I am so happy and grateful for the stars at night. I look up at the sky at night and feel wonder and happiness.
Month: December 2020
We got that attitude! – 30th December 2020
I am so happy and grateful for every morning I wake up. It’s another day another challenge another adventure. What will today bring?
We got that attitude! – 29th December 2020
I am so happy and grateful that there is a coffee shop in the school so that when I don’t have the car I can still grab coffee.
We got that attitude! – 28th December 2020
I am so happy and grateful for my cousin Mungo. He reminds me of me when I was younger. Searching for truth and meaning in different places. I’m still searching but have a better idea of where to look more that I’m older.
To-do list
- Clear stage 4 guitar ½
- Study more Ableton
- Find things that you can do for others ½
- Find a suitable git for Amy
- More drawing
I’ve been feeling pretty good all round since I started getting up early again and doing minimal exercise, yoga and meditation. It seems to give me the energy I need for the day.
Going for coffee now is my time to study Thai. I don’t stay much longer than necessary as I used to. It was nice to hang out with George and Dylan at De Lanna in the mornings but it was getting a little repetitive. We would also often stay quite a long time and the coffee is no good now Manow has left and it wasn’t great to start with.
It was a little difficult to break away from doing this each morning and I think George took it a little personally. I also was overthinking everything but all is fine now. I also wanted to spend more time focusing on language learning and it would be kinda rude to do that whilst in company.
I didn’t tell them that I was studying much more as I didn’t want any external pressure about it. I put enough pressure on myself. I’m making slow but steady progress. I challenge myself to do three apps worth of study every day. Some of it is sticking.
I recorded the last Chiang Rai Alternative Hour this week. It’s been fun to focus on that for this past 12 months or so during lockdowns and no travel. I’d like to spend some more time just listening to and enjoying music again. Something which I’m doing as I write this.
I have a few other things I’d like to do more of as well, such as drawing, improving at guitar, learning more about Ableton and reading more. I have to remember that I have lots of time.
The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #70 – Dead End – 27th December 2020
Shut Down! Dead! Run out of town! Sheltering over the border, we bring this one last episode before fleeing the despots. One day we’ll be back! Look out for DJ Donut Trump – he’ll bring you the future of rock ‘n’ roll.
This week there’s all sorts of music – weird, noisy, experimental, fucked up strangeness, straight-up punk and pop all delivered with no compromise. Join our other 3 listeners to check out the end!
Incidentals taken from the Church of the Sub Genius Hour of Slack.
Listen right here or Mixcloud, Stitcher, Apple, Amazon…..all those cool places I guess.
https://www.facebook.com/The-Chiang-Rai-Alternative-Hour-107307097314670/
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for all the students I have met since I started teaching. I have learned something from all of them.
We got that attitude! – 26th December 2020
I am so happy and grateful that I can lay here and do nothing today after a couple of late nights with friends.
We got that attitude! – 25th December 2020
I am so happy and grateful to have seen a beautiful bookshelf full of interesting books at Chivit Thamma Da last night.
We got that attitude! – 24th December 2020
I am so happy and grateful that I received a conspiracy email from an acquaintance this morning and it made me realise that despite the idea contained within, that the person cares about other people in some way.
We got that attitude! – 23rd December 2020
I am so happy and grateful for my 4 new shirts. These days it’s so easy to buy and try cheap shirts from online stores. Buying shirts was always difficult and time-consuming before.
We got that attitude! – 22nd December 2020
I am so happy and grateful for my alarm to wake me up every day. I would be out of whack without it.
A reasonable day at work though not so much with my own students. My class is lazy, forgetful and undisciplined. I’m struggling to get them into line sometimes. I just have to find better ways to engage them – maybe vary their lessons a little bit.
I’m listening to a CD for the first time in ages as I’m writing this. Feels good to try and enjoy a whole album in one sitting for a change.
As usual, it doesn’t feel particularly Christmas-y though we do have a tree on our terrace with flashing lights. It’s cool. I think we should just have flashing lights all the time.
I’m looking at my bookshelf and happily overwhelmed with options of books to read. It seems that I only read 32 books last year which is fine but when I look at my bookshelf it seems like it will take me many years to get through what I own. I think my collector personality has moved onto books. I would love more time to sit and read. Read a good book.
Something nice that happened today was that I went to primary to talk to Chompoo about next semester and as soon as she saw me she smiled and held out her arms for a hug. I felt very grateful to have had at least some impact on these children’s lives. I asked her if she would rather work hard and learn more or take it easy and relax (not specifically about school) and I was so happy she chose to work hard – even if she didn’t mean it – it means she’s smart.
I certainly hope next year’s classes are less taxing than this year’s! All the kids make me laugh in one way or another and there are none that I don’t like – even if I sometimes don’t like their behaviour.

