Tag: Robert Greene

Boundless – 1st December 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Our fear of death is negated by our fear of living
Buried underground with our fear of breathing
Miracles abound and they never stop giving
But our closed doors of perception have stopped receiving

Imagining differences is part of the madness of groups.

Robert Greene

Today I’m feeling:
Happy but then lethargic after two cocktails with late lunch
Today I’m grateful for:
Having spare pots around to transfer a cactus that kept falling over. I’m quite proud I’ve managed to keep some of them alive since Amy has been away. This one is a hardy one that had got too tall and unwieldy.
The best thing about today was:
Talking, playing and having fun with all different students. It’s starting to feel familiar for all of us now.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Another class today straggled in late but this time I just went with the flow, knowing that these kids wouldn’t react so maturely as the ones yesterday. It got them in the right mood to do my work and to be happily pushed along
What cities do you want to visit?
All of them. Why not!? I’m trying to think of a city I wouldn’t want to visit…

I took this picture because Goya was in a lively and artistic mood and apparently this is a drawing of me… She captured my shirt well! Goya is a smart kid but also a bit of a handful.

What’s Not Mine – 24th November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

My favourite mug smashed to pieces
Now strewn across the kitchen floor
Happened a thousand times in my mind
And so this is what I’ve prepared for

Whenever you must learn a new skill or alter your career path later in life, you reconnect with that youthful, adventurous part of yourself.

Robert Greene

Today I’m feeling:
Mostly happy, a little tired.
Today I’m grateful for:
The Bath and Body Works car freshener that lost its smell in the car but I brought it inside and shoved it in the screen door and pierced it slightly so the fluid can slowly drip. In the afternoon the sun hits it and the bedroom smells great.
The best thing about today was:
Not having to teach. Can’t complain about days like that.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I was expecting to have to teach today but at the last minute realised that I wouldn’t be able to. I hastily prepared some work for my students to do in their own time and was able to feel that I wasn’t neglecting my students or just skipping out. I doubt if most will do my work so at least I can see who is conscientious at least.
Describe your family’s greatest catastrophe to date.
I suppose this would be my father dying which undoubtedly affected things around me but as I was less than two years old I can’t say that it affected me directly at the time. It’s also not possible to say how it has affected me since as I have nothing to compare it with. I don’t think there has been anything catastrophic in my life since though no doubt some things may have felt so at the time.

I took this picture because Kim didn’t really seem to mind balancing across these parts of the sofa.

Wind Up – 16th November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

It’s a crowded room full of screaming
And I’m feeling out of control
I wish I was only bad-dreaming
As I’m sinking into this hole

I gotta leave here quick
Or something’s gonna blow
Not sure what’ll do the trick
I don’t know, I don’t know

Temperature rising to the max
Smoke coming out my ears
Gotta face up to the facts
Or it’s gonna end in tears

Ran myself out the door
Before I got to blow
I can’t do this anymore
I know, I know

How you confront difficulties with determine your fate.

Robert Greene, Daily Laws

Today I’m feeling:
Happy and satisfied
Today I’m grateful for:
Working for most of the day. Some days I’m happy to only have two classes (4 hours) and can relax and then sometimes on days like this with three classes (6 hours) I can feel happy and achieving something too. It helped that I’d planned well and that the students were in pretty good moods.
The best thing about today was:
Taking time to be one on one with some of the poorer or quieter students in my last class and seeing them start to understand more about what I’m asking them to do. It’s a little frustrating that some students get left behind in the melee of the full class especially when they can do the work if they take the time to understand. The pull of the crowd is strong though.
Daily thought
Do you have any hopes or fears?
I do but I don’t put much stock in them. For instance, I hope Amy can come back here and find some happiness and something to occupy her time effectively and I have some fear of packing up and moving back to Australia (fear of the logistics and effort) but at the same time I know that whatever happens everything will be ok. So I would downgrade fear and hope to preferences.
What do you think of the idea of living forever?
Just about everyone ponders this idea at one time or another. I first did after watching the first Highlander film or reading The Sandman and was quite into the idea. I once thought aloud that I would live to 300 which seems a little more reasonable. But to live forever means to live beyond the existence of the universe and forever would not just be a long time but would make our universe’s existence like just a pinprick in time. That does not seem amusing. Perhaps the joy of our lives is knowing that they will not last and why I enjoy the excitement and wonder of my students with whom I can still share in their dreams. I hope they can all find some satisfaction in their own lives.

Praewa took this picture because we were having fun in the classroom today and I was pretending to be angry. It’s funny to see this because I guess this is what I must look like sometimes when I am actually angry. Even my ‘bad’, ‘difficult’, and ‘annoying’ students were ok today.
Fatman report

Child As Philosopher – 8th November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Kid, you got a question?
A minor fleeting thought?
Shout it to the crowd
Demand yourself an answer
Revise what you’ve been taught
Thinking aloud allowed

Thinking aloud allowed is a motto at our school. That’s not to say it happens though.

To waste your time in battles not of your choosing is more than just a mistake, it is stupidity of the highest order.

Robert Greene

Today I’m feeling:
Average. Tired.
Today I’m grateful for:
Tangmo coming for a quick visit when I came home. I always enjoy his unconditional interest and acceptance when he’s here. He’s not so needy now and sits patiently outside until he gets bored and goes home.
The best thing about today was:
A quick snooze after coming home at lunchtime where I never got into a deep sleep but enjoyed some lucid dreaming.
Daily thought
Are you lucky?
I don’t believe in luck as such though good fortune may come my way from time to time. So, I may be lucky but it’s just random. I also try to look at many situations as being of good fortune even if they seem otherwise. In this sense then, yes I am lucky.
If you could interview one person from the past, who it would be? Why?
Now my mum has gone I often think about questions I’d like to ask her. I guess I would have lots of questions for my dad too, having no memory of him. I would love to talk to Steve again too. Perhaps this question is supposed to be answered along the lines of proposing someone famous historically. I think the people I am interested in historically hold that place because of what they themselves have already written and left behind as their legacy so there’s not much left for me to ask them. Asking why someone made such and such a decision won’t really change the situation as it is today.
But then as I’m thinking more, perhaps Lee Harvey Oswald. His story never got heard leaving somewhat of a mystery that has fascinated people for the last 60 years. Ultimately though it wouldn’t affect anything really.

I took this picture because this big lizard was making a racket outside the door. I chased him around to the other side of the house where I can still hear him asking for rain.

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!

Our Dark Side – 17th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

You are a nice and pleasant person
Loath to admit or examine your dark side
As your fallibilities may worsen
Deep insecurities, desires to hurt people
Fantasies of revenge, suspicious of others
Your hunger for power and attention
Attempts to place you above your brothers
This dark side haunts your dreams
Leading to inexplicable depression
And blame laid on circumstances
As you fail to understand the lesson

inspired by a Robert Greene piece from Daily Laws

If their work is satisfying, people don’t need leisure in the old-fashioned sense. No one ever asks what Newton or Darwin did to relax, or how Bach spent his weekends.

J.G. Ballard

Today I’m feeling:
Happy
Today I’m grateful for:
The new frozen veggie microwave meal option at the 7-11. It wasn’t bad and at 45 baht pretty reasonable too.
The best thing about today was:
2 hours guitar? 3rd day in a row walking to Utopia? Golden hour bike ride again? Finish watching After Life? The sounds, the smells, everything…
What would your life be like without music?
Could it even be called a life? Music is everywhere. Imagine no music! We have it so I guess it’s possible to imagine not having it. What do we not have then, what things unimagined yet? I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have music in their life somehow. Everyone must in some way or another.

I took this picture because I waited for golden hour again to go for a ride but just to counter sunburn rather than for good pictures. However, I was lucky enough to get some good pictures too.

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.

Paint It White – 11th August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Blocked out, little emotion left inside
No meaning carries a meaning that’s implied
Words left unsaid, let actions speak louder
Paint it all white and sprinkle it with powder
Every town’s memory, slowly being removed
Every complex conspiracy, slowly being disproved
We’re gonna make it right through to the end
Paint it all white to signal the angel to descend

We all believe we are masters in the realms of opinion and reasoning.

Robert Greene

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for all the food Amy and her parents made that is in my freezer. I can eat cheaply for many days.

P.V.S. – 7th July 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

It’s a good morning with mists descending
A light rain forms teardrops on the greenest leaves
A darkened dampness permeates the heart and mind
But we’re safe inside, taking it all in
It’s a lazy day of literature and brandies
Hours spent staring at crackling fires
A comforting smell of libraried shelves
Over shadows the comings and goings of the day

8th May 2024 – Submitted to Writer’s Workshop Prompts – literature

Always stick to what makes you weird, odd, strange, different. That’s your source of power.

Robert Greene

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I could take time off school (and hopefully still get paid) for the last nine working days when I’ve had Covid. I feel like I have finally come out of the other side and have some energy back.

Camouflage – 29th June 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I didn’t see you coming
And I’m not laughing now
An elegant transfer
From there to here somehow

Hiding in the open
Invisible to touch and tongue
You have become a part of me
Buried within my lung

Your camouflage removed
The fight has now started
It’s going until the bitter end
And one of us has departed

2nd Nov 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – departed

First, we must come to believe that we have the capacity to raise ourselves up. Second, we must develop a solid work ethic to back this up. If we are rigorous and persistent, we will be able to overcome almost any obstacle and elevate our position. People who are lazy and undisciplined are much more prone to feeling envy.

Robert Greene