Active shooter on the edge of the city! – just another day for Propaganda Barbie. The reductions in famine, plague and war are not what she’s campaigning for.
Fronting up to the endorsed media scrum; justifying indefensible actions done. Controlling the conversation to persuade that truth will win no accolade.
Sharpened teeth bared to dissent of what the decisions really meant; A withering glance, a cut of the mic – the face of the new Third Reich!
Standing along at Satan’s side; a nation duped to enjoy the ride. A house of cards being set to fall, disguised as a necessary overhaul.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Reignite Your Thoughts
There are days one is found drifting But even a minute ago is the past A reignition will reveal a shifting Towards a life that soon restarts
Every accusation a confession; peace through violent aggression
Manipulated media suppression, leading to depression
Today I’m feeling:
Pretty good and positive. For some reason, I woke up well before my alarm and was hoping that I still had hours to sleep but I couldn’t calm my mind down enough or get stupid songs out of my head. Never mind.
I skipped exercise but did some dead hangs, which felt good. After breakfast, I picked up a decent coffee at Utopia and, upon arriving at school, set to printing out all my grading files, which involved a bit of dicking around to make them acceptable for the school, such as the girl who never came to class suddenly having 100% attendance. So it goes.
Health:
Physical: 7 Mental: 8
Today I’m grateful for:
Kru Mai, Jern and PP for helping me sort out the printing of this semester’s grading files.
The best thing about today was:
Writing poetry and reading comics. I also enjoyed playing the guitar today, more so than yesterday, for sure.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
As I was sitting in the teacher’s room this morning, at 9 am, all the Thai teachers went off for a meeting, so I was left by myself, busy updating my files to print.
About ten minutes later, George turns up and, on seeing me, just drops off his bag and leaves the room without saying a word. He was pacing up and down outside the room and making phone calls.
About ten minutes later, he comes back in and collects his bag and leaves again, without saying a word. I didn’t see him again, though I stayed around at the cafe until midday.
Wouldn’t it be great to be the least worst And given pontificated names Promoted due to the complete lack of options The last man standing remains
Qualified without merit or skills Is it possible to win the hearts and minds Of those who pay your bills When the sun from your backside blinds?
Today I’m feeling:
Tired. Apparently, I slept before 10 pm last night and then woke up again this morning just before 9 am.
If being so tired is connected with kratom then it’s an easy fix but if it is related to exercise that will be a bit annoying as I need to keep up my energy levels and keep off the fat.
Health:
Physical: 7 Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
It not raining this morning, even though I had tempted fate by riding the bike to Utopia.
The best thing about today was:
Getting into a flow state again, like yesterday. I did a fair bit of catching up with reading poetry but only managed to write one fairly average one myself.
After that, though, I got stuck back into writing more lessons and found that time really enjoyable. I imagine myself in the classroom and how some students will react and be inspired or provoked into doing some work.
It doesn’t often end up that way and I realise that I have to tweak things as I go but it all helps fill me with confidence. I think that is half the trick of being a teacher. Faking confidence!
Something I learned today?
I found that I can listen to the AFL games live on my phone. I was checking in on the Port/Hawks game this evening and though it’s not as good as watching, it is a little better than only getting the 15-minute mini-match highlights.
Port got through by the skin of their teeth and were running tired by the end, which is good news as we will play them next week in Sydney.
Despite getting slaughtered by them 6 or 7 weeks ago, I think we have a good chance of making it through to the grand final again this year. Playing the Hawks would’ve been a tougher prospect.
Enthralled by perceived charisma, you will hear these words oft-repeated We will provide you what you deserve of which you’ve been cheated The masks will swap, convincing you that change means not the same Scapegoating other players is just the way ahead in this game
There’s no escaping the treadmills that you yourself wished created Signed on to the terms and conditions that we have dictated Ignorance is a more terrible curse than anything we could invent So the illusion must be maintained with your monies well spent
I tried some long-line rhyming! The initial inspiration for this was the 7th line, taken from the comic Shadowman – hence the title.
Today I’m feeling:
Super tired. I slept before 10 last night and was in a deep, deep sleep for most of the night and did not want to get up this morning but I did push myself and did a little exercise again.
I was sitting in my room, about to leave, when Amy called me and asked if the school was open because the river had burst its banks and Tessaban 6 school is closed and the bypass is closed too, forcing everyone onto the highway, which usually floods at points too.
I called Kru Tang and she suggested staying home until she got more details. So I could’ve slept even longer if I wanted!
I pushed myself out to Utopia, where I’m sitting now and will do some work.
At 10.30, a message came through that the school will be closed until Monday! Woohoo! One teacher commented that the river is up on the bridge now, which, if I had gone to school, may have meant that I couldn’t get home!
Health:
Physical: 6 Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
No more rain today, at least in our area and we are not affected by any flooding here. It was actually worse here for us last week.
Someone shot a video from ThaTon showing the overflowing river rushing through just under the bottom of the bridge, and all that water was heading towards the city.
The best thing about today was:
Probably having Amy warn me about the flooding before leaving home this morning.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Amy is closely following events just in case her parents and/or friends are likely to have any problems overnight. I know she’s very worried about it.
I feel more calm as there is really nothing I can do at the moment.
Something I learned today?
I came across a current documentary about kratom use in the USA. It seems that entrepreneurs there are extracting the active elements from it and boosting up the efficacy and it’s starting to cause health problems, including death.
I was just wondering today if my tiredness is from taking kratom. I hadn’t had any for about six weeks and noticed that I wasn’t sleeping as well as before. I’ve slept very well since taking it again this week, but then I also noticed that I feel exhausted at the end of the day.
However, I’m also wondering if my tiredness is due to the fact that I started exercising again this week, too. Maybe I need to test both of these possibilities out.
Review your acts, Good and bad.
I messaged Baipad at lunchtime, and she said that she was at Central, presumably going there after the school closed. I wished her luck to get home, as only one bridge was still open over the river.
After waking up again after an afternoon nap, Amy told me that all the bridges were closed now. I messaged Baipad again, and she told me that she had made it home.
I commiserated with Porpieng and Lin, though, as both their houses were starting to flood.
Gui took this picture of the highway from the top of his house. It soon got worse than this and though he said the cafe was ok at that time, I’m not so sure it stayed that way. Both my school and TLC were flooded by late afternoon.
The song always remains the same (Here we damn well go again!) Everything and nothing is gonna change
Too late and too soon to rearrange Is this even worth the saving? More or less, we’re all misbehaving Every order is rapidly falling apart Started at the end, ended at the start
To the infinite, the future and past Here stand the fallen, the first came at last Every explosion will soon shake the walls Your sons and daughters taking the falls
And we better start off along the creeks Rowing the boats and plugging the leaks Eagles turned vultures pointing their beaks
Alarmed at the words the majority speaks
Criticise the critters, blame all the birds Hold on hope and the rule of thirds Always enough was found wanting more Now comes the battle to settle the score Gone with all reason, gone with the wind In the storm of the season, everyone sinned Never again, again and again, explained Gotta live to see that the times have changed
‘Criticise the Critters’ is from a song by Phantom Tollbooth and ‘Hold on Hope’ is from Guided By Voices. Oh, I suppose I should also say that ‘The Song Remains the Same’ is by Led Zeppelin too.
Tired and bleary-eyed again. I intended to sleep long but Cap woke me up crying at the door to be fed at 8.20 and once up I decided to utilise the time and try to get myself going.
Today I’m grateful for:
Not having anything in particular to do today except hang out washing and bring it in again!
The best thing about today was:
Getting some reading in, a little writing and good coffee to start the day. I spent another three hours or so catching up on sleep at around midday. I’m still looking forward to more sleep tonight.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
During my afternoon sleep, I was having a vivid dream that I was a teenager in bed, in a bedroom that was my own but not a place that I recognised. I was trying to jerk myself off but constantly conscious that my mum wouldn’t suddenly open the door and catch me and this kept interrupting the thoughts in my imagination that I was trying to get excited about.
It was so vivid that when I briefly came back into consciousness, my imagination was still trying to decide on some kind of sexy scenario and then I started questioning myself, am I actually jerking off whilst dreaming of jerking off?
I fell back into the dream but was unable to continue. Consciousness quickly came again and I turned over in bed wondering if I had been making any noise during all this!
I slept more after this but didn’t return to that dream.
Something I learned today?
I watched a video about an adult gaming company called Nutaku and, through that, learned that about 90% of porn websites (along with Nutaku) are owned by a single company.
Review your acts, Good and bad.
I helped Amy a little bit today as she is under the weather with a cold. I didn’t really interact with many other people today.
I took this picture of Aomsin because she is shy to have her picture taken. She’s an interesting student as she doesn’t usually give much away about her feelings with her facial expressions. It was nice to catch a smile before she hid herself from the camera.
So many tombstones for the hydra-headed The many heads must be better than one The hallucinations are so deeply embedded This anarchy and madness has just begun
A choice of two to become King Wizard Let’s fantasise that all men are born equal A legacy of dunces believes that a lizard Was born to be the hero of this sequel
Lazy and tired. I set my alarm for 7 am though woke up before that but slept another hour after turning the alarm off.
As I was brushing my teeth, I wondered why I had stayed up past midnight reading last night. My eyes are aching and having trouble focusing.
I have to get myself going and hopefully these two coffees will do the trick.
Today I’m grateful for:
Struggling through today (see below) and forcing myself out on my bike, to ride all the back roads to Makro to get the last two tubs of yoghurt. Sold out in two days! Why don’t they order more?
The best thing about today was:
Getting little bits of everything done. It doesn’t feel like a productive day, not that they all have to be, but there’s nothing that stands out either.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
By the time of visiting the hospital and seeing the doctor (after an hour of waiting) I was starting to feel a little down. With the long wait it meant missing my afternoon class too.
I messaged Kru Tang to see if she could fix how to put leave into the system. She couldn’t help fix it but also said that I should assign work to the students to do in the class time. I argued that if I have to take leave then I’m not going to assign work that I have to follow up on. I might as well be there.
I told her I would ask the class to use the opportunity to catch up on other class work and she seemed ok with that. But still it added to me feeling a bit grumpy and down.
Thankfully, the trip on the motorbike had a positive effect on my mood.
Review your acts, Good and bad.
After getting back from Makro at around 6pm I went over to Baipad’s, taking a syringe and a food stick, to see if she could feed Snow with it. When I got there, though, Baipad looked totally dejected and became teary.
I asked to see Snow and we went upstairs to where she was. She looked back to the state that she was in on Sunday, unfortunately and I didn’t see much hope. Baipad was sobbing by this time.
I hate seeing cats suffer, any animals. I squeezed a little water into her mouth and rubbed her throat. She gave a little squeak of recognition but soon dropped her head back down. I told Baipad to give her a little water every hour or so and give her love and strokes.
Then I came home and fed our two precious boys.
Around 8pm Baipad messaged me that Snow had passed.
I took this picture because this little fella decided to join me on my ride back from Utopia this morning. It has a clear shell that looks like plastic. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
Dog tired last night and still struggled to get to sleep but once I did I was gone!
I woke up before my alarm but couldn’t get up when the alarm went off and reset to give an extra 20 minutes of dozing.
Not feeling too bad with my first coffee but have two busy days ahead.
Today I’m grateful for:
The pharmacist being available at Big C when I got there today. Last week when I tried they told me that there would be no one there until 5pm.
The best thing about today was:
Bumping into my old grade 9 student Sheena as I was about to leave school. I asked if she was happy now that I was no longer teaching her class and she said that everyone was complaining that they were missing me.
That was nice to hear and for sure, I connected with all those students really well but they drove me crazy at the time. I hope that I have some good influence over them.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Some of the classrooms that I’m teaching in test my patience with various bits and pieces of equipment missing but I just have to take it easy and not get ruffled by it. Everything can be overcome.
Something I learned today?
I watched an interesting interview with LA-based Chinese comedian Jiaoying Summers and it was great to see a strong woman taking control of her life and destiny against a lot of odds.
What part of my daily routine do I look forward to the most?
Most workdays I look forward to exercising in the morning.
With my drive to try and write a poem or day (or more), I also look forward to spending time reading, thinking and writing.
At the end of the day, I kinda look forward to writing this journal but some days are a struggle. With enough time I can usually answer all the questions but often I’m out of energy and need to go to bed.
I took this picture because I was kinda shocked to see a full moon tonight. I’ve been used to seeing the moon regularly when I go to close our gate and usually have some idea what stage it is at.
Tired after all the running around yesterday. Woke up to mountain-less white skies as the smoke descends.
Today I’m grateful for:
Amy’s student turning up for her online class today at 1 pm forcing me out into my room where I played guitar for the first time this week. It’s been so hot that I just haven’t bothered going out there even though the air con cools things down fairly quickly.
I caught up on a few other things while I was out there too, so it’s been a reasonably productive day.
The best thing about today was:
Writing an excellent poem for the first contest that I ever chose to enter on the AllPoetry site only to find that in between the time that I started writing and finishing half an hour later, the contest had closed! I laughed at my bad luck but smiled at the quality of my work.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
(See above)
Something I learned today?
An undercover reporter has an alleged CIA agent admitting that they withheld information from President Trump that China shared all its data about the Covid outbreak in Wuhan. So whilst Trump was busy blaming China for withholding that info it was, in fact, his own government.
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I do this every day at Utopia or House, and sometimes at other cafes and restaurants, but I always take back my finished cups to the counter to save the staff a few seconds having to clean up after me.
Who do I want to spend more time with this month?
This one is easy.
My students! I miss them a lot, their energy, excitement, drama, learning gives me inspiration.
I took this picture because these two little flowers had suddenly appeared on our cactus. They had closed up again by evening time.
Lazy to get up but I’m enjoying the ache in my body from exercise. I’m already reminiscing about the lost time of this holiday despite actually being more productive than last year. I’ve got into the groove of taking it easy and am now feeling anxious about getting busy again in the next couple of weeks. Though I know well that I can deal with it easily enough.
Today I’m grateful for:
A brief small storm at around 7pm that whilst not hanging around for long meant a drop in temperature that even allowed us to turn the aircon off for a while!
The best thing about today was:
Tigger coming for cuddles about 7 or 8 times. He’s getting more affectionate with his age.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I didn’t get a chance to read more of my book today as I ended up busy with other things. I did get some comic reading in and a chapter from another book that I delve into every now and then.
Something I learned today?
A US senator was complaining that a bag of steel brackets needed for weaponry was costing 90,000 dollars. A Chinese seller responded offering to sell the same thing for 8 dollars! And the reality is that US Defence spending from Chinese sources has quadrupled over the last few years. So the US military is becoming dependent on parts for war with China that are….made in China!
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I sent Anchan a little more money so that she can get back to Chiang Rai as she is stuck in a village outside Chiang Mai at the moment.
I helped Amy moving around some furniture on the terrace as she wanted to change it up. It looks good and change is good.
Did you do something difficult or challenging today?
Despite the last two days of not enjoying playing guitar I picked it up again for about 20 minutes and was a little happier with my ability.
What are my thoughts on growing older?
In the last couple of years, I’ve enjoyed the wisdom that age has brought me but recently, with the feeling of time disappearing too quickly, I’m pining for the days of boredom I used to endure as a teenager.
Too much knowledge is a dangerous thing? I know it’s just the way of looking at it. Perhaps I am bored now but don’t really know it?
It can’t be helped to wonder about being able to live your life over again but now I have to take a positive attitude with me with what remains.
I took this picture yesterday and along with other garden pictures sent them to Sharon and Rob.
1994ever 