A restless nest built from gathered straw The dead-end grass slight comfort bring Hungry crackles cackling for more Long forgotten all the songs to sing
For in this desert of desolation No succour found at every turn In those times before desperation When the early bird caught the worm
That late coffee yesterday kept me up, running through my head the day ahead today. Well, I’m at the end of it now and it went well. I’m ready to sleep though.
My last class finished at 4.30 by which time traffic was bad and it took me a while to get back home. I forced myself out to my room to practice guitar, which with a few days skipped was very rusty.
Well, it’s another day off tomorrow for some holiday or other so everything’s groovy.
Today I’m grateful for:
The neck fan that I ordered on Lazada. It is next to useless but at least offers a tiny bit of relief from the humidity.
Some of the kids are walking around with portable 12-inch fans now. It’s crazy.
The best thing about today was:
A new class, with a handful of students I knew from teaching previously and a handful of new ones, who I’m enjoying learning their skill level.
It’s a shame though that many of my high school classes are only once a week.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Kru Pooky uses the classroom that I use today often and she doesn’t use the projector or even her computer by the look of things. She stuck some paper on the board, right where the image is projected which was pretty stupid if you ask me!
She stays in the room when I’m teaching and I can tell she doesn’t enjoy it because my classes are usually pretty rowdy and noisy and of course, I’m encouraging the students to talk and think as much as possible. I also spot her looking at what I’m doing in class and I’m actually curious what she’s thinking.
Anyway, I asked her if I could take them down, to which she agreed and I tried as best I could to peel them off cleanly. The whiteboard is the whole width of the classroom so why would you stick them right in the middle of it?
Something I learned today?
I learned that one of my grade 10 students is actually 19 years old. She’s from Myanmar and has been in Thailand for two years and has learned some English in that time (better than some that I have taught for even longer than that time!)
Egged out, we must survive Enthusiastic push to thrive Finally, no one gets out alive That’s the way we all go
Early birds catch the worms The voice inside us turns In turn, the worm learns That that’s the way we all go
One day, in a different way Here tomorrow, gone today Even the early bird will say That’s the way we all go
Paraphrased and plagiarised (in the nicest possible way) from various majestic Cardiacs songs. Submitted to Ovi Poetry Challenge 47
Today I’m feeling:
Good again though that 6 am alarm was tough. It had to be done though. My leg workout was too much, supposed to be 3 x 64 reps of lunges but I could only manage 40 by which time my skinny thigh muscles wanted to explode. But 40 is better than none.
Today I’m grateful for:
Matt, who kindly donated me some magic mushroom capsules as he tried them but didn’t enjoy the experience.
The best thing about today was:
Enjoying a whole day out of home even though I could’ve just gone to school, signed in and come home again. I had planned to do this anyway but it was made even more desirable because when I was leaving this morning Auntie Sue told me that the electricity would be off today as they are moving the lines to the new poles. Great – no reason to come home early.
After signing in I spent the morning reading and writing at House whilst enjoying three coffees and even getting another lesson done for the classes on Presentations.
After that, I dropped by Central to buy a gift for Funfai as it is her birthday today and she told me she would be playing tennis at 4 pm. I got her a notebook, pencil case and pen. I also got the same for Anchan.
For the afternoon I went to see Matt as planned and we talked for a couple of hours catching up on each other’s lives. He also showed me his guitar setup and pedals, all of which sound fantastic but not within my price range or even within my time limitations for being feasible.
I left at around 4 pm to head to the tennis courts though I could see in the distance very dark clouds and the wind started picking up dramatically. Baipad messaged me that it was storming in our village as, after cancelling bike riding yesterday due to a storm, we had rearranged for today at 5 pm.
I got to the tennis courts and there weren’t many people around and the wind was already making it difficult for those there. No sign of Funfai so I messaged her and she told me that her lesson had been cancelled. Ah well, no worries. I used the opportunity to go and clock out of school which I haven’t bothered to do so far this week.
As I drove back home it started to rain though nothing storm-like. It had already blown through by the looks of things. I figured Baipad wouldn’t want to ride and a wet road would have made it more difficult for her too, so I thought I’d drop by and see if I could chat with her a little more in-depth.
As I passed by our soi it was still blocked with electricity people running around so I assumed the power was still off at home too. Amy also called and said that she couldn’t get home earlier when she tried as the road was blocked then too.
So I hung out at Baipad’s for an hour and did get her to open up a little more and whilst not confronting any of her issues, started to get her to think about them a bit more.
She feels comfortable to talk with me though she still lacks the maturity to know how to express herself. I can report though that she is not happy with herself and does want to change, she just doesn’t know how and I can feel that her mum doesn’t know how to teach or show her either. Her mum obviously has her own struggles.
Anyway, I’ll try my best to support, motivate and teach her some skills that can bring up her confidence. It’s all valuable reminders for me too.
I came home around 6 pm and it has been raining most of the time since, 3 hours now, with a comfortable temperature again, which I, and most probably everyone, is grateful for.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I got my new teaching schedule today. It has changed a little bit from what I was expecting, with me being given 24 hours instead of the 22 that the other teachers get. I’m not going to complain though.
I like being in the classroom, with the kids so another couple of hours is fine and it might also encourage me to stay each day and sign out like they want me to!
After arriving home I found that our internet wasn’t working, probably due to the work going on with the poles in our soi. I hope that our provider knows about this work, but I can also easily imagine that they don’t. At least I can still hotspot and connect with my phone tonight and we’ll be out most of the day tomorrow.
Something I learned today?
Both Jet and Praewa sent me messages today because they got their study schedules and they were upset that I won’t be teaching them this year.
Did you do something difficult or challenging today?
Any of the minor challenges that I’ve mentioned above didn’t feel that difficult at all (except the lunges) and my state of mind was good enough to accept everything as it came.
I took this picture of the Utopia FB post and sent it to Noey. She wanted to know where I was because she hadn’t seen me today. I should be there on Sunday though.
What kind of artist were you when you were young?
When I was about 5 or 6 I always got told off for drawing castles instead of writing. I tried to compromise by writing something that allowed me to also draw a castle!
In my teens, I got deep into punk iconology, cut-up style and sloganeering. I made many posters like this, including a huge one that I submitted for an art assignment. I also painted a picture of a faceless punk in a three-piece suit, crucified on a cross.
My forays into the artistic world ended up more around words but also into producing booklets, fanzines and posters. I don’t have the creative drive anymore to do this, perhaps hampered by a lack of time due to other endeavours such as writing.
Did you paint, colour with crayons, build things with blocks?
Painting and colouring yes but I had an aversion to building things. Other kids had Meccano but I could never figure out what to make with it. Similarly, with Lego, it seemed like too much effort to make a shitty version of a house or something like that. My imagination didn’t run in that direction.
What kind of creative acts did you enjoy?
When the punk ideology hit, the ‘anyone can do it’ attitude, I wanted desperately to be the singer in a band and so set about writing lyrics. This was from about aged 11.
A little later this also turned into writing brief poetic thoughts of which I was constantly churning out.
I always enjoyed doing that though somewhere along the way in my 20s, I stopped writing those until I started again in 2020 when I remembered how much I enjoyed it and got back to doing it again.
When did you write your first poem?
I guess it would have been in 1984 when I was 15 or 16 though I probably had some before that, written for an English class. The earliest things that I held onto were from 1984.
What was it about?
Poems from that time were about petty thoughts and trivialities of a schoolboy’s life. It turned serious though as depression sunk in and the future looked bleak. Back then though I could write about any little thing that sparked my interest. It was fun.
How did you come to poetry?
As described above, through writing lyrics. I still consider what I write mostly as being lyrics rather than poetry.
I’m running at the edge of their world Pushed away and pulled back again I don’t want to fall off the fence And find myself having to explain
They’re criticising something they can’t understand Never taking the time to lend a listening ear On the fence, there’s air to breathe Down below so clouded with fear
I’m living on the edge of their town Itching to break free of the shackles My feet only touch the ground to run The touch paper lighted crackles
And I won’t be shot down I won’t be pulled apart There’s no compromise At the edge of my heart
Inspired by the Stiff Little Fingers song ‘At The Edge’ from which each line of the chorus was taken as the first line of each stanza
And I’m running at the edge of their world They’re criticising something they just can’t understand Living on the edge of their town And I won’t be shot down
Today I’m feeling:
Relaxed and happy. The early birds crawing woke me up before my alarm, along with waking Tigger who then starting crawing too. I slept pretty well otherwise and got back into exercise on this chilly morning. The evening temperatures are perfect but by early morning it’s still cold and then during the day we’re hitting 35 degrees or so.
Today I’m grateful for:
There being yet another event this morning and being able to accommodate the kids wishes to go to it instead of studying. To achieve that I set them a minor task of taking a photo at the event and describing it to me. After sticking around for a few minutes I was able to duck out for coffee and keep up with the classes work as the submitted it to me online.
The best thing about today was:
Feeling good with the poems I was inspired to write today and clearing out some of the growing number of email prompts that I’ve been receiving. I’ve gotten right into this little circle of writers and whilst I don’t enjoy much of what I read I can appreciate the time and effort that they are putting into it and occasionally something does grab my attention that hits the mark.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
The morning event rolled over into the afternoon and so for the second week running my grade 10s were busy and only a few were in the classroom when I got there. Well, that’s fine. I’m not sure if I will get to teach them again this semester. So with even more free time I took the opportunity to wander around the school and talk and play with whoever I found (which was almost everyone!)
Something I learned today?
The last letter added to the English alphabet was ‘J’. Before that, the letter ‘i’ was used for both the ‘i’ and ‘j’ sounds.
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I left school at around 3pm and went to Big C and whilst there I suddenly heard ‘Teacher!’ It was Baibua and Khawhom. They looked a little sheepish but also laughing at seeing me shopping. I asked them what they were doing and they indicated that they were going to the movies. But wait a minute! Why aren’t they at school? They said there was nothing to do. Well, that is true. I know and they know it.
With my grade 10 class not showing up I went to help Kru Ren again and offered my help to the different groups of students. I was a little disappointed with Baipad because it turned out that she hadn’t done any work for class for the whole semester. Jan and Apple had done some but not finished it. I asked them why they weren’t doing it now and they just offered up excuses. Sigh. I told Baipad that I can help her catch up this evening if she wants me to but haven’t heard anything from her yet.
David hasn’t been at school for the last three days so I sent him a message asking if he was ok.
What tasks do I often avoid?
I don’t think there’s any task that I avoid completely but I have a different threshold of tolerance to certain things to Amy so in that sense I avoid mopping the floors or cleaning the toilets but if she wasn’t here I would do those things but only when I found it necessary.
Asking Amy what tasks I often avoid might provide a clearer answer.
I took this picture because I wanted to show my students an example of what they were required to do for class (take a picture connected with the event and write a sentence about it). I was happy that almost all of them completed this simple task. I thought this student picture was quite nice and as I took the picture the student who made it was there and his friends were all in awe!
1994ever 