100 Billion Dollar Assignment

Dear Mr. Lobb:

Handing over $100 billion would be a gruelling decision to make. Think of it. What is $100 billion?  It was what President George Bush asked his Congress for in 2003 to add to the fiscal year to continue the fight on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was 1/10 of all of the money in circulation in the United States in 2007. It was the GDP of New Zealand two short years ago. It’s about the net worth of the social networking website Facebook. It is 1/5 of Canada’s debt in 2010.Trying to wrap your head around this quantity is hard. Just view the following clip of Austin Powers character Dr. Evil, plotting to hold the world ransom. Giving me the responsibility of handling this amount of money would be a leap of faith. But I am up for the challenge and I’m no Dr. Evil.

To begin with, money, in the past, has burnt a hole in my pocket. I’m sure this doesn’t give you much faith in me. But I would be responsible, for the most part, especially when you see how a mere $1 bill can grow to $1 trillion dollars in the attached video.

 My first priority would be my family. I would take a small and insignificant crumb of this amount to help them. I would make sure our electrical wiring is up to code. I would outfit Dad’s shop with all the power tools he would ever need. I would take care of the mortgage, car loan, taxes, and other debts to relieve any financial worries. I would make sure my education is taken care of, even though I wouldn’t really need a job, because I’d be rich. I would make sure to give us a massive holiday all around the world. Helping my family really helps me because home is where the heart is.

Personally, I would ask for just a little of the 99.9% that remains. I would invest in the company Blizzard.  They are the creators of World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, and others. This company has user-friendly games with awesome websites that will continue to expand and grow for many years. I would like to be an investor so they would have to take me into their company and let me test and develop future projects.This would bring me great happiness in my future life. The only other item I would need is a computer called the Emperor 1510 so that I could run these programs. With such a small investment of perhaps $10 billion dollars, I would still have 87% of the gift for my biggest priority.

So far, the hole in my pocket hasn’t burnt big enough. There is still a great amount of money left over for charity. I would probably donate as much of it, around 100 million, for our town to rebuild as many houses as possible, as quickly as possible after the destruction hit when the tornado struck. No one would have to worry about their homes. I am a believer that charity must begin at home. So, I would make sure that the one in nine children that live below the poverty line, roughly one million kids, have enough money to feed themselves, clothe themselves and have a place to live. I wish I could give them $1 000 000, each, but that would be ten times more than I started with. That’s a very scary reality for Canadian kids. I couldn’t even begin to fix other problems in other countries of the world. There just isn’t enough. 

Mr. Lobb.  Please give me this money.  I want to make the world a better place for my family, Canadian children, and even myself.

Sincerely,
Jack Thomas

PS: If I had a little left over, I would finally buy myself a copy of Microsoft Office, because I’m too cheap to buy it right now. And I would buy you a pony (haven’t you always wanted a pony?)

The Boat

2.a) The narrator does not idealize his father or his way of life. This shows in many circumstances. The narrator proves this by not doing what the father wants him to do, i.e. the narrator goes away to become a teacher instead of a fisherman. He does still love him though, as it proves near the beginning of the story with the narrator still waking up at 4:00 am to "go fishing" with his father.

3.a) The boat in this story could be said to represent the narrator maturing from a young child to being a person who now has a family of his own. It could also represent how the narrator has grown away from his father.

Beethoven 5th Symphony (No. 5, graphical score animation, allegro)

This is also another favourite piece by Beethoven.

This video belongs to the "YouTuber" smalin. Check out his website here.

This is one of my favourite songs by Ludwing van Beethoven. I find it always helps to get me to fall asleep.

New Intro to Me.

I'm nerdy and proud of it. My name is Jack Thomas. Not too exciting. I lead a pretty ordinary life, by day. Did you get excited for a minute there, thinking I have some alter ego at night? Ha...fooled you. The cake is a lie. I'm still boring, plain, goofy, funny-looking, socially inept Jack at night. I don't like to talk about myself, but I guess I have to for this English assignment. So welcome to my nerdy funderland.

Woooooooo! Party! Not really. I don't go to them. I don't get invited to them. I don't drink, well, I don't get wasted anyway. Instead, on a weekend night, you will find me sitting at home glued to my screens and talking to my cyberfriends. Call of Duty drives my parents insane, but I spend a lot of time on it anyway. Minecraft, a sandbox building game, relaxes my brain after killing all of the people on Call of Duty. When my mom tells me to call someone, I always say “I don't feel the need for human interaction.” How many other teenagers would watch the Food Network instead of going out? Only socially awkward nerds like me.

Other kids just don't get me. My head is filled with useless junk which I spout off whenever it comes to mind whether it , did you know most cosmetic products are made with animals' fecal matter, makes sense or not. My friend always says, “You are the most random kid I know.” He also says, “You are so ADD,” which happens to be the truth. Most of my knowledge will have no relevance in day to day communication. I happen to know a lot, is alot one word or two?, about Greek mythology, which none of my friends care anything about. You should come spend a day in my nerdy brain.

To quote one of my music heroes, Burt Bacharach, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” You might ask, “How does any kid my age even know Burt Bacharach?” I'm a nerd who happens to like Austin Powers. “Yeah, baby, yeah....” I also listen to Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Les Mis, showtunes of all sorts (not gay!), Disney soundtracks (my all-time favourites), Elvis, Johnny Cash, Queen, Rush, Haddaway, Blue Oyster Cult, and many others. Popular kids would take my iPod, throw it on the ground, douse it with gasoline, light it on fire, shoot it with a high-powered rifle, and bury it. You won't find dubstep, hip hop, or rap on any of my playlists. Maybe this nerd is really an “old soul” who was born in the wrong generation.

I'm nerdy and proud of it. I like Drama. I think Shakespeare is an OK guy. I'm a techie. I quote Spongebob. I watched The Simpson's Movie so many times that the owner of Goderich Convenience Store gave me a copy for free. I love to skip, with a rope and down hallways (still not gay)! I walked around Bradford at our Sears Festival regional level dressed in a suit with a double-breasted jacket, matching dress pants, newsboy cap, and shiny shoes. I asked for cufflinks and a fedora for my sixteenth birthday. I have a little bit of astigmatism in my left eye. And, when I'm bored and alone, I either talk to myself, mentally write a script for a play (who needs paper?), or conduct an imaginary orchestra (they are pretty good). Even my haircut is nerdy. It won't sit down. It won't co-operate. It has a mind of its own. I can blame my parents for this. Unfortunately, I got Mom's triple crown and Dad's double cowlick. It sucks!!!!!!!!

I'm not afraid to be myself. I believe other people hide their true nerdiness behind masks that make them popular in other ways. I just don't like wearing masks. They make my face itchy. So, ya. That's me. Yep.... Bye now.