Tag: Clean Sheets

The Disparity – 17th November 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

People will demand freedom of speech as compensation
For the freedom of their thought that remains in suspension

Disparity between desire for outward expression
And the actual practice of inner contemplation

A little poem based on the Soren Kierkegaard quote “People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

Today I’m feeling:

Good again, even waking before my 7.30 alarm despite going to sleep well past midnight.

As I have to take Amy to the airport this afternoon, I know that I won’t succumb to an afternoon nap, which is good.

Amy goes to Pusan with her mum, dad, auntie and friend and she has already been frustrated with organising this trip, which she initially just intended to be her and her mum. I asked her yesterday if she was excited but she is mentally preparing for more frustration!

It did trigger me to investigate the possibility of going to Nanning for a few days in April, so I asked Ellen for some ideas on what to do there. I figure that it might be a way of easing Amy into the idea of travelling more in China.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

For our washing machine and the sunshine today, meaning that tonight I sleep in fresh, clean sheets again. I’ve been waiting for this for a few weeks already!

The best thing about today was:

Getting some more guitar playing in again and slowly making improvements. I go through cycles and at the moment I’m playing more guitar than I am reading, possibly helped by the fact that I’m constantly going to my room to kick off downloads of comics I’m interested in – so I guess there’s still a connection.

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

I very gently sent a message to Nancy at TLC asking why David and I are still getting all the junior high school classes again this semester. I know the answer but I’m suggesting to her that perhaps it is not quite fairly distributed among the three available teachers.

She replied that she will talk with Kru Tang about it. That made me chuckle a bit, as it seems Kru Tang is unaware of the reason it is not fairly distributed.

I’m stirring things a little bit and would like things to be more fair and it would also make the school happier that they don’t have to cater to one particular teacher’s selfish requirements.

I wonder what will happen next…

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I pointed out a huge cockroach to Safe while I was sitting reading in Utopia. Luckily, no one else was around at the time and the roach gave Safe a good chase and I think even got away, back outside via the door.

The Golden Rule – 23rd March 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

When good and evil were formed
Hearts either chilled or warmed
So then every God had warned
To follow the golden rule

I will no longer subscribe
That my life is a tragic ride
Not a rose-tinted world I describe
Just a way of looking and seeing

So sound the bells and travel far
Drop a coin and pass the jar
It’s up to us to heal the scar
Tragedy is a choice

Submitted to Ovi Poetry Challenge – Tragedy and inspired by comments there.

Today I’m feeling:

Rested and slow to get going. Two Utopian coffees are working their magic though I wish I could clear the phlegm out of my body and breathe clearly again.

Today I’m grateful for:

The Ruamittr ice cream in the freezer that Amy only told me about today!

The best thing about today was:

Clean (and new) sheets!

Something I learned today?

It was interesting to read an old interview with all the members of Rancid and to hear a wild story about an exhumed baby at Gilman Street!

Aymara – 3rd January 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

The future is behind me
Invisible to the eye
The past keeps coming
Towards me until I die

Understanding is backwards
Yet life is straight ahead
In the end, it’s all done
When it’s all been said

Today I’m feeling:

A little edgy due to lack of sleep.  I kept waking up whilst having wild and unusual dreams.  I forget their story but have kept the feeling as I woke.  It’s a little disconcerting. Leg exercise and stomach stretching was good and easy.  My shoulders are feeling a little better but not sure that they will be fully ok before next week when I’d like to get back to arm and shoulder exercises again.

Today I’m grateful for:

The teachers who helped me with some little things today, such as finding a stapler and staples in the mess of the teacher’s room and sending the student list so that I could print out the student names for my new class.

I’m also grateful to my past self for downloading lots of useful English workbooks in the past and finding something useful to use for my new class.  I already have too many ideas and I haven’t even met them yet or know what their skill levels are.  I’ll soon find out though – first class tomorrow.

The best thing about today was:

An interesting comment from Kru Karn when I expressed concern for one of my students that she looks after.  She off-handedly said that most teachers don’t care that much about the students, implying that I do.  I don’t know if she was congratulating or criticising but I took it as a matter of pride.  As an average, untrained English teacher I make it a point to at least care about the students and the job that I’m employed to do.

A late update as I’ve just hopped into bed with delectable-smelling clean sheets and anticipating this, I used the expensive shower gel that smells like glitter and glamour. I’m soft and snug, smelling of champagne!

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

My grade 7 class was a little out of control, still in holiday mode.  I have the feeling it will be like this until the end of the semester with this grade.  I didn’t push them too hard today, just prepping them for the real work on Friday.

Something I learned today?

The Ancient Romans used to drop a piece of toast into their wine for good health, which is why we ‘raise a toast’.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

After my grade 10 students had completed their work for me I helped them with a speech that they had to do for another class later today.  I recorded the speech myself so that they could copy my pronunciation and I sat with them as they practiced and gave them tips.

If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

Somehow I wonder if I might relax a little knowing this.

Without knowing this, of course, I may die suddenly tomorrow.  I should relax now!

Would I keep working?  I enjoy what I’m doing right now but with a known time limit what else could I do in the meantime?  Would travelling the world feel satisfactory or would it just feel meaningless?  Do I even know how to enjoy myself anymore!

I think perhaps I would go travelling but on a nostalgia trip and also to catch up with old friends and have one last conversation.

I don’t think I would just fuck everything off and spend the time decadently.  Maybe a little!

I took this picture because this weird little cactus at House appears to have the Christmas spirit.

Together We Rise – 9th February 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

Once again, I was told I was free
That I could be whatever I wanted to be
So I told of the things inside my head
That had filled me full of existential dread

Then I found that so many people didn’t agree
I was called out and threatened constantly
I never thought just because of words I said
Made people so upset they’d want me dead

I realised freedom does not mean free
What’s freedom to you is not so for me
A common line must be towed instead
If you wish to lie in a settled bed

But is it possible for us to agree
That opposition is the end of you and me
We don’t need to succumb to lies we’re fed
Together we can travel the road ahead

2nd Jun 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt

Today I’m feeling:

Productive if only for household chores. Not sure I’ll be able to stay awake this afternoon.

Today I’m grateful for:

An afternoon cappuccino to keep me awake through the day but hopefully not so much that I can’t sleep tonight. I went out to Daytripper to enjoy it and watch the Kishore Mahbubani online course videos about US-China relations.

The best thing about today was:

A sense of achievement from sweeping up leaves, cutting back some climbing vines, preparing for cleaning off the roof, washing bedclothes, cleaning Kim’s room and getting everything ready for her to spend her nights in here again. I enjoyed doing it all.

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

I’m here in Kim’s room writing this and I can see that the fuckin’ ants are out of control. I wonder if this is why the doesn’t like to sit directly on the floor. I sprayed ant killer in one corner of the room where I could see them coming and going but there must be many different colonies here all vying for their pieces of territory and the pull of Kim’s food bowl.

Kim is sitting watching me and wondering what the hell is going on.

Something I learned today?

The US voted no at the UN to make food a human right. They voted no to the Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities. No to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and against the resolution ‘combatting Nazism and contemporary forms of racism.’ The US sure likes to be different.

What emotion am I feeling right now?

Lethargy as my body winds down from the activities of the day. My mind though is still busy but that will soon wind down too. I also have a feeling of anticipation looking forward to jumping into bed with fresh clean sheets. My body is already experiencing the sensation, I’m looking forward to it that much.

I took this picture because new sheets, new sleeps. Almost summer.