Tag: learning

Age Of Fight – 9th July 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

We are the ‘Lord of the Flies’
This is where we stand
Making arbitrary decisions
Over who owns which piece of land

Unable to share our daily bread
Our garbage is other’s dreams
Pretending value on bits of paper
Nothing is what it seems

Is it just within our nature
To claim one’s way is right?
Past, present and future
A never-ending age of fight

24th Mar 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt
3rd Jun 2024 – Submitted to FOWC with Fandango

People who cling to their delusions find it difficult, if not impossible, to learn anything worth learning.

James Baldwin

The Sacrificed Citizens – 29th March 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Once there were rules to the war games
A gentleman’s game of death and glory
Now our principles attend more barbaric aims
And the winners may rewrite the story

No matter what you’ve done up to this point, you better still be a student. If you’re not still learning, you’re already dying.

from Farnam Street blog

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for the weird tree/plant that was growing next to our garage. It blew down in the storm last night. It should regrow but will take a couple of years to get as big again.

Walk It – 24th March 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Go for a walk, clear out the cobwebs
Dust off those shoes, double up on socks
Blow away at the clouds of fog
Surrounding this bridge of your mental blocks

Take in the scene, breathe deep the air
Fill in those lungs with deep gulps of joy
Think about nothing, dream bigger dreams
Walk it all out, oh boy oh boy!

24th Mar 2023 – I seem to remember enjoying going for walks with Bruno, getting all dusty yet invigorated. These polluted days are not the best though. Come on rainy season! Getting Covid in July really set me back with walking and exercise though.

We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of ignorance.

John Archibald Wheeler

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for my old tired body, still growing and learning new things.

The Week That Was – 13th May 1979

No List – 14th January 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I got a resolution for you
Do little, do less, do nothing
Unfocus, unwind, chase nought
See what results that will bring
Success is for the losers
Stuck forever within the grind
Missing out is my success
And gives me peace of mind

As you approach the same age as your parents when they had you, you gain great empathy for them, realising that like you, they were just kids trying to figure it all out along the way.

Cole Schafer

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to watch my students mature and improve their learning. I’m grateful to be part of that journey with them.

What To Do? – 5th August 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Son, I learned a lot of lessons in life
I should pass them on to you
But you don’t want to listen to me
Too old to know what you go through

*You’re going to learn things the hard way
That’s how I learned them too*
One day, you too will realise this
And then you’ll also wonder what to do

*pinched from Drive Like Jehu’s ‘Caress’

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to Gui and Art for allowing me to get coffee on credit for a few days while I wait for payday. It’s not that I don’t have money but that I can’t let the amount in the bank go under 400,000 baht for my visa application.

Well, I thought about telling George as I wrote yesterday but then this morning he saw me down one of the hallways and didn’t wave or say hello at all. I shouted out hello but he’d stepped out of sight. Well!

So, anyway, I went into the teacher’s room where he was sitting and said good morning directly to him to which he replied with a quiet disposition. I got some water and as I was leaving asked him how he was keeping. As has been the case almost every time I try to start a conversation with him I have to repeat the question again as if he wasn’t listening, paying attention or couldn’t hear. I asked him about Bee and said I missed her. It wasn’t going to get much beyond platitudes.

Anyway, I made an effort. I appreciate that for myself.

Hit The Reward – 23rd July 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Hit the dog, hit him hard, make him pay
That’s the lesson every dogging day
Hit the boy, hit him hard, he never learns
The lesson for him is that anger burns

Hit the bottle, hit it hard, that’s your sword
But understanding is based around reward
Hit the road, hit it hard, there’s no return
You lost them all, none shall learn

1st Jun 2024 – Submitted to Word of the Day Challenge

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for 20 minutes of extra sleep this morning. Usually, I’m awake before my alarm but not today. After resetting it for an extra 20 minutes I went straight back into deep sleep.

I talked with Hayden briefly yesterday. He sounds pretty down with life – not articulating it into words but just in his tone and choice of words. He had nothing to say really as he hasn’t been doing anything except playing video games for the last two months.

Bronwyn is staying at his place in Newcastle at the moment, actually, her house, where I’m guessing he is living rent-free. He says he’s annoyed with her because she doesn’t give him enough space. When I asked him ‘space to do what?’ he just answered ‘space to be himself’. I translate this as ‘space to do nothing.’ Being 25 years old already it shocks me how little he can do for himself.

Bronwyn is a control freak and does everything for him because she can see that every time he tries to do something and fails, he just gives up. Now it seems like he doesn’t even want to try.

I’ve been telling her for several years to cut him off (financially) and let him fend for himself but she can’t bring herself to do it. And now it is super easy to get caught in online loan shark debt too. That boy is going to fall hard one day and I blame myself as much as anyone.

Teacher, teacher – 8th June 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

When everyone laughs at you
It’s best to laugh along too
Don’t let things affect you so
Stand upright to any blow
Strength’s applied when nothing done
It’s not a game that must be won
Take it with a pinch of salt
It’s not really anyone’s fault
Emotions tug at simple minds
The simple comes in many kinds
Our reactions were never taught
Perhaps that’s something that we ought
To teach our kids in schools
Give them these important tools
Inner peace and satisfaction
As opposed to angry passion

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to have Kim Chi back home. She’s very happy to be somewhere familiar again. She doesn’t seem too stressed about being stuck in the classroom – not yet anyway. I hope she settles into it.

We got that attitude! – 6th May 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful to talk with Jochen for an hour and a half yesterday. It was great to catch up with him – someone who knows where I’m coming from. We talked about our lives since we last met which must be more than 3 years now (?). I should call some of my other friends sometimes too.

I just looked back to last year’s entries around this time and see that I am feeling much the same way now as I was then. I should be learning something form this!?

I’m looking forward to everything – once I get my head straight!

We got that attitude! – 18th March 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful for my guitar and app for learning to play it. I’m feeling very positive about learning that even when something becomes very difficult I won’t give up and I’m even starting to remember some songs and practice them without the app. My aching hand and fingers remind me how much enjoyment I’m getting from it.

The best thing that happened today was finishing a drawing of Fern and Amy that I had really struggled with yesterday. It’s not perfect but it does at least look like them now.

I also started one of Jess and Amy which is going well. I plan to a jpg to each of Amy’s friends so they can send to Amy on our anniversary – now, if I could only remember the exact date of our anniversary! Is it the 9th or 11th? I just realised I can look in this diary or perhaps to my blog for a clue….Looks like the 9th – haha!

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.