Tag: quote

The Warrior – 13th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Rich in dreams but poor in reality
Abundance has removed all the limits
Stepping outside all the comfort
Where days become hours become minutes

Soft, decadent, bored with what’s owned
Kept alive with constant shocks
The warrior plays the long game
And keeps the ship far from the rocks

Renew, and prepare for the peasant’s war
Retrench and practice key strengths
Recognise all enemies come from within
And what exactly is being fought against

Inspired (and borrowed) from Robert Greene
14th May 2024 – Submitted to FOWC with Fandango

I want to know you’re there, but I want to be alone.

Virginia Woolf

Today I’m grateful for:
Being reminded of the quality of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina whilst watching the old BBC TV series, marvelling at the old TV production style and the seeming absurdities of Russian aristocratic life. It reminds me of times of my youth when I would have cringed to see anything like this on tv and even now I don’t think I could enjoy it without having read the book first.
The best thing about today was:
Was waking up throughout the night to find Kim Chi in various places on the bed. I disturbed her a few times but she happily rearranged herself each time.

I took this picture because I was quite impressed by my student’s drawing skills. Her name is Apple.

Doing It Again – 12th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

We’re making the mistakes all over again
It seems that we’ll never learn
Forgetting that setting the world on fire
Means you’ll have to watch it burn

History won’t help if we soon forget
The lessons it helped us learn
Don’t be afraid to let the past go
When it’s someone else’s turn

6th Nov 2024 – Shared with Word of the Day Challenge – vote

Our moral thinking is much more like a politician searching for votes than a scientist searching for truth.

Jonathan Heidt, The Righteous Mind

Today I’m grateful for:
Amy’s mum and dad coming over in the morning with jump leads so that I could start my car and get to work before my first class. Also to Fui for supplying a new battery with a minor discount.
The best thing about today was:
Being with my lovely annoying students again. I love them all in their own ways.

I took this picture because Tangmo is a lovely smelly droopy-eyed dopey dog who loves to come and visit to get strokes and biscuits.

Get Used To It – 11th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Get used to it, it’s not going to change
Settle on down til it’s no longer strange
Culture shock, not worth fighting against
It’s upsetting but not worth taking offence
Getting used to it, going along for the ride
Hiding in the open is the best place to hide
Running away or kicking against the pricks
Means never teaching this old dog new tricks

Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Today I’m grateful for:
Receiving some comfortable new sandals that at least attempt to give me some arch support.
The best thing about today was:
Walking home from Utopia in the light drizzle. It was just the right rain not to get too wet and to keep the temperature down. The air felt supremely fresh and reinvigorating. I really enjoyed the walk.

I took this picture because the clouds amongst the mountains looked amazing and reminded me of windswept moors of England.

On It – 10th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

You gotta be on it to be in it
You gotta lose sometimes to win it
To be on it – at the top of your game
Winging it is just not the same

As long as I’m alive, I will continue to try to understand more because the work of the heart is never done.

Muhammad Ali

Today I’m grateful for:
The perfect temperature. I haven’t had aircon on all day and spent some time outside in the hammock before the rain came then doing some pot plant reorganising.
The best thing about today was:
A general sense of calm and enjoying the slow speed of the day. I lazed and I also got things done. Everything was important and everything could have waited. Time slowed down.

I took this picture because it stood out to me as a simple and meaningful piece of art. I found it on Facebook and don’t know who the artist is.

The Pudding – 9th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

It’s said one reaps what they sow
And you’ve been poisoned by the fruit
Of the promised land you know
As the soil has infected the root
You wrestled for control by force
Claimed that you’d known best
The proof is in the pudding of course
Feeding a state of unrest
The future is not written in stone
But mistakes must be owned and reversed
Otherwise, you’ll end up alone
And seen as forever being cursed

Even if you think you are stuck between two impossible choices, there’s always a third way. You just have to look for it.

Marcus Sedgwick

Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to come home early and enjoy my time here.
The best thing about today was:
Spending two hours playing guitar. It was fun.

I took this picture because I was enjoying reading time in the hammock this morning when I was supposed to have been at school.

The Week That Was – 2nd December 1979

Pick Up – 8th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Stay with me, but only come when I call
Knowing you’re there is enough consolation
My pain is mine, not to share at all
I work things out in my own isolation
A quiet word whispered at the right time
I’ll ask for your help when required
When I’m alone all the time is mine
I’ll call when I feel uninspired

No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.

C.G. Jung, Letters Vol II

Today I’m grateful for:
The salad man being at the market today as I really wanted to eat salad!
The best thing about today was:
Getting absorbed into reading more of Gormenghast. I couldn’t stop.

I took this picture because just a couple of minutes before this the sun was shining and I’d not long gotten home from a quick bike ride to get food. The wind had blown open the screen doors and blown rain in and even the garage floor had gotten wet. With a flash of lightning close by that zapped me whilst I played guitar and a second later, a huge peal of thunder and the wind was gone and the rain soon after.

What’s Missing? – 7th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

You’re only seeing the red pill
Or maybe just the green
Oblivious to the fact
The green pill left unseen

When the choice is one or two
Always search for three
Sometimes you’ll find four or five
If you look long enough to see

16th Nov 2024 – Shared with the Word of the Day Challenge – missing

Now is no time to think of what you do not have.

Ernest Hemingway

Today I’m grateful for:
The chef in the kitchen in the shop next door to Utopia, who remembered that I wanted food without meat and made delicious fried rice with chilli that had me sweating so hard I needed a shower when I got home.
The best thing about today was:
Having fun with all the kids who were cooking as part of their scout week. They were very playful and happy.

I took this picture because this unfinished building always fascinates me. I guess it was going to be a hotel. It is located next to the river and is an easy drive into town. I fanaticise about turning it into a punk house for world travellers and having shows there.

The Honey Pot – 6th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Good fortune can be a great deceiver
Life’s lottery may bring returns of gold
But the devil is in the details
Of the glittering lives being sold
Ants will gather at the honey pot
Desperate hands grabbing for a share
Fighting for a way to get out
Before realising it’s all still there

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw

Today I’m grateful for:
My little motorbike surviving the stupid journies I take it on. I rewarded it with a quick shower and wipe down ready to go again another time. Maybe I’ll wait until it’s a little drier though.
The best thing about today was:
Realising that I needed to get outside and see the sun, breath the air and dive deep into the jungle. My mood had totally altered by the time I returned home scratched up, aching muscles and covered in mud.

I took this picture because it will remind me of my bike ride today that got me out of my funk. I love the angles and depths though my phone can’t capture the magnificence as the human eye. I particularly like the clouds in just half the sky here.

The Week That Was – 25th November 1979

Happy Times – 5th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

I’m grateful you’ve been spared
In some way that was my doing
If you’d have stayed here
You’d soon discover troubles brewing

Wisdom came to me far too late
I know it was wrong to make you suffer
There’s no way to go back now
I am one and you are another

I’ll watch you from a distance
Happy you are happy and content
I’ll hang on to the memories
Of the happy times we spent

All I’m saying is that the difference between humans and animals is that animals would never allow the dumbest of the herd to lead them.

The Far Side

Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to leave school early and have an afternoon snooze after treating myself to some lunch.
The best thing about today was:
The bearable temperature, thankfully lowered after a heavy rain whilst I was drinking my morning coffee at House.

I took this picture because I found these mangy pups hanging out on the street corner this morning. They were friendly enough though.

The Week That Was – 18th November 1979

All About The Underdog – 4th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes bad weather seems better
Maybe you’ve got no coin in the game
A baby born without hope to survive
Maybe rooting for us just the same
Take a shot at the moving target
And it becomes the best you’ve ever done
Everyone has forgotten your name
But to us, you’re the one that won

Run in the opposite direction of any expert or guru proclaiming to possess a secret formula for success of power.

Robert Greene, the Daily Laws

Today I’m grateful for:
A weekend of being able to watch the AFL. Four amazing first-round finals. All of them were fantastic thrilling games and they reminded me of weekends of drinking and hangovers in Australia. Winters of football and summers of cricket.
The best thing about today was:
A big drink of cold water at about 8pm. Today has not been very eventful but that water sure made an impression. No doubt I will be reminded of it at about 3am too!

I took this picture because it represents hope and growth. Many of our pumpkin flowers don’t turn to fruit or fall off quickly before having chance to take. I don’t know how far this one will go but it’s looking good right now.