Month: April 2022

Out Of Reach – 20th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

These people left holes all over the world
Because they didn’t follow their heart
Saw a life far beyond their reach
So they never even bothered to start

…mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.

Woody Allen

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to Nut and Brunotoday, for supplying me with more bagels and a small tree for the garden plus some ideas for other plants too.

The Week That Was – 3rd June 1979

Mass Scale Perception Management Operation – 19th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

You are secretly perfect
But you will never know
The world is perfect too
Purposely hidden from view
The way of the world
Must be the way you go

Because all beliefs are false
The self is an illusion
Our eternities at heart
From the end to the start
Every no is made from yes
Despite our delusion

Learning how to learn is the most important skill to acquire.

Robert Greene

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to Matt and Mix and their family for cooking lunch yesterday when I went to visit. They made Sukothai Pad Thai. Followed by delicious home-grown jackfruit.

The Curse – 18th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Surviving in a world with nostalgia
A regret of living in the now
Is there an old way of living
That people have forgotten somehow?

But it’s a useless battle to fight
To smell the glories of the past
The foibles of a new generation
Ensure it will never last

The curse of the old man
Constantly shaking fists at the skies
They forget their own youth
When they had the time of their lives

For years, maybe even today, sometimes I think ‘What exactly am I going to do with my life? What is my career going to be? I’m only 80 for God’s sake!’

Anne Tyler

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that the water pumps are still working after stopping last night when I forgot to turn off the hose! Getting forgetful in my old age.

Happy Weeds – 16th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

In this garden of life
I’m a simple weed, underachieving
Yet I can grow anywhere
And I’ll never stop believing
Happily, I join in chorus
As fellow weeds, we will survive
Take whatever is thrown at us
We’re just glad to be alive

I refuse to grow younger. I came by my decreptitude the hard way and I propose to enjoy it.

Jubal, Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to read all the great stories that smart people took the trouble to write, whether it’s comics or books.

Fatman report

A Problem To Want – 15th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Kids, you are so lucky to be bored
I wish for a return to those days too
But someone here has to wash the dishes
And do all the things that I have to do

I suppose these things could be neglected
But who will feed the cat
In fact, I have to get myself fed
And who’s gonna take care of that?

Enjoy these times of twiddling thumbs
Pulling pleasures from thin air
Get to work at being bored again
One day soon, you’ll want back there

25th Aug 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – want

You know what, your problem isn’t the outside world. Your problem is the story you’re telling youself about the outside world. And that story is a choice. If you’re not happy with the story, tell yourself another story. That simple.

Seth Godin

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be surrounded by good things, to have opportunities and choices. And to choose to do nothing and just be relaxed.

Unalive – 14th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Gaming the alcohol rhythm
A war, of words, as a war of words
Bullies in a cyber shop
Recycling strategies and isolation
Right-click delete
Sick fight compete
New smiling gangs of rhyming slangs
Shouting at the four enclosed walls
Declaring victory and the final absurd

Every genuine educator is a prisoner of hope.The road to all liberation through self knowing is a path of despair but all roads have their empty horizons and infinite beyonds. We educators are travelers on that path, struggling to transform what lies beyond.

Seth Vannatta

A Time And Place – 13th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

The smell of photosynthesis
Around the privet bushes
The trail of LouLou in the night
Is a memory that crushes

A sneaky cigarette
Shared among us out of sight
The threat of being caught
Running amok in the night

Jumping over fences
Sending fireworks to the skies
Bored but never boring
Each moment the thrill of surprise

Shaking heads in wonder
At the stupid things we’d done
Living each moment in joys
Of lives that had just begun

You should, in science, believe logic and arguments, carefully drawn, and not authorities.

Richard Feynman

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to Amy’s dad who came to fix our gate yesterday morning.

Those Who Wait – 12th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

The seduction of the capitalist
To need, to want, to own
It’s easy to trick yourself
Into feeling you have grown

Now it seems so quaint
To buy at market stalls
Next shutting down the shops
To build great shopping malls

And now their lacquer fades
As everything can be found online
It’s only a few clicks
But who really has the time?

Don’t posture like a bohemian
Of course, these things are great
But the truly great things
Are those for which you wait

12th Apr 2023 – Sometimes I look back at things I’ve written and can be quite impressed with myself. At this time when the wonders of capitalism are starting to be questioned more and more it feels like we are in a downward spiral of forever chasing shiny things to the detriment of our sanity.
21st Apr 2024 – Submitted to The Ragtag Daily Prompt

You can swim all day in the sea of knowledge and not get wet.

Norton Juster

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that my old computer has lasted for ten years but I think it may be about to die. It’s had a good run.

The Week That Was – 27th May 1979

Instant Nostalgia – 11th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Remember that great time we had yesterday?
I’ll never forget what it meant to me
I know things will never end up back that way
And it’s best to let these things be

Remember those times we had this morning?
After waking up and changing things around
We carried on without heed to warning
Forever to share those memories we found

Now as each minute passes us by
I’m wishing that this time could be turned
I want to revisit each murmur and sigh
And examine all the lessons I’ve learned

28th Aug 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – nostalgia

The promised land may never come. But you can be sure people will keep promising it.

Jules Evans

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that the crazy storm that came last night didn’t get wet the lounge modules that I put out on the terrace yesterday.

Linda hosts One-Liner Wednesday.