Semester 15 Chapter XVIII: Sum-up

Okay, fuck it. Let’s start a bit more positive. Last blog wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows so let’s make this one count. It’s early morning, I’m at my friends’ apartment in Prague which I borrowed for couple of days while they’re out of town and I’m listening to some old-school Yelawolf. Before going any further, let me plug some of my shit. Recorded this new song couple days back and you can check it out HERE.

 

Last week was actually fun. There were some more Christmas sessions with the fam and also the family of dad’s partner. Lotta long evenings. Thursday morning, I caught a bus to Prague and later on that day, I was in the tattoo shop for yet another session. We need like three more but the head piece is getting doper and doper. We pulled like 6 hours and it was all pretty manageable. The day after, I took a stroll around Prague and later met with my bro for a short hangout. And yesterday, I had another meet up. We went to check out an exhibition in Rudolfinum which just opposite the faculty where the shooting took place like 10 days ago. There’s this memorial spot with loads of candles, there’s blak flags on the buildings, the energy there is still intense. Again, all the love to everyone affected and to those who lost their lives… Rest in paradise.

 

The exhibition was pretty good. Some 60s artworks. Mostly solid colors, different shapes, canvases, installations. And the building itself is just gorgeous. After that, we ended up hanging out for hours and the whole evening was just lovely.

 

Today, I’m gonna go to a bus station to pick up a friend whom I visited in Zurich about a month ago. She’s gonna spend couple of days in the Czech Republic and I’m sure that’s gonna be fun too. And that’s that for this year. I'm grateful I'm still around and as usual, I wanna send a massive shout-out to all my people. I don’t take any of that for granted. Shout out to my people in Tenerife, Lithuania, Canada, Netherlands and Switzerland. Shout out to my family and to my gang gang. I feel like shit’s moving for everybody. Shout out to everybody whom I had a chance to create some memories with in 2023, it’s all love. And for 2024… I don’t know. We live in a sick world and some things are probably never gonna change. We’ll just have to wait for the ultimate breakdown. But still… Try not to get cynical. Energy is real, small things matter, don’t be a dick to anybody and anything. Shout out to all my vegans, runners, divers and love seekers. One!

 

Highlights:

• Prague.
• Tattoos.
• Long nights.

Semester 15 Chapter XVII: Christmas

It’s kinda difficult to do this one. We had the first mass shooting in the Czech Republic. It’s been the number one topic over the last couple of days and it’s sickening. It’s one of those situations where you don’t even know what to say. Everything seems pointless and meaningless. This was an act of pure evil and it’s fucked up on so many different levels. It’s crazy that someone gets to this point, it’s crazy that people can stack up so many pro-level weapons without having to undergo some psychological evaluation or setting off some red alerts, it’s crazy that so many people will spend holidays having to deal with losses, it’s crazy that it happened at the Faculty of Arts, it’s just so fucked up and sad. And look… I hate to say this but I was relieved when it turned out the guy was white and Czech. You see, with white terrorists, we tolerate so much. We always approach them as some sort of individual troubled minds. We ask how could this happened. What’s the person’s motivation, background story, childhood. Shit like that. Had the guy been Romani, Arab or basically anything else but… It wouldn’t have been an individual failure. He would have represented his whole ethnic group, race, religion. And the amount of violence and hate following that would have been tremendous. Not that it makes the situation itself any better but the way we approach white terrorists is such a painful double-standard it fucking hurts. And fucking ban guns. Like what the fuck are we even talking about…

I would also like send some love to Palestine. Over the past 11 weeks, more that 20 thousand of Palestinians have lost their lives amid Israeli bombings and attacks. And those are children, women, civilians. All over Gaza. Not only north or south or wherever the fuck Israel said they would attack. Shit is a fucking massacre over there and it seems like media just comfortably sit back and ignore it. And look, I’m not here to defend Hamas. Those guys are terrorists and deserve to be eliminated. But 20 thousand? Are you fucking kidding me? That’s a population of a fucking town. The way Israel treats Palestinians has been fucking criminal for ages… And yes, this leads to pain, this leads to radicalization and it leads to violence. And what do you think is gonna happen now? Whole bunch of people (again, women, children and men who want nothing but the opportunity to live their lives in peace) are being slaughtered and then what… Then it stops? Fuck no, there’s gonna be more violence and more death. And after what Israel has been doing recently, what do you think Hamas is gonna do when they get a chance. What the fuck… Seeing how poorly this is covered in media is insane. It’s deeply heartbreaking.

Okay so as for this Christmas shit… I haven’t spent Christmas home for about 7 years. Pretty sure since 2015. And it feels really good. It’s the first time with my nephew which gives the whole thing a completely new vibe. And it’s just nice being surrounded by the family, all the good food… The Christmas spirit, I guess. I’m still not a fan of adults giving each other some bullshit presents which makes me seem like a dick sometimes but I try to avoid clashes on that topic (being relatively successful). Everything else is really good. Had a chance to spend some time with the family, with some of my friends… Visited my dad’s pub on one occasion. Still keeping basically fully alcohol-free. Shit’s working out.

Yesterday, we had some sort of pre-Christmas at my sis’ as the nephew is spending today with his other mom. Again, don’t care too much about the gifts but the kiddo was super happy and the whole vibe was nice. And I guess I wish everybody the same. It’s hard not to feel like this world is falling apart and we are taking a hit after a hit after a hit. So stay safe, enjoy some peace and be grateful for what you got. Shit is fragile. I’m not doing photos or highlights this time around cause it just doesn’t feel right. Love to everybody. One!

Semester 15 Chapter XVI: Head Shots

Hello everybody, here we go again. Sunday morning, new Gucci and B.G. in the headphones… It’s a sunny day, I just got back from walking the doggo, sipping on some tea, feeling good. It’s still pretty cold around here but temperatures usually stay above zero so most of snow is gone now. Again, it’s really not that bad. Definitely better than expected.

 

Last Monday, I joined my dad in his pub for another trivia night. Yet again, I contributed very little but the team ended up winning anyway. Happy days. I had a chance to catch up with one of my bros on Wednesday too. We hung out for a bit, talked shit… Nowadays, I’m seeing another shift with my non-drinking journey. See, I’m still not 100% alcohol-free but I’m nearly there. The thing is, that there are some occasional moments when I’m willing to cross that line. However, having a drink and feeling it entering the system moved from being fun to being tolerable to being straight up annoying now. I actually enjoy being sober so much more that being tipsy or drunk at this point, it surprises me. It’s a great thing tho. I feel I’m losing nothing while I’m outside with my fam, friends or even on dates and shit. All is just fine.

 

Thursday night, I boarded a train and went to Prague as I had a tattoo session scheduled on Friday. We did the central piece on my head. All went smooth, shit was fun and the whole thing was also an opportunity to catch up with some of my favorite people. I stayed till Saturday morning, got some breakfast with my awesome tattoo artist and then caught a bus back to Brno. The rest of the day was family time. Family lunch, some alone time with the nephew around a playground, hanging out with my sis and eventually ordering some delivery and watching Home Alone at her place. Christmas spirit like a motherfucker.

 

And that’s that. Got the whole Sunday ahead of me, got some shit I need to do but it’s gonna be mostly chilled. Hope y’all good and everything is going well. Talk to you in a week. One!

 

Highlights:

• Tattoos.
• Vibes.
• Running.

Semester 15 Chapter XV: Snow White

Alright, here we go again, this time from Brno. Feels good to be back here and honestly, I don’t even mind winter so far. I mean... It’s not great and I’d take summer over this any day of the week, but it’s really not that bad. First of all, I kinda appreciate all the snow. It’s been ages since I saw something like this. Parks, trees, rooftops... All is covered and it’s all pretty picturesque. I feel I’m handling it pretty well. It might be the cold showers I’ve been taking for some time, it might be the fact that I actually own a proper winter jacket now, who knows... I still don’t really get how some people don’t wear a beanie or just casually hang out outside sipping on mulled wine but overall, I don’t feel terrible. Which is an accomplishment.

 

I arrived to Prague last Sunday morning. The bus ride was okay and despite the weather, we arrived on time. I immediately met up with my tattoo artist and we went to her studio to apply stencil for a tattoo I’m about to get next week (just to see what the shit is gonna look like). Later on, my bro showed up so we had a chance to catch up. I managed to do another pretty fucking cool meet up downtown afterwards and later on in the evening, I met up with my sister who happened to be around and we took a train back to Brno.

 

The week was pretty chilled. I mean... I really enjoyed all the traveling and I’m really happy about the fact I’ll probably see some of these ladies again soon in Brno, but slowing down for a bit also didn’t feel too bad. I got a chance to spend some time with my sis and the nephew. We took him to a Ferris wheel they put up in the center, we did some dinners, it was all enjoyable. On Friday, I reunited with another of my brothers, we did some drinks and later on, we met up with another friend of mine at this Artbar place. There was some techno and it was pretty fun. Them two eventually left but I ended up staying until about 6am.

 

On Saturday, I had a meet up with a friend who’s also my former colleague from my uni days and we had a good chat for couple of hours, and in the evening, I got out once more for couple of drinks to Café Alfa. I felt a bit slower after the party (slightly lacking on sleep) but I managed.

 

Work has been going well, it feels good having a pull-up bar at disposal again and I even got back to running. Got some winter gear so I’m all set. Might have to get new shoes sometime soon tho; these super light summer ones aren’t really cutting it. Hope you guys are doing well, hope you stay away from this bullshit Christmas shopping madness and that your energy levels are exactly where you want them to be. Sending love to all my people and all my readers. One!

 

Highlights:

• Running.
• Snow.
• Socializing without drinking alcohol. I’m still on that shit.

Semester 15 Chapter XIV: The Hague

Hello world! Checking in from yet another overnight bus, this time heading to Prague. Which pretty much concludes my ongoing adventure. Let me start with expressing how grateful I am for all the people whom I had a chance to spend some amazing moments with this time around. My peers from the Czech Republic in London. Goes without saying. The ladies in Zurich, Amsterdam and Hague. Some great hangouts, some more memories. The love is real.

 

I arrived to The Hague Sunday evening and the next couple of days were pretty fucking smooth. I believe I’ve said it before but traveling while working isn’t really that bad. The thing is, people you visit usually have jobs too. And since both of you work over the day, even longer visits don’t get overwhelming. Plus I also feel it removes some of the pressure of feeling responsible for the guest. We’re both reasonably busy. So yeah, everything went super well. We had enough time to do cool shit, we got out for some food, drinks and walks here and there. And we got to talk for hours. And since I enjoy all of the above, I was having a really good time.

 

During my longer breaks, I also took the opportunity to explore the town by myself. Walked to the sea one afternoon. Which was pretty interesting as I don’t really remember the last time I was by the beach in a fucking winter jacket. But hey, some surfers over there were still on their shit. Gotta respect the grind. On Friday, I took a train to the town of Delft about 10km from The Hague. My dad recommended it and since I had quite a lot of time on my hands that day, I decided to go for it. The town is picturesque, it was a pleasure strolling around it, and since the weather was fucking beautiful (cold but clear and sunny), I walked all the way back. Couple of hours on fresh air, eventually exploring downtown Hague… Happy days.

 

Overall, it all felt just right. Every single step of this little journey of mine. Looking forward to seeing all these people again at some point in the future. And I feel pretty shitty about not visiting a coffee shop in Netherlands. I don’t really smoke weed like that but given the fact this was my second time here… Got some shit to catch up with the next time. Oh well. Hope y’all having a great time, hope winter isn’t too heavy on y’all and you energy levels are wherever you want them to be. Sending love to all my people and my readers too. One!

 

Highlights:

• Walks.
• Crystals.
• Hague.