Deeper Reds – 20th July 2024

July 20, 2024July 22, 2025 ~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

Symbolism in deeper reds
Canvas colour capture spreads
Abstract yet educated
Rhythmic patterns illustrated
Leaving be the ugly things
Elevate what this beauty brings
The fusion of knowledge

Spiritual movement college
Aims towards enlightenment
Grittily honest experiment
Evoking the scarlet sage

Dancing eyes across the page
And so the paintings change view
Now that the painting changed you
Creativity in meditation
Invitation to interpretation
Nearer to the stormy sea
Goes the light blue nursery

Animal instincts of segregation

Wisdom rises beyond illumination
Hanging our pictures on these walls
In the museum, how history falls
Risen to rhyme and rearranged
Look at me now, times have changed
In search of happiness and beauty
No submission to customs of duty
Greedy and grim, not another one

Death and frenzy have all been done
Ever since, and so it will be
Raise the tools to stave off misery
Vanquish fear with canvas maze
Inspired to passion with its praise
Spun out a web of dream delight
Hanging on the deeper reds tonight

Submitted to dVerse and inspired by the attached painting by Alma Thomas and information found about her work.

Today I’m feeling:

My regular weekend tired, though I got up early to drop Amy off at the airport as she heads to Udon Thani via Bangkok to meet Jess.

Then Baipad messaged me that Jan will come and meet her at The Black House this morning and wanted to arrange with me to transport her there.

No problem, though I’m looking forward to getting home later and playing some guitar, reading, writing and listening to some music.

I’m hungry already, too and it’s not quite registered yet that I have to figure out what I’m going to eat today and the rest of this week, with my regular chef being away!

Today I’m grateful for:

The drink lady at Baan Dam who complimented me on my Thai. And then Jess also complimented me when I was able to answer her questions, though usually in English. She was at least impressed that I understood her.

The best thing about today was:

Seeing the look of happiness on Baipad’s face when she saw Jan again. They haven’t seen each other since March and though they chat a bit online, I could see how happy they were to just be able to gossip with each other about their lives. One thing I really noticed was that they barely looked at their phones the whole time that they were together.

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

Just as I was sat comfortably in bed, Cap came to the door asking to be let in, which I did and then Amy video-called and I started talking with her, Jess and Jess’s relatives. Cap jumped up onto bed and then proceeded to piss all over it. Motherfucker!

I hung up the call grabbed the sheet off the bed and ran it to the washing machine, coming back with a cut lemon and some paper towels. After cleaning up as best I could I called Amy back and was feeling a bit annoyed, at one moment feeling relaxed and the next having to deal with this.

Amy was happily drunk and laughed it off but I wasn’t in the mood. She could feel that and we said good night. I’ve switched all the bed linen to Amy’s bed and will sleep there tonight.

I’m dog tired, but my adrenaline is up now. I’ll calm down soon.

Something I learned today?

When I asked one of my grade 12 students what they could do to practice speaking English when there was no one around they said that the practice with ChatGPT. Not a bad idea.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I talked a little with Freya today and tried to pep her up as she is understandably still feeling down about what happened yesterday.

I took this picture at Baan Dam because these cute bugs would probably make Amy itch. They were everywhere!

Champions – 12th July 2024

July 12, 2024May 13, 2025 ~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

Champions know the taste of defeat
Aces burn on the last turn
Adversity is needed to complete
The winner’s desire to learn

Plans B and C, as good as A
No best case wins the race
The champions turn up to play
And look their failures in the face

There’s no luck to lift the cup
Making a plan to play the hand
Even when dealt downside up
A champion will understand

Submitted to WDYS # 244 and inspired by a recent David Elikwu newsletter

Today I’m feeling:

A bit groggy, perhaps sick, in pain! I didn’t sleep well because of the pain in my hip and I’m limping around a bit today. It’s a bit of a drain on my thoughts.

I’m also on the edge again with a sore throat. Lots of Covid and dengue fever around at the moment.

It’s cool again with some rain but the grey skies are feeling uninspiring. I’m motivated to sleep more.

Today I’m grateful for:

The young chemist who spoke good English helped me get some tiger balm patches to help my aching hip.

The best thing about today was:

22 Grams coffee for the morning. Gui closed House today to go to Bangkok, so 22 Grams is my next choice. It would be my first choice if it was nearer school and cheaper.

In the end, I didn’t stay too long as I came to the hospital to drop mum and pick up Amy, who hadn’t slept much as dad didn’t get into his operation until 11pm and out again at 4am.

I came home and struggled around with my painful hip, which seems to be agitated by sitting down.

Something I learned today?

It’s Spain’s birthday today and he told me that he is now 15 years old, which means that he is a year older than everyone else in his class. I guess that he was held back a year at some point because of whatever his minor social disability is.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

At around 5 pm I was getting hungry and Amy had mentioned the uni having a market on Fridays now.

I dropped by to Baipad’s to see if she would practice riding up there and though she complained, I convinced her to do it. She lets her lack of confidence stop her from doing things to improve herself.

Her sister jumped on the back too and we slowly made our way to the uni but there was no market sadly, so we headed back and then Baipad wanted to show me where Fahmai lived and we went there too but he wasn’t home.

At the end of the day, I think that Baipad gained a little more confidence in herself at least hopefully understanding that repeatedly doing something will improve her skills.

Baipad’s chatty kitten, whose name I’ve forgotten already.

Reading My Poetry – 8th June 2024

June 8, 2024March 4, 2025 ~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 8 Comments

I was reading my poem
To the owl up in the tree
He was very puzzled
And staring quizzically

“Why are you up here
Reading this to me?”
Well, first I climbed up
Just to see what I can see

As I brought my book
And you decided not to flee
I thought perhaps
You’d enjoy some poetry
“Indeed, I am! It scans
And rhymes (almost) perfectly”

Now the moon is here
And if you would agree
I’ll read for you both
Another two or three

“We’ve all the time in the world
Nowhere else to be,
One about the moon
And the owl up in the tree?”

Submitted to dVerse picture prompt

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good, more than most of my recent Saturday mornings.

Today I’m grateful for:

Cap scratching at the door after he heard my alarm. I was going to get more sleep, but I got up for him and decided to exercise. I want to try to get out of my five-day routine and into a seven-day routine instead.

The best thing about today was:

Finding our little birdies had hatched. At first, when I went out to look in the nest, it looked like the eggs had been broken and the liquid inside had spilled out.

I told Amy to come and look with a sad face and shaking my head, but when she came, suddenly these two little beaks appeared, open to the sky though they were still too young to make any noise.

I had noticed earlier in the day that both the mum and dad had been around at the nest, so it seemed that they had just been born, maybe even just within the hour.

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

Amy’s parent’s gutter specialists came today and said they can fix our gutter easily, quickly and for the same price as the last builder that fucked it up.

They said that it was obvious that the guy didn’t know what he was doing so Amy and I both felt vindicated on the shit that we’ve been giving him online. Amy also noticed that he’d removed many of his old posts and thought perhaps we weren’t the only people that he had ripped off.

Either way, we hope to have proper gutters back on Wednesday.

Something I learned today?

Art at Utopia video called with Noey, who is in the USA, whilst I was drinking my coffee this morning. She is on some kind of working holiday during her semester break.

She said that she is eating pizza every day and misses rice! The only coffee she has now is black drip coffee and at the place she works, some kind of amusement park, a cup is $4.22 and hardly anyone buys it!

It’s a good experience for her and she looks like she is enjoying herself. It is also a reminder for me that most of the USA is ok, normal and people are generally getting on with their lives.