Tag: AFL

All About The Underdog – 4th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes bad weather seems better
Maybe you’ve got no coin in the game
A baby born without hope to survive
Maybe rooting for us just the same
Take a shot at the moving target
And it becomes the best you’ve ever done
Everyone has forgotten your name
But to us, you’re the one that won

Run in the opposite direction of any expert or guru proclaiming to possess a secret formula for success of power.

Robert Greene, the Daily Laws

Today I’m grateful for:
A weekend of being able to watch the AFL. Four amazing first-round finals. All of them were fantastic thrilling games and they reminded me of weekends of drinking and hangovers in Australia. Winters of football and summers of cricket.
The best thing about today was:
A big drink of cold water at about 8pm. Today has not been very eventful but that water sure made an impression. No doubt I will be reminded of it at about 3am too!

I took this picture because it represents hope and growth. Many of our pumpkin flowers don’t turn to fruit or fall off quickly before having chance to take. I don’t know how far this one will go but it’s looking good right now.

A Step Closer To God – 15th July 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Another winning goal, another scoring shot
A sharing of the soul, a stirring of the pot
Climbing the ranks, lightning to the rod
Living life with thanks, stepping up to God

The title was taken from a commentator’s proclamation during last weekend’s Sydney vs. Fremantle AFL game as Buddy Franklin scored an important goal after the halftime siren.

Why on earth do you need thanks or recognition for having done the right thing? It’s your job.

Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I was able to safely get on and off the roof to put down some waterproof tape. Let’s see if it works.

Strangers – 1st April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Are you irresponsible in the darkness?
Shaded in soft golden neon
Does rebellion foment on tarmac curbs?
A target found to all agree on
Hidden in plain view
The many meld into the cosmic one
Mysterious brothers and sisters
Measured in memories soon undone
In dream parties revisited
Eyes locked for a second brief
Know, not knowing
Moments of ecstasy or grief
Soft smiles acknowledged
A metaphorical tip of the hat
Strangers to each other
There’s nothing better than that

You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t.

David Foster Wallace

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I can watch the Swans game later today.

View From The Hammock – 20th March 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A crazy bird is crying
Looking for a mate
Lizards discuss the rain
Three cats carefully sniff the cactus
Before settling to sleep again
Ant armies on an unknown mission
Disappear into the cracks
Dogs roll around uncontrollably
As if scratching an impossible itch
In the middle of their backs
Midges, gnats, flies, wasps
Bees and hornets too
Doing battle for the tastiest meal
Pollen descends to rest on my stomach
As I swing back and forth
Hoping for a breeze to feel
Slung between two tall trees
I’m hung on this piece of cloth
I am the outsider, here as observer
And today, it’s enough

It’s human; we all put self interest first.

Euripedes

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to watch the AFL games again this year. The sport is still played and technology allows me to watch it.

A Thousand Sons – 29th August 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

*A man’s accusing finger always finds a woman
They are the blamed and the blessed
There is no way to change this status
And no way to pass the test
A controlling power deep within the head
Passive, self-censored and abjugated
A thousand years of venoms spat
At the devils that man created

* From “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to watch the football again this year and watch Sydney play well against the odds with a young team. Much better than the previous two seasons. We lost today and finished for this year but it has me pumped for watching again next year. Hopefully, I can.

Yesterday – 13th July 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

It’s a vague memory
Not sure what I can say
I just don’t recall
Much about yesterday

I know I enjoyed it
It went very well
What were the details
I can no longer tell

I’m sure there was coffee
And stroking the cats
Did the dog come to visit?
I don’t know – perhaps?

Online classes of kids
I think they enjoyed their study
I think it was fun
Though my memory is muddy

What about this morning?
What the hell did I do?
The onset of senility?
What if I write this poem again tomorrow……
Too?

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for my iPad that I could use last night to watch Sydney beat the top team in the AFL. Then to read comics and books. I don’t use it for much else but it’s fantastic for what I want.

We got that attitude! – 10th May 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful that I was able to watch the football on my iPad while swinging in a hammock under the shade of our trees yesterday. I’m also grateful Kim Chi was looking around cautiously and as I followed her eyes saw she was looking at a 2-metre cobra just a couple of feet away from where I was hanging. I chased it away.

After one day back at school on Friday – which I felt good about – we have Monday off for some public holiday or other. Thailand sure has a lot of holidays – can’t complain.

I’ve been busy working on this blog – where this hand-written entry will end up one day in the future (today is 3rd March 2025 as I transfer this from book to blog).

I’ve chatted briefly with other friends on chat apps and that has helped keep me a little grounded. Although nothing much in depth, it seems to help somewhat – just in knowing that there are people out there vaguely interested in my life.

I’m still a little unsettled at the moment, about the long term future and it’s effected me and my man cave – somehow, I don’t feel quite comfortable in here at the moment and I’m always wondering about moving things around to make them more like my teenage room – make it more like a pigsty – the pit, as such. Seems a stupid thing to be writing about, but it’s in my mind for some reason.

I think maybe I don’t feel quite relaxed – I’d like to be able to leave things outside, on the terrace, but the roof is still prone to leaks, and the wildlife here invades everything. We still have an idea to build a house in the city, next to Amy’s mum’s. I’m not that keen on the location, but it may solve some of these issues.

Haha – damn! Build a house to solve a trivial problem!

We got that attitude! – 27th March 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful for our big washing machine – big enough for our king size doonas. I am grateful for the AFL app so even though I don’t want to afford to pay to watch the games live at least I can watch the full replays for free.

The best thing about today was looking through old diaries and poems – seems like I was always writing. Excited to look through it more, though sometimes it gets me down, knowing that I’m getting older and can’t take my existing knowledge back to those times and dealt with them better – or worse still, is looking back and seeing that I’m dealing with the same things as then!

This is about acceptance – accepting who I am. Loving myself the way I am. Fuck those people who don’t get me – that’s what I would’ve said back then – can I say it now?

We’re gonna carry on for another day – 13th July 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Quick pages. Dark and raining, cool and humid. Motivated this morning but teeth hurt. Dream? I know I had them.

Suck in deep breaths. Mini workout – my style – one day I’ll do more. Slowly, slowly is okay.

Busy day ahead? Maybe – let’s see – can face anything now right? You can, you can. Brain blur – meditate.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for my new chair so I can relax outside and watch the football. I felt great.

7th Sep 2022 – I was trying to think what this chair was and suddenly remembered. It was a kind of comfy padded folding chair without legs so you could adjust it in many ways. It was good for a while but the arm mechanism soon broke and one drunken evening Amy kept tripping over it and picked it up and threw it into the yard where it broke even further. I think it must still be in my man cave, which is a place I need to visit and make sure has not been fully taken over by spiders and insects and hope that the roof has not leaked with all the rain. About 95% of my CD collection is still in there.

To-do list

  • Compliment two people ½
  • Mantra and blessing ✅
  • Give Dylan positive feedback ✅
  • Be vulnerable – open and helpful to other teachers ✅
  • Record audio for Bruce in the evening

After a fairly relaxing day of making videos and preparing to make more, we finally got asked to teach in the classroom. Actually, I had already gotten a little bored and helped T. First in a couple of lessons already and I found them quite stimulating and fun.

Finally, we get to teach – it’s been so long! I felt good all day and fairly confident about everything.