If I had a Million Dollars...

If I had a million dollars...It used to be a fantasy of my dreams, but now, it's reality! It all started last Saturday, when I decided to press my luck at a Lotto 649 game. My horoscope told me it was my lucky day, and boy, was it ever right, (for once!) I chose my numbers and the next day, bam, I had become one of the richest in the city. I had won 40 million dollars!!!! I leaped up for joy, as I had never been a lucky person, never won anything in my life, never a prize, never a draw, never a raffle. Needless to say it was a miracle that I had won the 40 million dollar lottery jackpot.

I feel on top of the world! My heart is racing and it feels like I could just run around an hug everyone I see. I am so happy. I run, jump, and laugh because of the great fortune I just had. It's a miracle, a one in a million chance. It's not only unbelievable, it's absolutely crazy! But then, I think of all the people who are not happy at this time. I feel selfish and ashamed. I think about the people in Haiti, the people who are homeless and wounded. The people with no family, no parents, no one in their lives to take care of them, and I promise to myself that I will donate a fair chunk to their cause, so that I may make a difference in some of their lives.

Okay, so now what to do with this money... hmm... Then I think I'll hit the sunny beach of Australia, followed by a trip to Italy to visit Venice and Rome. You know what? I think I'll just take a trip all around the world to experience some really neat stuff as well as to help some of the other people who need help. I'll donate 5 million dollars to the devastated country of Haiti, as well as to some other charity's so that I may spread my happiness and wealth to other people who are less fortunate. But I still have so much more money! Bank some of it so I can gain some interest, and I'll invest in some stocks and some businesses, just to keep some money flowing. Eventually, maybe I'll start an organization, kinda like Craig Keilberger. It will help people in need by supplying them with some of the basic things that we take forgranted. Even food and water. I really want the world to be a better place and this will ensure that more people will be able to live a happier life. I sigh, what a wonderful thought. It's almost dreamlike...

I wake up, its 11:59 pm on Friday. Wait it's not even Saturday? I haven't won all this money? My head spins in confusion trying to figure everything out. My cell phone vibrates on the nightstand table next to me, indicating a text message. It's my daily horoscope. 'A lucky day awaits...' "Wow," I say under my breath. I get back under the covers and close my eyes, thinking about how great today is going to be... :)

That Moment in Life

Time and time again, I have always wished to be able to travel back in time to fix or do something that I messed up. But then there are those times where I just wish to travel back to a day where there is nothing to worry about, and I'm just sailin' smoothly through my life being carefree and happy. There are those special moments in life that you wish that could go on and on forever, and then there are those moments that you just can't wait to be over. That is just life. It's how life works, sometimes it turns out good and sometimes it turns out bad. But you can't help it, because there is no such thing as going back into time to change something. Until now...

Today, I have been offered a priceless opportunity that could change my life significantly. Going back in time to re-live a day in a time machine, pretty much a once in a life time opportunity. But I have been forewarned. If you or I changed something, it could change history! Even your life could change dramatically depending on what you chose to change. Time traveling can be very dangerous, so maybe I'll stick to something I don't have to change. Everything has turned out okay so far why bother disrupt the waters of the past. So then what do I do with this precious gift of a time machine that I have subconsciously stumbled upon?

Maybe I could just go back to the days where everything is chillin', where happiness is not ever a struggle and the world is a huge unknown massiveness that I simply must explore. Where things are never what they seem and the simplest things are the most interesting things I have ever seen in my life. Back to the time of my childhood. That time where nothing matters, and I don't yet understand the meaning of what worries or fears are. Everthing is just a happy bliss and I am in the centre of this fantay. I am loved by everyone and I swoon over strangers passing by, awed by my cuteness. Thats the time I want to travel back to. The good old days of my childhood.

And so the time machine takes me back to the days of my childhood. Days that are filled with endless fun and happiness. And I am able to re-live that happy moment in life that I'm always dreaming about and thinking about. Childhood. Soon after a new invention was made remarkably, by the same person. The time machine, to your future. And once again, I'm thinking about where I want to take my journey, this time into the future...

SUPER DUPER POWERS UNITE!

POW! CRASH! BAM! A comic book is filled with super heroes and also super, evil villains that the super heroes have to defeat. When the world has so many villains, the world needs super powerful super heroes to save the citizens of Earth. So the question that was asked...What super power would you want to have to help save the world? Well, all super powers are needed to defeat evil, so therefore, I would want to have the power to be able to switch between powers. Sadly there is no such power to be able to have all the powers. As long as I have a good team of super heroes to back me up, I wouldn't really care what power I got, but if I had to choose... I'd probably would want to have the power of mind deciphering so that I would know what the enemies were thinking at all times.

In my mind the most desirable powers would have to be mind reading, laser vision, x-ray vision, being able to fly, manipulation of animals, and the ability to be able to control the elements. If a band of these super heroes joined together, I think that they'd pretty much be unstoppable to anyone that got in their way. They each have a power that they would be able to contribute to the team and stop those pesky, evil villains from hurting innocent citizens. But saving the world isn't all about super powers and being skilled. All it takes is a bit of teamwork and that, that, is much more powerful than one sole, powerful person, rather it a super hero or a villain. So if you want to win a battle, join together the most powerful forces from all around and you will see that it will make your side strikingly, stronger.

So in summary, if I could have ONE super power I would choose mind reading so that I could help my amazing, super, team out by reading the minds of the villains and seeing what they're up to. But in the end, teamwork is the key to the door of global justice. For a last note, here's a quote from the legacy of all time super heroes, the big S himself, Superman. A role model to all who want their world to be a better place.

"I'm here to fight for justice, and for truth, and for the American way!" -Superman

The World in a New Perspective..

Walking in a new pair of shoes is sometimes very difficult. Especially if you are unfamiliar with their style. What I'm talking about is taking a walk in someone elses shoes and trying out a different lifestyle for a day. With a new pair of shoes you can turn into a whole different person, whether the shoes are good or bad. If I could "borrow" someone elses shoes for a day, I would choose...

The shiny silver stilettos of a celebrity... I think that most kids fantasize what life would be like if they were someone else. Most little girls dream of being Hannah Montana the famous pop star that has two completely different identities, a pop star and just a regular teenager. Well I certainly did when I was younger. Celebrities are idolized by so many people that they are treated a different way. And they act and live such a different lifestyle than most people live. They are publicised everywhere, and almost everyone knows them and wants to be them. I think that it would be a pretty interesting experience to be a celebrity for a day to see their perks, and the other side of the not so good. I probably wouldn't want to be one all the time, but one day would give me a sense of their life.

All celebrities all share something. They're all rich, famous and most of the time beautiful. Celebrities live in the luxe at all times! Although on the not so nice side, they are stalked by too friendly fans and hounded by the paparazzi just so they can take your picture. Secondly, you would have to be very conscious of what you do and what you wear at all times because, when everyone looks up to you, they watch what you're doing and wearing for every second of your life. It would be neat to see what they have to go through in their life, just so they can do basic stuff like getting coffee or going shopping. Sure it would be fun for one day, but I don't know if I could handle much more than that, I prefer to have a much quieter life where people aren't invading my privacy at all times because that's what happens to celebrities. They don't get a choice, once they've become popular, a quiet life is not possible until senior age where no one remembers you and you just become a celebrity from the past. Some people like this but preferably I don't want that to happen to me.

So if I could be one different person for one whole day, I would choose to be a celebrity. Any celebrity would do, I just want to see how their life differs from the one I live and maybe take advantage of some of the perks celebrities get offered. I'm sure that it would be a life changing experience which would really make me see the world in a new perspective. One that I would have never imagined...

So What Does This Mean???

Let's say the world is a plant. A plant eager to start his life. At this current time this small piece of greenery would be at that stage where things are starting to happen. Where the buds are preparing to bloom into dainty little white flowers and the roots are soaking up water like a sponge. With today's growing technology the world is drinking it up faster than ever before because the more we ingeniously invent the more we end up figuring out. Which, of course leads to many more inventions and much more technology. And although this makes life a lot easier for us there may be another side to consider, the life the plant lives. There are many benefits to all this but also negatives which we also have to look at. Let's look at technology as fertilizer, too much can be disastrous. Although we want nice size able flowers we do not want our flowers to be be too overloaded and to flop down because of the weight. So therefore we must watch how much new technology and fertilizer we put into our plant's pot.

Scientists believe we will have a computer that is smarter than humankind by 2013. This will be shattering to all of what we have learned in the past. This just proves that we are in the future, NOW! Predictions just grow larger every year to what we believe can be accomplished with our ever growing sense and understanding of the world. The world is picking up the pace by starting to jerkily accelerate everything we are doing. Global warming temperatures are rising faster than ever, technology is becoming an even bigger part of our lives, and we are hardly doing anything to stop this. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, or a good thing but something is going to happen, except no one knows what. So we've got to get a grip on things and start proceeding with more caution. Things are changing in the world, almost so quickly, that hardly anyone notices.

So I take you back to the "plant" analogy. Our plant has been taken good care of in all of the millenniums it has survived. So now it's our turn to water the plant and care for it. We mustn't wreck it in only a few centuries. Humans have become so smart that we have been able to create things that are unimaginable and somewhat unbelievable. Technology that will change life as we know it. So what does this mean??? This means that our plant has just blossomed and that we must be very delicate with it, so that we do not disturb any of its small delicate petals.

H1N1 aka Swine Flu

Swine flu is defined as "a highly contagious form of influenza caused by infection " as stated from Dictionary.com. We were completely caught off guard when Swine hit Canada and the States all the way from Mexico. We were not prepared and had no idea how to deal with this deadly disease that seemed practically unstoppable. Swine Flu, later changed to H1N1, is a mix of diseases from pig (swine) and bird. Many people never considered that viruses could even be spread from animal to human we only considered human to human viruses and that was what was so different from all other diseases that we've so far studied. Little did we know that Swine would change everything...

After H1N1 broke out, people began to panic and people began to consider their personal health care and hygiene choices they made and started taking more care. And then they made the H1N1 shot. This would potentially help prevent people from getting Swine. Lots decided not to get it, remembering that the shot was still being tested, but many others decided to get it to protect there family. Of course with so many people wanting to get this popular shot at once clinics filled up and line were out the door. That's when they made the new rule: Only priority people would be able to obtain this shot. Priority people included: health care workers, children five years and under, senior citizens and people with serious health issues. These people were at a higher risk at getting this virus. For weeks this was that case and people were starting to get anxious, and finally they let the next group go...

Personally, my family decided to get this shot because my parents wanted us to be protected after hearing about the thirteen year old that died from Swine Flu. Some of my friend's family's decided not to, it's all personal choice. They argue that only people with medical conditions actually die, but you never know. I think of it as, one needle is better than getting H1N1. I'm glad I got that shot because I feel that the shot will help me from getting it. But what I have a hard time understanding is why certain, "special" people got to get their shot before other people, people who need it more. This totally defeats the purpose of having priority people get their shots first, people should have to wait for there turn for their shot. I just do not think that's right.

I fully recommend getting the H1N1 shot because I believe it will help, but it your choice. And if you do get the chance to get in before you group, wait! Other people need it more than you do, that's why they created priority people. Swine is a horrible disease that we're still learning about and it will take years and years until we do finally fully understand it. So, my question to you, do you think you'll get your H1N1 shot? What's holding you back? :)

Todays Survivor

Hope, is one thing that Eva Olsson will always have. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Eva Olsson has been through a lot. A lot of pain, suffering, watching loved ones die and almost losing all hope. Yet somehow she was able to overcome all that fear and was able to face up to the Nazis. She certainly still has those dreaded memories from her past but now she is looking into the future where it will hopefully be bright and sunny.

At age nineteen Eva and her family was told that they would be sent to a brick factory to work. No one questioned it. No one even considered that most of them would be eventually killed at their final destination. No one knew where they were going as they stepped onto that boxcar and no one had any idea of what was happening. A mix of strong emotions filled that small, cramped boxcar. Some filled with fear, others with disgust but almost everybody was confused. Everyone fed off each others fear and soon everyone was in a frenzy, panicking. For days they were stuck in that boxcar with just a rusty old bucket filled with water, praying and just hoping that wherever they were going would be better. When they finally arrived everyone was lined up. Some people were happy to finally be off the boxcar where there was water, but little did they know that this was just the start of a terrible nightmare. Eva was horrified as she was separated from her mother and her younger siblings never forgiving herself to tell her mother one more time that she loved her. From there Eva was launched into a series of unforgettable, atrocious events where she loses her father and is worked nearly to death.

The Holocaust was a terrible event. Too many people died because of what? Their religion, their hair and eye colour? What kind of monster would kill millions of people like that? So many people lost their lives and their relatives! I know I wouldn't be able to live knowing that I had killed someone, yet so many Natzis killed so many people because of one person, their leader, Adolf Hitler. The man that brainwashed thousands of soldiers into doing what he thought was the right thing. What I don't understand is why so many people just stood there watching him do all this. And as Eva said, "Being a bystander is just as bad as being a bully." A completely true statement that people from our generation can learn and follow because without those bystanders, Hitler would not have been able to kill all of those innocent people.

Eva Olsson is a beacon of hope and courage. She survived one of the most dastardly events of all time and we must respect her for that. She gave an amazing presentation which was truly inspirational, informative and most of all helped us all understand the hardships not only she but millions others went through. The Holocaust was an awful thing but we must not try and erase the horrific events, we must reflect and learn from our mistakes. The new generation must understand that, so we never fall back into the dark shadows again. One last word...Hate. Too oftenly used to describe things and people we do not like or get along with, but hate is what drove people to hurt each other and eventually kill them. It's what potentialy started the Holocaust. Let's not go down that path again. Please remove hate from your vocabulary... :)