I am an undercover gamer

 So if you ask me, what my side job is, my answer is, I am a gamer. 😂

I may not be a fulltime gamer, but apart from my daily practice routine and my studies, the next thing I do with a lot of interest is playing video games. Haha I know it might be difficult to believe, but let me tell you about some games I have played.

Since 2001, I think I've been playing games. I can remember playing

1. Super Mario 

I was 4 years old when I played this game. surprising eh?

Then, in 2007 or so, I think I started playing GTA Vice City.

Then I think, with the development of technology and all, the best Games I played in the recent years are 

Assassin's Creed (Brotherhood, Black Flag)

FarCry 3, 4, 5

COD (modern warfare, WW3

I can name many many games. And some I don't even remember . hehe,

So yeah, here is my secret job - Playing games!!!!!!!!!

What is Anime?

 We all know about cartoons. We all know what films are. But what is Anime? is it a cartoon or a film? 

So from Marriam Webster I have quoted the following definition for the word "Anime"

"Anime is a style of animation originated in Japan that is characterized by stark colourful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots with fantastic or futuristic themes"

So if you got an idea from this definition, that's great. But I don't think it will just explain it clearly. 

an example picture is shown below for anime cartoons. 

When I was in school, my friends talked all the time about an anime called  'The Alice academy'" which later turned out to be a famous Anime series. So these type of cartoons are not just for children, even adults can enjoy these because their plots and themes are well organized and written. The messages that are underlying in some of Anime cartons are really great. 

One of my favorite Animes are 'The Black Butler" . It has a supernatural touch to it and it amazing. 

So Anime is another mode of entertainment anyone with the taste can enjoy. 

Fairytale - Alexander Rybak

 Young hearts have at least got broken once. It is very rarely that a young person does not get a heart break because of a love relation in his/her life. So Alexnader Rybak, a Russian singer and composer created a song called "Fairytale"  that talks about a heartbreak of a young person whose love left him long ago. But this character likes to live inside the fairytale where he is still with this girl. So , even though it hurts, this character likes to live inside the fairytale.

When talking about the music arrangement in this song, the song opens with a strong entry of a solo violin played by the singer himself. The song is played in the key of D minor.  After the violin,, a country rhythm follows. Then the song begins. 

So, this song got stuck in my head specially because of the violin parts in the song. Also, in the middle of the song, two female voices support the lead vocalist with harmonies. I love that part too. It is a really nice song. 

I will include the link below if anyone is interested. 

Official Music Video

Live performance - Fairytale

Black Magic

 Black Magic is form of dark art that is employed by witches and Wizards use in order to achieve their greedy targets. Most often, the reasons behind using black magic turns out to be anger, jealousy and greed. 

This is the definition given in the dictionary

* Magic used for evil purposes; witchcraft; sorcery (contrasted with white magic)*

So, I have heard that in Middle East countries, this practice is abundant. also in India there are many cases related to black magic. There are movies related to black magic and the most frightening series is the "Siccin" series.

If you watch this, you will definitely get frightened. 

As I remember, there are 5 or 6 movies in this movie series. hehe If you don't want to sleep, watch it. 

Difference between Surviving and Living

Most people just survive. They eat, drink, sleep, procreate and I would like to call it survival.

But living is something totally different in my opinion. Living not just means the things I told before. Living includes enjoying, living in diversity and being different. 

For this, I am pretty sure we need money. No matter how much you may argue that happiness can not be bought by money, I believe that we can buy some things that make us happy. Of course we can't buy happiness, love and health using money. I am not telling that. But think about this.

Do you enjoy life or struggle through your life to meet ends? Just ask yourself

As a Sri Lankan, I cannot be satisfied and happy if I am a government servant. Nah. I can only survive. Not live. 

So in order to add some happy points in to your life, start something new. Start your own small business. Don't depend on this so much of a salary that absolutely gives to nothing. Start living. (Don't do bad things as a business - think rationally)

So here is a point to think about. Living Vs Surviving. Are you living... or just surviving?

What Sadhguru taught me

 Once an Indian philosophical man told on YouTube :

" Don't be dead serious about your life, it is just a play"

When I heard this, it actually hit me to the bottom. and I started to think. even if I am dead serious about my life and its goals and all, nobody is serious about my life. It is only me who is being hard on myself and pushing myself to certain ends that I can't even cope with. So with that in mind, I started to focus more on the brighter side of life and less on the stressful negative side. Sadhguru's preachings are really handy if you are looking for life advices

So this is what I learnt from him. 

Frankenstein

 Do you know who Frankenstein is? 

One day, a clever scientist wanted to prove that death is just as temporary as life. So in order to accomplish his target, he started to create a human out of dead human parts. He finally achieves his target, but this monster whom he names as "Frankenstein" pleads his creator to make another one just as him, a female, to accompany him. But, the creator refuses it and chooses to leave Frankenstein alone. After this, the monster gets angry and destroys every important thing in the scientist's life. He even kills the creator's bride.

I know, this story seems very sickening, but this is how the novel goes.  

The name of the creator is Victor Frankenstein and he names his monster after his own name. According to me, Victor was unfair to his creation because nobody likes to stay alone in this world with no one else to talk to or share ideas. The look of the monster was so hideous  that no human would like it. Everybody ran away when they saw him.

So what happened to Frankenstein the monster, is very unfair. You should really read this novel by Mary Shelley. it is a Gothic masterpiece. 

Why did Egyptians worship cats?

 It is reported that ancient Egyptians worshipped many animals for thousands of years. So there were many reasons like, dogs were values because they were protective and they hunted. But cats were thought to be the most special ones. BECAUSE, Egyptians believed cats were magical creatures. capable of bringing good luck to the people who fed and looked after them.

To honor these pets, wealthy families even dressed them in jewels and fed them treats fir for royalty. And when the cats died, they were mummified and kept in Pyramids.

So the main reason why they worshipped cats was because, Egyptians' main course of  income was through farming. So when they were doing this, rats came and destroyed their fields. They were hopeless and helpless because they couldn't find any remedy for this destruction.

Somehow, they found that cats hunt rats and eat them. After getting to know this, the Egyptians started breeding more cats and releasing them to the fields. They were so happy to find that the cats didn't spare a single rat. So this is how the Egyptians came to worship cats. 

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are two fictional heroes who captured the hearts of readers around the world. The stories are imaginations written down by Arthur Conan Doyle. These stories include many interesting and curiously happened murders. The curiosity that is created cannot be matched with any other book/TV series I have read or watched. It is greatly written that nobody can find any error or mistake in these stories. 

In 2012, a TV series based around Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson's  crime solving was released by BBC. It was the best creation I had ever seen. First  thought I would never understand what they are saying due to the extreme speed in which Sherlock spoke. But I used English subtitles and paused at almost all places to stop and reflect on what they said. 😂

So I really love the stories of Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson 

What music really means to me

 Everybody listens to songs or their choice of music. So they may have a reason why they listen to them. For me, music is what gives me an additional energy when I am low on energy. First I thought I can only listen to music when I am happy, but recently I found out that even when I am sad, I can listen to music and soothe myself. 

But there is a certain choice of music I listen, and that would be songs without a language I can understand or just instrumental music. Songs with understandable language is a distraction for me. I just want to create my own world inside the music but if there are words, I can only focus on those words and my trip would be not what I expected. So, as I want to create my own world inside the music, I always prefer instrumental music or songs with a language I do not understand. 

So here it is, what music really means to me and how I like it.... 

What is the most frequently sung song in the world?

 When we hear the question, "what is the most frequently sung song in the world", we will start thinking about the most famous song artists and his or her songs. We will try to crack our brains open and try to guess the correct answer. But, we don't think for a second, that the most frequently sung song would be a song with a simple melody, simple words and only four lines.

If you have guessed the song, then cheers to you, but if you haven't let me break it to you.

It is none other than "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" 

It is sung all over the world and everyday there are millions and trillions of birthdays in the world. So this most frequently sung song turns out to be 

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear ....................

Happy Birthday to you 

Be yourself

 I am a girl and I don't wear earrings, but my friend is a boy and he wears earrings. 

When you read this, did you feel weird or different?  If you did, then you are not as open-minded as you think you are.

There are many many social, cultural, traditional practices we have been bringing throughout generations. When looking at them thoroughly, some may be useful, but, some notions are just as useless as a rupee these days. 

When living in this society, it is very difficult to follow a different path and be unique without having the entire cultured human beings towering and criticizing over you. But, if you are truly a strong human being, then you wouldn't be afraid of what the society thinks of you.  Society didn't feed you and raise you, your parents did. So if they don't have a problem, you shouldn't care of anything else. 

Be yourself and nothing more or less. Being yourself is more that we can do in this short life time than to pretend being someone we are not. 

Perfumes play a role in life

 We all wear perfume. At least an Eau Di Colonge. So as humans when we go out, or even when staying home sometimes we use a good smelling perfume to feel refreshed. So there are many different tastes for different people. Sometimes maybe the same person likes different types of scents. However my personal preferences is the FOGG series. It has perfumes for both men and women." 

The most interesting fact about wearing perfumes is that, people tend to remember you with the smell that goes with you. If it is a pleasant smell, there is a tendency for them to like you, and there is a high chance that they won't be impressed by the very first impression if your smell is bad.

So perfumes play an important role in human's lives. 

Where did we all go wrong in learning English?

 By the time we have reached  2021, we all know that English has become a powerful tool which has captured the entire world. So, as Sri Lankans, we were under the colonial empire that ruled us for many many decades. This resulted in an inevitable Sri Lankan society that believed English as a powerful weapon to climb up the social ladder. 

BUT, even though we so badly need to learn this language how many of Sri Lankans have been fully successful in achieving a good command of English? I think it will be a very small percentage. 

So where did we go wrong? 

I believe, and also there is evidence to say that Sri Lankans treated English as a subject and not a language from the very beginning. A language cannot be learnt like a subject by only giving it two periods for a day.  and also the other whole issue is that, the Sri Lankan syllabus of English, mostly focuses on writing, reading and grammar. The local exam papers are also all about reading and writing with grammar. But where is the spoken language? A language is not reading or writing. There are tribes that do not have an alphabet for themselves, they do not write or read, but, their language is considered a language. 

FACT: out of the 7000 languages we have in the world, only half of them have a written form. 

This proves that for a language to be a language the speech system is necessary before the writing system becomes a necessity. 

This is exactly where we went wrong. How many people speak English in an English classroom or lesson? Nobody. Not even the teachers do sometimes. The speaking aspect is what should be focused on before writing. So I strongly believe that if our country's children had the opportunity to speak and listen to this language, it wouldn't be such a mysterious and difficult language, We have made it difficult by our own mistake

The best way to learn a language is by living among the native speakers of that language. But as it is not practically achievable, these are some methods we can use

1. Watching movies, series with English subtitles first and then without them

2. Reading books, articles, blogs, magazines (anything you can find - even if you don't understand much of it

3.  Using an online or a portable dictionary often

4. Speaking with a friend ( or to yourself if it works for you)

5. Keeping your shame aside and talking even with mistakes

So these are some ways we can use to develop

our language. 

How meditation can Help

 Meditation is a method of calming oneself down by gathering all thoughts to one point and trying to not let the mind diverge. This is the definition I can give according to my experience of meditating. The official definition may be different from what I have given.

So there are many benefits a person can gain through the practice of meditation. Again I am going to give the benefits I personally gained through it. It will be more practical than pasting some benefits off the internet. 

The list goes down.

Through meditation

1. I started to behave more calmly than usual (does not mean I don't crack jokes and have fun)

2. The rate of concentration increased within me. 

3. I don't get angry as often as I did before I started meditating.

4. Everything started to look positive (even though a negative thing)

5. I began to be more human than a machine.

So these are the ones I personally gained through meditation. For anyone who is reading this, I recommend at least a 10 minutes meditation time per day. It will really give you some good results. Also listen to some Ambient music if you like. I will paste some links below,

https://youtu.be/fNh2yB0w8gU

https://youtu.be/aIIEI33EUqI

Personality Disorders are not a joke

 Most of us think that we have a balanced mind set and that our mentality is very stable. But it may not be so. According to studies it is proven that almost all human beings suffer from at least one type of personality disorder even though in a very mild level. The definition of the personality disorder can be given as follows

"Personality disorders are long term patterns of behavior an inner experiences that differs significantly from what is expected"

So according to the definition, a person with a personality disorder depicts some sort of behavior which is not expected. I personally believe that we all have some kind of PD. but it can be overcome by starting a form of meditation or any method that can calm down our mind. Most modern medicines are designed to calm the nerves of mental patients but that affects the cognition and the thinking ability of humans so it is not good. So the best way to start avoiding symptoms of a personality disorder is by practicing meditation.

This is the only "dream-come-true" in my whole music life

Since the time I can remember, I had a violin with me. My parents took me to classes and always encouraged me to practice the violin. Without their involvement I would never be in the place I am right now. So for that, I am forever grateful for them. 💓

So what I am going to tell next is a different sort of story. When I was in grade 12, getting ready for the AL exam in the following year, I got the opportunity to join the National Youth Orchestra of Sri Lanka. It was a great chance for me to play among others and experience the feeling of being in an orchestra. So after joining that, we played many pieces including man difficult ones as well. 

But, there was one particular piece of Mozart that got my attention when I was watching a Japanese movie. There was an orchestra and they played this so-called piece of music but I didn't know its name. What I wished for is that I get to play this piece of which I didn't know the name , someday in the Youth Orchestra 

Then on one day, the concertmaster of the orchestra started distributing us a new piece of music which had the name "Eine Kleine Nacht Musik ". The name didn't look any familiar so I thought it may be a new piece from a Russian composer.  But when we started playing, I just realized that this was exactly the piece I was looking for, MY DREAM MUSIC PIECE that I wanted to play so badly. I was so happy that for a few minutes I was smiling without playing...

So this was the best day of my music life  that made me really happy.

So I would like to share this piece with you too. Please listen to it and enjoy.

https://youtu.be/oy2zDJPIgwc  

My cartoon world

 Even I may be 20 plus, I still love watching cartoons because it makes me incredibly relaxed and happy. When I was small, my parents bought me CDs of many cartoons and some were even telecast on TV as well. Out of all the cartoons I watched, there was one that I liked the most. It is about two characters who do mischievous things to irritate each other, but at the end they are friends indeed. So this cartoon is none other than "Tom and Jerry" . There are many many episodes and by now there are even different versions of this cartoon. I think Tom and Jerry are more popular than any human actor or actress in this world. Everybody loves this angry cat and the naughty mouse. 

There were arguments among people that Tom and Jerry is a bad influence on children because it always shows fighting. beating, killing-like (even though they don't die) and many other violent stuff.  But here I am, a Tom and Jerry fan and I would never hurt a fly. I think everything depends of the strength of the personality of the person. Anyhow, I can still remember there was a long cartoon episode called "The magic ring" as one of the Tom ad Jerry cartoons. It was the best I watched. I watched it recently also. Those two are just lovely and I will love them forever. As I specially like cats, my favorite character is Tom. 

An unforgettable trip

It was in 2014 if my memory is right. A trip was organized and we all decided t road-travel to the Trincomalee side. I had never been so far up there in the country before. So I was very excited. The trip members included my family (4 members), our next door neighbor aunty and my mother's sister and her son. So believe it or not, all of us, seven people together travelled in a car which was meant for maximum five people. When thinking about it now, it feels almost incredible. 

So we started our journey. On the way we sang songs and cracked jokes to face the boredom. At some places we stopped, got refreshed and started travelling again. So after about five or six hours of driving, we reached our destination. 

It was such a dry weather, with the sun boiling up ahead. After we went inside the resting house, we got changed and rested for a while. Then without any delay, we went to the Nilaveli beach. At that time of the day, it was really crowded but I enjoyed playing by the sea. I loved the feeling. we all had a great time. 

I really wish I get to go there some day again before the end of my young age. 

Six Octave Man

There is a Kazakastani singer who once reached a higher note of F#. It was unimaginable for the audience as well as the judges. In 2017 I was so close to facing my AL examination when I found out about this singer on YouTube. You wouldn't believe if said I watched almost all the videos of this singer without studying. That's how addicted I was to this marvelous singer. The most fascinating thing was that he could sing the male part as well as the female part without any difficulty. 

His name is Dimash Kudaibergen. One thing I liked about this singer is that he loves his own country and cares about his nation so much. He has a patriotic heart and has composed many songs for his motherland.

So as I was saying, he has a huge range and he has sung the following songs. They are only a few of many. If you want to get amazed feel free to click on the following links. 

Song 1 (S.O.S)    

Song 2 (definitely listen to this ) :D

Edgar Allan Poe

In one of my previous posts, I told you that my favorite genre is horror. 

In 2018 I also found an American writer named Edgar Allan Poe had lived in the 1870s who wrote only short stories and poems which were themed under the theme of horror. I read a few of them and found them fascinating and well written. When looking at the personal life of Poe, it is evident that he suffered a lot in his life; health-wise, moneywise and relationship-wise. When he was only 16 he fell in love with a girl but she eventually died, leaving Poe heartbroken and hopeless. His parents had also died when he was very young so he was raised by a foster father who was very unkind to him. Poe's life had been nothing but sadness. So his literary works also reflect that very well. The emotional trauma and his suffering is well projected in his stories. 

Some of his stories I have read are

1. The Black Cat

2. The Tell-Tale Heart

3 The Pit and the Pendulum

4. The fall of the House of Usher

5. The Raven (poem)

Why cats are my favorite

It is a known fact that the most favorite pet for many people is the "dog". There are many reasons for that to be true as well. Dogs are very loyal, they are there for their master or love ones anytime. They are playful, always smiling and so friendly.

And on the other hand, cats are solitary creatures, they hunt, not always there when you look for them and sometimes so egoistic. haha

But, there is on special feature that makes me love cats. Maybe you have already guessed. Yes, it is their purring. My personal experience has taught me that whenever my cat is around me or when it is feeling comfortable around me and when I caress it, it purrs. That is the one thing I specially like in cats. 

Not to mention cats also show love towards their human friend. My cat, which is a brownish orange cat plays with me and gets on my desk when I work and stay there like it belongs to him. Anyway that is also something I like about cats. They don't give a damn. 😂

Sitting on the road

 When you take a book into your hands, or when you sit down to watch a movie, you know that it is going to take one or two hours right? So there is no problem. But what happens when you start your vehicle and go out at 3pm to meet your doctor by 3 30pm, but reach the place at 6pm? You have literally been sitting on the road for two hours. You were not moving. You were sitting on the road.

So today, I had the same experience after returning home after a visit to my relatives' place. While on our way back, it almost took one and half hours to come home. Normally it does not take even half an hour. So all the way home, I was disappointed, sad, angry, and frustrated. The traffic jam was so huge that none of the vehicles moved for about one whole hour. We were moving inch by inch. I really wished I was a bird which had wings. The worst thing is, there is no solution to this issue. Cannot leave, cannot shout or scream, cannot blame anyone because everyone is facing the same situation. So for me, being stuck in traffic, or in other words, sitting on the road is the worst feeling and it is such a waste of our valuable time. What  to do....  

A little black memory

It was an exam day at CINEC

I just finished the paper and came out to breath some air

Suddenly I saw a little ball of black fur moving slowly at a corner

I went a little closer to take a look 

That is when I realized that it was a little black kitten

I bent and tried to touch the little baby

To my surprise, the kitten didn't run away or hiss at me

So I caressed it for a few seconds

And I knew that this kitten would be mine

I took it home, and surprised everyone

My mom identified it to be a girl

I loved it even more because she was same as me

I fed it, gave a little cozy place to sleep

She even became friends with the two little pups at home

So two months passed and she was in good health

She played all the time with anything she could find

There were nail marks on my legs and hands

But I didn't care because she was mine

On a dark day with heavy rain and thunder 

My little kitten stopped eating and drinking 

I tried my very best to feed her something

But she refused anything I could find for her

One day passed, two days passed, three days passed

But she didn't eat anything. I even took her to a doctor

I tried and tried.. everything I could. but she didn't try at all 😔

On another dark day, my little black kitten went away

Leaving me with all the playful memories 

Good bye dear kitty..

A forgotten chapter of my childhood

 Most people, who personally know me, identify me as a tall girl. I also see that when I am among my girl-friends. So when I was in school, when we had the P.E. period, the sports teachers always encouraged me to do a sport, especially something like netball or basketball. So, in grade 7, I joined the netball team and I was selected as the Goal Shooter. There were inter school matches and also inter-zone matches where we played with other schools as well. I belonged to the house called "De-Abrew". It was represented by red color. 

However, as I can remember, we had after-school practices on some weekdays and I stayed for practices. I enjoyed the team work. It was really interesting as well. I can still picture the way my team members passed the ball to me and the way I shot the ball through the net without a mistake. Anyway, with time, I lost interest in netball and stopped going for practices and little by little, started to focus on music. 

But I really miss the time I was active in sports. It taught me many things. How to work in a team, how to be patient and how to take decisions that are favorable to everyone in the team. But now, if I get a chance to do a sport, my one and only choice will be Badminton. I don't know why, but I can feel that it is my sport. I will definitely play badminton someday before I grow weak and old 😅

Why I love Horror ( genre)

 Since I was small I was not afraid of anything. I didn't get scared of the dark, lightening, or of being alone. There were old days when someone in the family used to narrate a horror story, maybe a true one or a fake one just to scare us. So that was the only time when I felt scared of anything. From those times onwards, I used to love the genre of horror. I read a lot of horror story books. I lived inside of those stories and I felt as if I was experiencing those horror moments. like, when a girl is chased by a headless ghost or hearing footsteps at home when there is nobody else. So with time, I grew, so did my interest in horror. I must have watched a thousand movies from that genre. The very first horror movie I watched was "The Grudge" The story line was perfect, the jump scares were terrific and I loved it so much. I don't know if I am wrong, but I cannot just not love horror. 😂

 

My favorite TV series

        I think I was 17 years old when I first saw a certain scene on the TV,  where I couldn't believe what I saw. It was not a scary scene or anything. but it was of extreme human intelligence and cleverness. I fell in love with that immediately and continued watching. It took me a few long minutes to figure out that this was a series and unfortunately I had started in the middle of an episode, and the worst thing was, it was the second season. (it was displayed at the top of the screen). However, I couldn't stop watching this. I continued to watch it for 2 whole months until the end of the 4th season. After that, I found the entire series and watched it from the beginning till the end at least twenty times. 

Plot Summary 

Is he a thief?

Today he is sitting in a prison cell

answering a ton of questions asked by furious police-men

He must be regretting what he did last night

but he would have done it anyway

All he said was 

"I only took a box of milk-powder 

not with the intention of robbing the shop

my wife died last year of COVID 

and left me with a 2 year old daughter

when she cries for milk how can I give any

because I am no mother and have no money

The prices are getting higher and higher

I cannot even buy the daily bread and butter

So I had to steal a box of milk-powder

 to feed my only little daughter"

But now the man is in prison

His daughter has no one in the world 

The system is never friendly with the poor 

but always flexible for powerful people

A memorable gift 💚

 It was a rainy day in September 2020. I woke up early in the morning to get ready to go to campus. It was a special day for me and my loved ones because it was my birthday. By the time of that year, COVID was under control for a while so we had to  go out to do things. So on that day, I had many many messages wishing me a Happy Birthday, but there was one person who was special among them. I looked at the wish that person had sent and it made me smile. 

So when I went to the university early in the morning, I met that person. He was waiting for me with a delightful smile upon his face. After a little bit of chit chat, he told me to close my eyes for a while. So I did. I heard him walk away, but I didn't open my eyes. In a few seconds, I heard him return. Then he told me to open my eyes. When I opened them, what I saw was a beautiful Bonsai tree. I instantly fell in love with that gift. It was such a beauty. I had never seen a bonsai tree that close in my life. I didn't have enough words to thank him so I hugged him. 

In 2021, locked inside home, I still look at that tree and recall that day. It was such a memorable gift.