Month: July 2024

Justin Time – 31st July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

He just, just, just couldn’t get it together
Metaphor not needed, no ray of sunshine
Petering out, always under the weather
He’ll be here when he’s ready, he’s Justin Time

Jimmy the door so that us fools can rush in
Do not harry him, his heart is so sublime
So mark my words, when he’s ready to begin
He’ll be here when he’s ready, he’s Justin Time

Submitted to the AllPoetry’s Expressing Yourself course; write a two-stanza poem using metaphor and Poets and Storytellers United Friday Writings #137: At the Last Minute. Inspired by an old school friend called Justin who inevitably got called Justin Time whenever he was late for something. An added bonus of a boy’s name used in each line too.

Today I’m feeling:

Sleepy with sore eyes.  Slept badly, with Tigger waking everyone up at 3 am for some unknown reason, perhaps complaining about the rain.  Reset my alarm to get an extra 30 minutes of rest and skipped exercise.

It’s another grey day to dull my aching eyes and even the kids are less enthusiastic today, amplifying the dark, depressing atmosphere.  Though kids will no doubt not be able to help themselves from being kids.  Will the adults, this adult, be able to be an adult today?

Today I’m grateful for:

Nong Spain carrying half of the workbooks for me up to the classroom this afternoon.

The best thing about today was:

Doing a little catching up with my four free hours. I got another lesson finished plus more ideas along with some reading and writing. No one thing particularly outstanding today.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Nong Praew came over to me to help her in the morning class and I guided her to the correct answers. Weirdly, I can feel my Thai improving as I’ve been helping her as she generally only speaks Thai to me unless I ask her to read.

As I was helping her, we used her phone to look up things and I noticed that she had been searching for ‘die, dead, death’ in Google, which she quickly tried to hide. She brushed it off when I asked her about it. She had also told me that she forgot to take her meds in the morning.

Anyway, after she had finished the classwork, she wanted to play but ended up annoying me enough that I left to the cafe to keep working.

In the afternoon class, she was a little concerned that she couldn’t charge her phone and would run out of battery before being able to call her mom to pick her up.

Without being able to charge her phone, a few minutes later, she became teary and I tried to calm her. I looked at her phone and she still had 8% battery left so it didn’t seem like a big deal. In her fragile state though, she couldn’t see it like that.

We did a difficult spelling test and she got deeply involved in that and then I finished up the class and she disappeared quickly.

I messaged her later about why she reacted so strongly to not having her phone charged and she said that she had to walk home. She only lives a couple of blocks from school but it was raining a little.  

I wasn’t sure whether to believe this but Kru Jern had mentioned to me that her parents indulge her in everything. In this context, her behaviour makes more sense.

Whilst I will indulge her in learning, I’ll make sure that she knows where are the boundaries.

Something I learned today?

Israel has managed to fire rockets and kill targets in other countries with remarkable precision yet somehow cannot do the same in Gaza, bombing the shit out of everything and anyone. 

This clearly shows their intentions. Things are starting to kick off and I can’t see it de-escalating soon.

A Loose Grip On Reality – 30th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

The eagle’s wings spread far
Its shadow cast, deepest black
Blood squeezed out of every inch
Caught in its talons attack

The broadness of its grasp
Concealing the fragility of its grip
Let loose the dogs of war
As their domain starts to slip

Verbal giants become action dwarfs
They must grow or they must decay
The coming end is inevitable
The story always ends this way

USAsian foreign policy, anyone?
22nd Aug 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – grip

Today I’m feeling:

On the edge.  I felt good at forcing myself up and exercising this morning.  Could feel my lazy body enjoying the move and stretch.

The weather today is very English and ordinary (a little warmer than in England of course). Dull, grey and spitting light droplets of rain.  The dim ambience is straining my tired eyes and as I pulled up for a couple of hours at House with coffee I suddenly felt tired and run down.

Hopefully the coffee picks me up for what should be a relatively straightforward day of classes today.

Today I’m grateful for:

The bakery shop next door to House where I could pick up ingredients for Amy as her first batch of cookies had failed due to too fine a sugar for the mix.

When I got home and tasted them though, they were the best so far but I could still understand why she wasn’t happy with them.

The best thing about today was:

Sitting on the terrace in the egg chair this evening after dark, with Tigger on my lap and rain tap tap tapping down through the canopy of leaves and flowers growing over the entertainment area.  The temperature is finally bearable and I’m even wearing a t-shirt tonight, though I could just as easily not do too.

Anyway, it was only a few minutes but I savoured them immensely.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I was frustrated with Program (and Kwang) in my grade 8 class and asked him to leave after telling him to sit down on about ten different occasions.  He tried to convince me that he was going to behave, but unfortunately, he can’t help himself and will just get up and disturb other people.

As I had said I would kick him out if I had to say his name again, I felt obliged to ensure that he left but he refused.  So I told the class to just sit and say nothing until he left.  He gave it a good go for about five minutes but Kwang eventually convinced him to leave and I carried on teaching and the class was great after that.

Kwang soon got up and asked to go to the bathroom, though and that was the last I saw of her too.

I didn’t let any of this bother me in particular; just wanted to put my foot down.  We have fun in my class but there are limits and they need to understand what is acceptable and what is not.  It’s a little sad because Program and Kwang are capable students.  They just lack maturity and guidance.

I talked with Kru Karn again later but she was just as frustrated with them as all the teachers complain about them to her and she doesn’t know what to do.  She doesn’t understand why they are still in school as their points in our SchoolBright system have fallen below zero which generally means that they are asked to leave.  Kwang’s current score is now -125!

Thankfully, my second class (grade 10s) was much smoother.

Something I learned today?

We have a new teacher teaching English.  Her name is Sasha and she’s from Indonesia.  She told me that she remembers me from visiting with the exchange program students last year.  Her English is good and clear.

It made me wonder who is employing her and how much she is getting paid.  I don’t think she speaks Thai, so I’m not sure if she is included as a Thai teacher and will be asked to do all the things that they have to do, too.

Anyway, I told her to ask me anything if she had any questions.

29th Aug 2025 – I’m guessing she must have only been teaching here temporarily as I don’t think I saw her again!

Review your acts, Good and bad.

Today is Nicha’s birthday and I wished her well but I could see that she and her friends may have been expecting something more.  

A little later, I popped around to the cafe and bought her back a slice of chocolate cake, for which she was very appreciative and came and gave me a hug.  

She’s a good kid. I hope that she finds her place in the world and that it is a good place.

Someone took this picture because these students of mine spent the weekend away doing some kind of activity. Sadly, 4 of them decided not to come to school today and missed my fun movie class. Sad for them anyway…

Charites – 29th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 13 Comments

Joy, belligerent and hypnotic
Cast a shadow of charity
Over the long promontory
A fat man, roly-poly round

Abundance in a city of kindness
A broad island for a little boy
A fungal cloud, a phoenix
A beautiful desiccation

Radiance rose from the river
That molten river of fire
Gratification of vengeance
Narrows victory to defeat

Charity bestowed from wings
Of fury fanning the skies
Attendant to the goddess of love
Love shall burn all

This poem was inspired by the story of Richard Feynman and a phrase taken from his story about three students/assistants that became known as the Three Graces. Researching the Three Graces led me back to Greek Mythology (hence the title and theme of the poem). The image of the phoenix rising is then tied back to the science of the nuclear age and the events of August 1945 in Japan. Nagasaki means long promontory and Hiroshima means broad island and also sometimes city of kindness. The bombs were called little boy and fat man. The phoenix rising highlights the rise of Asia since those events.

Submitted to No Theme Thursday (and the attached picture), Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Hypnotic, Weekend Writing Prompt #374 – Belligerent (though a little more than the 68 words specified), Ragtag Daily Prompt – fire, FOWC with Fandango — Narrow and Word of the Day Challenge – gratification.

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good, getting up at 8 am and soon out for coffee.  Whilst at Utopia, I worked on some poetry which came out pretty well, I think.

Without any other real plans for the day, I got myself into my room in the morning and started adding more old 1998 and 2009 entries to the blog.

Revived with lunch, I got back in there and did more, all the while listening to music I’ve downloaded in the past 12 months or so and deciding to either keep or delete.  Finally, an hour or so of guitar playing too.

Today I’m grateful for:

My former self for being smart enough to keep some of my old emails that remind me of times past.  There is a lot of other stuff that is no longer accessible, though, unfortunately.

The best thing about today was:

Getting a poem highlighted on AllPoetry.com, which was nice to find this morning and generated some extra commenters.  I’ve been happy with what I’ve been writing recently and it’s nice to get some positive feedback.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

This morning I also watched the mini-match of the Swans game and it was obvious within a couple of minutes that it wasn’t going to be a good day for us.  

Still top of the table but with 4 losses in the last five games, our form is not inspiring confidence as we come towards the difficult end of the season.

Something I learned today?

Part of the problem with Australia’s high-priced housing is that not enough houses are being built for all the people who are either moving there or looking to move out of their family homes.  I was surprised that there were just 170,000 homes built in one year.  The lack of availability pushes up rents and house prices.

The average income required to buy a house now is 250K per year but the actual average income is only 120K.

It’s making me wonder where I might end up.  Australia is still the most appealing place in the Western world, though.  New Zealand may be an option at some point, I suppose.

I took this picture because this new flower in the garden stood out as I walked back into the house this morning.

I Fear – 28th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

One day at a time, I fear
A dread existentially

Made it my philosophy

Each morning my mind made clear
One day at a time, I fear


Days are done with entropy

Fallen down unhappily
Into the night they disappear
One day at a time, I fear


Broken up elegantly

What was it specifically?

Unknown circumstances here
One day at a time, I fear

Submitted to dVerse Poetry Form: Ballata and Weekly Prompts -The One-Day Prompt (4) and initial inspiration from the Charles Schultz quote there.

Today I’m feeling:

Tired still, though I didn’t sleep until after 1 am, partly because of my afternoon nap but also because I was playing a game on my phone. 

When I stopped playing and saw that it was 1.20 am, I immediately deleted the game! I can’t be using up so much time like that.

Today I’m grateful for:

Amy being back and cooking or buying food for me. I’m short of money again and trying not to spend anything. It will be like this for a couple more months at least. Hang in here, Shaun!

The best thing about today was:

Getting out to my room and thinking about adding old pictures to the blog, which I did a few of today, along with some more old emails and looking through other bits and pieces of writing that I have.

I also listened to a few albums of stuff that I had downloaded, including the old Fusion live tapes. I was perhaps inspired by listening to Per Purpose as I was driving today.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I didn’t watch any TV today. But this was on purpose, as I didn’t want to find out the result of the Swans game before being able to watch the mini-match tomorrow.

I did end up watching the movie Inside Out in the evening though as Amy had recommended it and it was enjoyable and I’m curious about the second one and if it could be useful for my students.

Lots of other things were out of my control today but I never let myself get out of control.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I drove Amy and me around the city so we could eat and visit Mum. Amy loves being a backseat driver and I generally just let it slide, joking today, asking if she would talk to a taxi driver like that. She said I’m not a taxi driver and ‘I can talk to my husband any way I like’ and then, jokingly, gently slapped my face. I guess I’m special!

I took this picture because I spotted this new growth as I was opening the gate.

The Opening Song – 27th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 18 Comments

The song always remains the same
(Here we damn well go again!)
Everything and nothing is gonna change

Too late and too soon to rearrange
Is this even worth the saving?
More or less, we’re all misbehaving
Every order is rapidly falling apart
Started at the end, ended at the start

To the infinite, the future and past
Here stand the fallen, the first came at last
Every explosion will soon shake the walls
Your sons and daughters taking the falls

And we better start off along the creeks
Rowing the boats and plugging the leaks
Eagles turned vultures pointing their beaks

Alarmed at the words the majority speaks

Criticise the critters, blame all the birds
Hold on hope and the rule of thirds
Always enough was found wanting more
Now comes the battle to settle the score
Gone with all reason, gone with the wind
In the storm of the season, everyone sinned
Never again, again and again, explained
Gotta live to see that the times have changed

Submitted to What’s Going On – Changing Times with some words appropriated from, and can possibly be sung to the tune of, Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changing’. Also to Writer’s Workshop Prompts – alarm.

‘Criticise the Critters’ is from a song by Phantom Tollbooth and ‘Hold on Hope’ is from Guided By Voices. Oh, I suppose I should also say that ‘The Song Remains the Same’ is by Led Zeppelin too.

25th Oct 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – leak

Today I’m feeling:

Tired and bleary-eyed again. I intended to sleep long but Cap woke me up crying at the door to be fed at 8.20 and once up I decided to utilise the time and try to get myself going.

Today I’m grateful for:

Not having anything in particular to do today except hang out washing and bring it in again!

The best thing about today was:

Getting some reading in, a little writing and good coffee to start the day.  I spent another three hours or so catching up on sleep at around midday.  I’m still looking forward to more sleep tonight.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

During my afternoon sleep, I was having a vivid dream that I was a teenager in bed, in a bedroom that was my own but not a place that I recognised.  I was trying to jerk myself off but constantly conscious that my mum wouldn’t suddenly open the door and catch me and this kept interrupting the thoughts in my imagination that I was trying to get excited about.

It was so vivid that when I briefly came back into consciousness, my imagination was still trying to decide on some kind of sexy scenario and then I started questioning myself, am I actually jerking off whilst dreaming of jerking off?

I fell back into the dream but was unable to continue. Consciousness quickly came again and I turned over in bed wondering if I had been making any noise during all this!

I slept more after this but didn’t return to that dream.

Something I learned today?

I watched a video about an adult gaming company called Nutaku and, through that, learned that about 90% of porn websites (along with Nutaku) are owned by a single company.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I helped Amy a little bit today as she is under the weather with a cold.  I didn’t really interact with many other people today.

I took this picture of Aomsin because she is shy to have her picture taken. She’s an interesting student as she doesn’t usually give much away about her feelings with her facial expressions. It was nice to catch a smile before she hid herself from the camera.

She Is Waiting – 26th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 11 Comments

She is the lone wolf
Waiting for the summer mist
To rise from the forest floors

Her thoughts are her own
Serving no masters
Comfortable in quietude

Ears alert to opportunity
Sniffing out the rats
Deadly silent stalker

She is the lone wolf
Waiting

Submitted to WDYS #246 and dVerse Quadrille #204 – summer
26th Sep 2024 – Submitted to Word of the Day Challenge – stalker

Today I’m feeling:

Tired still and not particularly excited for my classes, knowing that many students will be missing for various reasons, disrupting my plans.

I got up ok this morning but feel a lack of energy and my eyes are a little blurry still.

Onwards we must go!

Today I’m grateful for:

A bit of a chilled, busy day due to circumstances described below.  I’m still pretty tired at the end of the day but was expecting to feel much more exhausted after six hours in class, then dashing home and soon out again to the airport to pick up Amy.  I’m looking forward to sleep but also feeling satisfied with the day.

The best thing about today was:

Falling into the rhythm of the day with only 14 out of 35 students turning up for my first class.  The rest were mostly off doing projects and special meetings.

As the class was due to do presentations, this has to be delayed until next week.  I figured I’d try to do some pronunciation work with the few students in attendance and settled on a 90-question Quiz about the pronunciation of past tense ‘-ed’ verbs.

At the start, everyone was quite competitive but with so many questions, once they started to understand the rules for this grammar point, they all started deliberately choosing the wrong answers to wind me up.

Suitably satisfied I stopped the quiz halfway and let the kids relax for the rest of the time.

And so it went on, in my next class, about 8 or 10 students were off doing something (which luckily I heard about yesterday and had prepared for) and I did a really simple reading, translation and quiz with the predominantly J-Biz program students.

I even managed to dash off to House for a quick coffee and writing catch-up before my final class with grade 8s and a tough reading challenge for them.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well they handled it.  Not with the quality of their reading but the fact that they’ve become accustomed with doing what I ask and feel comfortable that I will assist them.  It’s a win as far as I’m concerned.  If they can’t improve their English, at least their attitude to difficult tasks will improve.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I’ve been a little frustrated with waiting on covers for the SpeechOdd/High Voltage split 12”, which Parthiban arranged with Talib in KL.  Talib has been out of contact for a few weeks now and I’m sitting on a stack of currently unsellable vinyl until I get these covers.

There’s not much I can do and Parthiban is also frustrated and decided not to work with Talib again.  Hopefully, the situation resolves soon.

Something I learned today?

I read an interesting piece about how Buenos Aires was richer and more culturally advanced than any other American city in the early 1900s until the Great Depression, followed by a series of political missteps, which saw it lose its status.  There was even a phrase, ‘To wish to be as rich as an Argentinian!’

Review your acts, Good and bad.

Even after my long day of classes, I dropped in on Kru David’s grade 9 class and helped Nicha, Yurin and Tankoon to understand what was required.  It felt good to help them and they showed their appreciation with their thanks.

I took this picture because Freya didn’t understand why I was saying ‘Sadako’ when she was fixing her hair, so I put the picture up on the screen and made her stand there too.

Vendetta Generation – 25th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Voices trembling, yet as one to sing
A collected mind travels the crow road
Where prayers and prophets seek to bring
The moon silk dreams once borrowed

A shatter as the violence worshipped returns
A zigzag missile homes in on the heart
Faced with the darkness, the torment burns
The moon silk dreams soon fall apart

Submitted to The Sunday Whirl Wordle 664 wordlist.

Today I’m feeling:

I woke up with the light before 5 am and knew I wasn’t going to get enough sleep, so I reset my alarm for a little bit later.

Even then, I still felt like I could go back to sleep easily, even after breakfast, driving to school and coffee!

As it was a special event day today, though (Thai Language Day), I soon perked up walking around school and talking with students. There were very few classes going on, so there was a fair amount of excitement in the air.

I cancelled my grade 12 class, giving them a small assignment to do instead and took it easy with the grade 8s in the afternoon.

The best thing about today was:

Chatting with students Jee and Pemai this afternoon. It started off with their gossip about Freya and helped me understand their point of view about her behaviour.  More interesting, though, was discussing differences between schools in Thailand and the West and also talking about some of the teachers and other students that they like and admire. 

Something I learned today?

Amy’s mum has shingles on the right side of her face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the effects before but it looks really bad and painful. I need to investigate more about it so that I can try and avoid ever having it too!

I took these pictures of Anchan and Jee because they gave speeches in Thai about the importance of education (so they told me) for today’s event.

The City – 24th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

You can have me over and over again
But your hands will never reach all the way around
Your honeymoon here might seem fantastic
But soon enough your feet will touch the ground

Here now where it all seems right
Sipping coffee and getting scribble down
Trees dance shadows across the windows
And soon enough this will be your town

Inspired by this post at Spinning Visions and submitted to Living Poetry – city

Today I’m feeling:

Not so bad.  I woke up a little unsure how I was feeling but pushed myself up and out of bed with a surprise alarm and kick-started myself with exercise that I really didn’t want to do but glad that I did.

I got inspired to write some new lessons after finding a podcast for teen girls, which I can easily adapt for my classes.  I guess I’m feeling a little more invigorated than the last few days at home.  I know that this is trying to tell me something but I’m kinda trying to ignore it!

Baipad didn’t come to school today, which is not unexpected.  She had messaged Fahmai already that she was crying all last night.

Today I’m grateful for:

Kru Mai reminding me that we needed to have 50% of our grading scores in the system. I saw a message in Thai about this at the weekend so I knew it was something being done but usually I don’t do anything unless instructed in English.

I had already been filling in scores over the last couple of months anyway, so it was no big deal to fill out the rest with the four hours I had free today.

The best thing about today was:

Feeling in control.  I felt above average all day without any wild highs or low lows and I felt that I could deal with everything that got thrown at me, which wasn’t much anyway.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Tomorrow is another event day and some of my grade 12 students are generally busy preparing things for it.  They asked me for free time tomorrow and I consented on the condition that they must submit a small piece of work by the end of the day for me.

It’s hard to consistently teach some of these classes as there are always students missing, being taken off to do other projects.  I’m getting used to it now.

Something I learned today?

Wipping came to class late and fake-crying because Kru Tan had scolded her and the team that performed in the drama competition a couple of weeks ago (despite coming second in the whole northern region!).

This evening I messaged Wipping to ask why they were still talking about it, assuming that only the winners went on to the next stage of the competition. She told me that the top 3 go on, so they will be under more pressure from Kru Tan to perform well. 

My guess is Kru Tan is old school, motivating them with threats, bullying and pressure.  All of the students involved are down and depressed about it but I’m trying to get them to deal with it and deflect away from that method of motivation.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

Every Wednesday morning now I sit in on the class that used to be assigned to me and help the students with their work.  I’m glad that the Thai teacher is ok with it because it fills a bit of my day rather than just sitting in the cafe until 2.30 and it’s a no pressure class, I can just help when I want and the rest of the time I’m preparing other lessons.

After school, I was starving and decided that I would ride up to the uni market to get food and could drop in on Baipad on the way to see how she was.  Perhaps a day off was what she needed because she seemed happy and over any residual grief from yesterday.  I took both her and her sister up to the market and we all got ourselves fed.

I took this picture on Saturday because I wanted to make a joke with Baipad and Jan (walking by with NamHom), saying ‘Look, three buffalo and NamHom.’ Buffalo is the slang word for ‘stupid’ here.

Here You Go Again – 23rd July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

So many tombstones for the hydra-headed
The many heads must be better than one
The hallucinations are so deeply embedded
This anarchy and madness has just begun

A choice of two to become King Wizard
Let’s fantasise that all men are born equal
A legacy of dunces believes that a lizard
Was born to be the hero of this sequel

Submitted to RDP Friday – fantasise, Reena’s Xploration Challenge #339 – hydra-headed, Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – madness, Sammi Scribbles Weekend Writing Prompt #373 – anarchy, FOWC with Fandango – tombstone, Word of the Day Challenge – wizard, RDP Sunday – hallucination and inspired by the nonsense of US politics.

Today I’m feeling:

Lazy and tired. I set my alarm for 7 am though woke up before that but slept another hour after turning the alarm off.

As I was brushing my teeth, I wondered why I had stayed up past midnight reading last night. My eyes are aching and having trouble focusing.

I have to get myself going and hopefully these two coffees will do the trick.

Today I’m grateful for:

Struggling through today (see below) and forcing myself out on my bike, to ride all the back roads to Makro to get the last two tubs of yoghurt.  Sold out in two days!  Why don’t they order more?

The best thing about today was:

Getting little bits of everything done.  It doesn’t feel like a productive day, not that they all have to be, but there’s nothing that stands out either.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

By the time of visiting the hospital and seeing the doctor (after an hour of waiting) I was starting to feel a little down.  With the long wait it meant missing my afternoon class too.

I messaged Kru Tang to see if she could fix how to put leave into the system.  She couldn’t help fix it but also said that I should assign work to the students to do in the class time.  I argued that if I have to take leave then I’m not going to assign work that I have to follow up on.  I might as well be there.

I told her I would ask the class to use the opportunity to catch up on other class work and she seemed ok with that.  But still it added to me feeling a bit grumpy and down.

Thankfully, the trip on the motorbike had a positive effect on my mood.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

After getting back from Makro at around 6pm I went over to Baipad’s, taking a syringe and a food stick, to see if she could feed Snow with it.  When I got there, though, Baipad looked totally dejected and became teary.

I asked to see Snow and we went upstairs to where she was.  She looked back to the state that she was in on Sunday, unfortunately and I didn’t see much hope.  Baipad was sobbing by this time.

I hate seeing cats suffer, any animals.  I squeezed a little water into her mouth and rubbed her throat.  She gave a little squeak of recognition but soon dropped her head back down.  I told Baipad to give her a little water every hour or so and give her love and strokes.

Then I came home and fed our two precious boys.

Around 8pm Baipad messaged me that Snow had passed.

I took this picture because this little fella decided to join me on my ride back from Utopia this morning. It has a clear shell that looks like plastic. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

Butterflies – 22nd July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 17 Comments

Was it a fantasy? A fair fumble in the past
– Mystical ticks as the clock rewinds
That magical ache in the chest again, at last
– A blood-pumping petition reminds

Gave up reality for frolics in the dark
– Gardenias by day, jasmine by night
Naked in starlight, reignited the spark
– Gladdens the mind from a dark requite

Submitted to No Theme Thursday – the picture above, Moonwashed Musings – mystical and Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – magic
10th Oct 2024 – Shared with What’s Going On – magical

Today I’m feeling:

A little bit weary before coffee but fairly upbeat after.  Will try to get out to my room before watching any TV today, make sure I do things that are pleasurable, though take some effort, rather than just sitting watching the box all day.  Whilst content may be interesting, too much at one time gets boring.

Today I’m grateful for:

The staff at the hospital who gave me advice on when to come back to get my medicine.

The best thing about today was:

Playing guitar again for a couple of hours was fun and though my skill seems to have plateaued, I’m starting to understand it a little more deeply.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I went up to the hospital, though only after talking with Hayden about health, which reminded me to see if the psych was there.  Actually, I knew that he was only usually there on Monday mornings, so I wanted to find out if he would be there next Monday, but as today and next Monday are holidays, the department he is in is not open.  It was a vague hope that they would be.

However, a nice member of staff, with reasonable English, told me that he would be there from 1pm tomorrow, so I figured I’d take tomorrow morning off and wait at home until then and go to my afternoon class at 2.30.  I don’t want to have to go back and forth twice tomorrow as I’m short of cash and will need to refill the tank at some stage.

Something I learned today?

Biden steps down as the 2024 US presidential candidate, and civil war there feels like more and more of a possibility.

On a similar note: Jellyfish are not fish; they have no brain, heart, or bones.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I followed up with Baipad about her cat and also with Freya about herself.

I took this picture because finally, our ground is waterlogged again.