Tag: housework

Negative Spurs – 22nd January 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

You’re either winning or learning
Embrace the struggle and pain
Push through your muscles burning
Get back up and do it again

Title appropriated from Robert Greene’s Daily Laws

Today I’m feeling:

Happy, relaxed and a little sore in my right side chest from when I came off the bike yesterday

Today I’m grateful for:

My aching body reminding me that I am still alive, reminding me of days past when wounds and pain were a part of everyday adventure.

The best thing about today was:

Having a long conversation in LINE with my student Mee after she told me she doesn’t know why she is alive. I talked about a lot of different things with her such as the dichotomy of control and methods of improving self-talk but the thing she really took to was different things to do to distract herself from spiralling out of control with negative thoughts. I told her about the FutureMe website and she immediately went off and her future self an email. It will give her a spark, something to live for, just to receive her own email after she has forgotten about it.

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

Waking up in the night to the sound of one of our cats throwing up. I was just hoping it wasn’t on my donna but when I woke up unfortunately it was. Amy’s doona was still hanging from last night as well as the week’s clothes but there was nothing else for it except to wash my doona and hang it over my drying clothes and hoping everything would get a chance to dry. It did.

Something I learned today?

The beginning of the Jam’s Start is ripped off from the Beatles’ Taxman, a song I don’t think I’ve ever heard before until today.

If you could have 2 wishes, what would they be?

Wishes again? Ok, let’s play.

  1. I have the power to grant people two wishes.
  2. Any wish anyone makes can have no negative outcome for anyone or anything now or in the future.
I took this picture because I have to shampoo Tigger to try and clean up his skin from a fungal infection. But as soon as I’ve finished he, smartly, goes out into the sun but then rolls around in the stones which is how he gets the infection in the first place.

Day Is Done – 14th January 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A day of too much time
Passes by lethargically slow
Nothing got done
And the day is gone before you know

Today I’m feeling:

Motivated and relaxed

Today I’m grateful for:

Our drain cleaning tool (again). It’s a bit of an effort but gets our pipes cleared 90% of the time and is a simple device. Good decision to buy it.

The best thing about today was:

Feeling like I did very little and realizing I’d done quite a lot, tasks that I knew would take some effort like fixing the screen outside my room and cleaning the gutter from the garage roof, which has my toe throbbing from a nasty cut. I’m feeling half dead and half alive. I know I could’ve done a lot more today but everything felt like there was little hurry.

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

Nothing much today. Late afternoon I found the neighbour’s kids riding around our lawn and I found it amusing kind of reminding me of my old home in Whitehaven and the garden we had there where we left it open so people could easily walk through the alleys. We had many lodgers who came and went and I was used to there being many different and changing people around.

Anyway, whilst it’s not out of my control it is something I’m choosing not to control.

Something I learned today?

I got into watching One Championship women’s atomweight fighting and had been following teenager Victoria Lee, younger sister to Angela.

Today I found out that she died on December 26th aged just 18. She didn’t look much different to my students and had a bright future ahead. Although her death has no personal meaning to me it doesn’t seem fair or right. I also feel extremely lucky to be here at 55.

Have you ever been bullied?

When I was in middle school I was bullied by older kids. I purposely stood out as the only ‘real’ punk kid and was tormented by the older kids calling me Sid. I tried to brush it off but it definitely helped make me bitter towards humanity.

I couldn’t understand how people could be so normal and boring and also not furious at the situation they were growing up into. I didn’t want to be them so I brought it on myself but better that than an average Joe.

When I became one of the older kids I sometimes resorted to bullying but I understood it wasn’t the right way to go about things. I also wasn’t beefy enough to be threatening.

I did acquire a vicious tongue though and was never afraid to speak my mind.

I took this picture because this gunk came out of my bathroom sink pipes! No wonder water was backing up. I could only unblock it so far and not sure how long it will be before I have to do this again. So much for a beautiful picture every day. However, it should be recognised I can do some dirty work every now and then. My hands aren’t always soft and clean.

Famous For Less Than 15 Minutes – 19th November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

His name is in the papers
Overcome with joy
Running around excited
As a little boy
There, upon a page
Was indeed his name
A minor accident
Bought a day of fame
It surely won’t last
As other events soon came
But it was still a source
Of pride just the same

inspired by an Anton Chekov short story

Coould be worse, think of all those poor people who have to answer emails in an office all day.

from Soaring Twenties Social Club newsletter

Today I’m feeling:
Exhausted
Today I’m grateful for:
Our old vacuum cleaner that still soldiers on despite all the cat hair and mummified lizards. The floor will look good for five minutes. As soon as the cats come in from outside bringing dust, dirt and grass with them it will be back to normal.
The best thing about today was:
Talking to Hayden for a good thirty minutes. He’d received the blog posts that I’d printed out for him and we chatted about those amongst other things. It was good to share with him and I think he appreciated my sending them.
Daily thought
What would you do with the ring of Gyges?
I’d like to think I would be a guiding hand for good. Stop cats and dogs from getting run over, and somehow help people make better decisions and not get stuck with problems. Perhaps I would be a little Robin Hood too though. Try to spread the wealth and happiness around further. It’s all perilous though. Maybe there’s a set balance in the world and for every good in one place something bad would still happen somewhere else. Maybe if just be a voyeur and trying to understand the ways people think about things.
Write about your favourite/worst haircut.
I liked my hair when it covered more of my head. I liked it when it was shaggy. I always like it messy too. I liked when it was blue too but that was only for one day as Amy refused to be seen with me with my hair that way. Haha.

I took this picture because Pi’ti was looking cute here and the only places I went today we’re here at Utopia and the car wash. Not many photo opportunities there.

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.

A Time Too Brief – 6th June 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

I’m going to take you to heaven
After I’ve fixed all your faults
It’s the end of the road, Jack
The silent fist assaults
Miseries drowned in buckets
You were saved and risen
A life designed for a moment
All that you were given
To chase the tail of fortune
Or find a place to be
Put down and out of here
A time too brief to see
The struggles of the brothers
All fighting for a teat
Survival of the luckiest
Suckled and complete

Our life is shaped by people on the margins, people who are doing things we don’t know how to do or where to do them.

Jack Weatherford

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for my clean bedroom floor. I took the time to mop it and it has made it look like a liveable bedroom again. Now – for the rest of the house!

The Week That Was – 19th August 1979

If I – 30th January 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

If I was guarding the prisoner
I’d loosen their chains
If I was lost in a dark wood
I’d look where light remains
If I was walking home late
I’d shortcut through the park
If I found your magic idol
I’d goof around in the dark
If I could be young again
I’d test myself further still
If I found the point of no return
I’d climb the nearest hill
If I was caught in this rip
I’d flail against the tide
If I found all the answers
I’d find somewhere safe to hide
If I saw all the warning signs
I’d still struggle to react
If I heard you telling lies
I’d tell you what is fact
Me, you and everyone else
Like cats fighting over a fish
Me, you and everyone else
We’ll fight for what we wish

My poetry is, or should be, useful to me for one reason. It is the record of my struggle from darkness toward some measure of light.

Dylan Thomas

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to listen to music in my house whilst doing housework-type things.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #58 – 2nd October 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

The most challenging rock podcast on the internet as voted by everyone, everywhere.

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 Mission of Burma, The Darkening Scale, Karl Blake, Dysrhythmia, Sonic Youth, Hawkwind, Billy Childish and the Blackhands, No Submission, Zoo Types, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Parquet Courts, Orthrelm, Cause For Effect, Jimi Hendrix, Everyone To The Anderson, Terminal Cheesecake and Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

Intro and background music by Utotem, Phantom Tollbooth, Daniel Striped Tiger and someone else I forgot.
Incidentals taken from the Church of the Sub Genius Hour of Slack.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHALLENGE!?

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

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to share my life with Amy. Even though I enjoy being by myself I miss her being around when she goes away. I know she does lots of work around the house and it takes me a long time to do all those things.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #19 – 4th January 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Music from R. Stevie Moore, Alamaailman Vasarat, Kustomized, Sun City Girls, The Monkees, Flesh Narc, Beastie Boys, Cheer-Accident, Milk Burp, Different I’s, Logic Circuit, The Skatallites, Rebel Truth, GIRTH, Mahavita, Toy Dolls, The Woolies, Angelic Upstarts, Lost Nation and Bleach.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for our visitors who fill our home with action and variation. It’s nice to be able to share our experiences with other people.

From commonplace book

I’m much more interested in being a hero than a professional.

Billy Childish

To-do list

  • Get out of your own head and talk to people ½
  • Compliment people ½
  • Do something nice for someone
  • Upload TCRAH ✅
  • Write to Kieran and Chrissie ✅
  • Write blog about making friends

A busy and productive day – time ran away too quickly.

Mam and her family enjoyed breakfast and within an hour we had students.

I feel more confident today and have mostly pushed the negative from yesterday out of my mind. This was helped a lot by getting down my thoughts when writing to Kieran and Chrissie.

I was happy to receive a reply from Jochen. Well-considered and thoughtful ideas to my questions particularly about children. I look forward to composing a reply. He has also agreed to do some recorded responses for the podcast which provides me with the challenge to prepare and execute that.

I didn’t manage to do all the things on my list today, perhaps overreaching. I need to take into account that recording a new podcast can take up to three hours.

My self-control was only minimally tested today when Amy wanted to go to a local shop to buy some clothes for the funeral tomorrow. I was fine with this, to be honest – it was necessary. I do feel a little that I am sick at the moment though but mostly just dizziness and not affecting my mood.

We have a 5 am wake-up tomorrow and I hope I can get some extra sleep on the drive to Chiang Mai. I’m somewhat prepared with things to listen to on my phone and things to read. I don’t anticipate any other free time tomorrow.

Something I could have done better with today would have been to help Amy more with things around the house. I’m very lucky that she cooks and cleans for me all the time. It gives me lots of free time and I often feel somewhat selfish for that.

*Work – 2nd September 1998

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Email with TLJ

T: still at uni. mail me babe, need ya.
what are you doing this evening – more sitting on your balcony.

S: Not sure what time you sent this – I just got back from lunch (just went for a walk). Hope yr day is good. I guess I’ll be on the balcony – will probably clean the other two chairs and sweep up the bird seed (will have to get a feeder on the weekend I think) put away the clothes move the carpet and maybe organise it all a bit more feng shui. Care to join me? You are welcome anytime – what’s mine is yours OK! Was thinking I’d like to go back to Market City on the weekend – get some sago pudding maybe…can you make it – maybe go to What Is Music afterwards? What you think my love?

T: well, can’t get through to di’s mobile, and her home phone is busy, so may be able to see you tonight. only one prob – eric messed up my hair so it looks shit, and i took my wax out of my bag just this morning, so I’m really upset. i lost my spikes! maybe i can get some wax – and a massage at your place babe.
going to the library now, will be back soon and hopefully i can meet you in chatswood. give me a time and a place babe. or are you doing anything else tonight?

S: I’ll be here for you sweetheart. My machine is having a spazz at the moment so I may not be able to mail you again. I’ll fix your hair and give you a massage – no worries. Call me when you can. Love to you angel