Well, I've completed another trip around the sun. For the second year in a row this trip was fairly average. Sure, there were highs and lows but I'm not left with a strong feeling one way or the other.

Looking back:
A year ago I wrote, "I want to continue on my current path and get healthier and stronger. I am enjoying the cooking that I am doing and I need to keep it up, even when life gets busy. I miss the knowledge and mental stimulation that comes with learning, so I will be returning to school in January to (finally) finish my degree. These things combined will help me with my goal To Take Care Of Myself."

I am happy to say I have accomplished that goal! I've been exercising regularly by running three times a week, and have increased my speed and distance over the course of the year. I've been generally cooking a lot and eating healthier, but that has somewhat fallen by the wayside this holiday season. As a result of improved diet and regular exercise I've lost a bit of the extra weight I've been carrying around, but now I find some of it creeping back. I need to watch this.

I've completed a few more classes required for graduation, including the two most difficult classes I've taken so far: Calculus and Physics. It turns out I find Calculus somewhat interesting which is something that caught me by surprise!

In general I've taken good care of myself, and my relationship, although I did that in part by being somewhat of a recluse (by which I mean Frederick and I being reclusive together). I needed to withdraw and spend a lot of time by myself, at home, to heal from the emotional pain I had to deal with the previous year.

Looking forward:
I want this coming year to find me continuing down my healthy path. I want my studies to be smooth, productive, and fun. When I started writing this I thought about whether or not I wanted to come out of my semi-reclusive state but I honestly like it here. I do want to nurture my friendships, even if I cannot do so in person for whatever reason.

Highlights:
We had many good diving trips this year, and I visited one new-to-me country: Indonesia, where I was chased by a wild Komodo dragon! (Although it wasn't as dangerous as I made it sound, it was a highlight of that trip.) I only did 72 ocean dives, plus spent 15-20 hours snorkeling with more whale sharks than I could count--it wasn't diving but I was in the water with incredible creatures! In addition, I also did 43 dives in the Steinhart Aquarium, and all but four of those were dive show presentations.

Were there other highlights of my year that did not relate to diving? Hrm, I'm sure there were, although I cannot think of them now. Although I suppose coming out of 2011 in better condition than I went into it is an accomplishment :)

I have been running regularly for about a year now, and I enjoy it. But running would cause various aches and pains, and the longest distance I have ever been able to run was 2.25 miles, after which I felt nauseous. I didn't help that I am iron-deficient so running more than a half-mile or a mile would have me gasping for breath because I couldn't get enough oxygen.

So I changed a couple of things.

Somewhere recently I had heard about barefoot running. I liked the idea, especially because I love the whole "back to nature" concept, and humans have run barefoot (or with foot coverings that were not much different from barefoot) for thousands of years. So I decided to give it a try in hopes it would correct my stride and alleviate some of the pain I was feeling. As it turns out, I love barefoot running! I can go further with less effort and no pain, and it has given me a new level of enjoyment without the negative effects I had been experiencing.

Running barefoot requires you use a different stride than the "heel-strike" stride people typically use when wearing running shoes. Instead, you land on the ball of your foot, almost flat-footed, and this results in less impact than a heel-strike stride. Yes, despite all that padding and engineering in a modern running shoe, running barefoot is less impactful than running with expensive shoes.

One thing that I believe has helped a lot is increasing the amount of iron supplements I am taking. I had been taking a pill a day, per the box directions, but didn't notice any difference in the way I was feeling, and my blood tests still showed me as borderline anemic. So after talking with a pharmacist I upped my dosage to three pills a day and wow! Suddenly I can run without gasping for breath! I used to hit my maximum heart rate of about 180 bpm after running just 0.25-0.5 miles, but now I can run two full miles and only be at about 155 bpm. It's amazing what the body can do when it has oxygen ;)

I've been doing much better these past few days than I was last week. The acute stress I had been feeling is gone, and I'm sure that's a result of my friend's passing. When death is imminent waiting for it to happen can be even more difficult than dealing with death itself.

I can't help but compare J.D.'s death with that of my friend Howard, who died 3.5 years ago. They were both younger than me, they each had cancer and knew in advance they were going to go. The difference was Howard didn't tell anyone he was ill; he dealt with it on his own, in silence, and his death came as a sudden and awful surprise to his friends. I can certainly understand why he did such a thing - he didn't want people to feel sorry for him, he didn't want to be an emotional burden on anyone, and, private person that he was, he probably didn't want to deal with people expressing intense feelings towards him.

In contrast, J.D. handled his situation the opposite way. He publicly announced and explained his illness and his prognosis, and his friends knew when the end was drawing near. It was amazing seeing the outpouring of love and memories being posted in places such as Facebook. That must have made things easier for him, knowing he had the support of so many people. I can only hope Howard knew just how many people loved and appreciated him, and that we still remember him fondly years later.

My friend passed away last night. He was at home, with his wife, and he went in his sleep. I suppose if one has to die those are the ideal circumstances. But, he was still in his 30s, and last January he was feeling fine. This past summer he and his wife were planning a trip to Hawaii once his treatment was over. And last weekend he was hoping for visitors at home. Then, poof, he was gone. Life is too fragile, and too short.

I have observed my brain detaching from my emotions as it processes all of this. Even though we were not close, he was a close friend of many of our mutual friends, and all week there has been palpable tension and sadness within my community of friends because of this. I can't help but feel something as a result; it's like holding an electric wire.

I've never had to sit and wait for someone to die before. And oh my, it's difficult. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for those closest to him. You don't want your loved one to leave, but you don't want them to suffer, either. Where's the balance?

*Heavy sigh.*

Ugh, things are getting tough. Death. Imminent death. A close friend suffering through their own personal crisis. The City of SF rejected our appeal about increased property taxes so we are having to pay even more taxes despite declining home values. I thought I had a handle on my Physics and Calculus classes but now they've both gone up a level in difficulty. I have two trips scheduled over Winter break but I don't really want to leave home, but neither do I want to stay and deal with things. I pulled a calf muscle when running this morning and don't know how long it will keep me from running, but I don't want to stop. I tend to eat more when under stress and now my pants are getting tight. And I haven't even gotten into just how broken this country is.

How much more of this can I take?

edit: People always think of me as being strong, and in some ways I am. But right now I am not strong and there's no one for me to lean on. I don't even understand my *$&#% homework.

Times are strange right now, I think we can all see that. I feel like the world as we know it is on the verge of upheaval ... I just hope it works out for the best.

My personal world is certainly in a state of upheaval, and sadly there is too much that is not good. One friend is recuperating from emergency brain surgery, another from an appendectomy. Other friends are having their cat put to sleep. And another friend is dying and will most likely be gone by the end of the year, if not the end of the month.

I've been trying to sort out my thoughts and feelings about the dying friend, and it's a lot more difficult than I would have expected. First and foremost, it is an extremely sad, unfortunate situation. I cannot even begin to comprehend how difficult it must be to *know* you only have a short time to live - How do you plan the remainder of your time? What do you say to people? How does it not drive you batshit insane in the meantime?

This person is someone I was friends with about ten years ago, but have only seen a handful of times in the intervening years and now I just consider them an acquaintance. I don't feel it would be honest of me to boldly interject myself into their life right now, but neither do I have a reason to avoid them. I'm trying to figure out how to visit them one last time (because, hey, why not) but then what do we talk about? Certainly nothing along the "Hey, how ya doing?" lines, but do you bother ignoring the elephant in the room when his trunk is in your lap? I've been lucky in that I've had very few friends die before, and I've never had to watch someone slip away like this.

I find it interesting to watch what my brain wants to do, and it wants to pull away from the situation. My brain figures if it can make this person distant enough then their death will have less of an impact on me. It's all about protection of the self, I suppose. But the part of me that tries so hard to overcome my social awkwardness knows that's not the "right" thing to do. Even if this person doesn't need me through all of this, our mutual friends will need to lean upon one another for support. And I want to be a good friend, just like I hope others will be when I eventually need them.

*Sigh.*

This past year I've been somewhat of a recluse. I haven't been avoiding social contact, but my "social-ness" has certainly been limited. This is best for me right now as I feel like I need quite a bit of time alone (although "alone" can mean either by myself or alone with Frederick).

For most of my life I've been shy and introverted. There was a period of several years from the early/mid 90s to the early 00s where, for whatever reason, I was extraordinarily (for me) extroverted, and the people I met during that time have a hard time believing that I'm not really that way. And as I get older I find myself settling comfortably into my cozy introvert nook, sometimes literally.

My recent increased reclusion is in direct response to a couple events last year that had serious negative effects on my wanting to spend time around other people. The first was when two acquaintances/friends decided to "gang up" on me and verbally attack me (ironically as a criticism of my own communication skills). The second was when a long-time, very close and very trusted friend began treating me quite poorly over a period of many months. In later conversations this person explained that they had changed in the past few years and needed to communicate with me in a different way, but instead of actually communicating this *to* me, they decided to attack me in criticism of my communication skills (which, I might add, had not changed; they had changed). Sure, there seems to be a pattern here, and it's true that I am by no means perfect, but it really is just a horrible coincidence that two unrelated groups/people began treating me so badly rather than simply having a conversation with me.

Setting all "blame" aside the end result is that I suffered an incredible amount of hurt and loss of trust. If my closest friend, someone who had told me multiple times that they loved me and valued my friendship, could treat me so poorly and make me feel so badly why should I expect a more casual friend to treat me any better? My response to this is to be extremely cautious in regards to my social interactions and be very wary of who I allow close to me. What's tough about this is that I do like my friends and enjoy spending time with them, so I somehow have to balance the closeness of friendships with my fear of being hurt. The way I've been doing this is by participating in group events, or by going out as couples.

Will I ever return to my extroverted self? I doubt it. I'm really not an extrovert and I am very shy and uncomfortable in groups where I don't know many people. Right now my life is centered around taking care of *me*, mentally and physically. I'm trying my best to eat well, exercise regularly, nurturing my relationship with Frederick, and finishing school. Perhaps once I'm done with school then I can think about expanding my social life. But until then I will just enjoy my limited interactions.

How do I start off a post about food? Not the food you get from any particular restaurant, but just the glory of food in general. I suppose you could start awkwardly, like this :)

Lately I've been so in love with food! I'm here in California at the end of summer and there is a veritable cornicopia of produce available, most all of it grown somewhat locally. All of my shopping is done either at the farmers' market or the local grocery co-op, and I purchase almost exclusively organic products (locally-grown whenever possible), so the food is fresh, nutritious, and flavourful. The only way that could get better is if I were to be growing my own food, but for various reasons that won't be happening, at least not anytime soon.

I also love to cook and cook most of my own meals. Sure, sometimes cooking can be a hassle, but when I'm excited about turning this pile of produce into a tasty meal then it becomes especially fun! Lately Smitten Kitchen has been my "go-to" site when I'm looking for a new way to prepare things, and I highly recommend her site; I've loved every recipe of hers I've tried.

I suppose the whole point of this post was basically to say: I love food! And right now I am especially loving being a vegetarian because there is so much good produce out there, and I'm able to prepare it in so many delicious ways! And with that said I shall now go into the kitchen and cook up some breakfast :)

I keep meaning to post here more often, really, I do. But then I'll either have something else more urgent to attend to, or, as has been the case lately, I keep telling myself that I'll make some more substantial posts after I process some photos or write a travelogue about a recent trip. And it just so happens I'm behind in photo processing and writing about my recent travels...

This past January I went back to school with the intention of actually finishing my degree this time. Because of my school schedule, our travels this year have (mostly) been limited to summer--a few days after Spring semester finished we headed to Roatan, Honduras, with a few friends; a month after that we spent two weeks diving in Indonesia with some other friends; and a month after that we were in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, snorkeling with hundreds of whale sharks; then I returned to school two days after getting home.

Now I've been back in school for 2.5 weeks (hrm, it seems like longer) and I'm surviving so far. My big challenge this semester is Calculus so please wish me luck. I'm also taking a Physics lecture and a Physics lab course; although I had signed up for the Lab with one teacher the schedule had apparently changed and my Lab ended up being with a teacher I did not like (I had him for a class last semester and found him very confusing) but I was lucky enough to be able to switch to a different section so I think my schedule is all settled now.

Because classes are my current priority I've had to cut way back on my volunteering hours. Currently my only volunteer gig is as a diver at the California Academy of Sciences. We've got new Diving Safety Officer there who has changed some things around, and as a result I may have a chance to get certified as a Scientific Diver, which I think would be pretty darned cool.

I suppose I should go back to processing those photos...

This is a bit long, but I hope you will have a few minutes to read it and take action.

For those of you who are not yet aware, the State of California is on the verge of making an incredible difference in the conservation of endangered species and the preservation of our oceans. A landmark bill, AB376, which would ban the possession, sale, and trade of shark fins in California, has been approved by the governor and the State Assembly, and goes to the State Senate for a final vote on Tuesday, June 28th.

This bill is so important because many sharks are on the verge of extinction. Populations of large sharks have plummeted 95-99% worldwide in the last two decades. Currently, of the 300+ shark species, 50 species are listed as being at high risk of extinction (either Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable), and another 63 shark species are approaching threatened status (either Conservation Dependent or Near Threatened).

One of the reasons sharks are so in danger is because of shark finning, the wasteful and barbaric practice of slicing the fins off an often still-living shark, then tossing the animal back into the ocean for it to slowly die. It is estimated that at least 73 million sharks are killed for their fins every year (about 100 sharks will die as you read this email message). The fins are used as a tasteless thickening ingredient for shark fin soup, an ingredient that could easily be replaced with a much more sustainable substitute. It is thought that serving and eating shark fin soup bestows good fortune and virility, but ironically sharks (as well as other marine apex predators) have such high levels of mercury, PCBs, and other toxins that eating them is dangerous to one's health.

Since California is such a large consumer of shark fins, and since ~85% of fin imports come through our state, this ban would have a huge impact on the number of sharks killed. Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon, as well as other countries, already have similar bans in place, but the opposition to the California ban is strong (certain importers stand to lose money, and are therefore pressuring lawmakers). We can help push our ban through by contacting the California Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water before June 28 and telling them you support AB376, the Shark Fin Ban.

California Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water:
Fran Pavley, Chair Agoura Hills, District 23 (916) 651-4023
Doug LaMalfa, Vice Chair Richvale, District 4 (916) 651-4004
Alex Padilla Pacoima-LA County, District 20 (916) 651-4020
Christine Kehoe San Diego, District 39 (916) 651-4039
Lois Wolk Davis, District 5 (916) 651-4005
Noreen Evans Santa Rosa, District 2 (916) 651-4002
Joe Simitian Palo Alto, District 11 (916) 651-4011
Anthony Cannella Ceres, District 12 (916) 651-4012
Jean Fuller Bakersfield, District 18 (916) 651-4018

For more information, and to see the arguments for supporting the ban, please go to: http://sharksavers.org/en/blogs/760-update-california-assembly-bill-ab-376.html

THANK YOU! And please feel free to spread this around.

As soon as my summer vacation began we took off to CoCo View Resort on the island of Roatan, Honduras, in the Caribbean. We would be meeting four other friends there for a week of warm water diving. This was our fifth trip to CoCo View in as many years, and we keep going back because the diving is good (by Caribbean standards) and easy with short boat rides to scores of different sights.

We boarded a TACA red-eye flight out of SFO and arrived at the resort in time for lunch the next day. Although the timing of the flight was not ideal, it gave us plenty of time to do two dives that afternoon, and thoroughly get into "vacation mode." I did a total of 26 dives that week and carried my camera with me on most of them in an effort to get in some good photography practice.



In addition to the standard Caribbean critters (puffers, eels, damselfish, angelfish, etc.) I saw a small school of squid, a jawfish holding eggs in his mouth, way too many invasive lionfish, and a large nurse shark. Out of the 70 dives I've done around Roatan, this was the first shark I have seen there (with the exception of the time we went on a shark feeding dives). Contrast that to Cocos Island, where we saw multiple sharks - often scores - on every single dive. Sadly, the lack of sharks and other large fish is typical for the Caribbean, where they have been all but fished out.



All in all it was a good week with good diving spent with good people.

Photography notes: I took my 15mm fisheye lens down on a few dives, and then shot macro for the balance of the trip. I used a Canon 100mm macro lens which I really enjoy. I worked a lot on exposure and lighting, and now that I've had a chance to really study the photos I took during that trip I have identified some things I want to work on in the future. The next step I want to take is probably the most difficult: trying to go from taking "nice" pictures to taking stunning, eye-catching photos. Wish me luck!

(See the entire photo set on Flickr.)

I finished my Spring Semester classes at the end of May and received my grades a few days ago. I did not do nearly as well as I wanted to, although that didn't really come as a surprise.

The Trigonometry class was tough - although I worked and worked at it, I think I am coming up against the limitations of my brain, that being the fact that I am not particularly inclined towards mathematics. The Physics class, on the other hand, shouldn't have been that hard. It was just an introductory class but the teacher was not good and did not explain things well at all. In fact, with one topic in particular, I never really "got it" until we covered the same thing in Trig class with a good teacher. I have high standards for myself and I really tried to do well, but when all was said and done I was not satisfied with my grades. Yes, I passed, but I blew my 4.0 GPA.

Two days after my last final I took off for a warm sunny vacation, where I could drown my sorrows in colorful fishies and umbrella drinks, but more on that in my next post.

Next semester, well, that's going to be a doozy. I plan on taking Calculus and (real) Physics. Judging by my previous brief experience with Calculus I don't think I will understand it well at all; some people just don't think that way. I plan on getting a tutor and doing as best I can.

In March I went back to Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica. Cocos is well-known in the scuba diving community for sharks, sharks, and more sharks, and it really is a special place. Yes, most of the diving is deep (~100 ft) and can be challenging, but in return you are rewarded with thousands of schooling fish of all sizes. While Cocos possesses the closest I've seen to an unspoiled underwater environment, sadly it is not, and year to year dive operators notice fewer large predatory fish, more fishing boats outside the national park boundaries, and more illegal fishing within the park.

This marked the second year in a row I went to Cocos on expedition with PRETOMA of Costa Rica and the Sea Turtle Restoration Network of the US, and this time we were also accompanied by CIMAD of Columbia. These three NGOs work cooperatively, along with researchers from Ecuador, towards conserving sharks and sea turtles in Central and northern South American waters.

While on expedition we help the biologists catch sea turtles which are then measured, tagged, and released; tag sharks; and retrieve and replace data receivers. The receivers collect information telling researchers which tagged animals have passed within 500 meters of that particular station. On this trip we caught/tagged approximately eight turtles and thirteen sharks.

Expeditions are usually run twice per year, and are open to experienced scuba divers. The next trip is September 2011, and space is available in case you happen to be interested in going. I highly recommend it!



Photography notes: So far I've done exclusively wide-angle photography at Cocos, shooting entirely in manual using a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens on a full-frame DSLR. Since most diving is deep, there's not a lot of light down there. While strobes are very useful, all the particulate matter in the water causes a lot of backscatter so I often shot just with ambient light. I really should have used my strobes more, extending them all the way to the sides. A slightly longer focal length would have improved my photos as well; the 16-35 lens on a cropped sensor camera would probably be perfect.

I upped the intensity of my workout again this morning, and guess what? I didn't die! I ran four 0.5 mile intervals, with the first 0.25 at 5.3mph, and the second at 6mph, as well as reducing my walking intervals from 0.25 mile to 0.15-0.2. Oh, and since I started this, all my runs have been on a 0.5% incline. It's not much, but it's better than flat!

At the end of my last interval I checked my heartrate and it hadn't reached maximum; two minutes later it had dropped 40bpm which is pretty darned great!

After talking with my trainer this week I have decided to keep my workout distances relatively short (2+ miles), and instead work on speed and intensity. This works better with my specific type of muscle, and has the added benefit of not extending workout time.

Oh! With all of my eating well and exercising I have dropped close to 30 pounds since December! For the past five weeks I've been hovering at about -28 to -29 pounds as my body comes to equilibrium with the changes. I feel great, and I've been able to "go shopping" in my closet and wear clothes I haven't been able to fit into for awhile. Yay!

I had another good workout this morning. Somewhere around the beginning of the year I started the Couch to 5k running program, which takes you from being a couch potato to running 5k/3 miles at a stretch. I was doing great up until the sixth week; I had just run 2.25 miles straight (possibly the longest distance I have ever run in my life as I have never had the stamina for extended exertion) and felt physically ill, and I couldn't face up to Week Seven's three 2.5-mile runs.



All of my running is done on a treadmill, as running on pavement is too hard on my legs. As a result, it is easy for me to know my speed and timing. When I started the program I was running at 5.0 mph, a slow jog that allowed me to run the distances I wanted. After hitting that 2.25 mile barrier, I decided to go back and increase my pace by running shorter intervals at higher speeds.



Now about a month into my speed increases, I am running at 5.3 mph plus doing the last two minutes/0.2 miles at 6 mph. Today I even ran two quarter-miles at 6 mph which is great; when I started the C25K program I could barely run a quarter at 5.0 mph, and when I started increasing my speed I could only do 1 minute/0.1 miles at 6.0 before getting out of breath.



The best part of all this? It's watching my cardiovascular health improve! Whereas when I began, my heart rate would shoot up to its max of ~178 after a jog of just a few minutes. Now it rarely gets that high, and when it does, it's after running much longer distances at higher speeds. Yay!

Life is good. A lot has changed in my life in the past year, and while it hasn't all been pleasant, the end result is. Just this afternoon Frederick commented that I seem a lot happier and less worried than I had been in months past, and that is wonderful.

I'm back in school and attempting to settle in for the long haul (i.e. until I'm done). I've got a relatively easy courseload this semester to ease my reentry; next semester will probably be a killer. But all in all I like learning, and I am especially glad to be exercising those neural pathways as that can ward off memory issues that typically come with age. (Not that I'm elderly yet, but it is an eventual goal ;) )

Back in December I made good on my promise to take care of myself, and that's coming along swimmingly. I am fulfilling the exercise facet of that by doing the Couch to 5K running program which takes you from being a couch potato to running 5K straight. I am nearing the end of week six, and while the longer runs are challenging (I've never run significantly more than 2 miles before in my life) it's also extremely satisfying to reach those distances. I am finding that I really like running, and plan to keep doing so once I'm done with this program.

I've also been continuing to eat extremely well, doing most of my own cooking. Previously we had gotten into the habit of eating out or ordering delivery several times a week, or sometimes even a couple of times per day, and that's just not healthy. Sure, not all of my meals are fancy, but at least they're good for me.

Believe or not, I have not yet been diving (in the ocean) this year! That will change in the not-too-distant future and hopefully I will come home with some nice photographs.

In the meantime, a nap sounds good...

Support Bill AB376 Banning the Sale of Shark Fins in California

(From the Wild Aid press release February 14, 2011:)

California Assembly Members Paul Fong and Jared Huffman today introduced a bill to prohibit the sale of shark fins in California to the State Assembly. California is one of the largest sources of demand for shark fin outside Asia and this bill would represent a major step towards reducing pressure on shark populations. Furthermore the bill complements the ban introduced in both Hawaii and the Commonwealth of North Mariana Islands (CNMI) as well as restrictions established by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

Every year fins from up to 73 million sharks are used for shark fin soup, which is contributing to the decimation of shark populations worldwide so that now one third of shark species are threatened with extinction. As sharks play a vital role in the oceans, their depletion could cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems.

Unfortunately, California Senator Leland Yee opposes the bill. He has chosen to interpret the bill as racism and an attack on Asian culture, which it most certainly is not. Senator Yee has declared his intent to run for mayor of San Francisco, and he is hoping that by keeping the sale of shark fins legal he can then garner the (significant) Chinese-American vote during the election.

I would like to ask Californians to take a few minutes to write to Senator Yee, as well as the Assembly Members in their district, state Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and Governor Jerry Brown to ask them to support this bill.

Also, it is extremely important for Senator Yee to know that there are Asians who support the ban on shark fin sales. If you are of Asian descent and support this ban, please include this information in your letter!

Contact information for our California legislators is below, as are sample letters that you can either cut & paste, or use as a basis for your own letter.

Thank you, and let's get this bill passed!

---

Senator Leland Yee: It is best to send an actual letter to his office as there is a 200 character limit on web submittals, and it does not appear that he receives emails sent to the address listed on his website.
See sample letter tailored to Senator Yee here (includes his address; opens in a new window) -- Contact info on Sen. Yee's website.


See sample letter for other legislators here (opens in a new window).

Governor Jerry Brown: You can send email via his webform.

Senator Barbara Boxer: You can send email via her webform.

Senator Dianne Feinstein: You can send email via her webform.

Assembly Members: Here is a list of all state assembly members. If you do not know your representative, click on the "Find my District" link in the left column. Web comments may be limited to 200 characters, so it might be preferable to send a snail mail letter.

I've been wanting to write a follow-up to my last post about fish oil supplements, but whew, I've had a busy week.

The following is my understanding of how all this omega-3 stuff applies to humans:

There are several types of omega-3 fatty acids, but three in particular are considered beneficial to our health. These essential fatty acids (called such because our bodies cannot synthesize them, so it is essential we get them in our diet) are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Our bodies can, however, create DHA and EPA from ALA, but are not very efficient at doing so.

In nature, both DHA and EPA are produced by a type of microalgae. They work their way up the food chain, and are available to humans in the form of fish or fish oil. Small amounts of DHA is present in eggs, but EPA is not present in any type of vegetarian foods. Vegetarian foods rich in other omega-3s (such as flax seed/oil) do not include EPA or DHA, however, they do include their precursor, ALA.

One hypothesis as to why humans evolved to require a nutrient that is only available from marine sources when humans did not evolve near the ocean is that our modern diets have failed us. Normally our bodies can create EPA and DHA from readily available ALA, but research indicates that the modern Western diet includes too much of the omega-6 fatty acids, and this excess throws off our bodies ability to synthesize DHA and EPA, thus requiring us to supplement our diets.

As a result of an earlier discussion, friends have sent me some interesting links regarding this stuff:

Dietary intake and status of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in a population of fish-eating and non-fish-eating meat-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans and the precursor-product ratio of alpha-linolenic acid to long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: results from the EPIC-Norfolk cohort. - Difference in omega-3 levels between people with various diets were smaller than expected.

Do vegetarians have to eat fish for optimal cardiovascular protection? - Unfortunately, the evidence is unclear.

DHA status of vegetarians. - "There is no evidence of adverse effects on health or cognitive function with lower DHA intake in vegetarians."

Bioavailability of alpha-linolenic acid from flaxseed diets as a function of the age of the subject. - Eating flaxseed seems to increase the level of EPA in the blood.

And finally, this British company sells a vegan DHA/EPA supplement derived directly from algae: Omega-3 algae oil. I have not seen anything like this for sale in the US, so maybe this is worth trying once it is back in stock.

A recent conversation about fish brought up the topic of fish oil supplements. Since I am, shall we say, opposed to the fishing industry in general, I started thinking about why fish oil is supposed to be healthy, and whether or not there were any alternatives.

Here's a little background info about why fish oil is considered healthy: It is a source of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly the polyunsaturated fats eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These compounds are essential to health, but they cannot be synthesized by the human body, so we must ingest foods with the appropriate omega-3s or their precursors. Like most necessary vitamins and minerals, our bodies are much more efficient at using omega-3s when they come from a food source, rather than an synthetic source.

Since the oil from certain types of fish (salmon and sardines, in particular) is a concentrated source of omega-3s, eating fish and taking fish oil supplements came to be thought of as a healthy habit. But nowadays eating fish and fish products is controversial. Often the bodies of fish and other marine animals have built up various toxins, including mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are transferred to whatever creature that eats the affected animal. Most major fish stocks worldwide are in serious decline, with many being overfished and various species becoming endangered. Between 25 and 40% of the animals caught by fishing boats are considered "bycatch" - basically non-target species which are unused and discarded after being pulled aboard ship and allowed to die. Those non-target species include not only other fish, but hundreds of thousands of sea birds, turtles, dolphins, etc. per year.

So if eating fish is supposed to be good for you, but the fish themselves are either toxic or going extinct, then what to do? This is my big question, and now I am wondering how humans could have evolved to require marine fish for proper health when humans did not evolve next to the ocean? Clearly there must other foods, possibly even of vegetarian origin, that fill this same niche. And here's where I get stuck.

The aforementioned omega-3s are closely related to omega-6 fatty acids, the latter which are also healthy in moderation but detrimental in excess. There is overlap between omega-3s, omega-6s, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, which I believe, can be considered a precursor to both the 3s and the 6s). But all the information I can find points to EPA being the most critical essential fatty acid because it is found in so few places in nature, and our bodies have the most difficulty converting it from precursors. Online searches show many non-fish sources of omega-3s, but I am not convinced that any of them contain EPA.

All of that is really just background for my basic questions: Does anyone know of a quality, non-fish, preferably vegetarian, source of EPA omega-3 fatty acid? If someone were to come to me asking how they could get enough EPA without eating fish, what would I tell them? And if it is not possible to get sufficient EPA without eating fish, how in the heck did we evolve that way?

A year or so ago there was discussion on one of my mailing lists about going shampoo-free. This intrigued me because I like to use as few chemicals as possible* in my life, but I wasn't sure that it was right for me because of my hair type, and the fact that I use hair color. But as a result of that discussion I discovered a new type of shampoo that uses only saponified oils--soap--and no unpronounceable chemicals.

I started using that shampoo and I was fairly happy with it, although it did seem to leave behind a slight residue. But the residue wasn't a big deal since I always put some sort of hair product in after washing, anyhow. Fast-forward to last November, when we were on a long scuba diving vacation. We would spend several hours in the water each day, where the saltwater washed any dirt and oil (and haircolor) out of my hair. When I'd get back on the boat I rinsed off with fresh water, and that was that. During the sixteen days we were on the boat I did not wash my hair once, yet it was cleaner than it had been any other time in my life. This was especially pronounced once I returned home and used my new-ish shampoo and had to deal with that residue. Yuck. But how to get my hair so clean without spending hours each day immersed in salt water?

That when I remembered the old "no shampoo" email thread. I started cleaning my hair with baking soda, and then rinsing it with diluted apple cider vinegar**. OH. EM. GEE. My hair is now so clean and soft, and free of weird coatings, residues, and chemicals.

Think about it - regular shampoos and conditioners remove dirt, but they leave behind a coating on the hair shaft. This can leave straight, fine hair (like mine) flat and lifeless, so then you add styling products to your hair to give it texture and body. That stuff weighs down your hair and attracts dirt, so you wash it more often and the cycle repeats. With the no shampoo routine, I'm washing my hair maybe twice a week, and it doesn't look dirty between washings. The best part about this? It's cheap. I'm now spending about $10 a year on hair cleaning products, versus the $100-200 per year I was spending before.

This has been a public service announcement from someone who is thrilled with her hair :)

* Some might argue that if I really wanted to remove chemicals from my life then I would stop coloring my hair. Well, I'm much too young to live with grey hair, so I will use as few chemicals as possible while still retaining a standard of living with which I am happy.

** To clean your hair, take a handful of moistened baking soda (it does not dissolve) and rub it into your scalp. Rinse thoroughly with warm water. Soak your hair with 1/2 cup or so apple cider vinegar solution (1 part vinegar diluted in approx. 10 parts water), and again rinse thoroughly with warm water. That's it.