Inspired by the email newsletter from Rob Walker I’ve been trying to take notice of simple and mundane things. A nice practice to remind oneself that everything is now.
This first post is chairs. This was pretty easy – it’s actually the second thing I chose to start noticing but completed (finding 10 items) first. I’ll post more of these as they are completed, which may be a while as we are back in a lockdown situation again due to the rising number of cases of Covid 19 across Thailand.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful that we have a car and that we can take Kim back to the vet this morning as she isn’t recovering from a cold and can’t breathe properly. It’s lockdown time and we’re a little worried to go out but at least this negative aspect gets us out of the house briefly. So somewhat grateful for this trying time.
A beautiful sleep last night, with the windows open and a fan sucking in the cool air, sourced from a thunderstorm that slowly developed over the mountains and brought us some rain, not too much but steady and nutritious for our plants. Dosing off to departing claps of thunder was soothing and restful.
I felt slightly tired and anxious yesterday, for no particular reason at all and today is the opposite, for no particular reason too.
I am so happy and grateful for a nice long refreshing sleep. So deep I don’t remember any dreams – still sleepy now with eyes unable to focus properly. Time to do a little exercise and shake the cobwebs loose.
Kim Chi was acting strangely last night, looking scared and hiding herself away. This morning she didn’t show up at breakfast time and by 11.30 Amy and I were both starting to worry as we leave tomorrow morning for 5 days.
Finally, Amy found he hiding behind our long grass outside our gate. I quickly saw that she had a big, clean hole as a wound in her side so we had to bundle her up and take her straight to the vet where she will have to stay until we get back. They said that the wound was not infected but just needed to be cleaned and checked daily.
In balance I think animals bring more joy than worry but as you get more the potential for problems seems to increase. I still like the idea of a dog but I’m not sure of the wisdom of having one.
I am so happy and grateful that there is a local vet nearby where we can take our cats in the case of small emergencies. Last night we had to take Kim Chi to get some wounds cleaned up – looks like from fighting. She’s much better already
Just had another good class with Maeve in which she commented she feels much more fluent in her speech already. She did very well.
I then worked out my abs – which has made me feel good. And today at school I managed to work out a way to complete my 20 lessons plans, not just quickly and easily but also with a good method.
George is so off with me now that it is actually amusing. Dylan follows him around like a puppy but even he pushed back a little today too, light-heartedly commenting that George isn’t happy when Dylan doesn’t do what he wants.
Yufu, Maeve, nonsense in my head, breakfast ready, ache in neck, birds chirping, lesson plans, write, read, coffee, holidays, alcohol. Kim Chi, lazy Kim Chi, are you boy or girl and does it matter to a cat? Work those abs. What are you grateful for today? Get nonsense out of your head.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for this awesome breakfast Amy has prepared for me. Set me up for the day. Gotta start eating before it goes cold.
The best thing about today was when I was asked to attend a meeting with all teachers and the presenter was an hour and a half late and I dealt with it by meditation and thinking about other things that I wished to do.
Previously I would have been upset by situations like this and thought of them as a waste of time but now I can occupy my mind instead and let any frustration ease away. This is a sign of my growth.
We had a 4-day holiday over the new year. For 2021 I have made a half-hearted resolution to play more video games! Last year I rarely played anything at all. In fact, I have many things I could, can and will do but I thought it was amusing to make a resolution often seen as negative.
So for much of this 4-day holiday, I gave myself a backache by playing new games on my old Xbox One.
An exception to this was the evening of the 31st December where Amy and I enjoyed a spicy hot pot with the last packet of sauce my friend Ellen delivered from China last year (or the year before….when was it!?). We also sipped on yoghurt-flavoured shoju but Amy gave up around 11pm. We had watched the Sydney Harbour fireworks at 8pm and that is when Amy considers the new year to have actually started for us, her heart still being there. I carried on building cities and shooting monsters and was up again pretty early the following morning.
On the Saturday a few of Amy’s friends and I got together at a cafe on the way to Mae Sai. It was busy there but we all ate our fill and lazed around, Amy knocking back a few Heineken’s and getting a little louder as she likes to do.
We decided to visit her old friend from Sydney who has a cactus farm nearby and he kindly gave us a couple for Amy’s collection.
We had to stop at a shop on the way home so that Amy could grab another beer and she organized herself to head on into the city for more food and alcohol! My sweetheart the drunk!
I left her to it but she came back much earlier than I expected, mentioning about some of her friends who insist that good luck only comes from going to the temple – something that particularly rubs Amy the wrong way. Amy believes in herself and all good and bad comes from within. Thai people are still very superstitious and like to put blame and benefit on things outside their control. Obviously, I agree with Amy’s point of view but I don’t let other people’s ideas like this rub me the wrong way, though I also don’t have to listen to them complain about their lives either!
Before this holiday I thought I’d like to do something artistic again and started off with sketching. I have more ideas for continuing this than I have time currently available – it could be a battle between sketching or video games. I hope to balance this effectively. So, I was quite happy and proud of my first sketch – just looking up from my little floor table where I was working.
Brain dump
Post-yoga workout, meditate. Thoughts focus on relationships at school and people’s personalities. Stop comparing, you are you and you are fine – you don’t have to be like George or Dylan or anyone. Being yourself is fine.
Tigger cries in the morning. My middle back aches, work on core. 10 Burpee’s was tough! Getting up was tough.
Little Kim sleeps next to my butt. So much time – enjoy it – use it. Feel good. Feel strong.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for my body to struggle through doing 10 burpees this morning. It was slow going but I made it. I must carry on.
The best thing that happened today was to watch a student’s face look happy when knowing that they had learned and remembered how to say a word correctly. This always makes me happy.
I am so happy and grateful to have the time and inclination to try to learn a little more of a new language. When I had tried before I always gave up because it got too hard. It’s still hard and frustrating but I feel relaxed enough to take it slowly and enjoy it. I am so happy and grateful to wake up to another beautiful day with a healthy wife and semi-healthy cats. We are all alive. I am so happy and grateful to enjoy waking up this morning after an interrupted sleep of KimChi jumping on the fan and turning it on and off because she wanted to take her collar off and play and go outside. Eventually, she settled down and I slept until it got light and the village announcement came on and the music reminded me so much of waking up in KL at Kimi’s and listening to the call to prayer. I miss Kimi so much.
I am so happy and grateful that we have a good vet who we can call on easily as Kim hurt her eye last night and we had to take her there. Hopefully, she will be ok. I am so happy and grateful for all the challenges I face in my life. Through time and experience, I have learned to be able to deal with them. They have all helped me to grow.
Highly curated, carefully selected and specifically ordered* for your listening edification by world-renowned DJtenzenmen, who has over 1 year of experience in this business.
This week there’s music from Peter Black, Feed Me Jack, Cause For Effect, Didjits, Api Uiz, Thingy, Banks, Max Frost and the Troopers, Victimize, Men’s Recovery Project, Thinking Fellars Union Local 282 and Caroliner Rainbow Customary Relaxation of the Shale.
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.
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Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for the few days I got to spend with the little bird that Kim caught. I’m sorry we couldn’t save it.
Image is AI-generated ‘a cat dreaming about birds’
Quick one. Kim staring at me. What’s in her brain – what does a cat think about? Dream about. Birds! Birds chattering – go away cat!
Forgot Drops yesterday. Oh no! 60-day streak gone. Oh well – get up, go again.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful that Amy can go to Bangkok and visit her friends and we don’t have to worry about money, I can stay and look after the cats and fish and then next month we can go to Phuket together.
Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys? Where did that come from?
Building myself up to do my five minutes of exercise, tired this morning – don’t want to, want to sleep more – push through.
Crazy Kim was here trying to climb to the highest point. What is in the mind of a cat?
Go to Hill tribe school today – hope it’s okay – worry the kids can’t understand what to do. What’s Plan B?
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to have Dad’s truck so I can drive to the hill tribe school today.
To-do list
Laugh and enjoy the day ✅
Make sure others enjoy their day too ½
Compliment new people (anyone really) ½
Another blog post when you get home ½
It’s a week later already. I have managed to fill my time up with many things including converting old DVDs, pushing and promoting the podcast, watching interesting TV and documentaries along with most of the usual things I’ve been doing such as school and online teaching.
I’ve been working with a girl called Kelly who has taken a few lessons to warm up but I was very heartened to see her become more confident and sure of herself in her speaking. That made me feel like my effort was worthwhile.
It can be the opposite at school where you can feel you are getting nowhere. I think I have successfully managed to understand this scenario now though and it will be a very long and slow process for things to improve.
Currently, there are lots of student protests in Thailand – more free and democratic government, less corruption and more equality. This too has been going on for nearly a hundred years. Things change slowly here.
I’ve been happy with myself recently and been able to deal with sudden changes and minorly stressful situations. I think I’ve become a better person and always looking to move that forward.
Tomorrow is my long teaching day – including in the evening but I’m looking forward to going to Mae Sai on the weekend and also dropping by an orphanage for girls to see what we can do for them. I hope that I can get involved in some way.
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