Tag: guitar

We got that attitude! – 12th February 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful for a day off work today. I was a bit tired yesterday – perhaps from working out too much and not enough protein – something I should fix. So I was beat when I got home and just watched TV and slept early – a nice long sleep.

I missed a day (of writing) because I didn’t come into my room yesterday evening – just lazed, watching TV and reading and then slept a lot – was even more tired.

I was fluctuating between happy and depressed depending on how I read into people’s reactions to me. I didn’t feel fully in control.

Today is a day off – now today has a day off for Chinese New Year and the urging to get people to go out and spend money again. There’s another long weekend in a couple of weeks too!

The best thing about today was meeting Aing and Manow again – it feels like a long time since we last saw them. Aing said she misses her old gang of boys (Nu, Gus and Mink) – her new gang is all girls and ladyboys. Nothing stays the same.

I enjoyed picking weeds our of the grass as the ground is still soft from the soaking earlier this week. My hands smell of green and dirt.

I’m also happily getting better at guitar – very slowly but I can see and hear the progress. I’m still enjoying the process. Slowly, slowly.

We got that attitude! – 31st January 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful for my enthusiasm to learn new things. It seems unbelievable to me that I am learning to play the guitar, learning to sketch and preparing to read War and Peace! My 20-year-old self would be sceptical and amazed.
I am so happy and grateful for the rain yesterday. It was a surprise and I thought it would never come. Now our plants are nourished again after about 3 months of dry. They will green up again before going back to yellow and pale for the next few dry months. There’s a beautiful cold fog this morning.

There’s nothing that you stole from me that I didn’t give up willingly – 6th January 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

My head is already at school and I’m not in the now. Bring it back. My body is in the morning routine and I need to have my head in it too. Practice – pay attention to that meditation.

Onwards to the shower and the rest of the day. Body feels good.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I remember to keep a book in my car so that if I forget my headphones and can’t study in the morning at least I can read a book. Dostoyevsky this morning!

The best thing that happened to me today was putting together some lesson plans that I hope will go well for next year’s classes. I also met a lot of the Primary students this morning and they all still seem to really like me. That made me happy.

I have nearly finished level 4 of Yousician – I’m doing it very badly but once I’ve passed I will go back and practice more. I think I will be on level 4 for a while before I can advance any further. I’m still enjoying playing guitar though.

We got that attitude! – 5th October 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful that I sat and stretched this morning. I feel much better and less stiff.

To-do list

  • Is there someone you can connect with? ½
  • How about a random act of kindness? ½
  • Listen to more of your own music
  • Keep practising that guitar! ✅
  • Workout and yoga too!

Now it’s the 29th and I’m on school holiday for about ten days. It’s nice not to have to go through the familiar routines of getting up and going to work. I’m curious how I can get back into my morning routines after missing them for so many weeks since it started getting dark in the mornings.

I have to motivate myself to do that because I know I definitely feel better when I do those things in the morning.

I have been good at practising guitar and really enjoying it. I am making slow and steady progress. I do notice more pain in my arms thought but I’m hoping that that will just be muscles strengthening slowly. I’m getting interested in the whole music theory and will pick up a MIDI keyboard soon.

I’ve also been learning Thai with a tutor and can see comparisons in this learning. Got to stick with it – through the difficult periods.

Right now I’m in Phuket for a few days with Amy (meeting up with Fern, who it is great to see again). We are staying in a 5-star hotel and seeing beautiful sights, eating amazing food and we are forever grateful for everything we have. I am generally happy and content with whatever I am doing.

Tonight I looked at the sky and contemplated what a twenty-year-old Shaun would think of the idea of where he is now. I’m glad I never gave up on life even in dark and directionless times too.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #57 – 26th September 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Highly curated, carefully selected and specifically ordered for your listening edification by world-renowned DJtenzenmen, who has over 50 years of experience in this business.

This week there’s music from Flower Travellin’ Band, The Spy From Cairo, Autechre, Incredible String Band, Delmonas 5, Eat Avery’s Bones, Bukkake Moms, Et Cetera, Montreal, Present, The Hold Steady and The Dismemberment Plan.

Intro and background music by Utotem.
Incidentals taken from the Church of the Sub Genius Hour of Slack.

PLAY IT LOUD!

Find us on Twitter and Facebook too. Tell us if you like it, tell us if you don’t.
Listen right here on Podbean or Mixcloud, Stitcher, Apple, Amazon…..all those cool places I guess.

26th Sept 2021 – It feels like nothing much has happened in the intervening year but it also feels like doing the podcast was more than a year ago. I have discovered much more new music to enjoy in the last 12 months but find myself reading books more often these days and I don’t have the brain power to do both at the same time anymore.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to have a guitar again. I’ll never be a great player, maybe not even a good one, but I can enjoy playing and practising at my own pace.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #56 – 19th September 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-nm8g8-ec1738

Highly curated, carefully selected and specifically ordered for your listening edification by world-renowned DJtenzenmen, who has over 50 years of experience in this business.

This week there’s music from Meat Wave, Melted Ice Cream, The Ex, Grippers Nother Onesers, Django Bates, The Lies, Flin Flon, The Victims, Funkadelic, Red Kross, 5uu’s, Sebadoh, Rolo Tomassi, Tafo Brothers, Rutles, Le Singe Blanc, The Angels of Epistemology, Orthrelm and Realtors.

PLAY IT LOUD! Find us on Twitter and Facebook too. Tell us if you like it, tell us if you don’t.

Intro and background music by Utotem.
Incidentals taken from the Church of the Sub Genius Hour of Slack.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I have some spare money from teaching that I could buy a guitar and happy that I have some free time to be able to try and learn to play. No pressure, just fun.