Giambattista’s Biography.

     1975-1979: Giambattista was born in Catania (Sicily). Lives with his family in Vittoria (Sicily).

     1979-1985: His family moves to Fornazzo, which is a little village on the foothills of mount Etna (the volcano). There he finds himself surrounded by mother nature, with just a few friends. He attends the local primary school (his academic course his attended by 3 boys).

     1986-1988: He attends the secondary school locally for 3 years (at the time the Italian secondary school, was divided in 2 phases completely independent from each other: the first phase lasted 3 years and was compulsory; the second lasted between 2 and 5 years, and was not compulsory). His class room was mixed with more than 15 pupils. Almost all his free time is spent playing soccer and wandering in the countryside around his village.

    1989-1994: He attends the “second phase” of secondary school in Acireale (Acireale is a small city about 20km away from his village). His course is IT oriented, and almost all the students in the school are males. He meets 2 people that will change his way of living and his understanding of life. Edgar and Emanuela. Edgar will teach him what is the vitality of life. Emanuela, will teach him the meaning of the word “feeling”.

     1995-2000: He moves to London, where he starts working. At the same time, he explores the lifestyle of the people who call themselves Goths (he will never describe himself with that name), because they listen to that kind of music known as Gothic or Dark. He falls in love with some of that music (to which he was introduces by Edgar).
He starts travelling in the UK and in mainland Europe. He buys inter-rail tickets going through the major cities in central and western Europe: Berlin, that has not healed from her violent past yet, entertains him; Budapest surrounds him with regality; Sofia gives him some mystic ideas, Praha some magic, Belgrade some hate; he finds the Louvre’s sumptuosity, and the Vatican’s majesty; he meets Firenze of the great men, and is welcomed by the peaceful Bologna; Madrid surprises him, Stockholm seduces him, and Nice exhausts him; Dresden and Neuschwanstein court him; Bruxelles enchants him, Amsterdam offers him the business.
In 1999, he goes to the wave-gotik treffen in Leipzig. There he sees for the first time an Ataraxia’s concert. He is very impressed with their performance, and realises that is time for him to try a new experience, so he decides to invite Ataraxia to perform a concert in London. The concert becomes a reality before the end of the year. At the same time, he starts working on his first book, which will be ready to be published before the end of the following year.

     2000-2003: Keeps on travelling alternating travels with work. November 2000: Egypt; September-October 2001: Spain, Portugal, Morocco; January-July 2002: Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, USA); September-October 2003: Greece & Turkey.
At the beginning of 2003 he meets Ivana who will change his way of being, his dreams, and his “Reason of the existence”.

      2004: At the beginning of the year returns to London. Decides that for the moment he will stop travelling. It is a transitional period of his life full of uncertainty and sentimental instability. Goes to Sicily to see his parents for Christmas.

      2005: Remains in London and works. Goes to Berlin for a week at Easter. In November travels to Thailand for 2 weeks. In Ko Tao does an diving course to win his phobia of the water. The phobia will remain (although not as strong as before), but the experience of going underwater is positive and unforgettable. Goes to Sicily to see his parents for Christmas.

     2006: Remains in London and works. As his flight is cancelled, he doesn’t go to Sicily for Christmas, so he goes to Amsterdam instead.

     2007: In January goes to Sicily to visit his parents. In March goes for the first time to Pisa and to Prato (to see another of the wonderful concerts of Ataraxia). Continues to work and to look for quiet and inner peace.

     2008: This year his responsibility at work increases, with an increase in the level of stress derived form it. The inner peace seems an unachievable mirage. The will to life is in sharp decline. In August goes to Sicily to visit his parents.

    2009: This year is very similar to 2008. In some ways there is a reduction in stress derived from working. Firstly, because he refuses to take on more responsibilities; also because the company office moves closer, so the commuting time is greatly reduced. In the spring and summer he commutes by bicycle. In August he goes to Sicily to visit his parents.

    2010: This year slips by very fast. The months forgotten as if they were a flash that one hardly perceives, without leaving a lasting impression in the memory. There is nothing really to highlight. He visits his parents in Sicily a couple of times for his holidays. A period dominated by the lack of desire to do anything.

    2011: This year the world seems to be getting close to the end of a cycle: the uncertainty of revolutions and protests; the rise of new powers and the decline of the "old" powers; the economic crisis heightening the hardships of the multitude. The tension is increasing in all humanity, and the time of the explosion seems ever nearer. A glimpse of the violence showing all the wickedness of the human spirit, increases exponentially the mistrust in the human morality. In spite of the technological progress, the religious superstitions rule largely unopposed. In the human jungle the best liar is the strongest (together with the richest...). The only thing that is able to influence the human behaviour is the fear of the pain and of the punishment; even though the mirage of achieving happiness can overcome this fear of the pain and of the punishment. Moreover there is fierce Despair shouting revenge and destroying all that it can reach.
Faced with Despair morality melts down. Having overcome the fear of pain the sadism of the human spirit reveals all its hate for having been reviled and forced to hide by morality. Human morality is not objective but subjective, based on culture (mostly religious lies). After all, morality is a human creation and is in contrast with many of the human instincts. Perhaps it is possible to genetically modify mankind to remove the animal instincts; but to date this has not been done, so the animal instincts can continue to influence human behaviour. Nietzsche's Übermensch is just an illusion because it would be necessary to radically change the driving forces of the human spirit to obtain it. A being modified so radically would no longer be human, but would be a different being and should have a different name.
Someone could say that morality is dead. But it is only the understanding of the fact that mankind cannot go over certain limits. Some kind of morality is necessary to be able to live in a society. But it is only a pragmatic artifice, not of an ideal. Even Barbarians have some kind of morality, however this does not stop them from slaughtering those who are not part of their society (and not just those...). The horrors of the past exist in the present, and will exist in the future as long as man will be man.
Surely it is not possible to foresee the destructive power of "social explosions". But there have been loads of explosions this year. Therefore it is reasonable to expect that there are those who are starting to get ready. Those like Giambattista start to feel the breeze of war and stir from their lethargy.
Giambattista, still seeking the inner peace, realizes that to find it he needs to change something. Also, starts to fear of ending up in an environment that does not allow peace. The will to do things is still hiding somewhere, but the desire for a change grows ever stronger. After the summer he decides to go back to Sicily for a few months to spend some time with his parents.
In October Uccio (the brother) dies, and Giambattista is forced to visit Vietnam briefly. It is traumatic for the parents (and everyone else...). Giambattista thinks of Death as liberating, and not just as a destroyer (depending on the situation). Considering the situation, the death of his brother is not as traumatic as it could have been in other circumstances.

     2012: Stays in Sicily until the spring. Then goes back to London and luckily finds a job. In the summer, he prefers to stay in London because the summer heat in Sicily is unbearable (at least for him...). In December he goes back to Sicily to spend a bit of time with his family.
Tension continues to build up in all humanity, but the danger of an explosion does not seem imminent. Although, it only takes a small spark to bring chaos to entire nations.
Therefore, being in the wrong place at the wrong time could be fatal. However, this is true even in places that seem quiet and safe, the difference is only in the probability that the fatality will actually occur. So, one should try to stay alert, trying to notice any danger before it is too late.
Humans have to live in their age. So if their age is dangerous, they will be forced to face the dangers. The evasion of dangers can only be accomplished up to a certain point. Even because humans need to socialize and cannot detach themselves completely from the rest of humanity. Moreover, sometimes it takes very little to change the life of a person. Therefore the reasons to go to a place rather than another place can be various and not necessarily apparent.
At the end of the summer, he finds the inspiration to write a short e-book trying to prove the non-existence of god.

     2013: Stays in Sicily until February. Then goes back to London and after a few weeks to Brazil for 5 weeks. From Brazil he goes back to London.
This time it takes a few months for him to find a job. In those months he has a lot of free time, but the worry of looking for a job somehow stops him from enjoying his free time.
After finding a job, he remains in London until the end of the year.

     2014: Returns to Sicily in January and remains there until April. Then goes back to London where he remains until August. Then he goes on holiday to Australia for 3 months, visiting the east coast. Afterwards, he returns to London, where he remains a few weeks. Then he goes back to Sicily in December.

     2015: Remains in Sicily until March, then he returns to London. Manages to find a job and keeps working all year, except for going back to Sicily to visit the parents for a few weeks in June and November.

     2016: Remains in London to work almost all year. Trying to enjoy the little things that life has on offer, even if he suffers some unwelcome disappointment.
Goes to Sicily to visit his parents in April and in November/December when his father dies.
Powerless he watches his father's suffering (more psychological than physical). The father would like euthanasia, which however is illegal in Italy.
Giambattista thinks that it would only be fair if those who oppose euthanasia had an atrocious death, the same as the death that other people have to suffer because of their opposition to euthanasia; unfortunately, justice rarely prevails in the human world.
Certainly, anyone is free to refuse to practice euthanasia; but whomsoever refuses euthanasia for himself, has no right to oppose other people's desire for euthanasia, specially if they are fully conscious and capable of making informed decisions by themselves.
Besides the death of the father, this year his grandmother from his mum's side died as well.
Therefore, this year wasn't very happy. Anyway, Giambattista believes that it is useless to be sorrowful over things that come from Fate and are outside of our control. Humans can only try to do their best influencing those things that somehow are within their control. The death of our dear ones should be a stimulus to live well the limited time we have at our disposal. Sadness, even if natural in some circumstances, does not help anyone.

     2017: Remains in London to work almost all year. Tries to enjoy what life has to offer.
Not feeling very lucky in the loving department, as even this year his small hopes were crushed: losing all hope with the only girl that made him feel slightly special.
Not feeling particularly inspired, and feeling some uncertainty because of Brexit and the potential limits that it could impose on his life.
It is a year of wait and see what happens. Maybe hoping to find some inspiration and maybe someone special.

     2018: Remains in London to work almost all year. Doing some short travels and visiting some new countries (Malta, Iceland, Jordan and Israel).
Waiting to see how Brexit is going to be sorted out.
Still waiting to meet someone special, but with very little hope.

     2019: Remains in London to work until October. Then going to Sicily to visit the mother for almost a month. In November he goes on a long trip to South America (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile).
No real hope to meet someone special. But one never knows in life.

     2020: The trip in South America continues (Argentina and Paraguay) until the global Covid-19 pandemic forces it to stop.
In February, in the north of Argentina he meets a woman with whom he spends most of the rest of the year. This relationship has highs and lows, as most relationships. It is a new experience, from which Giambattista learns a few things (about himself, and mistakes that he has made...).
In December, he manages to travel back to Italy to spend some time with his mother, who needs a little help in the cold winter months.

     2021: This year is affected massively by the Covid-19 pandemic. He spends most of the year in Sicily.
In the summer months, when restrictions are loosened, he goes on some short trips inside Sicily, to Syracuse and Trapani; also, visiting the island of Favignana.
In September he manages to go to the UK, but only stays until October, returning to Sicily for the colder winter months.

     2022: This year feels like a part of humanity has regressed to the beginning of the Twentieth century.
One would think that people in power would somehow have some wisdom, but too often it's not the case.
Giambattista spends the colder winter months in Sicily. In the summer he travels in South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Perù, Bolivia and northern Chile).
Overall, on a personal level, it is a good year; even though there is always room for improvement.

     2023: This year was relatively quiet, without any major travelling.
Giambattista spends the first months in Sicily. In May he goes back to London, where he works until November.
Then he goes back to Sicily so that his mother is not alone in the winter months.