Tag: Reena’s Xploration Challenge

Flesh – 26th May 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 8 Comments

Far into the future food will be hard to find
But will have evolved with an ever-greater mind
Time travel will be normal but only to the past
Once the first one comes, it’s sure not to be the last

Back all those million years, so much free-roaming meat
Bring it back to the future for everyone to eat
But our future selves became so filled with greed
Making the same mistakes, taking more than they need

So supplies were running out, there was only so much flesh
Standards demanding that everything must be fresh
Man still not smart enough to know it’s all interlinked
And so that’s how the story goes, the dinosaurs became extinct

Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #332 and inspired by the 2000AD story ‘Flesh’
26th Sep 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – dinosaur

Today I’m feeling:

Still tired and a little slow.  The weekends with no stress or early morning commitments means a big wind down.  So, it’s been a little bit of a quiet day.

Today I’m grateful for:

The workers working on the road.  As the rains have gotten heavier the way out from our house to the road has completely muddied up (even a big truck got stuck out there this morning).  Amy asked them to fix it for us and they did.  I haven’t seen it yet but will find out in the morning.

The best thing about today was:

Playing guitar and feeling like enjoying it again.  It’s been a struggle for the last few weeks but today felt good and spent nearly an hour playing traditional songs in Yousician and then another 30 minutes smashing out punk tunes in Capo.  I’m still terrible but today it doesn’t bother me.

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

Amy is a little short with me because I took her cookies to Utopia and to Baipad this morning and I think she’s thinking that I care too much about other people and/or that I don’t like her cookies and so giving them away.

I’m trying just to be normal and carry on and Amy is also busy with her student’s assignments.

I love Amy more than anything but also need to think of ways to keep showing her that.

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

I wasn’t going to do much of anything today but after I got home from coffee I was surprised to get a message from Baipad asking if I could take her and her sister to Big C as they wanted to go see a movie.

I asked her if her mum was ok with it and if she was then I could take her.  She said her mum was ok (but I’m not certain that she was!) and so I went to pick them up.  It was there that they told me that their mum was in Bangkok!

Well, I put my trust in Baipad and dropped them off and hoped for the best.

Later in the afternoon, she said that they got back home (by Grab I guess) and everything was fine.

I got sent this picture because it seems Little Art and Noey enjoyed Amy’s cookies.

Accord – 14th May 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

Agreeance is harmony
Connected in symmetry
She and he, they and thee
It’s the you and me
The we,
Written in accord

Submitted for Reena’s Xploration Challenge #330

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty rough this morning, starting at around 60% I guess and now, in the evening back to around 80%.  I will skip exercising in the mornings this week and start again next week instead.  

We start teaching our classes on Thursday.  

It was freaking hot walking around school today and I have a lot more walking between buildings than before too.

Today I’m grateful for:

Spending a little time with Kru Ren, chatting about the new program that he is supposed to be writing lessons for but which he hasn’t even started yet because he’s just not sure what he’s supposed to be doing!

The best thing about today was:

Getting my head around how everything will work for me this semester.  There will be some challenges ahead, some teething problems but I’m sure I will settle in pretty well.  

I found and printed some fun activities from the Twinkl downloads on Sunday and hope they go well.

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

I ran out of A4 paper to print on in the main office and when I asked someone there for some more they only gave me a few sheets.  Even though I couldn’t finish what I wanted I decided not to get bothered by it and will find some paper somewhere else to print with tomorrow.

Something I learned today?

JubJib told me where building 8 was this morning and I explored it to see the rooms that I will be teaching in there.  They are a bit rough but I’ll do my best.

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

I rescued a dragonfly in the kitchen.  After what must have been a frustrating few hours for it, it settled on my finger and I walked it outside to freedom.

My vile deed:  I appropriated an ethernet cable from one of the classrooms to carry with me as I’m never sure of the Wifi access in each building and don’t trust its stability.

Did you do something difficult or challenging today?

I’m suffering a little with the heat as I’m getting used to wearing long pants and long sleeves again.  If I was feeling 100% I would be ok but as I’m a little under the weather it was a bit of a challenge today.

Day In Court – 5th April 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 13 Comments

Mother, I’m not like you
I’m not wise to your ways
I’m barely a teen
And can see through your plays

Is it better raised like this
Or for you to be taken away?
When you are gone
Where do you expect me to stay?

When Dad died we fought hard
To make our way together
Until you saw the glitter of gold
That turned out to be old leather

Uncle tried a little bit but can’t even manage himself!
He just takes ALL the money, I don’t know where
ALL I’ve got is INSTANT NOODLES for the rest of the MONTH!
Mother don’t leave me here, I know you still care…

A STRANGER came to me today and SPUN A GREAT STORY OF FORTUNE
I didn’t know whether to BELIEVE HIM BUT I’VE NO ONE ELSE TO TRUST!
I ALWAYS TRIED TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT BUT LOOK WHERE THAT HAS GOTTEN ME!?
WITH NOWHERE ELSE TO GO I’LL HAVE TO DO AS NEEDS MUST – Sigh!

…

Mother, I don’t want to be like you
I don’t want to be wise to those ways
I’m still a vulnerable child at heart
But I’ll hold on to anything that stays

Sadly, a situation facing one of my best and favourite students right now, though I have taken the poem where I hope it doesn’t end up for her. Submitted to the Word of the Day Challenge – Vulnerability and NaPoMo.

3rd June 2024 – Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #333

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good again today. Though the pollution is getting worse I, at least, seem to have gotten over any allergic reaction.  For now, anyway.

Today I’m grateful for:

The people who came and removed the roof from our entertainment area so that when the storms come this year the winds should just blow through instead of ripping the roof off.  It’s a shame to see it all laid out on the floor to be taken away.  That was expensive stuff.

The best thing about today was:

Lazily going about my day getting things done that I wanted to do, with a little bit of everything thrown in.

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

I ate a weed brownie and started reading about the Boer War and how some folks back then saw the British Empire’s decline in the same exact way that happened to the Romans and as is happening to the USA now.

It’s just wild to watch people (societies) walk into the same mistakes that have happened over the centuries.

Anyway, all that was fascinating until I got to the end of a section and wanted to listen to music.  I stuck on some CHROMB! and put my brain into overdrive trying to keep track of what the musicians were doing.

I was happily lost in its madness and was in a trance-like state for the best part of an hour.  I think I handled that pretty well then!

Something I learned today?

Wholesome news:

Dozens of Huskies Escape Pet Cafe in China

The barking mad footage from a Shenzhen shopping centre shows the dogs running wild after a customer failed to close the door properly. It reportedly took about one hour to round them up.

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

I took out the garbage this morning which was easier said than done as our usual dumping area on the road has disappeared with the work going on.  Luckily there is another area not far away though.

I unpacked the packages of cat food, put them away in the cupboard and broke down the boxes.

I cleaned out the gutters, urging rain to come and fill them.

I watered the mango tree which is budding hundreds of tiny fruit.  Let’s hope some make it to maturity this year.

I took this picture yesterday because the restaurant we went to for lunch had these two coloured grasses along their driveway just like we do. But I kinda like it in monochrome.

If I… – 13th March 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 8 Comments

If I was a woman
I, too, would shout for
An end to the patriarchy
To even the score

If I was a woman
I would happily strut
With head held high
“I am not a slut”

If I was a woman
I would live without fear
Of the rape and violence
That is happening here

If I was a woman
I would guide the boys
Away from stupid wars
And their destructive toys

As I am a man
I can do this too
To teach my sons respect
To be honest and true

Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #321

Today I’m feeling:

Sick. I already decided that I wouldn’t go to school last night and I slept for 11 hours and woke feeling no better. I grabbed some medicine which did help and when I finally ate that helped a lot too. 

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow so I hope to be feeling better by then.

Today I’m grateful for:

Water. Over the last couple of years, I’ve watered the garden less and most things seem to survive from what they get during the rainy season. 

Often now though our pump stops working and Amy believes it is because there is not enough ground water to pump up. I don’t think that can be the case though as there was so much rain last year. 

Unfortunately, that means that there will likely be something else that is the problem that needs fixing. 

At the moment we can just restart the pump and it’s ok again until the next time we want to water the garden.

The best thing about today was:

Watching the first episode of the Chinese adaptation of Three-Body Problem. It was pretty good and the second episode is free to watch online but I’m not sure if I’ll take the time to find and the rest to watch for free.

Something I learned today?

More Children Killed by Israel in Gaza War Than in Four Years of Worldwide Conflicts

More than 12,300 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip between Oct 2023 and the end Feb 2024.

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

I did some watering whilst Amy was busy with her family organising things for the wedding this weekend.

Carriage Four – 28th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

It’s the marker of my day’s end
Another hour to sit and spend
Contemplating tomorrow
In the warmth of my only friend

– Carriage four, sat by the door

*Walking home in the rain again
Missed the subway train again*
There’s a seat with my name
That I can’t explain again….

Submitted for Reena’s Xploration Challenge #319.
*Inspired by Buffalo Tom’s The Bus

Today I’m feeling:

A little disheartened.  I slept late again last night and couldn’t force myself up to exercise.  Like I mentioned yesterday I tend to feel better and more energetic in the evenings when I’ve been sick or still recovering.  When I woke this morning I could feel that I’m still not 100%.

My mood was ok but I could also feel that some of my students weren’t in such a great mood themselves this morning, though as can be expected there are still plenty who were.  Perhaps those down ones infected me slightly though.

I also felt a little disconsolate as I came out of school to grab coffee and the reduced number of students being around already at this time of year reminded me that this will all be over again for another year.

Yesterday and last night was also the turning point for temperatures as I put the aircon on for a little while when I got home after work and then needed it on for four hours at the start of the night.  With just the fan for the rest of the night, I woke up hot and tired.  Time to start the cold showers I think.

Today I’m grateful for:

Casually chatting with Kru Karn about what to teach her class today (with so many students away), which was about to start, and through that coming up with the idea to get the kids to take a photo or video of someone in the school and then make a one-minute video presentation describing them (our topic is Describing People).

Initially, the kids were shocked when I told them all to leave the class and go and find someone to talk about.  And then I was shocked to find all of them in the teacher’s room talking to Kru Karn because they wanted her to be the subject.  When I found them I told them that everyone had to have a different person as the subject and they all left somewhat dejected, though it got their brains spinning.

Whilst they all went off, some actually doing the work, others just playing with the other half-class of students next door, I sat back a little, fielded questions, gave advice and started my grading files.  Eventually, after the two hours were up, everyone had finished the task as best they could and I was happy and they were happy too.

The best thing about today was:

My grade 10s being late for class and me not caring!  The work planned for them can be done at any time so we just started when they finally arrived and can do more next week.  

It wasn’t their fault that they were late so we just enjoyed a relaxed lesson of writing and thinking.

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

(See below)

Something I learned today?

One of our Thai teachers told a student that they will never get a job because they are not smart enough.  I was fuming when I heard this, it’s the antithesis of how a teacher should be.  

It’s a struggle for a teacher to pick everyone up but you have to support the students in any way that you can.  You have to give them something.  

I asked the student who confided the information to me what grade they got from that teacher and it was grade 4! Top grade!  Unbelievable!  It makes me angry!

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

Another student came to me today asking for help with mental health issues.  We talked for about an hour going over the problems they are having (including the issue mentioned above) and despite our struggles with language we blundered through with translation and managed to understand each other.  

I’ve done a little bit of investigation and sent some information for support services in Thai and I will find some more information for them later too.

Bruno took this picture in Italy, in the mountains where his family is from. No pictures from me today.

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.

Under The Big Tree – 27th July 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

A revelation of the vastness
Of the universe
*In the scale of the world
Ego diminishes*

Sitting under this big night sky
Lonely but not alone
A life lived put into context
Must be made one’s own

Ten thousand years will pass
Turning all to dust
Footprints left waiting in the mud
Maybe seen by none
When gods decide on supernova
No one will wonder
About all the thinking
Under the big tree done

* quote from David Elikwu
Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #320

Today I’m feeling:

Sleepy, not helped by the fact that morning classes were cancelled so I had no flow going for that time. It’s super hot and humid and no one wants to study. I still have class this afternoon but luckily I talked with David who said that the class were behind in his work, whereas they are ahead in mine so instead of teaching them I can let them catch up for him. Happy happy.

Today I’m grateful for:

The English Cheddar cheese chips at Makro that hopefully will stay available and not just be a short trial to see how well they sell. They remind me a little of old England and the regular chips flavours that I grew up with like cheese and onion, salt and vinegar or ready salted. The flavour combinations here in Thailand are wild to me though obviously understandable. I sometimes need familiarity.

The best thing about today was:

Making some deeper connections with some of my quieter students in a more relaxed space than just in the classroom where their bored little faces stare right through me. It’s easy to connect with the studious ones and even with the ones who don’t understand anything but the quiet ones take a bit longer.

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

The whole school schedule is out of my control as I discover changes with very short notice and it has taken me some time to adapt myself to this. Now I’m more able to roll with the punches and today has certainly turned out in my favour.

Something I learned today?

Thaksin is due to come back to Thailand next month after 15 years in exile. I’m wondering if this could be a move to quiet any issues with the winners of the recent election not being part of the government? The machinations of politics in Thailand are difficult to follow but it all seems to come back to one word – corruption.

What would I like to accomplish soon?

This feels like a question for a younger person. Do I need to accomplish anything? Sometime soon, I need to clean my room and move my stuff back in there from the house. Hardly a big deal.

I don’t have any big goals or anything. I have plans but they are just things that will happen without much input.

I’d like to lose my belly fat but it also doesn’t really matter if I don’t because I can feel my health has improved in general. 

This feels like a tough question to answer for me right now.

Rista took this picture because she grabbed my phone to take photos of herself and Namkhing. This is my lizard eye. One that I never notice in my soft mirror at home. I must stop smiling.

No Freedom – 15th March 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

There’s no freedom without morality
Or institutions to provide education
For freedom to provide peaceful reality
Needs reassessment of this situation

We (a royal we, a royal we of the West) are obsessed with freedom but we’ve misunderstood its reality. Freedom does not mean freedom to just do as you please. It must have some moral guidelines and that part is being eroded and going missing in our modern Western societies. I don’t know so much about other societies in depth but I feel that they have a different relationship with ‘authority’. It’s a choice to make and to pick your battles.

18th Aug 2025 – Shared with Reena’s Xploration #394

Today I’m feeling:

Relaxed, happy

Today I’m grateful for:

The shampoo that helps clean up Tigger’s skin. It leaves his coat feeling good and hopefully, this is the last time I have to wash him for a while as the blisters have almost all gone now. Luckily he doesn’t mind me washing him too much now.

The best thing about today was:

Starting to read Death’s End. First at Daytripper and then in the cooler late afternoon in the hammock. Already thought-provoking in the first 40 pages. Awesome.

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

I couldn’t resist an afternoon nap after reading and I spent an hour fluctuating between lucidity and what felt like deep sleep. As I was falling asleep waves of euphoria hit me dragging me down to dreamland. It was delicious, I love that feeling and tried to make it last longer but the pull was too strong. I handled the ‘waste of time’ with sixty jumping jacks when I woke up and after shaking out my head a little.

Something I learned today?

After China brokered a deal between Iran and Saudia Arabia last week there’s talk now about the possibility of negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine. That would be the biggest diplomatic coup so far this century.

Pushing the world toward peace is the exact opposite of what the US has promoted for the last 70 years. I really hope China can pull it off.

How can I express my creativity today?

How? In any number of ways. Anything is possible. However, I didn’t really. The two photos I took were about it. I did get some students to test my online lesson though, but I created that yesterday and will update accordingly tomorrow. I guess I got some ideas. Not every day is creative, much as we might like it to be.

I took this picture because it’s time to start a new book and get back into a good story. The third part of the trilogy and it’s off with a bang and a twist. I got to Daytripper early so not many people around. I also started to feel sleepy as my body and brain winds down from the intensity of the classroom.

Change Your Mind – 23rd October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 9 Comments

When evidence is not compelling
Even though it’s fishy-smelling
A balance is easy to find
What will it take to change your mind?

To update your view is noble
Even if it’s not seen as global
To admit you were wrongly inclined
What will it take to change your mind?

7th Oct 2024 – Shared with Reena’s Xploration Challenge #350

See the fruits of discipline and skill as the richest pleasures of all.

Robert Greene

Today I’m feeling:
am: flat – pm: happy and enthusiastic
Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to fix the number plate on my bike for just 69 baht. The first shop I tried the guy just pointed down an aisle but didn’t help me at all. I couldn’t find the part I needed so went to another shop instead and the lady there went and got what I needed. She gets my money. I guess I’m also grateful that I never got stopped whilst riding around without the plate for the previous 24 hours.
The best thing about today was:
Finally sitting down to play guitar again after a couple of lazy days. I figured I’d give it ten minutes but ended playing for an hour and a half. Currently reading the Clash bio and hearing about how quickly they became skilled has motivated me a bit more.
Take a selfie.
Not a selfie type.

This is from yesterday. I took this picture because this was the destination that I marked on my map that I almost gave up on a couple of times on the way. I want to go back and I want to keep going!

Get Lost – 25th April 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

How can you be lost
If you don’t know where you’re going?
How much does it cost
To be comfortable with the not knowing?
You take the first step
Outside the familiar loop of each day
And don’t you forget
You got ‘here’ but ‘there’ is a different way

*inspired by The Tiny Wisdom

9th Jun 2024 – Submitted to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #334

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

Khalil Gibran