Month: September 2022

No Fuss Life – 20th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

She’s the one, happily jumping in the mud
She’s got a little bit of crazy running through her blood
One fifty on the highway, three up on their bikes
She’s gonna live her life just the way she likes
Into the wind, any speck of caution thrown
Maybe she’ll be gone before she’s fully grown
But she’s lived a life more complete than all of us
Left the chains for freedom and didn’t make a fuss

The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.

Steven Pressfield

Today I’m feeling:
Happy
Today I’m grateful for:
Finding a cheap power adapter after losing mine somewhere. I’d prefer the real thing but will make do with a less expensive one for now.
The best thing about today was:
Watching a video of my crazy student, Nong Aoi, diving into a huge puddle of water after a storm and to the delight of all her friends. I keep watching the video because it makes me laugh so much and it’s great to see her and her friends so happy

I took this picture because the cats had been scared of the storm and wanted to be close by to feel safe and to be ready when I get up to feed them.

Favourite Trick – 19th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I forgot my brain
Left it on the train
Picked up legs
And off it ran
Driving me insane
I lost my head
Getting out of bed
Overthinking, thinking thunk
Overdrinking, dranken drunk
Nonsense that I said
Myself found lost
Paying the cost
Apple core
With nothing more
Than being tossed
I cut off my dick
When I was being sick
Flushed it down the bowl
I’ll never tell a soul
It was my favourite trick

…an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statues.

Danforth, The Crucible

Today I’m grateful for:
Ploughing on and finishing reading Gormenghast. Excellent. Just one more in the trilogy to go and I can send them back to Sharon. Slaughterhouse 5 first though.
The best thing about today was:
Champ buying me a coffee at House, where I took him because he wanted to get out of school for a break. He seemed really happy with my teaching, or at least with my bloody-mindedness to try and get these kids disciplined to enjoy studying. It was certainly nice to get positive feedback.

I took this picture because I’d never seen this fruit before. It was growing alongside a mulberry tree at House. Apparently, it’s not edible, which is surprising because it’s an attractive colour.

Cells – 18th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Multiplied and divided
Grow, grow, let’s go
Take over full control
Double what you sow
Stuck in the blood
The economy of fire
Divide and multiply
Punished by desire
Spaces filled by ashes
Opportunity comes a-knocking
The tumour is a-rolling
Pumped by hearts a-rocking
Starve the common driver
Temper evolution from within
Back in white counts
The cancer starts to thin

The foundation of all mental illness is the unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering.

Carl Jung

Today I’m grateful for:
Seeing Amy happy and dancing around her apartment in Sydney as she was enjoying her Sunday knowing she can do whatever she wants.
The best thing about today was:
Sydney Swans making it through to the grand final this year even if it was by the slimmest of margins and the tension was immense.

I took this picture because Pi-Ti is my weekend coffee cat, the king of the cafe at Utopia.

Brand New Day – 17th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Are you awake to the stirrings of the earth?
A bright day is born every morning
If you don’t give it the value that it is worth
The kingdoms will start to issue forth their warning
Save me now so you may save yourself
Sun is shining somewhere no matter what you say
The noose is getting tighter, not for anyone else
But they all wish to see the same brand-new day

You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will.

Epictetus

Today I’m grateful for:
Dasa Books having another sale. I picked up a couple that got delivered today.
The best thing about today was:
Riding around new villages and discovering new places and paths. There were also fresh smells to enjoy on the cold damp air.

I took this picture because, despite the dullness of the light, the green of the rice amongst the brown water against the mountains and cloudy sky stood out to me as a picture of a beautiful day.

The New Conversation – 16th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Now preoccupied where once just occupied
Satisfaction for a second is hardly satisfied
Amusing ourselves to death for what?
A triumph of the trivial is all that we’ve got

Contestants fall as they forget about moderation
Convinced that each click is a real conversation
Expert calculations fix the algorithm of fame
And every Tom, Jane and Harry happily does the same

Inspired by a blog post at Oxford Sour

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.

W. Somerset Maugham

Today I’m grateful for:

Bruno messaging me and asking if I wanted some hummus that Nut has made. I’ll drop around tomorrow and pick some up. Haven’t had hummus in a long time.

The best thing about today was:

Enjoying my class with 1/6 where they were able to relax and have some fun for my last class of the week. It rounded out my week well and takes me nicely into the weekend.

I took this picture because I get to stay in Thailand for another year. Hooray!
Fatman report

Dib Dib Dib – 15th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

There’s a hard winter coming
Are you ready for the chill?
Stock up the cellars
Bring the herd down from the hill
Wrap yourself in the comforts
Of a trouble gladly shared
Tie the boats up to the shore
And hunker down prepared

I think I could stand anything, an suffering, only to be able to say and to repeat to myself every moment, ‘I exist.’

Dostoevsky

Today I’m grateful for:
Having the freedom, available space and time to be able to talk to students in my classes today in ones, twos and threes. It is entirely a better way for me to get a clearer idea of their abilities and also relieve their pressures around making mistakes. It’s not possible to do this all the time but I’m glad I decided to do it today.
The best thing about today was:
Just a general sense of well-being and contentment. Nothing stands out more than anything else.

I took this picture because it will remind me of the cheap delicious food at Oasis.

Scoliosis – 14th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

A sword to the spine, straight to the heart
Falling down, broken up and busted
Youth degeneration from the start
In a body that can’t be trusted

The disparity between the glittering world that people watch and the bleak world they inhabit creates a collective schizophrenia.

Chris Hedges

Today I’m grateful for:
The sun coming out a little bit so that I could do some washing. It’s been raining or cool and cloudy for the last ten days or so. I’m grateful it was today too as I only have one class in the morning and can come home early.
The best thing about today was:
Receiving some shirts and shorts from Monotone. So long as I don’t fatten up again and they don’t shrink in the wash then they should be fine. I’ll also buy some more pants next month. Glad that I can find this shop online as I like their style.

I took this picture because I will get this as a tattoo sometime. It is the Cardiacs chimes.

The Week That Was – 9th December 1979

The Warrior – 13th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Rich in dreams but poor in reality
Abundance has removed all the limits
Stepping outside all the comfort
Where days become hours become minutes

Soft, decadent, bored with what’s owned
Kept alive with constant shocks
The warrior plays the long game
And keeps the ship far from the rocks

Renew, and prepare for the peasant’s war
Retrench and practice key strengths
Recognise all enemies come from within
And what exactly is being fought against

Inspired (and borrowed) from Robert Greene
14th May 2024 – Submitted to FOWC with Fandango

I want to know you’re there, but I want to be alone.

Virginia Woolf

Today I’m grateful for:
Being reminded of the quality of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina whilst watching the old BBC TV series, marvelling at the old TV production style and the seeming absurdities of Russian aristocratic life. It reminds me of times of my youth when I would have cringed to see anything like this on tv and even now I don’t think I could enjoy it without having read the book first.
The best thing about today was:
Was waking up throughout the night to find Kim Chi in various places on the bed. I disturbed her a few times but she happily rearranged herself each time.

I took this picture because I was quite impressed by my student’s drawing skills. Her name is Apple.

Doing It Again – 12th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

We’re making the mistakes all over again
It seems that we’ll never learn
Forgetting that setting the world on fire
Means you’ll have to watch it burn

History won’t help if we soon forget
The lessons it helped us learn
Don’t be afraid to let the past go
When it’s someone else’s turn

6th Nov 2024 – Shared with Word of the Day Challenge – vote

Our moral thinking is much more like a politician searching for votes than a scientist searching for truth.

Jonathan Heidt, The Righteous Mind

Today I’m grateful for:
Amy’s mum and dad coming over in the morning with jump leads so that I could start my car and get to work before my first class. Also to Fui for supplying a new battery with a minor discount.
The best thing about today was:
Being with my lovely annoying students again. I love them all in their own ways.

I took this picture because Tangmo is a lovely smelly droopy-eyed dopey dog who loves to come and visit to get strokes and biscuits.

Get Used To It – 11th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Get used to it, it’s not going to change
Settle on down til it’s no longer strange
Culture shock, not worth fighting against
It’s upsetting but not worth taking offence
Getting used to it, going along for the ride
Hiding in the open is the best place to hide
Running away or kicking against the pricks
Means never teaching this old dog new tricks

Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Today I’m grateful for:
Receiving some comfortable new sandals that at least attempt to give me some arch support.
The best thing about today was:
Walking home from Utopia in the light drizzle. It was just the right rain not to get too wet and to keep the temperature down. The air felt supremely fresh and reinvigorating. I really enjoyed the walk.

I took this picture because the clouds amongst the mountains looked amazing and reminded me of windswept moors of England.