Why me?

"This kind of thinking poses hidden dangers. If we think of suffering as something unnatural, something that we should not be experiencing, then it's not much of a leap to begin to look for someone to blame for our suffering. If I am unhappy, then I must be the victim of someone or something - an idea that's all too common in the West. The victimiser may be the government, the educational system, abusive parents, a dysfunctional family, the other gender, or our uncaring mate. Or we may turn blame inward: there is something wrong with me, I am the victim of disease, of defective genes perhaps. But the risk of continuing to focus on assigning blame and maintaining a victim stance, is the perpetuation of our suffering - with persistent feelings of anger, frustration and resentment."

~ The Dalai Lama

Politics and budgets

I have never really been that interested in politics, but I have viewed the Mr Costello's budget through new eyes this year... teacher eyes.

There are some interesting things in the proposed budget. At first glance they seemed kinda cool, but reading a little further had me wondering how cool they really were? I mean, I know nothing about politics, so can't really pass judgement, but I have to wonder...

Why are they supplying funding for the top teachers to be paid to do extra training in the summer holidays? Isn't it the worst teachers who need training the most?? And why do schools have to comply with new performance measures (such as performance pay) that have been voted against by the majority in order to receive funding? If these performance measures couldn't get support at the education ministers' meeting, then perhaps they need to be reviewed and refined before being forced on schools? And is performance pay really fair - can teachers in lower socio-economic areas really achieve top results when they are lacking all the supports that teachers in better areas receive? And will it really improve the education industry, or will it put a damper on the supportive, sharing environment that currently exists, and instead create competition among teachers?

Anyway, just wondering...

Happy Birthday to me!

Hooray! It's my birthday!! I wasn't really that excited, cuz it's not a special birthday, and I'm starting to get too old to care. But then I had the coolest thing happen.... I found my birthday twin!!!

Let me tell you how it happened... I was working on an assignment with Sharon, from my tribe. When I say working with, I mean working with over the internet and phone. At one point just before lunch, she asked if I would be on the internet for a while longer, and I said I was about to go out for lunch with my mum, cuz it's my birthday, but I would be back after that. She said, "Really?? It's my birthday too!!" And I was like, "How cool!! How old are you?" "26 today," she replied. "No way!!" I cried, "me too!!"

And that, my friends, is how I found my birthday twin. I've been sitting with her in class all this time, and yet never knew until the very important day itself. What a happy thing!