Doodles drawn using MS Paint.....

Not much of an artist but, these are the 'drawings', drawn using MS Paint..... Feel free to comment them :)

 Frog playing guitar

 Shooting star

At the beach

Glogging - Blogging with a thousand words....

This is my 1st glog. Do check it out:-

My doodles collection..........

These are some of the pictures drawn on just about any papers (including my assignment papers).......

Sorry if some of the pictures aren't that clear. The pictures were shot using laptop camera & phone camera.

My 2 cents on an entity called HOPE

HOPE

"Hope is like the moon shining at its' brightest,

Even if the night is the darkest,

A glimmer at the edge of the forest,

Its' agility among its' known features,

Sometimes it can be as high as Mt. Everest,

Although a single mistake could drag it to its' lowest,

But it will never give in to circumstances,

For no amounts of doubt can match its' single-mindedness."

Gerard Galvestini, copyright 2011

Can't people just leave Justin Bieber alone?

Before I go on with this, I'd like to say that I'm in no way a fan of Justin Bieber (although I like two of his songs).

Now, everytime I surf the Net,there are stories that involves Justin Bieber that are almost always published in a negative way. Perhaps it is people's nature to hate someone so famous and among the reasons are as follows:-

• his age
• his un-pubertized vocal
• his 'emo' hair-do
• as a tool used by 'The Man' to target the vulnurable (esp. tween girls)
• dating Selena Gomez

Now let's break it down.

AGE
Let's face it. Age is just a number. It really doesn't mean anything, besides indicating how long one has been on this planet. But it seems that some people are intimidated by Bieber who happens to be both SUCCESSFUL & YOUNGER than them. The only way these people could heal some of the ego wounds is to say that he's too young to be successful, he's not mature enough to handle fame, etc. While such allegations could be true, one thing remains - he's an ARTIST & he's freakin' 17 YRS OLD!!!!!!! So, better not care about Justin Bieber if you have issues with him.

VOCAL
 Alright, he does sound like a girl. But should that be the excuse to not like at least one of his songs? Come on, it takes real manly-courage for me to admit I like 2 of his songs. Besides, he has not reached puberty yet. Just give him a break. Maybe in a few years, we could see a grown-up Justin Bieber with a moustache, a great body and perhaps, some killer moves. At least, he can play guitar.

HAIR-DO
First, the age. Then, the girly vocal. Now, the hair? Seriously, how many more cheap points do you want to give to this guy? Jeezzzhhhhh..............................

THE MAN'S TOOL FOR TOTAL DOMINATION
Sooo............ I guess the haters are running out of points, they resort to this excuse. Well, when was the last time people use this to justify their hatred for some famous stars? It's getting old.  It's like saying they hate hot n spicy cos' it's from KFC. Can't they come up with better reasons than this?

NOW THEY'RE TARGETING SELENA GOMEZ?
As if JB alone isn't enough,  now they're concentrating their hatred on Selena Gomez? C'mon, what now? You want JB to sing a song, telling his fans to leave Selena alone, just as Selina have to write a song to her haters, basically a very nice way of saying 'F*** You!'. Also, for all the female fans, too bad someone 'owned' Justin now. Get over it. Move on....

Anyway, this post applies to not only Justin Bieber, but also to other young artists as well. Just imagine, if you were them, would you like it when you have the paparazzi following you everywhere, taking pictures of you with or without you knowing, or maybe having difficulties finding time for some privacy, or even receiving hate mails for absurd reasons? How about having someone stalking you? I'm sure you don't want to appear on the media doing something silly, right?

So, the next time we see a celebrity nearby, please be considerate enough to let them have their own time and don't stalk them, including taking pictures, unless they're in a good mood for some autographs & picture-taking sessions.

Until then..........

Murder in my mind...

Have you met someone who just love to annoy the life out of you, constantly complaining about, well.... anything and/or deliberately make fun of your quirks in front of everyone just for the joy of embarrassing someone (me)? What are you going to do about it? Just ignore all the insults and move on? Or are you going to take matters into your own hands?

The idea of brutally inserting a sharp blade onto someone's back is not something that I enjoy. Hell, I don't even like blood. Anyway, let me tell you a story of what I mean...

It was the mid-year school holidays and relatives from Bintulu came to visit me and the family. Among them, there was one guy who, to be honest, I wasn't sure whether he's my cousin or not. All I know about him was, he had a Chinese girlfriend because she visited us as well. From the first impression, he obviously failed.

Everything in my house doesn't impress him one bit. He would voice it out to my cousins. He was a difficult guy to hang out with. Not a single day of the holidays were happy days, all thanks to him. In fact, one of his biggest complaints is my games console. You see, those were the times when PS2 was too expensive for me to afford. All I had was the old-fashioned original Play Station. Day after day, he would just talk non-stop about how cool PS2 was, how lame and outdated PS1 games were, etc. Sometimes, he would just make fun of whatever that he finds odd about me. He even imitates the things he thought was funny about me. This obviously amused everyone else but those cruel insults infuriated me.

Then there was one night where he clearly crossed the line. There were 4 of us playing a football (soccer) game. As usual, he does all the diva-like complaining. I GET IT!!!!!!!!!! PS2 RULEZZZZ & I'M WEEEEEIIRRRRRDDDDDDD....... just because he said so. Quietly, I retreated to the kitchen. By this time, I was extremely angry & offended I just wanted to kill him. I had set my mind on getting a large kitchen knife. I can tell you this. At that moment, I was not being myself. I was literally watching myself about to commit a crime.

I was halfway through the dining room, almost reaching the living room where that pathetic baboon was. Then suddenly, my auntie walked down the stairs to go to the kitchen. Obviously, she saw me with a knife and she asked me was I doing. I told her I was cooking something. At that moment, I managed to 'gain control' of myself. So the baboon lives. Good for him. The end.

Even up to this day, I still can't believe I had such intention & actually doing it (almost). Anyway, that was my story about murder.Simple? Yeah, I know. But it happened. Imagine if my auntie didn't come down in time, I would have written this post behind bars.

Until then.....................

Suicide - The easy way out?

  Another new piece from me...

DEAD END

Dear dead end,

You truly are my only friend,

The one who throws no insult or mockery,

The one who accepts all of me,

 Even though the rest of them exist,

In my eyes, you are real,

Your attraction is one I could not resist,

Albeit a lethal and forbidden appeal,

I lay my worthlessness to you,

Because life has betrayed me,

The scarcity of good is nothing new,

Always have, always will be,

I will now walk into the path of demise,

Leaving behind crumbs of hopelessness and goodbyes,

Perhaps grief will be my lasting legacy,

The one who lost the will to live.

Gerard Galvestini, Copyright 2011

I have to admit, life is never easy. There will always be difficulties along the way, whether you like it or not. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at least once in whatever we do. There will always be people who doesn't like you for whatever reasons it may be. Perhaps someone in the family disagrees with the decisions that you make. Let's not forget about breaking-up with the one whom you thought will spend the rest of your time with. Whatever it is, the negative elements are all around us. We either deal with it and persevere or take the easy way out, usually a very nasty and gory solution.

Suicide is like a disease that infects people, especially youngsters. There was a news about a few months ago when a 22-year old man jumped off a building to his death. It seems sad that because a relationship ended, he choose to end his own life. He even hinted his intention on Facebook.

I've come across some of these suicide messages on people's FB status. I would like to admit, I've even posted a few of those messages myself. You see, the idea of suicide seems fascinating when one is in a deep stage of hopelessness and worthlessness. It appears to them as some sort of 'saviour' that promised to rescue them out of meaningless life. I tried to actually commit suicide once. I was at an empty classroom on the 9th floor of the university campus. I was studying engineering at that time. Because I was studying something that I didn't like and was imposed on me, the stress of it overwhelmed me. For some reason, jumping out of the window seems like a good idea. I was about to climb out of the window when something inside of me told me to STOP. Immediately I 'woke up', realizing what I was about to do and moved away from the window. I was literally shaken by fear as I exit the classroom. And that's about it.

I'm used to being ridiculed whenever I posted cries for help on FB, but how do you respond to such post? Do you show your concern to that person? Or do you dismiss that person as being 'emo'? What if it's your friend? Or maybe a member of your family? What are you going to do about it? Well, it's up to you.

until then.........

The End - Is it inevitable?

As I was reading this morning's paper, there was news of the tsunami that hits the city of Sendai in the Miyagi prefecture. About 300 lives were lost in the incident. It was during this time that I suddenly thought of something.

If we were to look at all the events that happened all over the world, it seems that the Biblical prophesies are being fulfilled. Just take a look at the number of natural disasters and conflicts that is increasingly frequent. The most obvious examples are the revolution that took place in Tunisia and Egypt, The earthquake in Christchurch and the civil war in Libya. You can even refer to events that occurred in the previous decade (2000-2009) alone and you'll see What I mean.

It seems that 2012 is getting closer. All we can do now is to brace ourselves for many more things to come. Who knows, there might be a Pig War in Malaysia?

Until then.........

Writers' block

Ever been in a situation where you had an idea to write about something, only to have that idea evaporated the moment your fingers make contact with the surface of the keyboard? Really hated it. Happens a lot of time. Feels like slamming the LCD screen with this keyboard.

Paths taken in life

The other day, me and both of my parents went out for breakfast at a kopi-tiam. While mom was browsing around the stalls, dad and I had a conversation. This is a rough re-typing of the dialogues between me and dad:-

Dad: Son, if you don't like what you're studying, perhaps you could take other engineering disciplines like err,... civil perhaps?

Me: Dad, I told you. I never liked engineering. You can't force me to take that path again, even if it's a different discipline.

Dad: Maybe you could go for something more... more administrative. Less demanding. You see, I've only read about engineering. So, I don't know how does it feel like on your part. Maybe you could re-consider it.

Me: I already told you. I know how it feels like and to be honest, engineering is not my cup of tea.

Dad: Ok. I understand. But, you know, it's going to be difficult to find jobs here if you're going for journalism.

Me: I know, dad. I know the risk I'm taking. But that won't change my decision to pursue journalism. You have to understand, life is never easy. I'd wish it is.

Well, that's about it. Dialogue's kinda cheesy, though. But it does reflect on a dilemma that seems very Asian in nature. Based on my what I've experienced and observed, it seems that Asian parents would typically force their children to pursue a certain career path such as engineering, law, medical, etc. There are a number of possible factors why children are forced to pursue these particular careers. Among them:-

•  Job security
• Good pay
• Well-known and respectable careers
• Bragging rights
• Kiasu-ism
• Children seems to lack sense of direction

The first 3 points represent parents who wants the best for their children. So, it is understandable why they want their children to go for these kinds of careers. After all, every parents want their children to have a proper and secure future, right?

However, I have met parents who represent the next two points. It seems that inflating their egos are important to them. Usually, they would boast to people that their child is studying engineering or medical, even if the child does not enjoy studying them. There are also parents who force their children to take those careers simply because they do not want to lose out. Perhaps the financial benefits and/or the status-oriented nature of these careers drives them to compete with others as if they are scarce commodities. This might explain the increasingly small and competitive job market. Unbelievable. They would rather give in to their kiasuism at the expense of their children's future. Thank God my parents don't fall into either of the two categories (although they fall under the 'parent-who-wants-the-best-for-their-child' category).

Now, let's talk about the last point. There are those who are clueless about which path to go to. This indecisive moment leaves parents no choice but to force them to go for those career paths just so that they do something. There are also those who usually starts aiming for a path only after SPM/STPM results came out.Some are able to cope with it and eventually got the hang of it. But there are those who crumbles under pressure yet could not escape from it because they don't know where to go. I really pity those who had to go through this kind of scenario. If only they are properly guided and their talents nurtured, they would have a better outcome.

I'm not bashing certain profession here. I agree that these careers are very good and important. But, what must be taken into account are their the children's interests and talents. The truth is, not everyone can cut out to be an engineer, a lawyer or a doctor. But for every engineers, doctors and lawyers, there's also the entrepreneurs, the artists, the writers, the social workers, etc. I think, intrinsic motivation (utilizing God's given talents to enrich humanity) matters more than extrinsic motivation (Good salary and status).

Until then..........

How do people carry themselves in life?

Some time ago, I had a dream that had such a profound effect on me that I could still remember it well. Basically, it starts off with a woman and a boy (most probably her son) were running aimlessly. It really was like a movie. They seem to be running from one city to another, in only a matter of seconds. It doesn't seem to make sense until I saw what was chasing the two of them. It was a creature wearing a black cloak full of holes and it doesn't have any legs but it can float on mid-air. My guess was that it was Death itself (minus the scythe). The chase kept going on until mother and son entered an empty room(a dead end). Then, a mist exited out of the boy's nostrils, slowly moves like a snake towards Death's right fist while the boy gradually withers away until he became a lifeless vessel. Afterwards, in a rather cliche manner, Death slowly fades away, leaving a distraught mother to mourn for her son's death.

That's how the story goes. But I still pity the mother even though I knew it was a dream. It even got me thinking of life. Everyone knows that life is so short and that just about anyone can and will meet their ends even in the most unexpected ways. Yet, people seem to just carry on with their lives, committing their time just for monthly cheques. Everyone seems to be 'functioning' instead of 'living'. It's like they hit a 'replay' button, going through more or less the same routine, no matter how much they dislike it. The irony of it all lies deep in everyone's desire to change although very few people actually make that decision. Perhaps, it has something to do with the way people are brought up. Or maybe, there is no other reason NOT to live a mundane life?