Tag: ritual

The Sinners – 24th January 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cold eyes watch the quiet shuffle
Into the box of hungry confession
A crust of bread, two glasses of water
A dogmatic ritual obsession
Mary and St John aside the cross
Glare ominous at this loathsome boy
Bowing down, accepting absolution
Returning soon cleansed with joy

*based on Anton Chekov’s In Passion Week

Today I’m feeling:

Happy though I have a runny nose and feel a little run down.

Today I’m grateful for:

My students Nice and Stamp keeping me up to date with their classmates’ news and gossip, though it made me a little sad to see them all splitting up at the end of the semester.

The best thing about today was:

Getting my work permit sorted without any waiting time or problem.

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

Baitoey decided to tell her mum that she went to the hospital and that I took her. Her mum then called the school to ask if they knew about this and eventually Kru Tongjai contacted me about it. She said that she has to be informed if any of her students go outside the school just in case anything happens, which I understand. The thing is that I didn’t know who I should have contacted at the time and I wondered if Baitoey would have still wanted me to take her to the hospital if she had to tell Kru TJ first. I knew it was a delicate situation and could cause me trouble but I considered Baitoey’s trust and health first.

Something I learned today?

Talking with Nice today she told me about her own battles with her mental health and showed me where she had cut herself on her arms. She also mentioned that she didn’t know what to believe about Boss and Baitoey because they have a history of being flexible with the truth. It did make me consider that perhaps they had lied to me but I don’t think so. Even if things weren’t quite as they said they are still obviously having issues and maybe not sure how to express themselves.

What values will guide my choices this year?

Fairness, kindness, understanding. As generalisations at least! What choices will I face? There are none of significance on the immediate horizon.

I took this picture because it was the last one before my battery ran out, taken at the Kasalong Restaurant, PB Valley on Saturday. No new pictures today.

You Gotta Show Up – 17th December 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A boring meditation of repetitious boredom
A distant goal but no one to score them
Successful or not, you just gotta show up
Sisyphus is happy and never gonna stop

10th Oct 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – distant

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to snooze my alarm this cold morning. I slept deeply but woke up feeling uncomfortable so I ended up with not enough good sleep.

Oh, new pen, I love you! But I grabbed the last one available. I hope that they restock them. This pen is called Energel Metal Tip 0.7. It’s cheap, made in Japan. The flow is nice on this paper and it’s comfortable enough in my fingers.

I was tired again this morning and snoozed. It was cold too so staying in bed longer was too appealing to overcome.

I did some sit-ups last night. Something that I want to add to my daily routine. I have to do them by hooking my feet under the lounge in Kim Chi’s room because I don’t have the muscles yet to pull my body weight up completely. But hopefully that happens at some point in the future. There are some things my body just cannot do.

As I was driving home yesterday, Amy called and asked to pick up some ice so I took the turn off to go to the auntie store at the back of our house. As I approached, there is a vacant block just before the store. In the corner, near the edge of the road, is a spirit house and I saw a guy standing, facing it. As I got closer, he turned to look at me. He was wearing a trilby-style hat and a big, fluffy coat that came down to his waist. His face looked brutish, with a rough beard. He was built like a Samoan rugby player.

The weird thing, though, was that he wasn’t wearing anything else – completely naked from the bottom down, his butt cheeks shining out to the road and the world, his skinny legs stuck, thankfully, as he swivelled his torso to eye me. I didn’t catch it and quickly drove past.

As I got out of the car at the store, he was still standing there, facing the spirit house. Some weird ritual? More likely, good drugs. I got the ice and got the hell out of there before he decided it was time to come and say hello. Welcome to Ban Huai Phlu!