Tag: coffee

Moron Convention – 11th December 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Janky parking in entitled lots
The prize to get has got to be gots
The hustled and hustlers dancing in jitters
A microcosm of moronic critters
Overrun with amateurs, unable to discern
Anything beyond their own concern
Grown men anxious and chomping at bits
Losing their minds in explosive fits
Society and humanity seemingly forgotten
The race to the top has now reached the bottom
Used to a life full of broken noses
Shop til you drop, or at least til it closes

Embrace all obstacles as learning experiences, as means to getting stronger.

Robert Greene

Today I’m feeling:
Content and tired
Today I’m grateful for:
Nong May, Amy’s cousin (?), for driving me to get coffee in Lampang. Also dad for driving on the way in the morning, and mum for paying for lunch.
The best thing about today was:
I really enjoyed driving back from Lampang for the first hour. My neck got sore after that though. I also enjoyed lucid dreams again on the way there and was amazed it was already 11am when we got there. The drive only felt like 30 minutes to me but was almost 4 hours. Also meeting the little girl doing dot-to-dot in the cafe whilst I was waiting for coffee. She was very cute and curious.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Most of the day was out of my control and I had already accepted this beforehand.
Something I learned today?
Why do I struggle to recall things at the end of the day? Does information logged in my brain stay in there? Is it useful? Does it only get activated when triggered by something relevant? I suppose that makes sense. Or am I going through days without learning anything at all?
I did learn it was Nong Fah’s birthday today, thanks to a notification in LINE!
What’s your favourite time of day?
Sunrise and golden hour are both up there. Birth and death. Why? The living and sleeping parts don’t hold the same appeal? Like the land meeting the sea is more special than being in the ocean or the middle of the land. Do special things only happen at the edges?

I took this picture because this was the pretty garden area behind the restaurant we ate lunch at in Lampang. There were some amazing mountains along the way but I was driving and couldn’t take pictures.

The Lighthouse – 6th December 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 23 Comments

A beacon on the horizon
Rising, falling, yet steady there
A signpost to miseries and glories
A pointer beyond the despair

The building, empty and derelict
Though still overflowing
The chill of winters, the pungent springs
The always knowing

Out to sea the future beckons
Dive into the turgid squall
The past is a rhythm dead
So heed the siren’s call

15th Jan 2025 – Shared with dVerse – Diving into Margins
19th Mar 2026 – Shared with W3 #203 – lighthouse

Direction > Speed. Doesn’t matter if you are moving slow or fast, if you are moving in the wrong direction, you are fucked.

Aditi

Goodreads.com review of Last Gang in Town: The Story and Myth of the Clash by Marcus Gray

Excellent book for me. I like the Clash a lot but didn’t know much about their history before now. After reading this book I can feel that I perhaps bought into the Clash ‘myth’ more than I’d expected. After reading a slew of rock biographies, mostly about people that were interesting but not necessarily whom I had any respect for, I guess I should have been prepared to find out that these mythological punks were all too human.

Whatever! It’s all done and dusted and I remember the sight, sound, and feel of the pedestal I had them up on!

I found the post-Clash chapters interesting too, as most of the band seemed to struggle with finding their identities after the breakup, and everyone, including themselves, wondered about what could have been.

Today I’m feeling:

Relaxed and tired because of cocktails and pizza indigestion keeping me up throughout the night and then a 5.30 wake up to catch our flight.

Today I’m grateful for:

The two homeroom teachers who (probably) helped push my students to do the work I left for them as I wasn’t at school today. I think about 80% of them did it which was a pleasant surprise.

The best thing about today was:

Getting decent coffee again back in Chiang Rai (at Utopia) and finishing the Clash book and starting an Iggy Pop book. The last of the unread books there for me before I have to start bringing my own again.

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

Late afternoon and Amy gets Kim Chi up from her current sleeping spot in the walk-in. Kim is still limping on her back right leg and we agreed she needed to go to the vet but with only one car again it was going to be difficult to arrange whilst I’m at school so despite being tired and chilled at home I suggested we go right away otherwise it would have to be on the weekend when we already have a long day trip to Lampang planned on Sunday.

In spite of it being school let-out time, I enjoyed the drive to Dr Arnon and back and he doesn’t think there is anything seriously wrong with Kim’s leg and just gave her some painkillers. I was also able to buy some snacks to take for Tokyo at House so that worked out ok.

Something I learned today?

Following on from yesterday, according to another survey, Chiang Rai is the lowest-paid province in Thailand. It made me wonder if the two facts about Chiang Rai are connected. Does drinking decrease as a place prospers? If Chiang Rai folks were paid more would they drink more?

When are you most spontaneous?

I’m not spontaneous much at all these days, I don’t think, so I would say this would be in my classes when I might add in some things around the lessons I’m teaching. I do miss the days of spontaneity but am also happy with the way I am now too. I’m well-organised and my brain suits that better than being spontaneous, as I’m not always good at predicting possible outcomes.

I took this picture yesterday at the Hilton in Phuket because wtf is a peacock doing here just wandering around!?

Lost Diplomat – 28th November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

The art of politics, a war of words
No value holds except for action’s result
The game of life, power and influence
Made all the more difficult
By clowns with big wallets flashing
Of which the ignored must choose
Checks and balances, no winners
The plan is just not to lose

I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.

Hunter S Thompson

Today I’m feeling:
Fairly happy, minorly frustrated.
Today I’m grateful for:
The word search maker website that, with a small amount of prep, helped keep my kids occupied for half an hour or so. Once I realised that they could play online I let the kids keep their phones and off they went, relatively quiet and interested.
The best thing about today was:
Good caffeine hits at House in the morning, getting a bit more blogging out of the way and quickly preparing some work for one of the classes tomorrow.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
If it’s a school day these entries will probably revolve around class situations! Today I got tired of some students being over playful, mocking or disruptive in both my classes so I sent them out. I’ve contacted their homeroom teachers and advised them that this will be how I handle this in the future. I will talk with the students and make sure they understand too. I almost lost it at one point but managed to keep my annoyance in check, helped by the fact I was in a reasonably good mood.
When are you most at peace?
In the lucid dreaming stage of sleep. I love that feeling even if details are forgotten on waking the memory endures. Most other times I feel I am at war, so that even that becomes a sort of peace, in its numbing inevitability. I am at peace on a plane. I have ceded all control over my life, may as well relax.

I took this picture because suddenly the sun appeared after a small storm, just as it was setting. The last light, gone from me for another day.

Rose-Tinted Tears – 21st November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Not understanding consequences
The future impossibly vast
Fire the only guide
With no lesson from the past
Naivety is nature
For kitten and the pup
A world set in wonder
To drink from this cup
Bitter-tasting tears
Wiped from cheeks so red
Whispered-coated rumours
Of words perhaps not said
Blind lead blind in battles
Swords laid to the heart
Voices deepen in anguish
As the youth set to depart
Wisdom-thickened skin
Hardened by the aches
Practised and repeated
Then learned from those mistakes
Where did they go
Those sadder lonely days?
Reminders of a time
Enjoyed in so many ways.

The truth I believe is that silence – like darkness – is a little unnerving but unlike darkness, the apprehension comes not from the fact that it conceals but in that it reveals.

Thomas J Bevan

Today I’m feeling:
Exhausted, a little happy but a little down.
Today I’m grateful for:
Amy being back in the kitchen and cooking up a storm. Before we got home we went shopping and found some vegan pork belly cubes and Amy cooked them and they were delicious.
The best thing about today was:
Chilling at House after a reasonable first-thing morning class. The kids were fairly well-behaved and most got their work done. I got a few things done whilst drinking coffee and enjoyed relaxing.
What book are you reading right now?
Quite a few different ones but the main one is 100 Selected Stories by Anton Chekov. Only just started yesterday but the first two stories were great.

I took this picture because everyone loves a chilled dopey dog. Tokyo can get pretty bitey but I’ve learned to keep her happy and she’s often found like this.

The Calmers – 13th November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Take a deep breath
Still that thrashing heart
Stop for a second
Before you fall apart

Not the time to run
Bouncing around
Turn the TV on
Until you’re settled down

Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days will bear the fruits of vistory.

General MacArthur

Today I’m feeling:
am: tired pm: lively
Today I’m grateful for:
The afternoon coffee that is keeping me up late right now. I’m glad I forced myself to get out this afternoon as I had a quick midday nap and could’ve just spent the rest of the day lazing around.
The best thing about today was:
Going to Daytripper as just described and finding that the girl working there is someone I often see at Utopia reading books but we’ve never spoken. As I paid to leave she asked how the coffee was and we chatted a little. Her name is Natalie and now we have a basis to talk in the future. There was also a group of the barista’s friends there playing a card game and just as I was getting energy back from the coffee I really wanted to ask them if I could join but by then I had to get home to feed the cats. A missed opportunity to make some new acquaintances but I’ll be sharper next time
Daily thought
Do you complain too much?
Maybe. It is definitely not at a level I left the UK with and I think I still continue to improve on this but as with these things you generally don’t tend to notice yourself when you are doing it. So I’m saying maybe because I don’t think I do complain too much these days but I may be missing it.
Do you ever see wild animals?
Can I include my students?
Snakes, lizards, birds and some mad insects. I don’t think there are any big cats in Thailand and any elephant I’ve seen is no longer wild.

I took this picture because the stupa on the hill is a landmark letting me know I’m near home. This shot was in the golden hour taken from Daytripper across the rice fields. I’m not tired of rice field shots but they never quite catch the experience. Maybe I should crack out the big camera and see how that performs.

Reaching The End Of The Internet – 31st October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

We all live in a trivia submarine
Deeper into holes full of rabbits
From the Can I Haz Cheeseburger? meme
To fountains and mountains of shitty reddits
Diving through dark webs of extreme
Impossible to break these sad habits
Nothing is said but it may seem
As if everyone has already said it

That is what everyone’s work should be – a confession, a baring of your soul, your faults, those things you simply cannot or will not understand or accept. You stumble forward, confused, and you share. If you’re lucky, you learn something.

Arthur Miller

Today I’m feeling:
Half motivated half exhausted.
Today I’m grateful for:
There being little to do at school today so I spent some time drinking coffee and updating my blog. Time flew by and I could’ve stayed for longer but ended up coming home. It’s been more than a month since I spent a whole day at school!
The best thing about today was:
Riding my bike up to the post office and sending a package to Hayden with the printout from my 1979 blog entries. Picking up some fried rice on the way back and enjoying a laid-back afternoon reading, watching YouTube and playing the guitar.
What challenged you today?
Forcing myself to follow the mantra I wrote yesterday, to not be lazy and to do my best usual five minutes exercise. Then to not push myself further and go too hard too quickly. I have to remember that I built up to the stamina I had before and can’t just go straight back into it. With Amy coming soon I need to get this rolling again.

I took this picture because these little cartoons caught my attention as I was reading some blog and I think I can use them with my students in some way.

Yard – 12th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

In between the cobblestones, dark and damp
Cities raise armies in dirty power games
Unseen except for curious men in the clouds
And relocated along with the rains

The world turns slow when not watched
No one pursues the moon across the sky
A violent vicious circle magnified
Inconsequential as it passes on by

The years teach much which the days never know.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I’m feeling:

Happy and tired.

Today I’m grateful for:

The lady at Sensi Weed who explained about all the different types of weed and associated goods her shop had for sale. I bought a tea bag, a chocolate, 4 gummies and a gram of some weed. I ate a gummy tonight and feel a little lightheaded. Maybe try the tea tomorrow.

The best thing about today was:

Getting a backlog of things out of the way whilst drinking a couple of coffees at 22 Grams. I felt very relaxed and had a lot of patience whilst waiting for my students to perform at Central.

Do you eat red meat?

I haven’t eaten red meat for the last 40 years.

I took this picture because this is my student’s (Aum) dance group performing at Central in a competition. They struggled with nine people onstage. It was much easier for the groups of five. Sunwa also performed singing and dancing solo.

In The Hammock – 3rd October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Swinging back and forth, to and fro
Watching the world progress in its daily flow
As I contemplate, does the bee wonder so?
What does the bee know, that I don’t know?

He was an older gentleman of considerable charm and culture, who had fallen, however, into bad habits of silence, having said everything he had to say before he was thirty.

Oscar Wilde

Today I’m feeling:
Happy but hungry
Today I’m grateful for:
Banoffee at Daytripper. I needed a sugar and coffee hit this afternoon and fancied a banoffee and luckily they had some available. I sat at a table in the breeze as uni students sat at other tables, eating, chatting and studying and watched rain come over the hill of the university and spooned delicious caramel, banana and chocolate into my mouth, tempered with sips of bitter cappuccino.
The best thing about today was:
Playing the guitar along to some of my favourite songs and realising that I am slowly improving in my playing. Even if I wasn’t it is still just a lot of fun to make cool screeching noises.

What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?
I need to get back into the habit of exercising somehow. I’m still feeling the after-effects of covid but I’m inputting more calories than I’m burning these days and that’s with not really eating too much.

I took this picture because this was the view from where I was sipping my coffee as the rain poured in the distance. 3 rainbows? Maybe an optical illusion of a 4th?

Our Primitive Nature – 2nd October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Groping in the shadows for understanding
Groping in the darkness in search of love
We’ll come to terms with our dark side
Get away and look down from above

Running away from our primitive nature
Rationalising and excusing ways to behave
Learning to accept what’s beyond control
The weight of knowledge will build to save

In the country of the bland, the one-idea man is king.

? – variation on another popular quote

Today I’m feeling:
Happy
Today I’m grateful for:
Amy’s mum and dad again for bringing me food. Somehow they seem to always pick the wrong time to bring food. Dad walked in with two serves of pla duk foo just as I pulled out my lunch which was reheating in the microwave. So I ate one for dinner and will have to eat the other tomorrow, even though I have soup prepared already. Their timing is uncanny.
The best thing about today was:
Getting out and working in a different cafe just to make change. The coffee was adequate and improved by the fact that it was only 35baht which was a nice surprise. I sat on a rooftop, with a big shade cover. Everything was dry despite the morning rain. Many kittens were dashing around and causing us all in view to smile. A soft cool breeze and a sensible temperature made for a fresh-air work environment. I realise I should have appreciated it for longer whilst there but I’ll be happy to appreciate it right now in my memory.

Describe your best concert experience.
So many to choose from but let’s consider seeing Cardiacs in London as a six-piece with Miss Swift and the Consultant, champagne, flowers and confetti. Lisa drove us and we were both amped a little on speed. The whole atmosphere was joyous and inclusive, the room filled with love and dry ice. We drove home on a high, watching the rain on the window and following the out-of-focus road leading the way. We couldn’t stop smiling until our cheeks hurt.

I took this picture because today is the first day it’s been cool enough to wear a t-shirt indoors. And when Tigger saw me laying down and finally clothed he started chattering away. I struggled to lift him from the floor and he settled on my chest before rolling into the crook of my arm and swimming away as I rubbed his fatty belly with deep rattling purrs. I don’t know why he only comes when I have a shirt on.

Not So Sure – 16th June 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

What the hell was that dream?
Our little band of brothers
Was on the run from ‘the man’
Though why I’m not so sure

We were on the move
Trying to stay one step ahead
We had the guns and merch
It seemed too much to carry
We couldn’t load it all up in time
And one by one, we were picked off

Then it was just us two left
You and I became slaves
To the over-mother, naked
Forcing us to drink her ejaculations
In the hope of impregnation
For a new master race
To take over the changed world

2000AD is a future past
Eugenics, so last century
Dreaming a fever dream
Not so sure what’s real anymore

We choose to believe that the game is fair…we prefer not to think too much about the depth of our liberty to choose.

Robert Greene

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to get free milk coffee with my regular fruit yoghurt drink I like. Nice!

Fatman report