Tag: poem

Touch, Don’t Touch – 24th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Don’t touch me there
Not today anyway
Show me that you care
And you will stay

Don’t touch that part
I’m not ready yet
Break my heart
And see what you get

Touch me and surprise
Yes means go!
But otherwise
No means no!

Submitted to dVerse Quadrille #195

Searching my tiny little brain for inspiration for the prompt word ‘touch’, I suddenly remembered the lesson I taught my grade 10 students yesterday about sexual abuse.

On one of the slides I showed a cartoon boy and girl in underwear with the title ‘Don’t touch me there’ and we discussed where it was ok to touch another person without permission.

The final slide contains the text ‘Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes, no means no.’ I love hearing the kids say ‘no means no’, not just because of the meaning in this context but because NOMEANSNO is one of my favourite lyrical bands that has stayed with me throughout my life.

So this all came together quite quickly in the end and it was just a matter of squeezing everything down to 44 words for the challenge.

Today I’m feeling:

Not so great this morning. I didn’t sleep well as snot dripped out of my nose when I slept on my left and my shoulder ached on my right. Will have to get some medicine to fix me up as we have a housewarming to go to tonight.

Today I’m grateful for:

Being free to take a long sleep of recovery from about 11 am until 4pm. After taking some medicine and reading for a little bit I fell into wild and crazy dreams, stirring in and out of delirium each toss and turn.

The best thing about today was:

I haven’t felt like there was anything today that was best. I enjoyed reading some more of Thurston Moore’s Sonic Life. That’s about it for today.

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

Being at this housewarming is out of my control. I feel sleepy and medicine dizzy. Not unhappy but not particularly sociable.

Something I learned today?

Aing and Now, who arrived here last night for Now’s friend’s graduation had to travel by bus from Bangkok this time, with a day in Chiang Mai on the way. Money is tight for them these days and I know they appreciate our free accommodation.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

After my long sleep, I thought that I would be ok for the housewarming and drove us there through, familiar to me, beautiful green rice paddies which Amy enjoyed, especially as the sun was moving into the golden hour.

At the party though, I wasn’t feeling good and the thumping over-extended PA was giving me a headache as all-comers were slowly slipping into a typical village drunken mania.

I anticipate a couple of cars ending up stuck in the paddies later. I made my retreat telling Amy to call and I would come and pick her up later.


I took this picture because this is the view from the open kitchen at the housewarming we are at. The other three sides are rice fields too. Nice. Perhaps the wooden shack in view is the original house. There seem to be about ten or more people sitting in there, cooking, eating and drinking.

This Poet Saves Lives – 23rd February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 25 Comments

This poem saves lives
Drawing down the heavens
When without inspiration
All at sixes and sevens

This painting saves lives
Painted with blood and muck
When without inspiration
And the world seems to suck

This song saves lives
Proffered just as it was
Inspired by the chorus
And sung loud just because

These words save lives
In these perilous times
And inspiration found
Reading between the lines

Inspired (unironically) by The Red Hand Files #274 – check it out for some wise words from old man Nick Cave.

Submitted to Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge INSPIRATION
13th Sep 2024 – Shared with Poets and Storytellers United – speak up or stay silent
3rd Nov 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – chorus

Today I’m feeling:

Under the weather again.  Last night I could feel a slight tickle and ache in my throat as I was about to sleep.  

I slept well though not enough and my alarm woke me up with a start to which I succumbed to another 30 minutes of snoozing, skipping exercise.  When I got up I could feel the oncoming sore throat, confirmed by blood in my nose.  

My mood was down a little too but it’s Friday so let’s go and get it done.

Today I’m grateful for:

Discovering that there is a holiday on Monday.  Yippee!

The best thing about today was:

A chilled vibe at school (see below) and spending about five hours at House, reading, lesson planning, blogging and writing.  What a job!

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

At the morning flag ceremony, I noticed that my grade 7 classes were less than half in attendance and discovered that they were attending some meeting about a field trip. OK….

When it came to class time there were only about ten students and they told me the rest were still in the meeting.

I went to find Kru Karn, their homeroom teacher who didn’t know anything about where they were.  I mentioned a field trip and she said ‘oh yes, there’s about 6 students going.’  I asked when it was and she thought that it was in the holiday.  ‘Hmm’, I said, ‘that’s weird because there are more than 6 students missing from the class?’

She came to my class and talked with one of the students and was surprised to find out herself that many of the student’s parents skipped the process of advising her about their children going on the trip and, more importantly, the trip starts on Monday and is for one week!

The communication here is so crazy – no one knows what’s going on.

I said ‘Well, I guess that’s it for teaching these kids this semester.’  Kru Karn agreed and advised to start doing their grading files.  And it leaves me with another day with no classes again already.

Something I learned today?

As I was wandering around Baipad’s class this morning, because my class was cancelled and Kru Ren wasn’t there, I learned that a couple of students are taking money from the lazy ones to complete their coursework for them.

It’s enterprising of the hard-working kids to make some spare cash but disappointing from a teacher’s perspective.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I offered Baipad to help her on Monday with all her catchup work.  Let’s see if she gets it together to actually wake up and do it.

I helped various students in their different classes today as my own classes being mostly free time for everyone.

Kru Fluke dropped in to visit.  I gave her a big smile and a hug, happy to see her again.

25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO –  20. Enjoy Small Things. I like clichés because they are true.

Over the last three or four years of self-improvement I’ve followed the Noticing Things blog (I forget the proper name), thought about gratitude every day (with a couple of exceptions) and been writing, journalling, blogging etc.  All of these combined have led me to enjoy the small things.

Partly due to this, I’m not often in the vicinity of big things and things that I once thought of as big seem comparatively small these days too (the circumstance of ageing).

One thing that I was doing more of last year or the year before was savouring moments.  I don’t often stop to remind myself to savour something now.  I should practice that again.

I took this picture last weekend when I was getting my haircut. HoiTod makes me miss little Kim so much, almost one year now since she’s gone. Sniffle.

At The Edge – 22nd February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

I’m running at the edge of their world
Pushed away and pulled back again
I don’t want to fall off the fence
And find myself having to explain

They’re criticising something they can’t understand
Never taking the time to lend a listening ear
On the fence, there’s air to breathe
Down below so clouded with fear

I’m living on the edge of their town
Itching to break free of the shackles
My feet only touch the ground to run
The touch paper lighted crackles

And I won’t be shot down
I won’t be pulled apart
There’s no compromise
At the edge of my heart

Submitted to Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge Edge

Inspired by the Stiff Little Fingers song ‘At The Edge’ from which each line of the chorus was taken as the first line of each stanza

And I’m running at the edge of their world
They’re criticising something they just can’t understand
Living on the edge of their town
And I won’t be shot down

Today I’m feeling:

Relaxed and happy.  The early birds crawing woke me up before my alarm, along with waking Tigger who then starting crawing too.  I slept pretty well otherwise and got back into exercise on this chilly morning. The evening temperatures are perfect but by early morning it’s still cold and then during the day we’re hitting 35 degrees or so.

Today I’m grateful for:

There being yet another event this morning and being able to accommodate the kids wishes to go to it instead of studying.  To achieve that  I set them a minor task of taking a photo at the event and describing it to me.  After sticking around for a few minutes I was able to duck out for coffee and keep up with the classes work as the submitted it to me online.

The best thing about today was:

Feeling good with the poems I was inspired to write today and clearing out some of the growing number of email prompts that I’ve been receiving.  I’ve gotten right into this little circle of writers and whilst I don’t enjoy much of what I read I can appreciate the time and effort that they are putting into it and occasionally something does grab my attention that hits the mark.

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

The morning event rolled over into the afternoon and so for the second week running my grade 10s were busy and only a few were in the classroom when I got there.  Well, that’s fine.  I’m not sure if I will get to teach them again this semester.  So with even more free time I took the opportunity to wander around the school and talk and play with whoever I found (which was almost everyone!)

Something I learned today?

The last letter added to the English alphabet was ‘J’. Before that, the letter ‘i’ was used for both the ‘i’ and ‘j’ sounds.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I left school at around 3pm and went to Big C and whilst there I suddenly heard ‘Teacher!’  It was Baibua and Khawhom.  They looked a little sheepish but also laughing at seeing me shopping.  I asked them what they were doing and they indicated that they were going to the movies.  But wait a minute!  Why aren’t they at school?  They said there was nothing to do.  Well, that is true.  I know and they know it.

With my grade 10 class not showing up I went to help Kru Ren again and offered my help to the different groups of students.  I was a little disappointed with Baipad because it turned out that she hadn’t done any work for class for the whole semester.  Jan and Apple had done some but not finished it.  I asked them why they weren’t doing it now and they just offered up excuses.  Sigh.  I told Baipad that I can help her catch up this evening if she wants me to but haven’t heard anything from her yet.

David hasn’t been at school for the last three days so I sent him a message asking if he was ok.

What tasks do I often avoid?

I don’t think there’s any task that I avoid completely but I have a different threshold of tolerance to certain things to Amy so in that sense I avoid mopping the floors or cleaning the toilets but if she wasn’t here I would do those things but only when I found it necessary.  

Asking Amy what tasks I often avoid might provide a clearer answer.

I took this picture because I wanted to show my students an example of what they were required to do for class (take a picture connected with the event and write a sentence about it). I was happy that almost all of them completed this simple task. I thought this student picture was quite nice and as I took the picture the student who made it was there and his friends were all in awe!

Walking To Happiness – 21st February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 10 Comments

Let’s roll the rock, let’s roll it up
The mountain doesn’t exist
When the rock, it rolls on down
In its nature not to resist

And what’s your nature? ask yourself
You are the rock, you are the mountain
Walk right on up to the top
To drink from the happy fountain

Submitted to WDYS 226

Today I’m feeling:

Good for taking an extra 30 minutes snooze this morning.  I could have pushed through and got up and exercised but subconsciously I knew that I slept late last night because I wasn’t feeling tired and I was telling myself that I should rest more.

Today I’m grateful for:

Nong Na bringing us a small gift today.  We invited her over again to make another contact if we need a cat sitter in the future.  We’ve never needed to ask her but I think she would be happy enough to do it and she seems quite reasonable and responsible.

The best thing about today was:

I taught my grade 10s the Sexual Abuse lesson that I had used a couple of years ago.  I had to adapt it a little and put in a lot of translation so that they could fully grasp all the concepts.  They seemed to follow it well enough, especially the video of the Thai girl speaking out about being abused by a teacher.

They particularly perked up when we came to talk about words about sex, though they started off shyly until I asked them what about all the bad words that you are not supposed to say?  Once they got the green light on that, they were off and running.

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

Late this afternoon I found out that there is an art event again tomorrow morning.  I asked a few of my students but they didn’t know anything about it.  As usual, communication sucks but I thought that perhaps I can use it to my advantage.

I came home and forgot about it though until one student contacted me, having obviously heard about the event from somewhere, asking if they could go to the event instead of class.  Well, doesn’t that sound like a grand idea?  But I kept them hanging and just replied ‘Maybe….’

Actually, if I had known something about it I could have prepared some tasks to at least incorporate the event into a lesson somehow.  As it is, the kids will probably wander around the event for a few minutes and then go back to the classroom and play on their phones for the rest of the two hours.  And so will I, except I will go off for coffee instead.

Something I learned today?

Hippos can’t swim but they can sleep underwater.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

The kids are mostly in a pretty good mood with the end of the semester approaching and I was being pulled in many directions to join and chat with different groups at different times during the day.

Before leaving to come home I usually walk around the park to see which students are hanging out there and I’ll chat briefly with the ones I know and sometimes ones I don’t know will start a conversation too.

This afternoon, Kaowfang, Miyor and Husna were walking by and Kaowfang, as always, was talking about the latest boy that she likes.  Then she spotted the boy that Miyor likes and I feigned to bring him over and Miyor pulled me back.

We walked off in different directions but crossed paths again a few minutes later and Miyor went off to sit down whilst Kaowfang and Husna started telling me that Miyor was angry and upset with them.  I thought maybe because we were teasing her about the boy that she likes.

I didn’t have time to get involved further in their coming-of-age quarrels but was messaged later that they were having a real problem with Miyor and they didn’t know how to deal with it.  They said she was vain, self-centred and selfish!  Wow! I didn’t see that coming.  Miyor is a pretty quiet girl in class and I never heard any bad talk either from or about her.

I asked Kaowfang if she had talked directly to Miyor about it but she said that she would just get angry and not listen anyway.

I suggested that perhaps Miyor is upset because she just doesn’t like people talking about her, either good or bad and that maybe whilst we were playing and joking about the boy she actually felt quite serious about it.  I also said that, really, it’s none of our business who she likes or doesn’t like so perhaps we can not talk about this with her next time.

Kaowfang thanked me for the suggestion.  Let’s see what happens.  Here I am still traversing the perils of teenage relationships.

What does love mean to me?

I find love a little difficult to define though I know it is what I feel for certain people and about certain things.  Love changes throughout our lives so its definition changes.

The love I have for Amy doesn’t feel the same as the love I had for my first girlfriend (which I might hesitate to even call love now).  It is also different to the love I have for my mum or my students or my home.

So what does it mean?  Warmth, acceptance, understanding, kindness, growth.

For me, love also means fidelity.  I think that if you cheat on your partner then you have stopped loving them.  I say that without judgement as I have cheated before.  When that happened I knew that I was no longer in love.

Now, having learned that I understand that it is better to break up with someone if you no longer love them, before sharing your love somewhere else.  Either way is heartbreak but one is more morally acceptable for me.

I took this picture because Nong Na came and updated us on her first year at university so far.

What I Am Not – 20th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

Looking up into the darkness of the night
I could have been an astronaut exploring space
Tuned into the Sydney Olympics that time
I could have been the one that won the race

Trudging through the muddy fields in Autumn
We were as soldiers marching off to war
Or on the school fields, shoes for posts
We were the team with the winning score

Racing Matchbox cars down twisted tracks
I will be the one praised with champagne and girls
The architect of the biggest castles
And a new country whose flag unfurls

But would I always come out on top
With the skills that I have got?
I may not know so very much
But I do know what I’m not

Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #318

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good. I notice that I’ve been waking up before my alarm recently and with my aching shoulder meaning a lot of tossing and turning during the night along with Cap wanting the door opened a couple of times to go in and out, I’m pretty tired too.

Today I’m grateful for:

Getting new tyres on the car today.  I couldn’t really tell the difference but after five or six years I guess it was time.

The best thing about today was:

Having a couple more reading classes in groups of five or six again.  It’s a lot of fun even though it means leaving the rest of the class to their own devices until it is their turn.

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

Just as I was leaving this morning Amy told me that after my first class, I have to go and wait at the car service place until our car is ready, which is hopefully before I’m due back at school!  I was looking forward to spending time at the cafe, reading and writing but I guess it doesn’t matter too much as I can do that at the car service place too.

So, after class, I grabbed a takeaway coffee, went to Mum’s, picked up Amy and with a slight detour got to the car service.  It was around 11.30 by now and Amy said they thought everything should be done by 12 so we sat around waiting. I did some lesson planning for a while and then someone came and told us that everyone was on a break now and that the car won’t be ready until later.

We tried to work out what to do next as I had to come back to school and Amy was off to visit Nut.  How would I get back from school to pick up the car?  Amy didn’t want to have to drive back to pick me up.  I figured I could get a Grab from school though that would be a pain in the ass as it is really busy around the school at that time.

Whilst we were thinking about this they said that we could pay now and it was then that Amy discovered she didn’t have her credit card and would have to go home and get it and come back anyway!  So I said that she may as well come and pick me up too!

So, I don’t know if that makes any sense but all in all it was a waste of two hours with absolutely nothing achieved from that running around.

If I had been the one that had forgotten the card I would never have heard the end of it and I gently reminded Amy of this fact, taking a minute to shine in the glory of not the one being at fault this time.  I’m sure this will soon be reversed by something relatively inconsequential that I will be admonished for.

So, ultimately I handled it with smug satisfaction and a little bit of annoyance.

Something I learned today?

I learned that Baipad didn’t do anything special or get any gift from her mum for her birthday which is a bit sad to hear.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I like to think that remaining calm and adaptable to the situation described above was a good deed.

25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO –  19. There’s No End Game. We, as a species, just are. Don’t try to figure it all out. Enjoy your journey.

OK, I know that we just are, life is meaningless and I am still enjoying the journey very much.  

But I also think it’s ok to try and figure things out as much as I can.  For myself, not for the world.  I just want to figure out how to make my world the best I can and slowly I see it improving.

Fah took these pictures because my phone was sitting on my desk where she was taking notes from my laptop screen. They were a surprise to me when I went to see what photos I had taken today.

The Wake – 19th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

Here the shadow falls, down into the fog
Eyes dead at the singing of the bells
Broke by the vicious cards dealt
Crawling through the sawdust of these hells

Burying bodies, ten-a-penny
Stuffed men once filled with straw
All now quiet and meaningless
Wondering what it was all for

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
It never would have come to this
If we’d just kept things simpler

Submitted to Shay’s Word Garden – inspired (and borrowed) from T.S.Eliot’s The Hollow Men

Today I’m feeling:

Good, getting better throughout the day. I started off a little dizzy until my meds kicked in.  

Both my classes were simple and the kids seem invested in a little reading and understanding.  I didn’t push them but the way I structured the reading and questions definitely caught out some of the students who would generally just copy their work.

Today I’m grateful for:

Parthiban in Singapore for paying back his share for the HighVoltage/SpeechOdd 12”, straight back into our Aussie bank account, which will keep Amy happy for a little while!

The best thing about today was:

Being inspired to write a couple of poems during my break between classes.  That two hours flew by today as I caught up some reading, thinking about prompts and ideas.

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

In my first class we ran out of time for the last group to read because they were all struggling to understand the questions that I was asking them.  

I was surprised at how quickly the time disappeared.  Oh well, at least I caught about 85% of the class today.

Something I learned today?

Arwith’s band Piri Reis is supporting Converge in Bangkok in May.  He’s going to try and line up a weekend show in Chiang Mai if possible too.  

Either way I’d like to catch up with him if he’s here somewhere during a weekend.

What things do I like to collect?

I’ve answered this or a similar question before, answering with music, books, comics but it got me thinking a bit more about how technology has transformed collecting in many ways.  

With almost everything available somewhere somehow as a digital file collecting physical items is becoming more of a rich person’s privilege.  

Collecting things digitally doesn’t mean much to me but from seeing what some of the younger folks are experimenting with online in games they seem to place value in those things.  

I was intrigued whilst watching an online race over three hundred kilometres on a barren planet in one of the sci-fi games where folks collect and trade minerals.  

I can understand the appeal of these types of games and there may have been a time I might of dreamed of delving into them but I still have some part of me that clings to the physical.  

Unlike those players though I cannot place any value in something that only exists as bits and bytes.

Praewa took this picture because she stole my phone (again). Her face is finally starting to mature as she has had a cute childish face since I’ve known her and it has only recently started changing. She still hasn’t grown taller though which I often tease her about but she could still grow a few more inches yet.

More Alone – 18th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Everyone has gotten access
All the words ever written
Pictures painted, songs sung
Fifty bazillion millisecond process
No bugs to be bug bitten
The shutdown has begun

Standing in the matrix queue
A beta-meta icon version
Presses three after the tone
There’s nothing left to do
In this world’s perversion
Except to feel more alone

inspired by this post (before finishing reading) at Spinning Visions
2nd May 2024 – Submitted to FOWC with Fandango — Alone

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good and upbeat.  

Got up soon after my alarm, grabbed coffees and then spent a good few hours in my room, adding blog entries, reading and playing guitar.  

I was glad to go out and do something different yesterday though I wasn’t particularly excited being at the balloon festival.  

I’m not particularly excited by much these days to be honest but I am happy and that’s more important.

Today I’m grateful for:

Air quality being better than this time last year.  It’s still not great but can only hope that it doesn’t get worse.  

The next week will tell the tale as temperatures rise up to 37 degrees again.

The best thing about today was:

Not taking a nap and having a feeling of not wasting a weekend day.  It was pretty relaxed but I got some stuff done so I’m pretty happy with everything.

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

Not something that was out of my control but it was midday before I remembered that I hadn’t taken my medicine today.  As I was in my room I figured I’d take it when I got back inside but forgot again.  

By mid-afternoon, I felt a little dizzy when I got up from my chair but figured that I’d made it this far without the medicine that I’d just skip it for today.  

Dizziness is the main side effect of not taking it and it’s not like I will drop into a funk just by missing one day.

Something I learned today?

Hayden is in New York.  He and his girlfriend were driven down through snow from Canada for 6-7 hours to get there.  

They are wrapped up and enjoying New York pizza.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I sent a message to Baipad this morning offering to come and teach her today if she wanted.  I didn’t get a reply but I would’ve been happy to if she would have liked.

I was reminded of Baipad later in the evening when reading some blog post about inspiring self-confidence in children helps make them happier adults.  In these days of mobile devices as parent substitutes, I wonder what will inspire self-confidence?

I took this picture because this is Tangmo. The dog’s bollocks.

Stepping Out – 17th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

You burned down our house
But home is in our head
We marvel at the pyres
And warm ourselves instead

We are the free ones
Wandering and wild
Whilst you guard your toys
The spoils of the child

For all the sermons
High up on the mount
You carry more burdens
Than anyone can count

The title refers to the Dangerous Girls song ‘Step Out’ that repeats the phrase “demolition”. The first stanza refers to Edison watching his factory burn. ‘Wandering and wild’ refers to Wasted Youth’s album titled “Wild and Wandering”. The burden is a reference to what Israel will carry once they have completely destroyed Palestine.
8th May 2024 – Submitted to dVerse Poetics

Today I’m feeling:

I felt pretty good after getting back from coffee but whilst settling into some reading some felt sleepy and had another three hours rest waking up again at two pm

Today I’m grateful for:

The shop where we sneakily parked our car and decided to get out and walk the rest of the way to the festival.

The best thing about today was:

The atmosphere of fun and pleasure at the festival.  Folks were having a good time.

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

Taking an hour and a half to get to Singha Park for the balloon festival, stuck in traffic for more than an hour and missing any sunset photo opportunities. At least I could listen to my music whilst in the car.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I remained patient whilst stuck in traffic (and hungry)

I took this picture because we had a nice spot by the lake to watch the balloons being inflated though it was a little windy for them to go up tonight.

Little Miss Imperfect – 16th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

It was a missing tooth
Some wayward hair
A smudge of a nose
That almost wasn’t there

It was a crooked smile
Dry cracked lips
An inch too much
Sitting on her hips

It was a minor lisp
One leg longer
A scarred wrist
Now grown stronger

No, she’s not perfect
As far as all could see
But it’s all those little faults
That has attracted me

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good.  I did some chest and arm exercises this morning, trying to avoid straining my shoulder and also hanging for a minute to stretch myself out.  Had my first cold morning shower of the year, which was a bit of a challenge but sure woke me up properly.

Today I’m grateful for:

Nong Ploy for saying that she wishes I was still her teacher because she enjoys writing in English the most, which is something I like to have the students practice.  And then have them read from what they’ve written.

The best thing about today was:

The winding down and relaxing feeling of the end of the semester.  

I was trying to put myself in my student’s shoes about how they must feel each day, being amongst their friends at school all day and then going home to their families each evening.  They obviously enjoy being at school and being with their friends but suffer the having to study part of that.  

I was trying to remember what it was like for me at their age.  Usually, I was excited to get out of school because when I got home I was usually out again after eating dinner and having even more fun with my friends.  

The situation here feels different both because of the family set-up in many homes and the availability of mobile phones and internet.  It makes for an experience that I only understand as an adult, not as a growing child.

Something I learned today?

“OpenAI’s latest model takes text prompts and turns them into ‘complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion,’ and more, the company said.

The text-to-video model allows users to create photorealistic videos up to a minute long – all based on prompts they’ve written.”

As AI improves, and it seems to be doing so quickly, this could go either way.   Folks could create and post anything that conforms to their narratives.  

For example, the BBC could post footage of concentration camps in Xinjiang, where they keep insisting they exist.  People could easily believe it, especially when it is reinforced with pictures and videos.  

However, I also want to look on the positive side that due to this new capability journalists will be forced to detail, verify, check and double-check and be held legally accountable for what they publish.  It’s optimistic but that is the way it must go.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

At the morning flag ceremony KanomBang was crying heavily as her beloved dog had died.  She was inconsolable so I just put my arm around her and gently patted her arm.  Other students were still laughing and playing and I’m not sure what they were saying but Nomsen gave her some sympathy and support too.  She was ok by the afternoon and showed me a picture of her dog and told me it had been hit by a motorbike which is a common occurrence here unfortunately.

I called and messaged Khaofang as her jumper was in the classroom where she lost it the day before yesterday.  When she came to collect it she was very appreciative.

What was peaceful about today?

It’s difficult to find peace when you are surrounded by thousands of students. So perhaps the first hour of the day, having just woken up and quietly brushing my teeth before going to exercise, feeding the cats and then hopping into the shower, all the while the sky slowly lightening into the morning bloom.  Then I eat some breakfast whilst reading a little and the sun finally appears over the mountains and it’s time for the peace to end.

At the end of the day, post-shower and into bed.  Amy on her side, me on mine and Cap swapping between us, Amy quietly scrolls through Facebook and I read books and comics until we both give in to the joy of sleep.

25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO –  18. Give Without Expecting Something in Return. Don’t keep score. You will become a bitter person if you do that. Give solely for the joy of giving. If you get something in return, great, if you don’t, great.

I may not give out too much but I expect and want little from anyone else.  

Over the last few years, I have started giving out gifts as random acts of kindness and my only hope would be that the receiver will pass on the kindness to someone else.  

Whether they do or not is out of my control.

What was my Ween discovery timeline?

I had read about Ween often in Flipside and was curious when their first album God Ween Satan came out so I picked up a copy.  It started off well and punky with You Fucked Up but I was unprepared for everything else that came on the rest of the album.  Slowly it worked its wackiness on me and I enjoyed its eclecticism over time.  

So when the second LP, The Pod,  came out I was looking for more of the same and it didn’t deliver for me.  This seemed like weird droning moaning music and so I gave up on them, even selling both discs.

I occasionally heard them on the radio when I was living in Australia with their ‘hit’s Push The Little Daisies and Voodoo Lady but didn’t think on much further about them.

Around 2010 sometime, my friend in Melbourne, James McGauren had met and fallen in love with a Swedish girl and was making the move there and he decided to sell off a big chunk of his music collection.  He had all the Ween albums.  

Fuck it, I thought, I’ll give these guys a go again and picked up the whole catalogue for cheap.  Slowly I worked my way through each album and fell in love with them all.  I scoured the internet to find quality live shows and all their demo recordings and ended up with about 50 discs worth of Ween to enjoy.

Listening back to The Pod these days, I can understand why I didn’t enjoy it at the time but now I rate it as a favourite.  

I never saw them live but have their live DVD and whilst I appreciate their entertainment abilities I prefer the quirkiness of their records.

I took this picture because this old man was looking relaxed when I got home.
Fatman report

Nine Horses – 15th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

Bring me a barter
Let’s trade in the market
The nine horses
Unburdened of their wares

Wipe clean your brow
Let’s share a meal together
The nine deer
May feed us all tonight

Tell me another story
Let’s craft these words on silk
The nine monk’s poems
Will a society built

While the winds burst
Let’s change our direction
The nine dragons
Will always guide us home again

24th Jul 2024 – Submitted to dVerse – horses

Today I’m feeling:

Initially bright and energetic but then sleepy as I was driving to work. The first class went ok and kept me awake and then I almost fell asleep at the dentist’s. Looking forward to sleep tonight for sure! I wonder if I will still be sleepy then though.

Today I’m grateful for:

The dentist, for giving me a 10% discount, letting me pay $6000 baht today and the rest next month and then giving me 4 free gumbrushes.  My gums are sore now though.  

Today she cut down two of my teeth to make temporary crowns and a temporary bridge.  

Next appointment I will get the permanent bridge and then think about all the other fucked up things about my old teeth that need fixing.

The best thing about today was:

I repeated one of my lessons from yesterday with the other grade 7 class and whilst not quite as successful due to their poorer skills it still went well so I was happy with that.

Then spending some time with my old students (see below) was a lot of fun and it’s sometimes nice to not have the pressure of being the main teacher and can just try to experiment with styles of teaching or make learning fun for one or two students without having to manage the whole class.

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

Spending so much time at the dentist meant having to scoff two coffees down (just using one side of my mouth) and no time for reading, writing or preparing new lessons.  Getting my teeth sorted was quite a pressing need though.

Something I learned today?

The UK is in actual recession as their economy shrank 0.3% in the last quarter.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

As I was lying in the dentist’s chair I was wondering if I would be ok for my afternoon class.

I was still inspired to get back though and rushed back, grabbed everything I needed and despite getting distracted by many students walking to building ten, I was only a couple of minutes late.  However, when I got there, there were only a handful of students and they were sitting on the floor playing Uno.

They told me that most of the class were doing some singing and dancing competition this afternoon (which I had heard going on in our building) so I settled in and played a round of Uno with those who were there.

After that, I decided that I would go and help Kru Ren, who was teaching my old students from last year.

I get on well with all of them and after asking Kru Ren’s permission I helped many students to create a dialogue.  They were all very reluctant because Kru Ren isn’t strict with them but as I bounced around the room playing, helping and inspiring he got himself involved too.

I see the Thai teachers just assigning work and hoping that some of the kids do it.  I don’t blame them because of the extra tasks that they get given but it’s not something that I am very comfortable doing unless I’m tired myself and want to step off the gas a little.

What is a defining moment of my life?

I think I’ve answered this before. I could easily point to my two immigrant moves, from the UK to Australia and then from Australia to Thailand.  I could point to any of my three marriages or the special time with TLJ.  Travelling to China, to Malaysia and Singapore. 

But probably the most defining moment was something that I wasn’t even aware of and that was my dad dying when I was just 18 months old.  I can’t even say how this was a defining moment and even as I’m writing this I’m wondering if it even was.  Does it define me?  I don’t feel like I can even be defined by a single moment so perhaps all of the above apply?  I thought about this moment of my dad dying because my life would have been totally different if that event hadn’t happened.

Sarah (at front) took this picture because she is always trying to snatch my phone out of my pocket and today she succeeded. I knew she took it but I was busy talking with other students. I couldn’t find her for about five minutes and was expecting 1000 photos by the time I got my phone back. Fortunately, there weren’t too many and among the predictable shots of the floor and ceiling, I thought this one was quite nice. Sarah and her accomplice, Iphone.