Conspiracies abound among the paranoid Secret cabals of lizard men must be destroyed Spooks at every corner have been deployed Data analysis deep tracking employed
Inception matrixes to check your dreams Killer drones are shooting laser beams Manufacturing consent it seems Our new masters are our own machines
10th May 2024 – Submitted to No Theme Thursday for the attached picture prompt
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful that I pretty much managed to finish my grading files in an hour yesterday. A whole semester measured with a number.
Today’s a good day so far (it’s 2pm). Probably the best thing was spending an hour in the city getting a massage. First one for a long while. How grateful I am to be getting paid and being able to get a one-hour massage! I’m thinking to go back again on Thursday! Why not!?
There is nothing particularly bothering me personally these days. My life is sweet. I’m conscious that I’m reading a lot of news again, generally about the US and the US-China relationship. That shit is making me angry and I’m wondering if I should just cut it all out again.
Amy and I finally watched The Tiger King and that documentary seems to highlight for me everything that is wrong about the USA. In my youth, I always argued for freedom but as the saying goes, ‘with great freedom comes great responsibility’. I don’t think freedom to be ignorant and stupid was quite what my idealised youth was thinking of.
Accept me the way I am What you see is what you get There’s no fake smile hiding Something you don’t know yet
Speaking as I see it Truth will rise to the top Connections are only made When your false faces stop
There’s nothing to be afraid of Whether we’re friends or not I’m happily surrounded by The honesty my friends have got
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for the opportunities we have – we can put some money into mutual funds to help us in the future.
A pretty busy but also relaxing weekend. On Saturday, we prepared for Bruno and Nut to visit on Sunday, although I must say Amy did most of the preparation where food was concerned. Actually, no – she did all of it!
On Saturday, I wasn’t feeling too hot, probably side effects from the vaccine and I slept in the afternoon. Luckily, I felt better by Sunday and when Bruno and Nut came, we had good food and a good gossip.
Bruno has managed to get himself a good bit of work on the Netflix film about the Thai Cave Rescue and seems to have met some interesting people there.
*So many things to be late for How can anyone keep up? Have you heard the latest Gossip overflows its cup It’s a big world of T.M.I. Mindless work is just distraction Just time for another meeting To discuss avoiding action
*I read this line somewhere and was immediately taken by it and wrote it in a notebook. Then remembered it again when I was struggling for ideas and came up with this.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to chat with Bruno and Nut at our house. It was a pleasant afternoon with food, alcohol (not me) and coffee and cake. Nut seems pretty down-to-earth and straightforward. Amy and I like that.
Some revel in comforts Others itch for change Nest has been made Now time to rearrange
Build a dream castle Atop a mountain high Next a beach paradise Under this big sky
Settle down right here The sun shining bright Nothing lasts forever Thus day turns into night
Weight: 77.7kg Resting heart rate: 48
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to have had my 2nd vaccine yesterday and didn’t have any side effects. Hopefully, it protects me well from Covid.
The beautiful cat is not here today. Probably for the best! Amy was happy to have finished the last couple of days’ baking work though she still has one more tray to do today. I think she is secretly pleased with the results of her work and is half decided on whether to pursue this further. She is equally happy to just do baking for pleasure and when she wants, rather than putting pressure on herself.
I had my second Pfizer shot yesterday with no real side effects that I could tell, except for feeling really good! I maybe a little achey but it’s hard to tell if that is just my normal state these days. Lower back and neck are always like this anyway,
No more classes now and I guess we start grading next week. Pretty easy and I’m able to fill my time, whilst having no work to do, with plenty of reading.
If the weather is ok on the weekend I may go for a ride into the mountains, though as I write this I’m thinking I should wait a bit until the ground dries out.
Forcing this one out Like a rock-hard turd No ideas forthcoming Today I have no word
So I pushed and squeezed For the longest time Eventually, I came up With this little rhyme
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for the crunchy muesli I bought yesterday and about to eat for breakfast as Amy prepares her workbench for baking her buns.
Another month down and all classes finished. It’s been a trip. There are a lot of Covid cases around Chiang Rai, apparently. It feels like the official figures don’t include any Burmese workers, where they live together in squalid camps and also cannot afford to isolate ‘at home’ for even a day. Whilst cases in general seem to be reducing around the country, potentially it could easily get out of control here as the country prepares to open up again. Despite this, I hope that the kids can come back next month.
After Amy and I are both vaccinated, I guess it will just be a matter of time before we catch the virus and hopefully we will be best protected. I’m of the mind I’d like to get it over with.
This morning there was a beautiful kitten sitting in the teacher’s room. No one knew where it came from. It looks and feels very healthy and it purred loudly when I picked it up. She (I think) followed me downstairs as if I were its new owner, which was tempting, I must admit.
When I came back after coffee, the kitten had been named Chicken and was comfortable on the lap of one of the teachers downstairs. I’m a sucker for a cute cat, even an ugly one, but adding another to our family wouldn’t be fair.
Are you listening carefully To the big world around? Are you looking where you’re walking Or just staring at the ground?
Notice all the details Little things easy to miss Be grateful with all your senses From which to bring you bliss
Breathe deep the air in thanks Test everything you touch Taste each gift of food With the passion you love so much
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for the buttery smell this morning as Amy prepares for a busy day baking cinnamon scrolls.
Today I’ve been feeling a little antsy though I’m not sure why. I think maybe yesterday I spent too long sitting and my lower back and thighs felt sore and then I woke up with a stiff neck again. I wasn’t looking forward to another day of sitting, whether at school or at House.
So, as I was going for coffee I decided to head to 22 Grams and read there for a bit, before heading to House. How lucky I am to be able to go to two cafes before even going to work!
There’s talk that we’ll have no holiday this time and that’s kind of a bummer if it happens, but as Dylan said, it’s not exactly like we work that hard anyway. He and George don’t put in the same sort of effort as I do from what I can see and I don’t mean that as a comparison but as a statement that for them they are very relaxed about their classes and the work the students put in. I can’t help myself being fully invested in helping my students.
Nearing the end of the semester, I’m relaxing too but even though I can sit around doing as I like most of the day, I would rather be able to do that at home. Having said that, I probably wouldn’t get as much done, such as reading, blogging or even writing this!
George is getting excited now He really seems quite upset His words are getting shorter The angrier he will get
The world has pissed him off And quite rightly so The lying liars are lying again It’s really time for them to go
The sweat is across his brow His hat looks about to fly The answer to every question Is always, ‘why?’ ‘why?’ ‘why?’
An angry man shouts at clouds Morning, noon and night The thing is that what he’s saying Seems to be quite right
Reading Al Franken’s ‘The Truth With Jokes’ and watching George Galloway’s ‘Mother of All Talk Shows’ recently. It’s easy to get worked up. 11th May 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – mother.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to watch a misty sunrise this morning as I prepare for an easy day at school.
The days and nights are full, they go too quick. Even if they are full of nothing particularly special, the time just disappears. But I’m filled with happiness.
My student Aomsin is interested to be an exchange student so I thought I’d help out with some investigation. I can’t imagine that her family is that rich and I also haven’t been able to find any pricing. I’m just not sure how feasible it might be for her.
Considering whether perhaps Sharon might be able to house her but then don’t know how she might apply for local schools there. I guess I can ask at least.
I’d love to get every willing student overseas to see something of the world. It should be compulsory! In my Utopian world, anyway!
Maybe my enquiries will crush her dreams. That would make me sad.
I’ve had a long shower And I’m snuggled up with a book I can hear strange noises outside But can’t be bothered to look
I’m about to fall asleep The room is dark and black That’s when the screaming starts And when I know she’s back
She turns on all the lights And dances around the room Jumping up onto the bed I hope she finishes soon
She makes me laugh and makes me mad I’ll always love her to bits But right now I need to sleep And she’s really giving me the shits
Amy has turned much of our garden into a cactus oasis, not helped much by the long rainy season this year though. It was today I noticed that this delicate cactus was being held up by this tall ants nest, originally a stick in the ground. Ants will rule the world. They are also back in our kitchen building a small nest by the back door again.
Our neighbour’s dog, Tangmo, always enjoys coming to play but tends to go a bit nuts when he sees Kim Chi, who is usually behind a screen door inside her room. Today though, we’d just let her out when he decided to come visit and after a bit of chasing around the situation above occurred.
We worry that Tangmo could easily bite Kim Chi badly as he’s so much bigger and his barking and jumping around make her scared but usually, Kim will be the one chasing him away. Don’t fuck with our cats. Tangmo just seems to want to play but isn’t quite sure of the correct cat etiquette.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for LungChom and their delicious ice cream that I ate two bowls of last night in a state of overindulgence.
Feel good today after forcing myself to do my minimal daily exercise on the weekend (this morning is rest day so I did yoga instead). I also ate two bowls of ice cream last night – which were freaking delicious but perhaps a bit too much!
Oh stayed over last night, though I was in bed by then and didn’t see her this morning either. Amy is giving her a bread-baking tutorial. Amy also did a pre-order for her cinnamon buns and got inundated with requests, so much that she will be baking for three days instead of the planned one.
I listened to day 3 of the gratitude course this morning, which gave me two very important reminders. ‘I dismiss any thoughts that entertain feelings of comparison’ and ‘I embrace my journey because it is uniquely designed just for me.’ I think these constant habits of mine are slowly having the desired positive effect, though I am not particularly challenged these days, or at least I feel as if I’m not, which could also be because of these habits.
The semester is winding down now and I’m feeling pretty relaxed. I hope that students return next semester, as I don’t have anything else planned if we continue online and I also want to start my experiment with 2/9.
Last week I was getting a bit frustrated with my guitar playing but yesterday I got back into the flow, teaching me that it’s ok to relax, take a break if necessary and try again at another time. But it is not acceptable to give up.
I’m also working up the free time and courage to get back into learning the keyboard and music software and thinking about making songs again. I know I can do it but I’m also aware of what a time sink it will be.
Amy is still constantly frustrated with the situation in Thailand and I have to try and deflect or point out our positives so that it doesn’t get her too depressed. I am attempting to deal with the situation here stoically and I am happy to tell Amy that I am ok living anywhere in the world with her.
When she’s drunk, she will chide me with ‘you love it here, you can stay’ and whilst I wouldn’t say I love it here anymore than anywhere else, I am happily aware of how easy my life is compared to the UK and Australia. Even so, I will give it up if it makes Amy happier with herself and her situation.
She’s out to meet her friends I’m home doing as I please I could get high, eat ice cream Or perhaps I’ll climb my trees First I have to wash up And make sure the cats are fed Actually, I’m feeling tired I think I’ll just go to bed
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for this pumpkin in my pasta for lunch. Food from the earth is the best!
1994ever 