Tag: fire

Charites – 29th July 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 13 Comments

Joy, belligerent and hypnotic
Cast a shadow of charity
Over the long promontory
A fat man, roly-poly round

Abundance in a city of kindness
A broad island for a little boy
A fungal cloud, a phoenix
A beautiful desiccation

Radiance rose from the river
That molten river of fire
Gratification of vengeance
Narrows victory to defeat

Charity bestowed from wings
Of fury fanning the skies
Attendant to the goddess of love
Love shall burn all

This poem was inspired by the story of Richard Feynman and a phrase taken from his story about three students/assistants that became known as the Three Graces. Researching the Three Graces led me back to Greek Mythology (hence the title and theme of the poem). The image of the phoenix rising is then tied back to the science of the nuclear age and the events of August 1945 in Japan. Nagasaki means long promontory and Hiroshima means broad island and also sometimes city of kindness. The bombs were called little boy and fat man. The phoenix rising highlights the rise of Asia since those events.

Submitted to No Theme Thursday (and the attached picture), Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Hypnotic, Weekend Writing Prompt #374 – Belligerent (though a little more than the 68 words specified), Ragtag Daily Prompt – fire, FOWC with Fandango — Narrow and Word of the Day Challenge – gratification.

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good, getting up at 8 am and soon out for coffee.  Whilst at Utopia, I worked on some poetry which came out pretty well, I think.

Without any other real plans for the day, I got myself into my room in the morning and started adding more old 1998 and 2009 entries to the blog.

Revived with lunch, I got back in there and did more, all the while listening to music I’ve downloaded in the past 12 months or so and deciding to either keep or delete.  Finally, an hour or so of guitar playing too.

Today I’m grateful for:

My former self for being smart enough to keep some of my old emails that remind me of times past.  There is a lot of other stuff that is no longer accessible, though, unfortunately.

The best thing about today was:

Getting a poem highlighted on AllPoetry.com, which was nice to find this morning and generated some extra commenters.  I’ve been happy with what I’ve been writing recently and it’s nice to get some positive feedback.

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

This morning I also watched the mini-match of the Swans game and it was obvious within a couple of minutes that it wasn’t going to be a good day for us.  

Still top of the table but with 4 losses in the last five games, our form is not inspiring confidence as we come towards the difficult end of the season.

Something I learned today?

Part of the problem with Australia’s high-priced housing is that not enough houses are being built for all the people who are either moving there or looking to move out of their family homes.  I was surprised that there were just 170,000 homes built in one year.  The lack of availability pushes up rents and house prices.

The average income required to buy a house now is 250K per year but the actual average income is only 120K.

It’s making me wonder where I might end up.  Australia is still the most appealing place in the Western world, though.  New Zealand may be an option at some point, I suppose.

I took this picture because this new flower in the garden stood out as I walked back into the house this morning.

Sunset Over Hawaii – 26th June 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

This
Island
Under night
Skies a-blazing
Rows and rows of homes
Turning to ash and dust
Maui, Hawaii – on fire
No rescue until it’s too late
There’s money to be made rebuilding
This island under night skies a-blazing

Destruction and death
Build back better, U.S.A.
Casino waiting

A Dectina Refrain submitted to Living Poetry Monday Poetry Prompt

AllPoetry homework:

The Country of the Blind. – Stanzas 1 and 4 by C.S. Lewis

Hard light bathed them and a
whole nation of eyeless men
dark bi-pedals, not aware
of how they were maimed
A long process, clearly a slow curse
drained through centuries
Left them thus

If a man, one that had eyes
a poor misfit, spoke of
the grey dawn, or the stars
or green sloped sea waves
Or admired how warm tints
changed in a lady’s cheek
None complained he had used
words from an alien tongue
None questioned.
It was worse. All would agree
“Of course.” Came their answer
“We’ve all felt like that.”
They were wrong.

………………
1. What is Lewis saying?
2. Here he compares the poet to the masses who believe they have experienced the same feelings. Why does Lewis say they are wrong? Look at the first stanza.
3. What are your feelings in comparing the poem to society, today?

This has taken me a while to get to as I prefer to spend my time writing over analysing. Slowly I am starting to appreciate analysis though so as to better understand what a poet might be saying.

So, today I finally came back to this and interestingly I read this quote this morning which seems along similar lines:

That showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them.

– Socrates, The Apology


To attempt to answer the questions….
2. Lewis says that they are wrong because society as a whole blindly accepts what it may be told. (Does this connect with the phrase ‘the one-eyed man is the king of the blind?).
3. In comparing the poem to society, I can see the parallels but as a poet, I prefer to consider myself with the man with eyes. But then, maybe individually, we all do that. And thus we end up with society. Individually thinking and believing different things and collectively believing the same things.

And I think that answers question 1.

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good again. I forgot to write anything this morning as instead of spending the first six hours of the day at the cafe I decided to sit with my old class and help some of them with their work though I also took advantage of this time to make some future lessons.

Sitting in that class made me look at the kids a little differently. I could see that they were more attentive to the Thai teacher and understood more (obviously).  They still struggled when it came to answering questions and their comprehension but it made me feel a little more sympathetic with them.

The work Kru NumNim has been giving them is from the British Council and I decided to take it and reuse it for my reading classes with them.  I’m hoping that they at least remember some of it and can draw on their learning in this class when it comes to doing it again in mine.

At House, I sat, read and wrote as usual and now felt that 4 hours was an ok amount of time to spend doing that, instead of the six hours of the previous couple of weeks.

Today I’m grateful for:

All the folks who ensured that my records arrived safely from Hong Kong.

The best thing about today was:

Everything again.  It was consistently good from morning alarm, exercise, breakfast and driving to school to getting home, sitting back and watching videos.  

I’m also feeling a little relief at having fewer hours to teach tomorrow than before too as another two hours got passed on to another teacher.

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

The parcel of Bennu The Heron records arrived yesterday but I had to go and pick them up from the main post office and pay 700 baht tax on them which is just about the end of my money for the month.

Still, it was better than paying what Amy originally thought was 4000 baht.  If it had been that much then I would have sent them back.

Something I learned today?

I found Yurin sitting by herself today and she looked up at me sadly and said ‘No friends’.  I talked with her for a little while and she said that she was quarrelling with Dena and Earn though I’m not sure about what.  I told her not to worry and maybe it will all blow over.

Later I caught up with Dena and she said that Yurin was always causing drama and everyone was sick of it.  Actually, I’m not surprised at this as Yurin was always causing problems in the first semester of grade 7 when she was hanging out with Hyper, who eventually got taken out of school by her parents.  Somewhere inside, Yurin has some conscience, though sadly, I don’t think the future holds much positive for her.

Praew told me that she won’t be in school tomorrow as she has to go to hospital and when I asked her why, she explained that she has to get new medicine for depression.

I asked her how she felt after taking the medicine and she said that she felt better but it also made her more anxious.  I noticed before that she has shaky hands.  She’s a bright and funny girl and I wouldn’t have guessed that she was taking medicine for depression.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I told Praew that she could talk to me anytime if she wanted.

For the last couple of days, I’ve been trying to encourage Baipad to do something kind for her friends.  Yesterday she offered up that she lent her lip balm to her friend.

But then I asked her to do something intentionally kind today and she was stuck.

When I saw her in the morning she and all her friends were all just sitting playing games on their phones, with barely any interaction between them.

She told me that she will go to Chiang Mai tomorrow so I reminded her that she could buy a nice gift for a friend or something like that.  Let’s see if she does!

I took this picture because Jin demanded it. Ueang and Jin, busy avoiding study.

Over The Horizon – 18th June 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

What about the baby that pulled the trigger?
He just liked explosions
That made him happy
So many toys to play with
The mind is easily distracted
– It’s so very far away
– Death is so very far away

It can’t even be seen over the horizon

Bang, bang, they’re dead
They all fall down
Because bigger is better
On this side of town

Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #335

Today I’m feeling:

A little less enthusiastic but still have energy reserves somehow.  The first half of the week is pretty easy now and whilst the last couple of days are busy, they are pretty easy too.

Today I’m grateful for:

Our little birds that came and raised their family with us.  It was cool to watch them grow and then fly away.  Good luck to them.

The best thing about today was:

Spending some time in my room sorting out online music stuff with Parthiban, getting some money sorted to pay Johnny in HK for the Bennu LPs and chatting with Nampan and Team a bit.

And I was able to play some guitar which was fun too.

Something I learned today?

There was a big fire at Chatuchak Market a couple of days ago that killed thousands of animals. I don’t remember even seeing animals anywhere when I was there.

Amy took these pictures because today our little birdies flew the coop.

No Fish – 6th September 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A fish for today
A problem gone away
Tomorrow, will you be so kind?
A gift quite odd
Here’s a fishing rod
And you may eat all the fish you find

Today I’m feeling:

Ready for the day. I had a bit of a bad dream when my alarm went off. A weird story of Nong May and I walking across a street and she bumped into a guy and they both fell over. I was concerned for both of them and we ended up catching a scary bus to get to a doctor and insurance place. Everything around was getting darker and more ominous. I could’ve slept a lot longer but I was quite glad to get out of this dream.

Today I’m grateful for:

Not having caught everyone’s colds and flu so far. Many students are sick, coughing and sneezing in class. Sooner or later I will get sick for sure but so far so good. I can feel my throat is dry and itchy just when I’m writing this!

The best thing about today was:

Feeling like my Thai language learning is improving just by using it in class more often and trying to understand the kids when they speak Thai to me. Google Translate is much better than it was a couple of years ago and I can imagine we get to a point where we don’t even bother to learn languages anymore and use super fast translation instead. 

In my grade 10 class today I asked the students how often they used messaging instead of calling and it seemed to be 80/20 favouring messaging.

Will we stop talking altogether? Once we figure out converting thoughts into text maybe our mouths will only be used for eating.

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

Yesterday I was thinking about doing a particular exercise (running dictation) with a couple of my one-hour classes but then remembered that in previous years it had taken much longer, so I quickly switched them around to be in our two-hour classes, one of which was today. 

I was then shocked to find them finished within the hour and us having time to spare. I stretched things out before letting them do other work or free time. 

Everyone enjoyed the class, though they got hot with the running and as I had anticipated the lazier students soon got distracted but in the end, things turned out ok. I do the same exercise with another class tomorrow.

Something I learned today?

There are rumours that the terrible fires in Hawaii, which locals are saying may have killed a couple of thousand people, may have been deliberately started or at least had a deliberately delayed response as investors were looking to get the area cleared out to build a new ‘city’.  Save time and money by letting everything burn!

The locals are still struggling to receive help or even information. It sure looks like a horrible situation and is close to a modern genocide if these people are to be believed.

What random memory comes to mind right now?

This is a difficult question to answer when sitting and trying to think of it. It then becomes not random. Random memories will pop up during the day but not at the time I have this question in my mind. All the things that happened today are already memories and they are already swirling around in the quagmire of my brain.

Next time an older memory does randomly appear I’ll try to remember it and come back and add it. Or more likely I will read this sometime in the future and all the text here will be the actual random memory.

What am I taking for granted?

I think I am probably taking a lot of things for granted right now, though because of that, they are difficult for me to identify. Everyday things such as water, electricity, internet, phone, computer data, and music are almost ubiquitous and easily taken for granted and would be stressful if taken away. 

In some ways, I take Amy for granted but that is part of a relationship and we often remind each other in mostly humorous ways that we don’t do that.

Part of writing a gratitude entry every day is to be reminded not to take things for granted.

Miyor took this picture amongst a whole bunch of others because she was messing around with apps and filters etc.  I wish the kids would put as much effort into studying English! 

Idle Idol – 27th April 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

He’s a girl and she’s a boy
Both of them a producers toy
Under makeup and bright lights
The manufactured product fights
A name that is soon forgotten
A past that’s found to be rotten
Fans are either for or against
It’s impossible to sit on the fence
If there are brains behind the mask
Showing it may be too much to ask
Flooded with undeserved affection
Failing to pass closer inspection
So idols get what they deserve
A fame that is unable to preserve
And so idle under adulation
Until another steps up to the station

Today I’m feeling:

Ok. My neck is super sore from not moving it much for a month. I did a mini warm-up this morning and will try to make it a little longer each day to prepare for my usual wake-up routine. I know this makes me feel better but just can’t motivate myself during the holiday.

Today I’m grateful for:

Finding salad today at the walking market. It was pretty good though a little different to the one I usually get. For some reason, I’ve been wanting for salad recently. I think my normal seller may have given up because it’s been so long since I’ve seen them. Business is tough out there and everyone is trying to make their baht.

The best thing about today was:

Cap has spent most of the day with me and I’ve been grooming him and cutting his dreadlocks. His hair feels gorgeous again as does Tig’s, I think because of the special gel that we used to feed Kim to help counter her leukaemia.

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

I don’t feel there was anything today. If there was something I must have handled it without thinking and accepted it as reality.

Something I learned today?

I came across a video to help getting students to quiet down and concentrate in the classroom. I’m thinking I will try the Simon Says technique where I can bring the whole class back to focus by saying ‘Simon says stand up’ and the kids paying attention will do it and the kids that aren’t will want to know what’s going on. I also need to drill them with this in the first week so they get used to it. I hope I have better control this year. Over myself and the students.

What is my favourite photo of the past month?

With the bad air and the tragic start to this month, my mind focused a lot on pictures of Kim and they still make me sad to look at. But looking through the pictures I can see that there are still some nice ones there. Ones I will appreciate in time.

I took this picture because I took a few detours on the way home from Utopia and fresh growth smells were returning to perfume the air. But this picture shows the devastation across the mountains from fire. I don’t think these would have been burned deliberately but more likely from other small fires getting out of control.

The Reveal – 29th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Let the sunshine in
But don’t let it burn your eyes
Sometimes you’ve got to win
For time to reveal the prize
This puzzle piece
Is much smaller than it may feel
Take a deep breath
Let time spice the reveal

One must always maintain one’s connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.

Gaston Bachelard

Today I’m feeling:
Satisfied though a little rundown.
Today I’m grateful for:
My resolve to actually sit and play guitar even though I had been telling myself that I didn’t want to after not really enjoying it for the last couple of days. I ended up playing for about 50 minutes and felt good afterwards.
The best thing about today was:
Finally doing the vacuuming around the whole house and enjoying the result. I can let things get a little dusty and dirty but there’s a point where it’s just too much and has to be done. I don’t have the same resolve to mop the floors though!
If your house was on fire and your family were safe, what would you grab?
I think I’d grab things like diaries, writing, and photos. Things which aren’t replaceable. Most everything else can be replaced or reconsidered whether it was actually needed. When I was younger I would have tried to protect all my records, or maybe my favourites. Since they are mostly all gone now since twice moving countries the fact that I once owned them still carries meaning. I sold all my comics before moving to Australia and then bought many many more in Australia and finally sold all those again before moving to Thailand. Digitisation of all these things at least makes them easily available without having to physically own them. This is slightly saddening to me but I can understand it too. The kids growing up now are hopefully being overawed by things I’m too old to understand.

I took this picture because this weird tree that Jessica’s auntie gave us a few years ago is starting to flower. I should try to find out more about this tree. It’s certainly doing very well.

The Week That Was – 3rd September 1984

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

3rd September 1984
Signed on. Saw Vicky, Sarah, Goober and Marshall.

6th Oct 2023 – Vicky? Sarah? Marshall? Rupert reminded me about Goober recently with a picture which definitely rang a bell but no real memories of him.

5th September 1984
Signed on again

6th Oct 2023 – My memory is of having to sign on every two weeks. Perhaps this week was my first time to do it. I got £26 a week, which I used to finish up in one or two days.

8th September 1984
Came off bike on the road. All day fire at the wood.

6th Oct 2023 – I was turning right at the junction pictured, before there was a divider at the give way. The road was wet and slippery and as I leaned my bike into the traffic-free turn the back wheel slipped out from under me and I slid along the tarmac for about 5 metres. There wasn’t too much damage done to either myself or the motorbike, scrapped knee and hand. I was more shaken up about it than in any pain. I was always more careful on wet roads and turning after that. Even now, when there is gravel on the road, as is often the case here, I tense up a little and try not to lean in too much.

*The Week That Was –11th June 1984

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Records of the week: Big Fat Beast – Roses are Red…, Pregnant Combine Harvesters – SDC rip-off job

11th June 1984
Got my mum’s record player yesterday – plays records at right speed now. Went into Wimborne. Saw Hatchard – the cunt. Saw Simon. He got me some fags. Came back. Went down track. Came round then Hinton Martell. Saw Carly who nicked some fags for me. Called for James S. Had a chat. Said I’ll buy Greg’s bike. Me and James went for a ride around. Still got back in time for Hill Street Blues.

12th June 1984
Got up at 10.30. Didn’t do much as usual. In fact, all I can remember is going over Jez’s. Went for game of snooker in which I won haha. Came back to watch the Young Ones which was pretty good. After that, I did practically fuck all but I must fill up these spaces, mustn’t I?

13th June 1984
Fucking alarm shocked me out of sleep. Fuckin’ maths exam. Piss boring. Managed to write six poems in front of Granny Gray. Came back. Had a bath. Took dog. Went down track. Filling in bits now, making it better. Came back for tea and went down again. Built a fucking massive fire and burnt some of the rubbish down there. England 0-2 Uruguay

14th June 1984
Got up, pissed around. Me and Jez were running around looking for Ben. Jez came over. We loaded stuff into car and mum took us over to Dominic’s. Left stuff there. Me and Jez walked to Verwood. I got slightly drunk on the way. Went to Goober’s. His mum took us back, started practicing. Went out, came back. Went in pub, got something to drink. Mum collected us and told me I had a job tomorrow.

15th June 1984
Got up at 6.15. Went to Lorna’s. Me and Stewart went to a house. Stripped a couple of windows. Ate sandwiches with Bob (?). He took us to Verwood where I was shifting blocks. Got 6 quid off Bob. Got 3 off Stewart. Came back. Went down to see James. We decided not to go and see Vicki so I stayed there and watched Class of 1984 which was ok. I’m sure Jello Biafra was in it. Also saw Airplane II.

16th June 1984
Got up 11.30. Went to Wimborne. Got the Entity which I’ll watch at James’ tonight. Took it to their place. Had a chat. Came back. Took dog. Went back to Wimborne. Got Sounds. Had a chat with some people. Roggo(?) got a tattoo. Came back. Watched telly til 8.15. Went down to Gaunts. Went to James’. Took us about an hour to get the video to work. Watched the Entity which was good.

17th June 1984
Got up 11.30. Fuckin’ knackered for some reason. Rung Jez. He came over. Rang Ben twice but he wasn’t there. Went down to Winton. Vince, (?), Dodds, Jim, Roo, Jez and me went. Self Abuse played bloody good. Madmass were bloody good as well. Cult Maniax also good. I didn’t stop dancing. Rupert was being a big fuckin’ prick. Came back. Took Vince back. He says he’ll drum for us.

*The Week That Was – 28th May 1984

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Record of the week: Black Flag – My War

28th May 1984
Got to sleep at 4am. Woke up at 11. Watched telly. I got a bad back. Took Ben home. I was in bed most of the day. My back was killing me. Got better so went to Houldey’s. They were watching some pop shit. Beki and Dandy kept fucking going ‘Cor, he’s beautiful’ and all that shit. Came back. Watched Scully, Private Benjamin and Hill Street Blues.

29th May 1984
Woke up. Went to Wimborne. Absolutely no one there. Went to Houldey’s. Came back. Started more on the Beast. Went back to Houldey’s to get a rubber. Dandy wasn’t wearing much and I was trying not to stare. Came back. Did a bit of painting. The night has little in store. Got on with more painting – top Beast is nearly complete. Can’t remember anything else. Went to sleep.

30th May 1984
Got up 11. Decided to go to Wimborne in the hope of seeing Kathryn. Saw Liz, Wayne, Dodds. Wimborne is a shithole. So came back. Did more painting. Watched European Cup Final Liverpool vs AS Roma 1-1. Liverpool won on penalties. Andy rang, said Anti-Sect was off as the place got smashed up so they aren’t having gigs there. Watched Force 10 From Navarone. Sleep.

31st May 1984
Got up 12. Went down the track but came back. Did painting. Stewart rang and gave me a number to ring about a job. I rang – bloke wasn’t there – said he’d ring back – waited. Decided to go out. Went down track. Then up to Houldey’s. Beat Jamie at pool. Found out Kathryn’s number is the one I’ve got. Came back. Did more on painting. It’s now 1.30ish. Night night.

1st June 1984
Couldn’t sleep – was doing Rubik’s Cube at 3 in the morning. Got to sleep at 4. Woke up at 10.30 – feel knackered. Did more painting for a while. Went down track. It’s in a bit of a state after the rain. Went to Houldey’s – didn’t stay long. Running out of petrol. Came back. Rang about job again – he wasn’t there. Rang Kathyrn – she said Jamie was lying about her wanting to go out with me. Pissed off – so went out on common. Watched film.

2nd June 1984
Mum woke me up at 8.50. Went to get bus but the fucker didn’t come. Came back and did more painting. Got bus in the afternoon – met Sam Church – had a game of telephone numbers with her. Finally managed to get Black Flag LP at last. Fuck all to do in Poole. Plenty of nice girls though – but there’s no chance. Came back. (?) kids were following Sam on a moped. Dandy got on bus – cor. Came back. Black Flag LP is not as good as expected. Watched telly all night. Found some books to read.

3rd June 1984
Woke up 12. Finally finished painting. Thinking of a background to do for it. Took dog. Pissed around for a while. Went to Houldey’s. Went down track. Went up dump with Jasp and Muz. Me and Jasp started a fire – Muz bricked it home. We went back. I came back. Watched Spitting Image and (?). Pretty good. It’s 12 now so it’s tomorrow.