6 people 1 spoon.

Chronicles of the Common Room:

Those who know me well enough are cringing and waiting for what could only be described as a vivid story involving a sexual act committed by 6 people using a spoon. Fortunately for them, it is not.

This is the story of a bowl of ice-cream which brought together 6 people with the same desperate intentions. Together, they attacked a bucket of ice-cream digging deep into the soft, creamy goodness.

I in all my glorious genius, bought a tub of ice-cream to share with people. As per usual due to said genius I also forgot to bring with me a spoon, for myself let alone multiple ones given that I wanted to share the nice and refreshing threat.

So there we were, a large number of people sitting and standing around a table. Each one staring intently at the holder of the spoon, eagerly awaiting their turn. Being common room, the more time passed, the more people gathered. Some  with quizzical expressions, others due to the multiple mentions of the word ‘ice-cream’.

On a related note, the ice-cream was vanilla and chocolate.

Jumping and Falling.

I was standing in a room, devoid of all hope to continue studying. These exams have basically drained me of all the energy and enthusiasm I usually have. However, while standing here I was watching those around me move around, talking. They were interacting with me, themselves and of course with all that was around them. Yet, I felt I was not part of it. My mind was lost in some deep part of my brain. My conscience numb after being so stressed constantly for such a long time.

One by one they left, until one was left.

Taking a small break, he showed me this video. Mind blowing. That is the only thing that can come to mind, yet very much something I can relate to. However, this is something for you to discover and to experience.

What really stuck me? What is the reason for this blog? It’s the jump. As soon as he finished the video, my friend told me to get back to work. While I was walking back to my chair, sitting down, I watched in awe as he jumped head first. Trying to do a hand stand in the most precarious way possible, one hand on a chair which started to slide along with his body movement, one hand on the table, just barely holding his weight. His body arched back, legs flying in the air, and then the decent started.

Slowly falling to the ground, the look on his face was what caught my attention. The complete sense of acceptance; "I am going to fall, I am going to get hurt and I can do nothing about it." That is what he was saying inside his head, or at least, what I think he was saying.

The fact that this happened, this instant, is meaningless. Rather, it is an act of stress and relief from our general routine of books, note and monitors. Yet, this was highly invigorating for me. It snapped me back to my senses, enabling me to think of the light at the end of the tunnel.

The place which I had found myself in, far away from my immediate reality, was gone and I was back to this world. Back from the one which I was finding myself locked in by a fragment of my imagination.

Ironically, it is where I ended up again. Writing this blog, going back to my own world. A world, perceived through my own experience. A world, where my feelings help me convey what I see through the tips of my fingers by writing it down here, sharing it with you. This makes the moments such as these even more memorable since I am able to share them with you. I mean what are the best moments in our life if not those shared with friends.

The Storm

Students, so young, filled with potential, yet also filled with so much naivety. We live our lives at school, always learning now things, constantly preparing for the world outside. Yet we never really experience it, and when we arrive to the world outside. We are shocked, incapable to handling it, while trying our best to sort ourselves out.

So students were encouraged to be active, to make projects, to apply what they were learning and make it happen in the world. They gathered us in groups, allowing us to work together and protect our rights, and then student organisations came to be. The idea of the organisations, stems from what I believe to be the idea of collations, or trade unions. These organisations, started at first by imitating their seniors, being an elite, an untouchable elite, one with special privileges.

Now we are at a stage, where these people are some of the most approachable possible. We see it with the current KSU, walk in their office, and they do their best to solve your problem no matter how stupid or simple it is. Making you feel at home and welcomed, such a different experience from the one I got back in the day in my first year where I felt that they wanted to throw me out.

The ideal situation, amazing and brilliant!

Yet, and a big yet, I do not feel happy about the situation. Its still January but I am already noticing the oncoming storm, the simple calm that exams bring, I can feel the tremble of the far away thunder. I can see people preparing to survive this onslaught, and come out on top of it. The elections for the KSU office, they say its a bipartisan system with SDM and PULSE fighting it out, yet I say that this is wrong.

That is simply the last battle, the last struggle which is made clear to everyone. No the struggle  comes before hand, something that is not seen by everyone, the mobilization, the political moves, the popularity contests. Trying to get influence with organisations, trying to get people to like them, what ever the blow they can deliver, they deliver, there is no low ground. They do not care about the actual post that they are fighting for, what it is supposed to mean, they just see the road towards it, and their glory once in it.

Well, to be someone able to join any student organisation, not just KSU, it is not how popular you are, it is not how many people you know. It is not what your vision is for the future, not at all, it is the ability to guess what people want, and see how you can do your  best way to make that happen. If you want to lead, to be a leader, it matters jack shit if you are the most popular person, because you will fail. To be a leader, you have to earn the peoples trust, you have to build yourself a name, to do what ever you need to do to help people, not what will make you look good or nice. No you have to be able to take the hard decision to stand up against the system. I am rambling, yes, but this is the point, a point that makes me so angry and sad, filled with despair.

University organisations, at the University of Malta, have too many people trying to impress others, rather than serve others, with people who want to be seen, rather than people who want to make something happen and are able to take a stand. These people are a small minority or a large majority, I cannot say because I am just one person looking though the looking glass. I am someone who is already in the system, someone who is worried about how he is seen, because of comments he gets. I am someone who wants to help as much as possible ,but at every turn I am judged and made to look like I want to be the most popular kid on campus, something that cannot be farther than the truth.

I do not seek to help others for the ultimate purpose of holding power, I seek power for the ultimate purpose of helping others. Work for what you need to do, not to be celebrated, but work for what you love, and what you believe in. Do not make something happen to get praise, make something happen to be proud of your self and remember the pride in seeing seeds you sow grow into something larger than you ever imagined.

Pop Corn, Thermodynamics and a cup of coffee!

I reached a new low, well a new low but a high. I do not know, seriously, I mean here I am sitting at my desk 'reading' notes which I know that I know, and which make perfect sense yet I keep failing to with hold them in my brain. I am at a point that I know I am ok so I am giving myself a lot of I's it seems,  with that someone just came and patted my hair. Hi bro what up.

Tangenting on a side note, what we be talking about. 

Oh yes, exams, pop corn  and a cup of coffee.

And of course finally hitting the much awaited 10k views!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


TEN FREAKING THOUSAND! 

WOW! With that, as you may or may have not noticed I also changed the blog template around (exams huh you know they are here). To something much more pleasant and relaxing, I am also now writing more sporadically and randomly, I am truly confused on what to write about some times since well. You can write about nothing or about the concept or writing a number of times can you. Then again here I am again doing it one more time. 

Randomly rambling, saying the first words at the top of my head, something that all of you lovely people seem to enjoy and, I must thank you since you really make my day. You really do, you have no idea how amazing it feels that I got people to see what I write so many times! To have reached out and talked with so many of you guys. This month has been a month of anniversaries and milestones, soon I will reach an other milestone. That is my 100th post, maybe I will finish that in the month of January and make it a point that every January to try and fill my milestones, but then again that was never the point of this blog was it. This blog's main aim is to ramble, and rambling is random sporadic and completely unpredictable. 

Saying that, I will try to apply my point of view and my opinion about a number of things along this year so please do keep tuned (you can follow my blogs by submitting your email, some where to the left, see flawless I promote myself shamelessly). I will experiment, and will be posting things that I will be writing on other media, such as Think Magazine something which I worked for as an intern and wrote somethings there, as well as my experiences, such as the Vienna blog, I will write something along those lines more often. ( If such experiences will happen)

Then again writing has been, a journey of discovery for me, I learnt so many new things and so many old ones. I learnt that one can write what they feel with out knowing how to write, and you get to learn as you go along, something that I have adopted recently and seemingly it has not been working out that well has it.

And with that,

I bid you all

a

good

night

and

one last

THANK YOU!

meh v2

...

Nothing

Everything

Sad

Happy

Tired

Awake

Wanting

Having

Lacking

Abundant

Waiting

Passing,

but,

it,

want,

go,

away,

the,

feeling,

of,

uselessness.

So,

I ,

think.

Meh

...

Snap Shots! (Stress Relief Session)

What happens when I decide to whip out my phone and take photos (very shitty ones I must admit) of the common room and the general hilariousness that happen in here every day. Among the tears of the people who are in here to study and tear every fiber of their being trying to pass seemingly insurmountable exams. 

So here you go, enjoy!

The reversed cap dude!

The reversed cap dude,


is

back

with

a

vengence

if you


are to see him


start running


and

do

not

stop

run

run

run

run

run

run

andddd

then
it
comes
to
an
end.

He now
has a beanie so
watch
out.

He be coming for you!

The Photo!

Photography. quite the feat isnt it?

I mean, picture this, a machine that is able to take a photo, an imprint of a view, a literal snapshot of reality at the time, and space that the lens is facing. Though the eye of the photographer, we can see a world, at that split second that the photograph is taken, that the light is recorded and at that second.

With that, a friend of mine, has over the past few years taken it up to himself to photograph anything that he can, this resulted in.

| Daniel Vella |

This picture left me in awe for months on end, I just simply love it for the simple fact of its simplicity, yet its complexity. This makes me feel calm, serene, makes me think of what we could do with a blank canvas.

If you want more of this stuff, please do leave a comment below, and maybe together we can urge Daniel to keep providing us with these eye candy photographs which are amazing and simple give out some of the best backgrounds I can find on the internet.

Common Room #3

And its back people, its back in all of its glory, the common room all nighters, a dream come true to many, and a waste of time for others. However, the fact that you are working together with such a large number of desperate people who are at any point in time, doing their best to survive the onslaught coming at them at an incredible pace.

The brother hood that grows from this, the energy that stems from working with others, under such conditions, it is something to be pleased with and simply amazing. I have never been able to keep my focus on something for more then a couple of hours, yet here, in this room. I am capable to working non stop for hour on end, be able to keep it going.

Last year, we were few, this year.

Many have flocked to the banner, many will keep coming. I have been here at 4 am, and there were people, I was here at 8am and more were trickling in. At 10am it was close to packed, at 12 you were hard pressed to find a seat. Its 1am and still seats are rare to find.

This special thing that the common room gives us, is not the ability to work together, or put us in a quite place were we can all work together and tackle our problem together.

No, quite the opposite, we have socialized studying, we have created a place, were we can bitch about how much we have to study to each other. In doing so, we make some of our closest friends, new and old people. You find out about the new side to a lot of people, and get to know difference in how people think and act.

This is the Common room,

this is my life for the next month.

Boxed in.

So here goes a rant, well rather then a rant. Something I have realized happens a lot, and something which I am seeing happening all the time. Something which can be so easily solved, yet we as a society, we as individuals shy away from it. 

The fear of changing, we live our entire lives, either inside a routine or trying our best to create one. I guess that goes for me as well, however I am in the routine of breaking routine, or that is what I tell myself. Where am I going with this, well simply put people do not like breaking and going into an uncertain future, and the ones that do. Those people are branded strange, weird, not the be trusted. 

Deviants from our culture and society. 

I personally, want to be a deviant, I want as much it is to my capability, to survive to be one of these people. Living life never knowing what they will do, what opportunity will come knocking. 

Knocking? Knocking where? Knocking on the box we build around us, the box of familiarity, the box of comfort and routine. I am a deviant, I am, and would like to belive and take pride in this part of my personality;

A human being that is ready, and open to everything. Ready to change and adapt according to how I see the world. I will not accept what others believe, with out knowing, learning and finding out as much as I can about the 'truth'*. Why, because I want to live my life knowing that I did all that was in my power and capability to live my life.

Why did I say the 'truth', simple, if others can make mistakes, so can I. I might be living a life which is filled with mistakes, and in actuality it is, and I will admit to many of them. I will admit to anything that I believe I made a mistake.

Why do I make so many mistakes, its because I am constantly trying what ever life decides to throw at me. I am not good, I am not special, I am not a genius or as some prefare to put it insane. No I am a person who has the guts to try his hand at what ever he can. I said this before and I will say this again, there are people out there, better then me in every thing that I do. There are people who can destroy me at my precious public speaking ability, there are people who can write more creative and much more entertaining blog pieces then me. Two of the things which I hold to describe me as me, as Alex. Things which I believe I am good at, or capable at. 

With that, I will tell you this.

I would not be able to speak in front of people if in 2009 I did not man up and jump at the opportunity to take part in the Mini European Assembly competition that was available to me as a first year in the Gozo 6th form.

Most definatly, a person who spent his life being told; 

"You are shit at writing, you will never be able to write anything that is of any good. Your English is beyond repair and your sentence structure is un-comprehensible."

 A person who got his essays back covered in red, often with attached papers with notes on what was wrong. Having 10 spelling mistakes in a single line with 9 words in, an achievement which I am proud of. Why? Because today I can just pick up my laptop and start typing, write one of my blog pieces and not give two craps of what people will think. I will take in the criticism and do my best to fix and edit what I have, so I learn and grow and improve. 

So, do have you box, do have your routines, but keep your lid open at all times, and let any thing that can help your box grow.

You are the only person in your life who can open the lid. Then open the lid and take what ever opportunity you get to do something that you never would have dared. Take a set outside, I promise you will not regret it.

I killed a doughnut!

I killed a doughnut,

and I am not guilty.

I killed a doughnut,

but it was not a mistake.

I killed a doughnut,

when I took it out for a date.

I killed a doughnut,

after dinner.

I killed a doughnut,

while we where in bed.

I killed a doughnut,

while it was heated up.

I killed a doughnut,

by cutting to the core.

I killed a doughnut,

and I am not guilty.

Do you believe in an after life?

Its not a simple answer as that its more in the sense i have no method to prove or disprove if it exists apart from dying so as I do not plan on dying any time soon I plan to live my life to the full then find the wonder of an after life when I am done with life, if there is one of sorts then I will try to experience that to the maximum as well, but I will not try to come back to our current life because I wouldn't have regretted spending time thinking about what comes after it when I am dead, when I am dead ill be dead to the full and enjoy or not enjoy if there is an after life or not. and if there isn't then there isn't an point in worrying because when I die i will live on though what I did while I am alive.