First detention

I've never had a detention, so I don't know what it's like to get one. They're not much fun to get, and they're not much fun to give out either. Some people love having this power. I don't.

You're Next

Specially dedicated to Stoz (ask him why).

'When I was younger, I hated going to weddings. After the wedding and during the reception, my aunts and the grandmotherly types would come up to me and poke me in the ribs, cackling, "You're next."

Finally they stopped, when I started doing the same to them at funerals!'

- Rex Cornelius via GCFL

Walk the line

So many people think you can get to heaven (if you even believe in it) by doing good for others, and that a sin is something which is socially unacceptable. To them, Christianity is just another religion among the many crazy, antiquated belief systems with long lists of negative regulations and hocus-pocus spirituality.

Of the 8 respected and responsible people present in the discussion (including the self-professed Christian teacher), only 2 said that having 'premarital relations' was sin. I guess I shouldn't have been so naive. How do we effectively walk the line between 'holier than thou' and set apart for God in our discussions of such topics?

Apakah kukehilangan kesempatan lagi? Bagaimana kubisa menjelaskan hal-hal pokok agamaku kepada sesamaku? Terus terang, perbuatan-perbuatan baik tidak cukup untuk dimasukkan sorga. Sebenarnya, mengikuti Sepuluh Perintah Tuhan tidak cukup untuk dimasukkan sorga. Percaya pada Tuhan juga tidak cukup. Kalau percaya pada Tuhan karena takut dimasukkan neraka, kepercayaannya tidak begitu benar. Kalau melakukan perbuatan baik atau mengikuti perintah Tuhan karena takut memasukkan neraka, kepercayaan tidak begitu benar. Menurut pendapatku, mencintai Tuhan adalah hal pokok agama Kristen. Tuhan yang Maha Esa, yang Maha Kuasa, yang Maha Tahu mencintai setiap orang sebagai anakNya sendiri. Oleh karena cintaNya, kita bisa cinta kembali pada Tuhan dan berhubung denganNya. Kalau kita mencintaiNya dengan benar, kita akan ingin mengikuti perintah-perintahNya, melakukan perbuatan baik dan membantu anak-anakNya yang lain. Untuk dimasukkan sorga, manusia harus menyerahkan diri kepada Tuhan dengan cinta kepadaNya.

Yang juga penting: mengikuti perintah-perintah Tuhan tidak buruk, membosankan atau kodot! Semua peraturan Tuhan diciptakanNya dengan niat mengirimkan manusia hidup yang penuh kebahagiaan. Peraturan diciptakan untuk melindungi kita. Betapa sempurnanya kehidupan kalau kita mengikuti peraturan-peraturan ini! Malang, orang-orang dewasa ini kurang mengerti...

I wasn't serious...

But it seems the uni is! Check it out - this is what I received in a uni email today:

SECOND LIFE

La Trobe University is joining universities around the world in exploring educational applications of virtual worlds. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is developing a campus in Second Life as a two-year social learning project. To visit the virtual campus as it evolves, log into Second Life and go to La Trobe University.

Wow.

The volvo will win

Nearly had a bingle today. I was driving my friends to the Osborne Street campus, so I had a full car (a rarity indeed) and I was driving on semi-unfamiliar road, so I was being extra cautious (if you know me at all, that means a lot cautious). Approaching a roundabout I slowed and checked for traffic before preceding to enter it. I kept my eye on a car approaching rather fast from the left... in fact, she didn't stop! I was more than half way through the roundabout when she entered hard and fast, very nearly collecting my car. Fortunately, I don't trust anyone on the road and so I was already breaking. We stopped within inches of each other. Poor frazzled woman was probably running late for work.

My advice for L-platers (and all drivers, really): Drive as if everybody else on the road were driving with their eyes shut!

Kids say the funniest things

Quotes of the day from my year 7s:

Quote 1
Kid, insulting another kid: "You're a volvo with no wheels!"

Quote 2
Kid 1: I don't understand it.
Kid 2: It's German - nobody understands it!

Between two worlds

It appears I exist in a place between two worlds... that of the 'old people' and that of the 'teenagers.'

A common problem faced by highschool teachers is the issue of mobile phones in class. A sneaky tactic in recent years is the "silent" or "mosquito" ringtone - a tone at a frequency too high for 'adults' to hear. The sound is like a high-pitched squeal, similar to what you hear when you turn on a TV before the sound comes on. Due to the natural shift of the human hearing range over time to lower frequencies, these sounds are likely to disappear from your range by your early to mid-twenties. You can of course speed up this 'degeneration' by lots of iPod use and exposure to loud sounds, or slow it by taking good care of your hearing - but it will happen.

Being the ripe old age of 21, most of these high frequencies are still within my hearing range. I busted a kid when his 36 year old form group teacher couldn't catch him. On a similar note, I busted a kid for playing games and could actually name the game correctly. This place between two worlds is a handy place indeed.

It's interesting to try and find out what frequency you can hear.

IMPORTANT: DON'T PUT YOUR EAR CLOSE TO THE SPEAKER OR TURN THE VOLUME UP REALLY LOUD. EVEN IF YOU CAN'T HEAR IT, A SOUND IS STILL PLAYING, AND IT CAN CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR EARS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER SOUND PLAYED LOUD AND CLOSE!
(I didn't know that before :$)