About a week ago, I got word that my cousin Corey had died back in Chilliwack. It obviously caught everyone off guard, since he was only 38 years old and was relatively healthy. As a family, all we have been left with are questions, sadness, and the hole where Corey's life used to be. When I originally set out to Argentina at the start of this year, my mom sat me down and we talked about what would happen if someone were to pass away while I was gone. Obviously if possible, I would do my best to get back home for a funeral or support. But I was told by my mom, and later reiterated by a few other ...

On December 26, 2004, one of the largest tsunami's in recorded history struck in the Indian Ocean. The tsunami was triggered by a large earthquake that occurred in the middle of the ocean, registering somewhere between 9.1 and 9.3 on the Richter scale. The energy released in the earthquake was equivalent to a nuclear blast of around 26 megatons, or approximately 1500 times the magnitude of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The force was so great in fact that the planet Earth rang like a bell for several days, oscillating back and force with an amplitude of a few centimetres. In addition, ...

This is one of the most tragic things I've read in a very long time. Shoppers at a WalMart were so eager to get through the doors for today's sale that they literally stomped one of the workers there to death. Even while he was down, people still trampled past him, with nobody stopping to help him up or make sure he was ok. Another worker also hit the ground, as did a pregnant lady. I really have to question what type of world we live in where something like that can happen. It's one thing at a music concert when something like that happens due to a surge in the crowd (which still isn't acceptable), ...

Throughout my life, I have always had a hard time sleeping in the evenings. Although in the odd instance I can put my head on the pillow and wake up in the morning refreshed, most evenings I not only have trouble falling asleep, I have a hard time staying asleep. While I have gotten used to not sleeping very well (during the eight years I was in university staying up late and getting up early was a requirement), this week has been particularly difficult for some reason. On average I think I've had about three hours of sleep an evening, and I find myself running completely on fumes during the days. ...

By now I'm sure you've heard that Heath Ledger, one of the stars of the movie Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in NYC. While nobody really knows for sure what happened, police have said he was on both antidepressants and ambien, which is a relatively new form of sleeping pill that a few of my friends have taken from time to time for insomnia. Ambien by itself has a relatively good safety record, but when taken in combination with any other agent that has the ability to suppress the central nervous system, it has been fatal before. Why I'm writing this entry is because the last few entries and ...