Tag: dream

Gitchi Odjig – 7th January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments
Listening (Homage to Grandfather series) by Daphne Odjig

My heart still speaks kindness 
after everything my eyes have witnessed,
 echo this compassion to your generation.

Your blood is in my blood, 
this same blood lived in the rivers of your ancestors’ hearts.
“Grandson remain strong, this life is just a dream.”

Gianni Crow

Grandfather, I will try,
yet I can’t help wanting to wake up from this dream,
my angry blood washing the coasts.

Shall I pull a kindness spirit from my skin,
to kindle a flame for our family to share,
after everything my eyes have witnessed?

Grandfather guide me,
with the compassion shared through our generations,
the pull of the river drags at my feet.

Shall I sheaf the knife of revenge,
the blood spilt, a burden for my own family,
to break this cycle that is second nature?

Grandfather, with great strength
I have listened to the tales too terrible and whispered
around the fire of too many ghosts.

Shall I calm the fires of desire,
douse the light, whilst holding on to the flames of culture,
to consider these words for my children?

Grandfather, now I understand the dream
as I beheld the eyes of my grandchildren, newborn at night
and the eyes of the celestials looked back

I shall commune with The Great Fisher
when summer is born again and pass on your compassion
“Grandson remain strong, this life is just a dream.”

I’m mixing Native American ideas in this poem, and I probably show a lack of understanding of different myths and stories. I was initially pulled in by the quoted lines of Gianni Crow.

Then, looking through different myths, I found the story of the titular Great Fisher – Gotchi Odjig and then, looking for related art to accompany this piece, discovered Daphne Odjig’s fascinating work. The attached piece is suitably titled ‘Listening (Homage to Grandfather series)’. Daphne Odjig’s prints are available here at the Bearclaw Gallery.

17th Jan 2025 – Shared with dVerse OLN #376

Peak – 11th June 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

First steps, first sight
Begging to be fed
All the crying might
Be all that’s ever said

First walk, first flight
Strong enough to feed
Eyes down, left and right
In search of the seed

To run, leave home
No time to be weak
No one goes alone
To rise to the peak

Submitted to Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – peak. Also planned to submit to the Ovi Challenge – steps but forgot to make it an Ovi!

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good again, though I know I could do with more sleep.

I was woken in the night by a poo dream!  I just went for a pee though, fearing that dealing with a poop would’ve woken me up too much.

In my dream, I was wearing a nappy but wanted a toilet.  Seems to be remnants of a thought about when grandmum had to start wearing adult nappies.

Today I’m grateful for:

Being able to take it a little easier driving to school because I’m leaving a little earlier.  Hopefully, it will save a little on petrol as well as speeding fines!

The best thing about today was:

Not one thing in particular again, but another great day all around.  Very enjoyable.

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

I asked my grade 8s what is one activity that they like that their friends don’t, and Satang, who is a well-sized chubby boy, wrote that he likes to arm wrestle, but none of his friends like it.

So I sat down opposite him and we arm wrestled, and he beat me pretty easily on our right hands (and I could feel my muscles hurting from all my recent morning exercising).

I gave him a fair go on the left hand, but ultimately, he was too strong on that one too.

The whole class cheered and whooped.  I hope it gives Satang a little confidence boost.

Something I learned today?

I offhandedly sent a message to Baipad asking how her day was, and she said, ‘Everything feels like it’s going fast…Maybe because I’m happy?’ 

It made me a little teary (with happiness)

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I offered to fix all the grammatical errors in the play that Jet, Lin, Noah etc are doing and spent about 40 minutes going through it.  Now it makes sense!  I also went and watched them rehearsing for a little while after my last class.

I need to start thinking about little things that I could improve on as I don’t seem to be falling down with bad acts too much….

Day 4

Travesty – 4th November 2023

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There’s thunderstorms in the desert
Rainforest rivers are running dry
Heading in the wrong direction
While potential joys are passing by

Money makes the mind numb
To the monotony of many a day
Adventures await around corners
If the mental devils are kept at bay

A royal life seems so appealing
Yet remains the want for more
The clock of life is ticking
But cannot divine what lies in store

inspired by this post at She Trucks A Lot

Today I’m feeling:

Super tired. I was even super tired in my dream! I kept thinking I was going to fall asleep in my dream! I rolled around and stretched myself for a good long while before getting up this morning.

Today I’m grateful for:

The assistant at Mega Home who tried to clean out the hose nozzle of Bruno’s high-pressure hose machine and successfully managed to dislodge a tiny stone that was blocking it. Unfortunately there seems to be more stuff stuck inside blocking it and I’ve had to order a new one online. Hopefully that all the problem is.

The best thing about today was:

Cutting some big branches off our trees as I suddenly got it into my head after investigating what was making noises on the roof. Birds were bathing in water trapped in the gutter and vines were spreading all over as they had attached themselves to the dirt trapped there in the debris of leaves held in place by the tree branches.

I hacked about four or five of them down and dragged them off the roof and artlessly dumped them over the fence. By this time I was completely covered in dirt, dust, mould and ants. My muscles are aching and body scratched and bruised but I had a good time!

Something I learned today?

People laugh when they don’t know what is coming next. Surprised and happy at a new interesting thought injected into the conversation or action. 

I think I don’t laugh so much because life has become fairly obvious over time. At least when it comes to being around adults. Kids make me laugh all the time because they can still be wildly unpredictable. 

And none of this means that I’m not happy or even that I don’t find things funny. 

Good comedians make me laugh. For me they are becoming rarer but that is perhaps connected with growing older and not fully immersed into the cultural zeitgeist they are coming from.

I took this picture because these branches took some mighty effort to be pulled down from the garage roof and dragged across the garden and deposited over the fence. I got a good workout doing that.

Big Cat Meet – 10th March 2023

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What is it? What is that?
It seems like an oversized cat
Sniffing and lurching as a pet
And yet….

Fear arose at eyes meeting
Ears pound with heart beating
Comes the rush of approach
I lay down my body, defeating
Please! No eating!

A sniff, a purr, a tentative pat
Mutual understanding of where we’re at
A roll and a push, off excited
I too, soon alighted

Whisper at your feral fears
Into the eyes, through the tears
Roll over as if to submit
Here where the big cats sit

inspired by a dream of meeting an unknown type of big cat in a park

Today I’m feeling:

Happy, relaxed, maybe even bored!

Today I’m grateful for:

Febreeze and its feeble attempts at masking the still-rank cat pee smell on my mattress. It’s doing its best.

The best thing about today was:

Testing out the Quizizz lesson I put together yesterday with Ploy and Praewa. They enjoyed it and I learned a few things from practising it with them. I need to add a little more detail and tweak a few things.

However, the concept may be good but I think the level is too high for my M1 classes. I will look for easier lessons to put together in the same way over the holidays.

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

Still dark, lost in a dream world, a thud and a scream sit me bolt upright as Cap and Tigger, a ball of furry yin and yang roll over me, their combined weight slamming down at my hip.

I grab the darker fury but cannot pull them apart, interlocked they are in a vicious grip. A second pull and a broken claw embeds itself in my finger and finally, they are separated and I fling the fuming ball across the bed but this doesn’t stop them and they reassume attack positions in the living room.

Good morning, Shaun, it’s a lovely day though there’s no daylight apparent.

Finally, the fighters back down and I return to my soft bed hot and awake. I check the time. 4 minutes until my alarm. I get up and shake the doona back into place and clumps of fur float through the still air.

Ok, let’s go.

Something I learned today?

Some private chats with a couple of my students helped me to learn a little more about their situations. With there being no classes and fewer kids around school everyone is a little more relaxed and open these last few days.

What is my favourite memory from childhood?

I’m going to say it was the common spirit we village kids had.

Forced together by location we went through all the usual ups and downs a group of teenagers would. Being out in the sticks with little street lighting, we entertained ourselves with endless hours of mischief, fire and explosions.

There’s not one specific memory that stands out but as I bring those thoughts to mind many more flood back and the joy of that childhood camaraderie remains special to me.

I took this picture because I was lazily reading in my hammock when these neighbours’ kids appeared and started blah blah blahing in Thai at me. They usually come in around this time every day adding our garden as part of their playground. If I’m watering I’ll spray them to hear their screams and laughter.

The Real Secret – 29th January 2023

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Six million years of work went into this
I know it seems weird to explain
There’s no magical shortcut or formula
To access the power within your brain

inspired by Robert Greene’s Daily Laws

Today I’m feeling:

A little more clear-headed and positive.

Today I’m grateful for:

My hairdresser and her Kim Chi lookalike cat, that rolled and rubbed whilst I waited my turn. The hairdresser cuts my hair as I ask no matter how stupid it seems to her. I can fix it with gel and time as I like. I’m glad she tidies up the back and sides and even trims the hair in my ears, which does make it difficult to pull them out whilst I’m waiting in traffic but never mind, I still appreciate it.

The best thing about today was:

Watching a Chinese movie called Better Days which was pretty good and I’m glad of the fact that I was able to watch it all in one go which I’ve been finding difficult recently as I find myself getting bored more quickly with things these days perhaps victim of the TikTok quick hits of dopamine that the youth are enjoying.

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

The dirty floor is out of control and I’ve handled it by ignoring it. Next weekend Aing and Now will come and stay on Sunday so I know I will have to clean on Saturday so I’m waiting until then if I can bear it.

Something I learned today?

I watched Jordan Peterson talking about his employer asking him to attend social media reeducation classes which sounds a little odd. He’s a health expert ( I can’t remember exactly what) and sometimes posts online about things unrelated to his job such as politics.

I suppose the things he says could impact his employer by association if they were some form of hate speech and it seems like there are some folks out there who are so easily offended these days that that is what they think it is. It seems gone are the days of differing ideas and opinions.

Since the Twin Towers were destroyed you are either with us or against us, no matter what. Bin Laden has achieved exactly what he wanted as Western capitalist democracies eat themselves from the inside with this attitude.

I try to be sensitive to everyone’s opinion unless I really do find it hateful but most people’s ideas are born from ignorance or circumstance.

What is my biggest dream for the year ahead?

A lot of this type of question in January. My biggest dream is to live to see next January. A lot can happen in a year. Dream? I don’t know. I’m comfortable, I have all I need.

I took this picture because I heard Kim growling whilst I was reading in bed. It’s unusual for her to growl so I got up and found this. I don’t know who brought it in. From nose to tail, this ex-rat was longer than Kim’s body.

Stephen Pike – 8th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

What were you doing in my bed last night
That made me wake up screaming?
Who are you and why give me such a fright
Even though I was only dreaming?

This was a real dream, a man walking up the bed and bending down to strangle me, and as he did I woke up screaming ‘Stephen Pike, Stephen Pike’. I don’t know who he is.

No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.

Viktor Frankl

Today I’m feeling:
Happy and relaxed.
Today I’m grateful for:
The bananas I bought at the market that have fed me for the last couple of days. Why are other people’s bananas so good and tasty but the ones growing in my garden don’t go well?
The best thing about today was:
Being around home all day and not feeling stressed or bored or anything in particular. The whole day has been pleasant and enjoyable.

The most important invention in your lifetime is…
The internet, I think. Being involved in IT I was able to utilise my skills early on and saw all the possibilities the internet could provide. It enabled me to contact people around the world easily and allowed me to travel to different countries.

I took this picture because Cap was sitting on the mat in the bathroom looking cute and like he was a teen again so I got down to his level to take photos. This one shows his broken tooth and his broken tongue.

Visited Last Night – 3rd May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

You were in my dream
But I don’t know who you are
So perfect to hold

Your black and white top
Hugs tight to your chest and waist
Hold this forever

Composite angel
Of everything I wanted
Gone with eyes opened

Touched me deep inside
The girl with no face or name
Visit me again

Nobody ever figures out what life is about, and it doesn’t matter.

Richard Feynman

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for the lady who made my salad last night. It was nice of her to prepare a second bowl for me.

The Week That Was – 17th June 1979

Then came the dawn and you were gone – 31st July 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Too much to dream last night – Electric Prunes. Cannot remember dream now but I do know I didn’t sleep long enough. Woke up knowing I need to try a bit harder today (in my thinking) – be positive, stay positive – say positive.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I forgot my passport and that I had to go to immigration this morning. It meant some extra running around but also meant I got to try a new coffee shop which has great coffee. It was delicious.

To-do list

  • More blog posts – need to do at least 1! ½
  • Compliments and kindness ½
  • Listen!…….speak.
  • Awards ½

Somewhat have achieved these things. I noticed that in the last few days, I get annoyed at the way George presents himself sometimes. The things he says are usually good advice but I hear it with a hint of arrogance and belief that he feels he is right. I’m cautious about this feeling because it is coming from me and not from him. I want to understand this feeling more and I won’t make any judgment on the person.

I feel like George is always setting a great test for me (not on purpose, of course) – it makes me consider my thoughts, feelings and actions. For that, I am grateful.

Because of this though, it can be tiring to be around him.