Tag: curtains

Where To Hide? – 29th April 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Where can I hide from you?
Your red and blue words cut
Angel face, honest and true
Harder to crack than a nut
Where can I hide from me?
My blue and red words cut
My cave mind unfair, unfree
Always stuck in my own nut
All that glitters is not gold
Our stories best left untold

Today I’m feeling:

Very relaxed feeling today so far. I feel like I got an unexpected holiday gifted to me.

Today I’m grateful for:

My curtains all around the house. Since Amy went back to Australia I keep most of the curtains drawn all day to try and stop the sunlight and heat getting in. I think in our next house we have to think more carefully about design to allow better airflow and insulation to keep heat out. If there ever is a next house.

The best thing about today was:

Enjoying all the things I was reading from Substack articles about events in China, Dave Simspson’s book The Fallen about ex-members of the Fall and Michael Parkinson’s biography about his interviews with Muhammad Ali.

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

I called Hayden today and he was feeling down about things. He complained about his friends and how he feels they are treating him and also that he was feeling lonely. I was a little stuck with what to say and ended up saying that me and mum were far from good examples on how to make and maintain friendships and I felt a bit apologetic towards him. I tried to generalize things a bit and tell him that we often don’t have any idea what other people are dealing with so we have to forgive them and at the same time, we also have to be kinder to ourselves. I’m still trying to understand these things so he shouldn’t beat himself up about not knowing the best thing to do.  Although I couldn’t really help him at least he knows he has someone he can talk to.

Something I learned today?

I think I accidentally saw the result from today’s Swans match whilst looking around Youtube. I didn’t see a score but the picture and title were definitely pointing to a defeat. Oh well. I will still watch the match replay tomorrow morning and try and enjoy it!

What is my idea of fun?

These days I feel like I have no idea about fun. I’m happy and content but fun doesn’t play much of a part in my life right now. Perhaps the closest I get to the feeling is going on crazy bike rides or being with my students. I would love to be involved in concert organisation again but there’s just no chance of doing it locally and I’m slowly losing touch with what’s going on around southeast Asia too.

I took this picture as a follow-up to yesterday’s. It seems these flowers don’t burst open into bloom, they just wilt like this. They look like they are tired and gave up.

We got that attitude! – 30th July 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful for the heavy curtains in my room. They help keep the room cool during the day. It’s still super hot but imagine what it would be like without them.

To-do list

  • More blog posts – try to get well ahead
  • Awards awards – all the time ½
  • Compliments and kindness ½

A sort of difficult day today. I felt a little off – not unhappy but not quite content, a little bit thoughtless perhaps.

I felt myself get upset with George when he questioned why I was doing something and I took offence at being questioned about my methods. I understand his reasons for saying what he did but I still feel like he say things in a way that is suggesting that his way is the best. I don’t need to bite at this – I especially shouldn’t react verbally or even emotionally.

I can see instances when he does the same but can turn a comment around into a positive. I need to be more aware of that. As usual – listen (really listen) first, think, evaluate – last resort is to speak!

After school, Ellen had lined up a potential client for online teaching. I was thinking that this would have to be a totally different method for teaching. At school I should adopt the George attitude – don’t stress too much, make it fun for the kids, just make the ones who struggle feel good ie I shouldn’t care so much.

But for Chinese students online, paying a premium I do have to be well organised and know what I’m doing and talking about. I’m still learning – still trying.