“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Andre Gide
Another classic Existential Comic (#617)
Shared with W3 prompt #164 – a quadrille about ‘what remains’.
Shared with Momoetry April Poet Month challenge – micropoetry (not very micro but it is one of the forms included) with a few links back to some borrowed or paraphrased lines of inspiration including one* that I forgot to take note of.
A rictameter. Starting your first line with a two-syllable word, you then consecutively increase the number of syllables per line by two. i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Then down again, 8, 6, 4, 2, making the final line the same two-syllable word you began with.
Submitted to Weekend Writing Prompt #377 – Reverberate and inspired (and paraphrased) by the Red Hand Files #296
Today I’m feeling:
A little bit of everything. I could not force myself up with my alarm this morning. I felt a dark ache around my nose, like having a cold but with no other symptoms. Maybe it’s just a covid hangover. I’m still coughing up mucus from my chest but it’s not clearing at all.
I slept for an extra 30 minutes before getting up and slowly started to wind up for the day. And once I was going, I was fine.
My first two classes with grade 11s were both easy and enjoyable. A quick dash out for another coffee and back for cat-herding my grade 8s, who still managed to make me laugh.
Health:
Physical: 6
Mental: 8
Today I’m grateful for:
Yoghurt being in stock at Makro and when I arrived there, I was directed to a parking space that was undercover from the rain. Perfect.
The best thing about today was:
…there’s not one thing that stands out in particular. My time at school was very enjoyable all around.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Amy told me that it had been raining at home all day and it came to school in the afternoon with torrential downpours.
When I got home, Amy wanted to go down to the bridge at the end of our Soi where she could see people gathering. It was already flooding on the other side of the bridge and runoff water spilt into the rice field. If the rice field fills, then our houses are next.
It’s stopped raining here but still falling up in the mountains and all that water will be heading down here at some point.
Amy is panicking a little as she sees pictures and stories online of animals and pets being drowned in floods in various parts of the country. I’m not too worried just yet.
Something I learned today?
As Nomsen was lying on the floor to do her work, she accidentally showed off a tattoo across her chest. I asked her about it, and she said that she has six tattoos already! She’s only 13 years old.
She’s not the best student, but she doesn’t seem to be a stereotypically ‘bad’ girl either.
I told her that in Western countries, you must be 18 to get a tattoo (not that that stops everyone, of course).
Review your acts, Good and bad.
At the halfway point of the year, and halfway point of the three years of junior high for my grade 8s, I’m starting to see who will soon give up and not be able to go further.
Somehow, these kids are the most fun to interact with and I will still try to keep pushing them, even just to try and fail but never give up.
Submitted to Writer’s Workshop Prompts and NaPoMo and practising writing the Treochair form – An Irish form consisting of tercets (3-line stanzas) of any number. It is syllabic with 3/7/7 syllables per stanza and a rhyme scheme where the 1st and 3rd lines of a stanza rhyme. Heavy alliteration is expected with all 3 lines within a stanza.
Today I’m feeling:
Tired but good. Amy was up with the light and turned the aircon off so I knew I would have to get up soon because it quickly gets too hot to sleep.
I forced myself up and into my room to try this new app for exercise. I realised that it wasn’t any better than what I already use though but was happy to have tried it as it motivated me up this morning at least.
Today I’m grateful for:
There being no damage done. (See the story below)
The best thing about today was:
The bull! This actually happened late last night.
Maybe at around 10 pm I thought that I heard something on our terrace, maybe our cats chasing lizards or something like that. I turned on the lights and peaked out but there was nothing obvious so I went back to watching TV.
A little later I heard the moo of a cow in the distance. It didn’t sound close so I didn’t think much of it.
At about 11.20 pm I heard the noises again and turned on the lights and peaked out. Still nothing. So I thought I should go out and investigate.
Stepping onto the terrace I heard a wet blowy breathing sound and standing there in our entertainment area was a pitch-black bull as tall as me. I jumped back and stepped inside to grab my phone so I could use its torch to herd it back out to wherever it belonged because it certainly didn’t belong with us!
When I came back out the bull had jumped the small wall out of the entertainment and started wandering off around the garden, obviously not too happy to be confronted. I went off to the gate to open it and returned to where I guessed he might be. He wasn’t there.
The wind was blowing the leaves a little and the shadows from the house lights were dancing around and put me on edge. As I came around the back near the kitchen I jumped in a frightful expectation but it was just shadows.
Around to the back and then to the garage and around to the gate again. Where had this bull gone? Maybe it jumped over the fence? That seemed unlikely as this thing was massive.
My phone torch barely penetrated the darkness in the far corner of the garden but I guessed he was there, invisible with his colour. I nervously stepped forward and even though I was expecting to see a huge animal at some point it still shocked me when the stood-still bull opened its eyes in my direction so that I could see it clearly and it was less than a metre away. My arm hairs bristled and I stepped back in fright, now able to make out its fearsome shape. He gave me another wet breath for good luck.
I steeled myself and went around to its back and it didn’t need much prompting, seeming to know where the gate was already. Like it was just fucking with me.
I chuckled to myself as I closed the gate again. Tonight, I will do a quick check-around before closing our gate for the night.
Something I learned today?
A little bit of the history of Canada through reading The Decline of the British Empire. Building a nation-spanning railroad was seen as a way of keeping the USA at bay from expansion.
Since looking a little deeper it was also surprising that Canada only became a totally independent country in 1982.
Today I’m feeling:
Average. Not good or bad, a little tired but not unenthusiastic. A little bored and out of sync. Missing routine and unable to manufacture my own.
(I got lazy for the rest of the day, savouring reading, eating and watching TV)
Today I’m grateful for:
(The idea that the cream puff guy usually sells at the market, which inspired me to get out of the house in search of him. He wasn’t there but I was still glad to get out.)
The best thing about today was:
(Being lazy and not caring!)
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
(See above)
Something I learned today?
(At the time, the English thought that though Australians were strong they were not brave and cut out to be soldier material, during the fighting in Gallipoli during the First World War. I found this odd as Australians still celebrate the bravery of the soldiers there. History can be shaped in any way necessary.)
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
(Continuing support for Anchan and Baipad, though I’m starting to feel a little helpless. They both must feel terrible.)
When do I feel most connected to others?
I feel weirdly connected with everyone that I know as if I saw them again after many years then nothing would have changed. This might be a problem as obviously everything has changed in that time.
It’s one of the reasons that I don’t contact people often (I’m quite happy by myself) though I do recognise that others won’t feel the same way.
I’m most connected with my students these days, again understanding that they are not connected with me in the same way. Talking and playing with students is when I feel most connected.
1994ever 