Vitamin D deficiency is common to some extent, but serious deficiencies are hard to diagnose aside from a blood test, as symptoms can include fatigue, muscle/joint pain, and weakening of the immune system.

Vitamin D levels — what’s really optimal?
>100 ng/mL – Excessive vitamin D (see note on toxicity)
50–70 ng/mL – Proposed optimal range
30–50 ng/mL – Suboptimal
<30 ng/mL – Deficient
<20 ng/mL – Overt vitamin D deficiency
<10 ng/mL – Seriously deficient
(Source)

I’m at 11 ng/mL, which hovers right over seriously deficient. Luckily, it is easily remedied… I am starting off with 8 weeks of a prescription strength dose of Vitamin D (50,000 IU/week), and I should regulate my Vitamin D intake (both supplements and sunlight) thereafter in order to stay at an optimal level.

Why am I telling you this? Because even though a a slight deficiency is normal, an overt or serious deficiency can lead to more problems if it is not addressed early enough. Have your doctor request this test next time you have a routine blood test to be sure.

Also, I just wanted to set it straight after my Twitter post set off a whole chain of replies commenting on my situation.

Today, an ex-boyfriend added me as a friend on Facebook. No huge deal, since we’re friended on a bunch of other networks, and it’s not like we have bad vibes between us. It’s just that we don’t really relate anymore.

What got me thinking was when I approved his friend request, and the “How do you know this person?” window popped up. Oh, this is a toughie. Sure, I could say “Met randomly” or “Worked together”. I could also say “We lived together”. I could also use that in conjunction with “We dated from xxxx-xxxx”, but then I’d also have to choose from a drop-down menu for “How did it go?” and furthermore, answer the question “And now?”. Dare I say “We hooked up”?

I clicked “Skip this step”.

Ever since Six Degrees [now defunct] in the late nineties, I was compelled to make connections with the people I knew, through the magic of the internet. The world wide web made our own worlds smaller, and we were enchanted with the idea of connecting and reconnecting with people from near and far. With Friendster, we saw people get obsessed with collecting friends… some even likened it to Pokémon (Gotta catch ‘em all!), which was rising in popularity at the same time. Friendster forever changed the definition of the word “Friend”.

MySpace brought social networking to a younger (read: mainstream) audience and made itself a part of the vernacular. From then on, it got ridiculous. Social networking sites sprung up faster than anyone could count, and to this day, invitations to join someone’s network litter our inboxes, and people foam at the mouth for invitations to the beta version of the newest networking site.

I feel that part of the appeal of social networks is in the ability for those of the introverted persuasion (e.g., geeks and nerds) to be able to connect to many like-minded people. We became social networking junkies, binging on forming online friendships. Why not? It’s so easy… we can be friends with someone by simply clicking a button!

Yesterday, I found myself purging my social networks of people I feel little or no connection with. It was still hard for me to delete/remove/de-friend some people from these lists, so I let some of them be. What if they found out I didn’t have them in my Friend List anymore? What would I say? How would I explain it? Is it easier to keep them on my Friend List to avoid confrontation? Would this confrontation even exist?

And why the heck am I so worried about this?

The concept behind the show is simple: catch up with musicians passing through Paris (for the most part, amongst other major cities) and have them perform live… impromptu, on the streets, wherever they may be. There is something quite zen and calming about many of these performances. Take, for instance, the latest video, featuring Andrew Bird strolling leisurely along the stone streets of Paris with his guitar, attracting the attention of nary a traveler:

This performance from The Shins on a bright sunny day makes me feel warm and ready for spring. I love how they  break out with Alone Again Or as they stroll to find a place on the Paris streets to perform.

These are just a couple of the wonderful performances to be found within, including Grizzly Bear performing while crammed into a tiny hotel bathroom, and a performance by Arcade Fire from inside a freight elevator. I could go on and on, but you could probably just find out for yourself.

I find myself inspired and feeling a bit more at peace with every performance.

I played almost every version of The Sims, including the life-sucking Sims Online. I played Sims 2 when I had access to a PC when it first came out, but alas couldn’t run it on my old PowerBook.

Now that I have my new MacBook, the obsession begins again.

Of course, the first thing anyone does when starting a new Sims game is create Sim versions of yourselves…

Sim Courtney

…and of your loved one(s).

Sim Cecil

…and then you try to see how they behave.

Upon entering her new home, my Sim was disappointed in my choice of lamps and easy chair, and clapped in delight at the full-size bed. SimCecil loved his little twin bed but hated the bathroom lighting, and immediately went to watch comedy TV.

Our Sims eventually met and exchanged a few words about fortune telling(?) and the weather, then SimCecil decided to put the moves on SimCourtney. She was not pleased.

Funny how much time I end up investing in SimLives. I just gotta be sure to keep Real Life in check

Why wait to lose those unnecessary pounds. amputate

Why not? It’s an easy way to lose weight! You don’t need that leg anyway, it adds an extra couple of pounds.

I’m pleased to announce that the above photo that I shot (at Club Deluxe last December) has been selected as a top ten finalist in 7×7 Magazine‘s Bring on the Night Photography contest!

The top ten photographs will be featured in the November issue of the magazine (which, as you can see, has an “After Dark” theme). The issue should be out any day now… so keep an eye out for it!

Prints of the top 25 photos are being auctioned off to benefit SF Camerawork, a “non-profit organization encouraging emerging and mid-career artists to explore new directions in photography and related media by fostering creative forms of expression that push existing boundaries”.

Congrats also go to Derek, who I noticed was also on the list of top ten photos for this contest as well!

I’m excited that my photography is slowly making its way into the public eye. I’m even more proud that I’ve been forgiving enough to myself and to my artwork that I feel comfortable in submitting my photography to these kinds of things. Self-criticism is a hard to thing to overcome.

How to Feel Miserable as an Artist

1. Constantly compare yourself to other artists.
2. Talk to your family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on.
3. Base the success of your entire career on one project
4. Stick with what you know.
5. Undervalue your expertise.
6. Let money dictate what you do.
7. Bow to societal pressures.
8. Only do work that your family would love.
9. Do whatever the client/customer/gallery owner/patron/investor asks.
10. Set unachievable/overwhelming goals. To be accomplished by tomorrow.

I do a lot of these things frequently, but remember this list to snap me back into proper form within reasonable time. It’s all quite good advice.

Three decades, have I been on this earth.
(when did I turn into Yoda?)

Close to 7 o’clock in the morning, thirty years ago, I was born in Walnut Creek, CA, to my parents, Chris and Pat, and gave my sister Nicolette someone to pick on eternally.

My parents are both Filipino (my mom part Spanish), both born in the Philippines and moving to the states as children. Our family is very American, we don’t speak the language (although my parents kinda understand it) and I don’t think any of us have been back to the Philippines.

Mom and Dad, pre-kids.My sister is three years older than me and we grew up arguing about who was going to get my Dad’s Audi with 8-Track and sunroof when we turned 16.

I also have a younger brother, Brendon. He’s 10 years younger than me, but we are good friends.

(wish I had a pic of him and I when he was a baby, but this will suffice)I grew up as an extremely timid young girl who only spoke when spoken to. I don’t think it was until well into High School that I started coming out of my shell. I even was a cheerleader for a couple years, which I’m not sure if it necessarily helped.

Senior Ball posed shot
(sorry, don’t have my cheerleader shot scanned yet, which would go here)
As far as high education goes, I bounced around community college as well as film school while earning a living as a graphic designer at Kinko’s and some freelancing. Little did I know I was cultivating my skills for my career then, for I am now a working graphic designer in marketing for video gaming.

I’ve lived in the SF Bay Area most of my life, save a couple of years living on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

Leis from my HI co-workersThat was a great experience, and I loved it there, but I can’t go far from home. I also love the ocean and cannot be too far from her either.

I have never felt any anxieties about my age or getting older. Tease me all you want about me being old (I’ve gotten a fair share already), but it won’t faze me. My physical state only reminds me of how much I’ve experienced, and I kinda laugh when my joints pop in the morning. Perhaps one day, it will hit me in the stereotypical negative way that birthdays seem to have on people, but for now, I’m enjoying my life as it comes, and enjoying simply being me.

Buzz & I share the same birthday.
We celebrated this weekend on the beach.I haven’t really thought much of my birthdays in the past, oh, ten years or so, they passed with no real feeling of accomplishment or celebration. I also haven’t wanted to celebrate my birthday in a large capacity until this year, probably because I’m happier and want to share that feeling with people I care about. For the first time in a long time, I feel I have friends I have a good connection with (not just faces at a party) and this makes me very happy. I also find myself in a rewarding relationship with someone who encourages and inspires me to be the best me I could be.

It is good to be thirty.

May those of you looking forward to this age find comfort and happiness at this milestone as well.

Love,
Me