A Moral Dilemma

123 Main Street
Happyville, British Columbia
V2A 3T1

May 30, 2011

Mayor
City Hall
666 Elm Street
Happyville, British Columbia
V2A 3Y2

Dear Mayor:

We have come across some horrifying evidence that Gunther Grass assisted Nazi's in killing a large amount of people. I believe you should not exposed Gunter nor should you destroy the evidence. Even though Gunther committed horrible crimes, I believe he paid for it by being a good citizen by giving to his community. He made sure no one was in poverty and that everyone who was struggling were able to pay their bills and keep food in their bellies. He donated various amounts to several charities. He built a very profitable factory where many of the citizens of the community work, so if  Gunther were to go to jail many people would be out of a job and would not be able to make ends meet.

Gunther is no longer major of this community and poses no threat of any one's safety. He is 92 years old, and therefore does not have a lot of time to spend with his children and grand children.

The Afterlife

What happens when we die? Many religions have different believes on what will happen to people when they die. The ancient Egyptians believed when the body died, parts of its soul known as ka (body double) and the ba (personality) would go to the Kingdom of the Dead. While the soul lived in the Fields of Aaru, Osirus demanded work as pay back for the protection he provided. Statues were placed in the tombs to serve as substitutes for the dead. To go into the after life, a sin free heart was needed. And the ability to recite the spells and passwords from The Book of Dead was also needed. The deceased persons  heart was weighed against the Shu feather of truth and justice, taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma' at. If the heart weighed lighter than the feather, the deceased could pass on to the after life. If it was heavier, the dead would be eaten by the demon called Ammit. Egyptians also believed that being mummified was the only way to have an afterlife. Only if the corpse had been properly wrapped and put in a mastaba, could the dead live again in the Fields of Yalu. The Book of the Dead was placed in the tomb with the dead, also food and jewelery was placed in the tomb. To the Egyptians, death was just temporary.

Christians believe after the soul leaves the body, it journeys to hell. There are exceptions, such as the Virgin Mary who was born by the angels in heaven. As for the rest, we must remain in this condition of waiting. Because some have a vision of the glory to come and others forget their suffering. The state of waiting is called "Particular Judgement". They believe that when Christ returns their soul will rejoin their body and will be judged by Him, this is called "The Final Judgement". The good and faithful servant will inherit eternal life, the unfaithful with the unbeliever will spend eternity in hell. Their sins and their unbelief will torture them as fire.

Sikhs also believe in reincarnation.They believe that the soul belongs to the spiritual universe. The amount of good done in life will store up blessings, and then when one dies they are united with God. A soul may need to live many lives before it is one with God. There are four classes that are included in this belief. Above these four classes is God Waheguru and the soul can choose to stay with him it wishes, or take another step and go to its people and serve them. Below these four classes are non-humans such as plants and viruses. Souls move up and down according to their deeds, a good life and death moves them up to a higher class and a bad life and death ends in going down a class.

Tuesdays with Morrie

In today’s society, we are led to believe if we aren’t skinny, we are not beautiful. If we don’t have enough money to buy expensive cars and houses, we’re poor. The main places all this negativity is displayed is on television or in magazines. All the commercials and magazine ads have extremely young, beautiful, skinny women or huge jacked up men in them. This gets people in the mind set that they have to look exact like the models in the ads, or the actors in the commercial. When really, if you sit down and actually take a look and think of how those commercials and ads are made, they are photo shopped and the people don’t even look anything like that. Morrie is dying, and he can still manages to be happy, he looks at the bright side of things. “And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own culture.” What Morrie really means is, if you don’t like the culture in today’s society, try to change it. You have to be strong enough to say, “I don’t want this.” People these days live very boring lives; we don’t take a second and really look where we are in life. All we worry about is our next pay check, and the next toy we’ll buy next.

One Year to Live

What would you try to accomplish if you know you only had one year to live? As I lay in my hospital bed, getting ready to pass over, I look over the past year and feel so proud of myself and what I've accomplished. Over my last 12 months, I have travelled to my dream place which is Italy.  I went there for two weeks, and I had the time of my life. After I came back home, I decided to volunteer for a variety of charities. While doing all of this, I was still attending school, there was only so much time to spend with my friends. I started to think how my life was going to shortly come to an end, and I started to get very angry. I decided to live my life to the fullest, considering I was going to die in a few months anyway, I started to get reckless. I stopped volunteering, and stopped going to school. I thought it was a great idea to party every night, and started getting into some drugs. I only had 6 more months to live. I started to get very weak, and then I felt very depressed. I came to the conclusion what I was doing was very wrong, and I was looking at my situation at the wrong angle. I had 5 months to live, and I was being so incredibly selfish. I couldn't change my past, but I thought to myself that I can change and make my last few months count. I was too weak to leave my house everyday, so instead of volunteering again, I donated most of my stuff to the charities. The last two months of my life, I spent with my friends and family in the hospital. I decided life may be short, but don't be selfish, and think of your family and friends, not just yourself. Make your life worth while, and make sure you are remembered for the good things you have done, and the way you have made a positive alter on people's lives.

Song or poem?

I ain’t got no car
And I've got one pair of jeans
They’ve been stretched too far
And now they’re weak at the seams
I can’t say what’s next
And I got nothin' up my sleeve
But I don’t lose my head
Cause it ain’t really up to me
And I’m doing just fine
I’m always landing on my feet
In the nic of time
And by the skin of my teeth
I ain’t gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet
Somethings watching over me
Like Sweet Serendipity
Sweet Serendipity

I don’t ask for a lot
No nothing more than I need
Because I love what I got
Don’t need to play the lottery
I just want to be strong
At the end of the road
I don’t want to hold on
I want the strength to let go

And I’m doing just fine
I’m always landing on my feet
In the nic of time
And by the skin of my teeth
I ain’t gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet
Somethings watching over me
Like Sweet Serendipity

And what will be will be
In the nic of time
And by the skin of my teeth
I ain't gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet

Somethings watching over me
Like Sweet Serendipity
Sweet Serendipity
Like Sweet Serendipity

Don’t look fate can only find you
You can’t choose for something to surprise you
Set sail without a destination
Just see where the wind will take you
You never know when you're gonna fall
But I'm not worried
No I'm not worried

And I’m doing just fine
I’m always landing on my feet
In the nic of time
And by the skin of my teeth
I ain’t gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet
Somethings watching over me

And I’m doing just fine
I’m always landing on my feet
In the nic of time
And by the skin of my teeth
I ain’t gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet
Somethings watching over me
Like Sweet Serendipity
Sweet Serendipity
Sweet Serendipity

Don’t look fate can only find you
You can’t choose for something to surprise you
Set sail without a destination

Sweet, sweet
Sweet, sweet
Sweet Serendipity
Sweet, sweet
Sweet, sweet
Sweet Serendipity
I don't know
Sweet Serendipity

Some people believe that any person that can put rhymes together and make a beat to it, is a poet. This is defiantly not the case. "Sweet serendipity" sung by Lee Dewyze possesses many poetic devices, which makes everyone ask themselves, "Is this a song or a poem?" When it really comes down to it, it's both. A song is paragraphs of words with meaning put to a beat and sung by a person, a poem is paragraphs with words but spoken by a person with no beat. When Dewyze sings, "I’m doing just fine, I’m always landing on my feet." is a metaphor for when bad times are present, he always comes out of it okay, and he just comes out of it stronger. In the song, there is one part of it that possesses a large amount of alliteration, "Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet serendipity, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet serendipity." The theme of this song is, even when things are tough everything will be okay in the end, and live life to the fullest. "Sweet serendipity" represents a type of god, or something spiritual watching after him.

Dialogue

     "I'm so tired," Susan spoke, " I didn't get much sleep last night."
     "Oh, me too," stated John.
     Susan remarked,"Really? Because you were the one snoring last night."
     "I have no idea what you're talking about."
     "I snore?" John asked, "You should hear yourself."
     "I do not!" Susan exclaimed.
     John laughed, "It's like a train running through our bedroom."
     "You're lying!"


     "Everyone hates me there," Bobby exclaimed, "I have no friends."
     "No they don't," Stan stated, "you just don't know anyone yet."
     "They are all mean to me!" cried Bobby.
     "Kids are always mean to the new kid until they get to know them, " remarked Stan.
     Bobby asked, "Why did we have to move?"
     Stan replied, "Because your mother got a new job, you know that."
     "I hate it here."
     "You'll get used to it."


     "Will you marry me?" Will asked, "Please?"
     "Why should I?" Rebecca remarked, "two minutes ago you called me stupid."
     "That was because we were fighting!" Will exclaimed.
     "You're about to start another one right now." stated Rebecca.
     Will replied "No, I'm not."
     Rebecca remarked, "Fine."
     "I love you Rebecca"
     "I love you too."


    

Letter for my life

Sammi Cameron
123 Save ME Drive
Penticton, B.C.
V2A 3W1

February 10, 2011

Captain Van Camp
Commander
HMS Princess Margaret

O Captain, My Captain:
Captain Van Camp, I would first like to start my plea by telling you how much of a great teacher you are, and that you are my favorite teacher at Princess Margaret. I'm only 16 years old, but my birthday is in 11 days. I would really enjoy having a birthday party, did I mention you're invited to it? I haven't had much of a life yet. I dance, get good grades, and I volunteer at the SPCA cleaning cages and keeping the animals company. I am in the middle of running for a pageant, you see. The pageant is called "Miss Penticton" and I am very confident that I will succeed in the competition if you let me live. I was planning, once I am done high school to go to university in Kelowna to get my LPN in nursing. Once I complete that, I was planning on upgrading to my RN for nursing, and become  a nurse in the pediatric center in Vancouver. I plan on doing great things in this world, helping people, giving back to my community.

If you let me live, I will bring you coffee and a doughnut from Tim Hortons every week until June 2011. I hope you accept my offer, and I will hopefully be enjoying a future.
Sincerely,


Sammi Cameron