Tag: bike ride

No Rest – 9th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

After death, you are put into a room
With a TV and some snacks
You will watch your whole life replayed
Perhaps to reflect on what it lacks
A minute-by-minute repeat
To observe each success and mistake
You may pause at any point
It’s a long time and you’ll need a break
After a lifetime looking back
You will be born to the world again
Taking the wisdom learned
Which the gods tried to explain

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Today I’m feeling:
Happy and calm
Today I’m grateful for:
The man selling coconut water and pandan smoothies. Damn, they are delicious!
The best thing about today was:
Another long ass bike ride around the area I had discovered a couple of days ago. Google Maps lead me nicely astray again and I’ll have to wash my shoes yet again…

I took this picture because P’ti was squashed up against the window like this at Utopia this morning. So cute.

Frank’s Dream – 4th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

When Frank died his soul flew up high
And ended up in a powerful war machine
He screamed ‘ANNIHILATE’ but didn’t know why
But then it turned out it was all just a dream

Inspired by Armoured Gideon, 2000AD

It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched for they are all full of the truthless ideal which has been instilled into them, and each time they come into contact with the real, they are bruised and wounded.

W. Somerset Maugham

Today I’m feeling:
Happy and satisfied.
Today I’m grateful for:
The front wheel of my motorbike. It took some hard knocks on some tough roads today and I was worried I would have to limp down the mountain with a flat tyre but it held up and got me home.
The best thing about today was:
Riding around new mountains and discovering some beautiful villages and amazing scenery. It was blissful.

What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?
For 24 years now I’ve been taking sertraline and that has made an incredible difference to my life, keeping me stable and less prone to depression. I still have bad moments but in general, I am much happier than a was in my first 30 years.
Brushing my teeth. Sad to say that I didn’t look after my teeth well for my first 20 years or so. They are just hanging on since starting to care about them more.
Making my bed. A small habit I only acted on since moving to Thailand. I actually don’t care if my bed is made or not but I do it so as to include it in a series of morning habits and to feel, no matter how minor, to have achieved something already, right at the beginning of the day.
Exercise….if I do it every day it will definitely improve my quality of life. Now I just have to do it every day!

I took this picture because Bruno and I met these kids after a long muddy ride and they were so happy and inquisitive to see two muddy white men in their mountain school at the end of the road.

Top Trump – 25th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Don’t despair, it’s not your role
It’s not within your control
Rejoice at what you can decide
That’s all the gods deemed to provide

For me, insanity is super sanity. The normal is psychotic. Normal means lack of imagination, lack of creativity.

Jean Dubuffet

Today I’m feeling:
A little flat and lazy but still content.
Today I’m grateful for:
My poor motorbike which must hate me for taking it through wet dirt tracks and getting stuck in deep mud and slipping off into the prickly jungle brush. What a trooper of a machine. I hope you enjoyed your wash.
The best thing about today was:
Getting off my ass and going for a ride, getting stuck in mud and getting out again and then getting home thirsty and filthy. Sun, fresh air and accidental exercise. Another ride to remember.

I took this picture because it was at the end of a path around the base of a stone hill and despite not much else being around except a broken fallen down old shack, this little field shrine was well-kept and pretty.

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.

Laugh Or Cry – 31st August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
I don’t know, who, when, what or why
Spent my days in endless frustration
A victim of a worthless education

Now I’m at school on the other side
All the things I learned being applied
And frustrated kids look up with empty eyes
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry

The people who get on in theis world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw

Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to share my abundant fruits with other people. The papaya is delicious but I can’t eat six of them!
The best thing about today was:
A quick ride along back roads and tracks to Bruno’s reminded me of times riding my motorbike in Dorset as a teenager. The green overhanging fauna down dirty muddy tracks and lanes. The smell of fresh oxygen mixed with distant smoky garden fires. I was transported, if only for a moment.

I took this picture because I found these two ‘good boys’ far from their home on my morning walk and they followed me all the way back.

Soi Dog Wandering – 14th October 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Snuffle in the undergrowth
There’s something living there
Scratching at an itchy head
And sniffing at the air
Sad dog sat contemplating
Where has the feeder gone?
Time to sleep in the road
Til the next car comes along

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for my new pillow. This one seems to be helping with my sore neck. I’m hoping it can help get rid of the pain altogether.

12th July 2023 – We have a stack of pillows in our house now as we are constantly seeking relief for sore necks. I believe I may have finally come to the realisation that it is not the pillow that is the problem but my lack of movement and exercise throughout the day. Some pillows are undoubtedly better than others but my neck pain has dissipated much more since exercising and stretching it more often.

I was just reminded about depression (reading about someone’s experience) and realise I haven’t had any dark thoughts, or dark days, I should say, for a long time. At least, it feels that way. I guess I do have dark thoughts but they are let go without breeding further. A little bit of exercise, medicine, less alcohol, a combination of all. I feel more comfortable in this world at the moment, conscious of how time passes by so quickly.

Yesterday, I took a quick afternoon ride and discovered yet more hidden hills and valleys close to home. It was a beautiful day. Hot but cooling, as I was exploring randomly. Many dead ends, stuck in pineapple fields. Going up a hill track that I hoped I wouldn’t have to come back down, then, without option, careening back down. Covered in mud and scratches from thorny plants.

Returned home to find the gardeners finishing up, took a shower and enjoyed our house, renewed again with trimming back of the jungle.

On Tuesday, Amy and I talked with a bunch of students at Berm and Hangie’s new cafe and Amy got fired up, thinking, ‘we could be doing this at our own place and helping the students with their English. It’s good to see her thinking about this option again.

The Week That Was – 14th January 1979

Walking Contradiction – 13th October 2021

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I’m a walking contradiction
No, I’m not, I plead
One day this, one day that
How can I succeed?
Do as I say, not as I do
I’m going nowhere fast
When I say that red is blue
I mean that first is last
I’m a walking contradiction
Depending on my mood
Don’t tell me about yesterday
When I was really rude
I know what is right and wrong
And I must always be right
Try to keep up with me
And I’ll enjoy the fight

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to still be able to find off-the-beaten-track paths to ride around nearby home.

Split Idea – 13th August 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

The birth of morning,
begin it all over again
The pen on paper,
pondering what it means

The curse of ideas,
coursing through my head
The blessing of words,
buzzing about my brain
The lack of time,
lurching ever onward
The thread of images,
turning me more insane

The death of days,
dying sunlight fades
The soothing sleep,
succumbing now to dreams

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for my sunburn from yesterday’s ride. Somehow, perhaps from vitamin D, it has given me some extra energy this morning and I feel great.

In an effort to stop Amy from drinking all afternoon, I took her for a long exploratory bike ride, leaving after lunch and planning to get back before it started raining. The skies were cloudy and threatening, but as we went on, blue sky and sunshine peeked through. I set a target destination somewhere in the back of beyond and only checked occasionally that we were on the right track.

Amy was in good spirits but then began complaining of a sore butt. I, too, had a sore butt but that’s the price to pay for adventure. I stoped and Amy walked around trying to pump some blood back into her butt, and it became apparent that I’d missed a turn and we were now way off target. Not lost but directionless, I turned around and headed back, Amy now quiet as a mouse and hiding from the sun.

We got back around 3 pm, and it was only then that I saw how burned my arms, shoulders, and forehead were. A cooling shower and aloe vera gel helped a little, but I was hot and itchy for the rest of the day. I practised guitar for an hour or so and finally nailed some pieces I’ve been struggling with.

Anyways, I slept really well and dreamed that I’d been given a playful calf for some reason, and it made my dream really happy. Often these days I’ve been resetting my alarm to give me an extra 20 minutes’ sleep, but today I just got up and go. I didn’t think about it until I was exercising and was thinking perhaps a shot of sun yesterday had boosted my energy levels. The sunburn suggests having overdone it, but I’ll take it.

I did my usual 5-minute morning warm-up workout burpees, which I always struggle to muster up strength for and also my mini weights routine for my shoulders.

I’ve been feeling great all day. I hope it maintains through the weekend.

The Chaotic Era – 12th August 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Always searching for something stable
Hoping that tomorrow the sun will rise
Campfires warming wherever able
Tomorrow’s fire fills half the skies
The pyramid’s cauldron is bubbling
Predicting the future, obviously uncertain
Our civilisation’s end is troubling
And the kings pull down the final curtain

*inspired by an early section of the The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

Gratitude Journal

I am do happy and grateful to go on a long bike ride (even with Amy complaining) and get lost and just take in the scenery. I need to remind myself that the earth is beautiful.