesome to find some tasty dish without meat, pork, etc, but tonight's dinner was soooo awesome! I had a fish's feast, it was so delicious I get hungry again just thinking about it. We had grilled swordfish, crabs and shrimps. Delicious!

I'll leave you guys with a really funny video, watch it :)
See y'all soon!

Introducing CodeP-chan!

Every good game needs a mascotte, a character to represent it, so we thought that of course also ours needed one, just I wasn't really sure what and how to draw one. Then "somehow" I got inspired.
After several iterations, I am glad to introduce to you guys our lovely CodeP-chan, in her sparkly version. Even if I am still not sure about her hair (yea... hair are always so troublesome for me to draw >.<) I find her pretty cute, and I hope that also our players will find her as moe as we do.

Drawing her I tried to use some different coloring and brushes tecniques, I should try to apply them also on the artworks for the game and see how it goes.

Supposedly I should have gone to sleep early since tomorrow classes start in the morning, but considering that we had today as free day (our teacher was absent due to a "mission" overseas) I decided not to go tomorrow either, so that I can finally have a loooong weekend. Sadly, unlike 3 other guildmates ( =_=" ) I haven't been chosen for GW2 beta, so I suppose I'll use this extra time to draw and study for my exam.

Anyhow feedbacks are always welcome, because costructive criticism would help ME a lot to improve :)

See y'all soon!

Necklaces

Many people wear jewelry & accessories for style, to look good, to show off, to let others know they can afford it. While there isn't anything wrong in it (maybe with the exception of the last one), I see things a little differently. While I don't deny that I like how mine look, I don't care much about what others think about them. I wear three necklaces. Since when I started wearing them, I never took them off, they walk around with me, they sleep with me, they shower with me. I think I'd even feel uncomfortable without them. 

They are from three different moments of my life, and for me, they have an important meaning, and that's the reason I'm so attached to them. I could define those necklaces in several ways.

I might say they represent the three time frames of my life: there's one, the oldest one, that reminds me of my past, there's the second one, that keeps me aware of my present, and the most recent one that hints me to the future.

According to how I started wearing them I could say they represent the three most important affections there are in life: family, friends, love.
Each one of them is linked to a milestone of my growth, each one of them is linked to an happy moment, my 18th birthday, my graduation, a shiny hope, and at the same time, they're linked to a sad moment, a fake friendship, the loss of a dear person, a shattered dream.
There's one that has inside a memory of a teacher that cherished me, and that despite her strictness, pushed me to give always my best, being for me not only a teacher in school, but also in life. There's one that links me with the little brother I often argue with, but I strongly love. There's one I wear, that together with two others far far away from me, should've been a bond with a very important person, a warm bond, but about those, I don't know if they're worn or not now, being things as they are.

It's true that at times when I look into a mirror and see them, those memories come back, but I decided not to get rid of those keepsakes because they record my story, what I've been through, what made me become who I currently am, so I think it's right they stay there, carved on my chest, reminding me of my accomplishments and my mistakes.

I won't point to which necklace is which one, but someone who knows me well, should be able to tell them apart.
I also wear three bracelets and a ring...but this a story for another time.

I have reworked the logo for our game, and even though it's not definitive yet, I think it looks more clean than before. In the past days we've been busy working on the Proof of Concept on a side, while on the other we bought our web domain, server and web services, so we are under the process of creating our website and a facebook page. Since it's not ready, I won't reveal the address yet, but if you really are curious, you can try scanning our logo with a Barcode reader, like the one you might have on your cellphones.
Time to draw now,
See y'all soon :)

A Big Sword, Jesse & James, Christina.

Flash news: with the aid of a providential solderer and with a bit of luck, I managed to resurrect my mouse. Let's see how much it will last. I'll be getting the Naga anyway, too late to back down now!

I've been drawing a lot nowadays, and I've started not only to do the editing, inking, coloring, etc. but also to realize my own sketches and artworks. You can see an example upside.

While I feel comfortable drawing weapons, and I am happy with the result of the sword as example, with characters, and in particular, with humans, I still have a long way to walk.

There are many imperfections I want to get rid of, but among them all, I had particularly troubles with her violet hair. I am now trying to learn different tecniques to make them look better, I'll quote here an opinion from Stephie (she's a really good artist): "the body is not bad but the hair looks like Jesse and James from Pokemon, one solid object". And as sad as it is, I have to agree, and try harder, also 'coz, beside that for the game, I have a few ideas I want to draw, but first I need to improve, a lot.

I'll conclude this small blog post (It's almost 2 am but I still have a lot of things to do...and to draw :) ) with the lyrics of the song that is currently set (I just set it) as first one in the blog's music player.

I'm talking about Hurt, *sung* by Christina Aguilera. It's not a recent song, it's from 2006, and I distractly listened to it several times during the last years, but I never remembered to get ahold of it. Now I did, and I think I understand it a little better.

Hurt

Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face
You told me how proud you were but I walked away
If only I knew what I know today

I would hold you in my arms
I would take the pain away
Thank you for all you've done
Forgive all your mistakes
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To hear your voice again
Sometimes I want to call you
but I know you won't be there

I'm sorry for blaming you
for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself by hurting you
Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit
Sometimes I just want to hide 'cause it's you I miss
You know it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this

Would you tell me I was wrong?
Would you help me understand?
Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am?
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To have just one more chance
To look into your eyes and see you looking back

I'm sorry for blaming you
for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself
If I had just one more day,
I would tell you how much that
I've missed you since you've been away

Oh, it's dangerous
It's so out of line to try to turn back time

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself
By hurting you


If you can't use the mp3 player on the blog, you can listen to it here on youtube:

New Mouse approaching.

Yesterday night one of my mices passed away. I tried to reanimate it with the aid of a screwdriver but there was nothing to do. Luckily it wasn't one of my most recent ones (like the Saitek R.A.T. 9 you can see it: *here*) but one I bought about 5 years ago, and he travelled with me to several different countries and daily to university, so I suppose he lived off its price.

In all honesty, I was already considering the purchase of a new mouse, and this seems like an assist from the fate (yes I am sort of a particular mouse collector). Until some weeks ago I was set on getting a Coolermaster Sentinel Advance as my next one.

I liked its many features (and the 8-colored leds inside were kind of cool) but the sudden price raise and some other stuffs made me change idea.

Particularly, considering the close release of Guild Wars 2, I decided to go for something that would be more suited for an MMO (The R.A.T.9 and the Sentinel Advance are more for FPS), and that had a cord and it wasn't wireless (My R.A.T.9 is great and all but at times radio interferences really get on your nerves).

My pick will most likely be the Razer Naga, now I have to decide if going for the standard black and cyan one

or the special edition, the Razer Naga Molten, which is black and red.

They are exactly the same except for the skin and cost the same price (The razer shop sells it for 79.99 EUR but I found them for 65.50 on Amazon :) ).
As it's easy to notice their main feature is the number of mappable buttons that for a MMO are never enough, but I suppose that 17 will do, especially if my hand will be able to remember them all; beside that, its specs are rather good:

• 5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G Laser Sensor
• 1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response time
• 200 inches per second max tracking speed
• Zero-acoustic Ultraslick™ mouse feet
• 17 MMO-optimized buttons (including 12 button thumb grid)
• Optional MMO-specific software AddOns
• Unlimited character profiles with AddOns
• Approximate Size : 116 mm / 4.57” (Length) x 70 mm / 2.76” (Width) x 46 mm / 1.81” (Height)
• Approximate Weight: 134 g / 0.30 lbs

So here's the question: Cyan or Red?

Finally Guild Wars 2!!!

I know I am a few days late on the news but I've been quite busy with so many stuffs... think that I finished just now preparing a couple of artworks. Sorry, but I won't be showing them now, I don't want to spoiler the game too much :) .

Back to the main topic of this blog post. Arenanet and NCsoft finally announced that starting on April the 10th will be possible to preorder Guild Wars 2. It'll be possible to choose between the following offers: 

Digital Standard Edition ($59.99/£50/€55)
- Guild Wars 2 game

Digital Deluxe Edition ($79.99/£65/€75)
- Guild Wars 2 game
- Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite Skill
- Rytlock Miniature
- Golem Banker
- Chalice of Glory
- Tome of Influence

 Collectors Edition ($149.99/£130/€150) 
- Guild Wars 2 game
- Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite Skill
- Rytlock Miniature
- Golem Banker
- Chalice of Glory
- Tome of Influence
- 10-inch figurine of Rytlock
- 112 page Making of Guild Wars 2 book
- Custom Art Frame
- Art Portfolio and Five Art Prints
- Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD

All 3 pre-purchases will also grant you:
- Access to all Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events
- Three days of headstart access
- Hero’s Band

Since I was expecting the game so much, I thought I was going for the Collector Edition just like I did for Aion, but, frankly speaking, it's 150 USD/EUR! I mean, come on, it's three times the price of the base version. Sure there are a lot of cool goodies, there is even a huge Rytlock figuring you might use as a blunt weapon in case of sudden attack but it's really expensive. Having discarded the CE, I had to choose between the standard and the deluxe. Beside 3 one time using items (the banker, the extra glory and the extra influence), there is a pet and an unique elite skill as extras in the Deluxe. As it's easy to realize after having played many other mmo, the one-time use won't matter much, the pet is just for aesthetic, and the elite, well we can't say how strong it'll be, but I am pretty sure we have already too many elites to choose among to be too bothered by this other one. So I suppose that in the end, the deluxe edition won't be worth those extra 20 USD. Another sad note, that seems to be a trend nowadays, is to convert 1 USD = 1 EUR. Bullshit. Let's take as example the CE. 149 USD are not 150 EUR, they should be about 113 EUR. Anyhow, considering the fact we'll be going to play on the NA servers, it shouldn't be a big deal since one way or the other, we'll get NA copies (right now, with the current change, the Standard version is about 45 EUR).

Skipping on the bad parts, what's good is that all the different versions allow you to play on all the beta weekends...and I am totally excited to do so. I can't wait to play my Thief in pvp, and finally decide which weapon sets will be my mains...Double Daggers? Double Pistols? Shortbow? Gah...I can't wait!

Nonetheless, you will be able to have an headstart of 3 days, and trust me, at a game's launch, avoiding the huge zerg of new players in the starting zone is priceless.

The Minimum System Requirements have also been announced and they look rather fair, even lower than what I expected them to be (though may change):
- Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
- NVIDIA  GeForce 7800, ATI Radeon X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
- 25GB available HDD space
- Broadband Internet Connection
- Keyboard & Mouse

You can find more informations about the items, where and how to buy, and the system specs here: https://buy.guildwars2.com/
If you guys have any doubt or question feel free to contact me on Facebook/Msn/Gt/Skype/Email/Wherever, I'll gladly help you :)

We're finally close. It's really great to be able to play again with my fellow guildmates with whom I fought countless battles, and I am trembling on having new guys join us to share the battlefield (Vic, Enri, yes, I am talking about you guys too ;) ). I've been following GW2 since a long time, and I am dreaming to share with all of you guys my new adventures, even if saddens me there might be someone missing that I really wanted to have fun with.

On a closing note, also Diable 3 release date has been announced, 15th May 2012, even if it won't include pvp, which will be implemented at a later date through DLC. I really loved and extensively played D1,D2,D2 LoD and I thought I'd take D3 in case I were somewhere with no net. Sad news is that you require net to authenticate even if you want to play the single player campaign. Plus with uni, works, GW2 and the development of our game I doubt I'll have many chances to play it. That's the rational thinking. In the end, I suppose I'll buy it too. :3

  

Do you believe in fairy tales?

I will start today's blog post asking you a question: Do you believe in fairy tales?

As much as I feel romantic and enjoy reading them, I am a rational person, and I know that in this hard world you're unlikely to find an "and they lived happily ever after...".

Fairy tales are filled with magic and enchantments that make even the most improbable possible. In our everyday lives we don't have spells or mystical items, but if you are lucky enough, living you might have the chance to discover there is something even more magical than those.

Among the many we'll experience, there is a feeling we call love that can shatter all our beliefs and make us believe that nothing is impossible.

During the last two years I've been involved in a story I'd define deep and important, a story as intense to be lived as hard to be fulfilled. In the past, before all this started, If you had told me about the whole circumstances, I would've been the first one to smile at it and shake my head. But hearing it, and living it are two completely different matters. Even now, looking back to it, I can't give a rational reason to why I decided to pursue it. 

Blaise Pascal over 400 years ago said "The Heart has its reasons which Reason doesn't know of".

And the heart in fact didn't want to listen to any objection. Not the distance, not the differences in culture, not the language's barrier, not the misunderstanding, not the many adversities that fate kept throwing at us. Despite all the odds being against it, despite it looking like a losing bet, the heart didn't want to listen to anything or anyone and didn't waver till the end.

Even when the whole world looked like crumbling, the heart kept believing that for every dark night there would've been an even brighter day. That no matter what, it would've been worth it, that no matter what, it would've been okay, that no matter what, living your life together, growing old with her, that was the only important thing. That just like in a fairy tale we would've had our happy ending. Our heart may bring us to belive we live in a fairy tale, but life isn't as sweet, and the end can be as sour as no book will ever tell you.

There have been many moments in which I felt like a fool, but now despite how things are, I don't feel like a stupid, I don't regret having met her, because she's given me something no one else could've. As much as I realize I may still feel, it's better if I don't hope anymore, not because I discarded it all away, but 'cause chasing a fairy tale alone will just end hurting more and more, so I keep living my days trying not to think about it. I'm okay, but there are days in which you just can't avoid thinking to someone that meant so much for you, because despite how much pain you've been through, despite how much you try to cast that idea away, when you've truly loved someone, that person will stay inside a part of your heart forever.

Why am I saying all this today... I had a dream tonight, a warm dream. I dreamt of you.

When I woke up, I didn't know if I was feeling happy or sad.
What I know is that even apart, it's not easy to forget, that it's not enough to say so, that if you take a book with all our story in it, it's not enough to just change its Cover to change what's inside.
And if you believe in fairy tales, there are days in which it's hard to keep that book closed when you feel like ripping off any Cover and write in its pages all the words that want to burst from your heart...not with just your hand, but with hers accompanying yours.

*Training in progress*

Between a beer and some snacks we are on track with the development of our game. There have been so many ideas piling up that it has been quite difficult to choose what to put ingame, what to discard and what to introduce at a later time. I can tell you that it's a really exciting and motivating experience, but there is a lot, as in *a lot* of work to do. Since us 3 are graduated in Computer Science, we weren't really afraid of coding, but the graphics and the art represented a big issue for us, especially since Vic & Enri are specialized in mobile (Android/iOS) development.

Luckily a few friends decided to believe in our project and to help us, and I will introduce their contributes from time to time; even so, the load is really huge, so if anyone else out there would like to lend an hand, particularly with monster designing, we'd be really glad (and we'll make sure to reward you if things go well :) ).

We've received some sketches and artworks, but they were mostly scans of their papersheets, so they needed to be digitalized, edited, inked, colored, etc.

With a little bit of courage (and foolishness) I decided I might give it a try.

We bought a pen tablet, acquired a professional manga/illustration software, and today I got the equipment ready & set up.

Yup, there are also a yogurt (cherry flavor!) and a Sprite Zero, those help a lot.

I started practicing...and I have to admit that for the first hour I felt really, really discouraged and hopeless. I felt like a kid doodling on paper, minus the happiness of the kid. My lines were all sloppy and crappy. G, Maru, Kabura...there were a thousand tools and I didn't know which one to use to do what I had in mind. Everything I tried looked utterly horrible. I felt like throwing it all away and forget about it. 

Luckily I endured a bit, and thanks to some tutorials, guides, and manuals I started to slowly get the hang of it. After a while it became even funny, I started experimenting more and more, and without me realizing I have been drawing for hours and hours, till I had to stop because my arm started to feel stiff and stingy. I think that I should get a taller chair, in order to lift my arm more.

I am aware I am no pro, but I managed to get something done, I took a sketch from May, I edited and polished some parts, got some coloring & shading done, I added some effects. I hope that my first work is at least passable.

After this one, I'll try to collect some more experience and then start drawing too like I used to do years and years ago. I feel tired but satisfied.

See you soon! :)

Holidays: Work in progress.

It's that period of the year when you start organizing for summer's holidays. My friends are all planning, checking the web for offers, considering Tenerife, Malta, Palma de Mallorca, nah Ibiza is better,  wait maybe Sharm El Shaik? but there the sun is so hot! What about Greece, is it still dangerous now?
Well I guess you got it. It's all so frantic, everyone seems to be running out of time, it's also true that ordering now saves a lot of money.

Truth to be told, I had mine already planned and booked, but due to certain circumstances, I had to cancel my reservation for the flight and the hotel, wasting some cash. While I was checking out of curiosity "how much would it cost me to get there..." I had found a pretty good deal, it was really convenient compared to the other prices, so I took the chance to realize a dream and it would've been my first time in Asia aswell. I didn't publicize it much because I wanted to make sure of some things first, and...I planned to surprise someone with that, but...hehe it seems it didn't go that way. :)

I thought this year would've been the most amazing of all the times I've gone abroad, not only for the trip itself, and I was really looking forward to it though :/

So now I am back to the start and I have to figure out where will I go. I really love to travel, to visit new places, to meet new cultures (and taste new dishes!). I don't mind mountains but I love the sea, even if I am not fond of the usual conception of the beach. Like standing still to get a sun tan or jumping in the water because everyone is doing so. Let's say I prefer to walk on the shore at dawn or dusk, or to stand still to bathe on the sand, but to bathe in the star lights.
So possibly I'll try going in some other country, possibly with a few friends from here, and possibly meet with some online friend. Too many possibly!

*Spins the globe*

Legendary Code & 9 Gradi.

EDIT: Fix'd a few typos and added the Shrimp's pizza photo :3

TEMP LOGO

I just got back home, outside it was cold, there is a fierce wind howling...and damn, I smell of smoke...thanks Angelo <.<

I was out for the night with the guys drinking, to celebrate Mattia's bday. Beside the aforementioned Angelo and of course Mattia, there were Vittorio and Enrico. It was a funny night, we went at a pub "9 Gradi", we didn't just drink liters and liters of beer and sangria but we also ate some good snacks and tasty burgers.

This is the one I got (Vic and Enri got it too), it was named "31 gradi" (but I modified it adding an aromized "Chianina's" sausage) and between the bread there was prosciutto crudo, green pepper's flavored cheese, salad & eggplant rolls. Yummie!

We also ate a particular pizza that had pink sauce, mozzarella, rucola and shrimps. I don't have the picture with me at moment, I'll try getting it from Enri tomorrow and upload it here asap.
EDIT: Here is the picture :3

As desserts we got (on the left) Flans and (on the right) Cuban's cake. 

It was kind of strange because the Flan was filled with hot chocolate sauce while the Cuban's was cold.

On the table right beside ours there was another group of guys, and among them, there was a couple, or better a triplet of lesbo girls. Nothing wrong in it, if it wasn't for the fact that those three, maybe also thanks to a bit of alcool, started publicly making out, kissing, touching, feeling each other and...harrassing the waitress that came to take their order groping her breasts several times o_O Honestly it was the first time I saw something like that.

TEMP LOGO

Legendary Code... what is that?

Me and my friends came up with an awesome idea for a mobile game for Android and iPhone. We started the projecting and development right away.

We have good hopes for it, I will tell you guys more about it in due time.

As you can see from the crappy Temp Logo (that was made in 15-20 minutes and after a couple glasses of sangria), I'm not particularly great with graphics and in fact we are in need for a graphic artist. We need someone that can draw monsters and weapons; in particular monsters since we received some applications for the weapons/items already, but anything is welcome though.

If you're up for the challenge, send me some sample or contact me, I'll be glad to give you the details and see your art. 

Of course if the project ends having a good result, you'll receive a reward for your work.

Help us on this new adventure! :)

Restyling...work in progress.

As it's easy to notice, I'm restyling my blog's layout a bit.

I am still not sure about how it'll look like in the end, since I am still messing a bit with it but for now I like this violetish theme (sigh maybe it was contagious, I ended liking it too). Vittorio and Enrico said some mean things about it but whatever :\

EDIT1: While I was almost publishing this blog post (gee I was adding the pictures D= ), someone told me this layout might make the blog hard to read on some configurations and on mobiles, feedbacks and pointers are welcome to make it better.

Lately I've been a lot more active on my blog than usual, and I plan to keep updating it frequently.

This is partly because I am rediscovering the joy of writing (normal text, I have been writing thousands and thousands of code lines during the past months! ) and I think I might soon go back into writing poems too.

On another side, I think that I want to sort of confess to the blog my silly thoughts and my everydays events when at the evening I get back home, to recollect them, to leave a track of them. Some time ago, whenever some little thing would happen, I used to get back home all excited because I wanted to tell it to a certain someone, that person would listen to me with vivid interest and curious eyes and ask me all the details about that. It was nice because even something normal seemed to turn into something amazing.

Now I suppose I'll have to make do with my blog hoping to give y'all a nice read :)

It's not like the blog is the only one "to know" about what's going on though. In the last months I've had trusted friends along me, that gave me a good laugh and listened to my troubles whenever I needed.

Some of them have always been with me during the years, while I got really close to some others after we have been apart for a long time.

Some of them shared my same kind of issues, some of them cheered me not to give up, some of them disagreed with me, but all of them made me feel I could rely on them. 

Due to my lack of time I haven't been committed to any serious game, but even a silly game like LoL, played with some funny pals can give you a good blast (even though our team tonight sucked big time <.< ).

Actually I didn't expect my university friends (Vittorio, Enrico, Mattia), to have a gamer soul, but I even managed to bring them along with me to GW2 and in the while they're playing with my DODF/SOD crew. I hope we'll all keep having fun together for a long, long time.

On a last note, it's the 8th March, so Merry Women's day to all you people of the other sex :)

EDIT2: One of my oldest readers, seems to have gotten sick :(
I wish you a fast recovery from your fever, get better soon!

Hectic, Hectic, Hectic days.

Hectic. With an euphemism, last two days have been hectic.

My semester started on monday, we had to attend classes, so me, Angelo and Mattia after parking the car were heading to the campus. *Screeech* A car crashes into a motorbike and sends it flying. It rolls on the ground, and it stops at about 5-10 cms from my foot. From the car a woman (a rather vulgar one tbh) comes out and starts shouting at the bike's dude, still visibly under shock. Awesome way to start.

On my way back, we got a call from my grandma's domestic, we had to run there, and since we realized she had a diabetes crysis we had to call an ambulance. Luckily the doctor and paramedics that came were competent and they managed to give a proper assistance. Still, the stress kept building up.

I went to sleep rather early, considering I would've had to wake up early aswell since I had to take the bus.

I woke up when the sun didn't raise yet, around 6 am, and at 7 am me and Angelo were already at the bus stop waiting for the vehicle. Vehicle that never came, leaving us in the humid cold of the morning.

We headed to the train station, where the train kept us waiting for "just" 40 minutes, since it was late.

I'll skip the details about how we were packed in the train, metro and bus just like sardines in a tin can.

In the early afternoon I had an exam, and oh the irony, the theme of the test was "A transport company".

After the exam I had to literally run to the bus, working out quite a sweat, to not lose it.

I got on the bus with Angelo just barely in time. Phew! The engine started. The bus went ahead for a 50 metres. The engine turned off. The driver kept trying for a few times, then he had to get off and start tinkering with the engine. It took half an hour, and he didn't move till someone found him a tissue to clean his hands.

Me and Angelo watching each other, were thinking "what an horrible day". We didn't know the best was yet to come. After about twenty minutes we were on the highway. I was reading mangas on my tablet, in the seat right behind the driver, with a plastic panel separating us.

*Beeeeep-Beeeeep* Uhm, someone playing its car's horn.

We enter in the gallery.

*Beeeeep-Beeeeep* Another time...

We get out from the gallery.

*Beeeeep-Beeeeep* Is it still the same dude?

Click here to enlarge the map

I barely manage to get a glimpse of a white van cutting our road from the left, steering at like 45°.

We crash into the van. I get thrown into the plastic panel in front of me.

The van spins for 180°, while we roughly steer into the guard rail, denting it pretty bad, and risking to fall down the cliff.

The dude, got out from the van, and taking a rock, vehemently started hitting over the pilot's glass and shouting insults. The girls in the bus started screaming and begging not to help the doors.

I was pretty close and saw perfectly the glass while it started breaking under the hits of the crazy dude.

After a few seconds, the pilot called the police and so the other dude ran away into his van.

[You can see where the whole thing took place in the frame with the google map]

Angelo shaking his head seemed to tell me "I can't believe it...".

After an half hour or so, we finally managed to get back home and the first thing I did was jumping into the shower, staying under the warm water for a good while.

That managed to restore my energies a little, otherwise I wouldn't be here writing this now.

To sum it up, I haven't had a good relationship with public transports and vehicles in general in the past two days, but at least, this whole mess, kept me busy without the time to focus on other issues.

Still, I wonder how many chances there are to risk getting into incidents twice in two days, and running into a bus incident twice in a month. At least, once again, I came out of it unscathed, but still...it's kind of annoying you know?

Before concluding this post, I'd like to show you guys a video that a dear friend linked to me.

It's a really sweet marriage proposal. It's inspired from Love Actually, but with a touch of Meme l33tness, and unlike a movie where everything it's written beforehand, the dude had the guts to do it for real. It's great there is still space for romanticism, and there still are such sweet and cute moments. I hope that a day I'll manage to do something even better :)

I'd suggest you to turn off the music from my blog before starting or it might become quite a mess (Uhm, I think it might be the same song though :P )

See y'all soon!

5th March. Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

Even if we have known each other for more than 8 years, it all really started exactly 2 years ago, on the 5th of march. Maybe if things would have gone differently this could've been a special day for us, just like an anniversary :) .

But things rarely go the way we'd want them to go, and so about 10 days ago, with yet another pointless misunderstanding, we reached the point of saying goodbye.

On my side, I kept trying till the very end, but little by little, I realized I couldn't keep it up like that. Even if I hoped to be able to fix it all, inside I was afraid that just like a broken vase, when you try patching it with glue, it doesn't get back to be what it was before. Nonetheless I believed in that chance, as small as it might've been, to be able to overcome this trial.

It's easy to fall in love with someone the first time; but try to fall in love a second time after the pain and the bruises on the heart. Maybe the Love starts right there, when despite knowing what is the pain, you decide to risk again. I thought that if we would've had the possibility to be able to see each other, all our misunderstandings would've just faded away, because our eyes have always been able to tell more in an instant than what a thousand words could.

I am not a perfect man, I never pretended to be one. I may have more flaws than perks, I've always said so. I've done many mistakes, I've recognized my errors, apologized for them.

I've changed my ideas, only idiots don't. But I can say I've always been honest and sincere, that even when I caused grief I didn't do it intentionally, that I really cared about her more than myself, that I tried to give her all my best, and that no, not once the thought she was an item, a toy, or even worse, crossed my mind. Not even once.

She might not believe it now, but she really was the most important person in my life.

I think it's a little unfair to think the fault is only on a side, to point at the mistakes of the other, and to think back to the past remembering only the bad moments. It's not that the way I want to remember you. If I think back, the images that come to my mind are only happy moments, sweet moments, precious moments that I will always treasure, even after years from now. And it's not because there have been only good moments, but because for me those worthed and were way more important than all the bad ones. Moving on doesn't mean forgetting what good there has been, and I want to always remember you with the smile I've always loved so much. Your smile.

I think this whole thing, made me mature under some aspects of my character. I think that if something similar would've happened in the past with someone else, I would've harbored bitter feelings and cursed all our story. But I either changed, or it's just her I can't bring myself to hate, not even now.

On the opposite, I wish her wholeheartedly all the best and the happiness she can dream of, for her and her family. Truth to be told, I can't wish for her to be with someone else, nor I want to even picture that image in my head, but I think that's just natural, I'd be an hypocrite if I said otherwise, it'd just mean that all my feelings can be discarded in just a few days.

You won't realize the distance you've walked until you take a look around and realize how far you've been. If I look back now, I think that beside the many episodes in which we didn't manage to understand each other, also the fate put many adversities on our paths, personal problems that took a toll on us and that made us lose sight of our feelings.

I wish that in the end, she would've understood what I really wanted to tell her, and that I managed to convey my feelings.

Anyhow, we can't change our past, and as much as we regret some choices, some words, some actions, there is nothing we can do but to learn from them.

Here I am now, I still have a lot of things I would've wanted to tell her, a lot of things to show her, so many things I would've wanted to live together, but all this will be just like a message in a bottle dropped in the ocean, I don't know if it will come a day when we will talk again, most likely she won't even read these words I am writing right now and maybe the little door we've left won't be ever opened.

Of course I can't be happy given the situation, but I am trying my best not to be sad either, because even without an happy ending, the past two years have been filled with some of the best moments of my whole life, so many that maybe a thousand years wouldn't be enough to tell them.

They say that for every dark night there is an even brighter day, I don't know if it's true, but I won't stand still weeping on myself, it's time to grind my teeth and push forward, focusing on the many challenges that I have ahead.

I don't know how much it will take to move on, I am not searching for anyone, I don't know if I will meet someone like her, but even if I will, I am sure I won't forget her and what happened between us.

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.