Diabetes O.C. Directory Changes Ownership

Another quick post for today!

A couple months ago, I agreed to give to Gina Capone (founder of DiabetesTalkfest.com) control of the Diabetes O.C. Directory. She will be in charge of receiving submission forms and updating the Directory.

I decided to do this after many months of being unable to keep up with the Directory myself. I found myself very behind in updating the site during my cross-country move, and I just was never able to catch up. In addition, I have never been happy with the way it was organized on Blogger, yet I never had the vision to design it in a way that is functional. Gina, being the graphic design whiz that she is, is currently concocting a brand-spanking-new version of the site. To do this, she is asking that everyone currently listed or who wishes to be listed in the Directory send in a new submission form. Details can be found here.

If you have any questions, you can email Gina at diabetesoc [@] gmail.com.

Last Day to Register for Diabetes Research Institute!

I just wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to register for the DRI’s annual conference in New York City, NY. You can find out more about this year’s Diabetes 2.0 conference here.

After the conference, I will be hosting a diabetes community dinner in Manhattan. You do not need to be attending the conference to go to the dinner. Whether you’re a blogger, tweeter, conference attendee, social network member, lurker or whatever, you’re more than welcome to come! If you want to attend the dinner, reservations are at 6pm at a restaurant near midtown Manhattan. Please contact me at amblass [@] gmail.com to find out more and RSVP by October 18.

Thanks!

Diabetes TODAY

This morning, the TODAY Show featured several segments on life with diabetes in conjunction with their Diabetes Fair that was held outside, near their studio. The fair itself was hosted by the American Diabetes Association and seemed to have three parts to it - a screening area, where folks could get their blood sugar test (always a good thing!), and an exercise area, where ADA staff were showing folks some aerobics moves. There was also a third section for nutrition but it was directly next to where they were filming, so all these fans were standing next to it making it impossible for anyone to actually look to see what they had.

In the middle of these two sections were the hosts, Meredith Viera, Ann Curry Al Roker and Maria Menounos, who were talking about diabetes. The entire diabetes fair was surrounded by a barricade, and they were letting people inside 20 people at a time. TODAY show fans surrounded the barricade, trying to get a glimpse of their favorite morning show hosts.

So, let me recap that for you:
- three sections of the diabetes fair, one of which was essentially blocked off by a crowd of fans who were trying to get on TV.
- they were filming inside the fair, which made walking around nearly impossible. I couldn’t even get to the exercise portion for the hour I was there because of the hosts and all cameramen.
- there were a LOT of people and the entrance to the diabetes fair was actually in one small corner of the barricade that I actually passed before a lady yelled to people where it was.
- a barricade that kept people out, with only 20 people being allowed in (which made sense because the space inside the barricade was so small and hard to navigate - lots of camera wires and whatnot).
- the American Diabetes Association was the host. There was no presence from any other organization or company (except for the lovely CWD folks who got on camera!)

Because I was actually at the taping, they couldn’t broadcast what anyone was saying (otherwise you’d have some serious feedback!) so I have no idea if what they said was actually any good. I did see the clip that’s on Cara’s blog, which was filmed before I got there because I don’t remember seeing them there. I hope what was broadcast was useful because I have to say, I was very disappointed by the fair. I’m sure the screenings were useful to some people, but it was poorly laid out and very much in the wrong location.

On a positive note, I did stand within inches of Ann Curry and Meredith Viera, who I think are both very cool. Ann Curry is actually an alum of the University of Oregon, and while I didn’t get a chance to say anything to her, it was still cool to be there regardless of how sucky the diabetes fair actually was.

Another Informal and (Somewhat) Inconsequential Survey

A couple weeks ago my baby brother, who for some strange reason became an 18-year-old guy overnight, started his freshman year in college.

I cannot believe it.

More than anything else, that makes me feel so old. Not having a job, not paying bills, not traveling alone to a foreign country. My little brother is all alone in college. Which of course makes my parents officially empty-nesters but that’s a completely different post…

Anyway, I remember when I was in college constantly going to my mailbox and checking for a letter, a card, a package, anything. I always saw other girls with wonderful care packages from their parents who clearly loved them more than mine (slight exaggeration, possibly, but it’s what I thought as an 18-year-old). I decided it would be nice to send my brother a care package. He already knows that I have a couple things on the way, but I thought about filling it out with maybe two or three more fun items. Nothing expensive, but just things that a college freshman guy would need/want.

Only problem: I’ve never been a college freshman guy, so I’m not sure what that actually is. I having a sneaky suspicion my penchant for scented candles and lipgloss won’t go over very well with him.

Guys (and gals, too!), any suggestions for what I should get for my little bro? And don’t say porn! Or cigarettes or anything else gross. I’m his sister.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Oh, and don’t worry, he doesn’t read this blog.

Yin and Yang

Diabetes has a lot of these yin and yang qualities to it.

On one hand, diabetes is a complicated illness that can lead to terrible, life-threatening complications, even death. But on the other hand, we have people with diabetes who are living until they are in their seventies and eighties, people climbing mountains and biking across the country, people getting married and pushing out babies and what-not.

On one hand, diabetes fluctuates on a minute-by-minute basis. You never know what your next blood sugar reading is going to be. You never know if this 30 grams of carbohydrates are going to affect you the same as that other 30 grams of carbohydrates. You don’t know if this thirty minute job is going to crash you into the ground or make you feel jazzed. But on the other hand, when you are low, you treat with glucose. Every. Time. When your blood sugar is high, you take insulin. Every. Time. When you eat, you have to take insulin. Every. Time.

I remember past conversations about how it’s challenging to advocate for diabetes because on the one hand, you want people to understand that diabetes is serious and dangerous, but on the other hand, you don’t want them to treat you differently, codle you and prevent you from fulfilling your dreams.

As we approach National Diabetes Month, this debate about how to approach explaining diabetes is starting to surface in my head. I have conversations with myself about how to explain it completely without overexaggerating or glossing over some of the finer points of diabetes. I suppose to truly understand diabetes means you need to live with it, as I’m sure it is with most chronic illnesses. Unless you’re there, it’s hard to understand this tightrope balance we strike everyday in maintaining our quality of life.

I’ve received a couple of emails in the past week about this new video campaign sponsored by Novo Nordisk, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Discovery Education. It’s encouraging young people to film one minute video segments about the struggles of living with diabetes and what they want the next President of the United States to do about it. The winning videos will be presented in New York on World Diabetes Day. For each video submitted, Novo Nordisk will donate $10 to JDRF, up to a total of $25,000. You can find out more about the requirements and how to submit your video at the Young Voices: Life with Diabetes Call to Action Video website.

I wish people could understand that diabetes is both. It’s both a curse and a blessing. It’s both a mind-boggling challenge and fairly straight-forward. It has helped some of us live healthier lives by encouraging us to quit smoking and lose weight. But it has also hurt many of us.

My favorite thing about blogging is that we are all able to share our stories about diabetes with the world. Sometimes I think we get a little too caught up in our own little community, so my call to action for all of you is that this November, get outside of your usual readership and start sharing your life with people who don’t know about diabetes. Talk to your local newspaper about doing a story or ask if you can write a special column. Call your local television station. Write a letter to the editor of your largest newspaper.

Talk about diabetes to new people. You never know who might be listening.

Hi, is this Google? This is the DOC speaking.

Many of you have probably seen the posts and tweets floating around El Blogosphere today, but in case you’ve been in a cave or - I don’t know - actually living a life offline (who DOES THAT anyway?) you may have missed this little announcement from the folks at Diabetes Daily and TuDiabetes.

Our pals-in-arms have joined forces to start a petition to get Google to design one of their famous Google Doodles for World Diabetes Day. What’s a Google Doodle you may ask? Well, have you ever gone to Google.com and seen how their Google logo is a bit - how shall we say - different? Maybe a bit more… colorful? Crazy? Out-of-this-world cool? That’s a Google Doodle.

What can you do to get World Diabetes Day recognized by BILLIONS of visitors who flock to the Holy Land of Search Results? Simple, actually. Just sign the petition. Their goal is to get 20,000 signatures by November 1, and as of this very second (9:40 p.m.) there are 895. Decent progress, but we still have a ways to go.

Please sign, and then e-mail, blog, tweet, stand on the street corner with a loudspeaker… Okay, maybe scratch that last one. You might get arrested.

Readjusting

I’ve been back in the States for about a week, and I’m finally starting to feel like myself again.

No - not jet-lag.

I came down with a pretty awful cold that I had to fight through all last week. I was had a sore throat and was so congested I usually woke up half an hour before my alarm was set to go off because I couldn’t breathe! That’s not exactly the wake up call I’m looking for. My social schedule didn’t help much either. I spent Wednesday and Thursday in the city. Not for work, but for some social engagements in the evening. On Wednesday, JDRF’s Young Leadership Committee held a happy hour. It’s was raining and cold out, so I didn’t really feel like going but I figured since I had trekked into the city just for that I might as well go. It was decent enough. The peach martinis were yummy and people were nice enough, but I didn’t know anyone and there didn’t seem to be a lot of people who knew that much about diabetes. Most people I met just happened to be someone who is on the committee. It was fun, just not what I was expecting.

Then on Thursday, I went to another happy hour over on Ninth Ave with a few people from work and our guest of honor, Peter Shankman. Most of you probably don’t know who he is, but for those of you who do, yes, it was amazing. Check out Help A Reporter Out to get a sense of why he’s so cool. Doesn’t hurt that he called a car for me to drive me home rather than have me navigate the subway system at 11:30 p.m.

I crashed on Saturday and didn’t do much except watch television, buy groceries (since I had purchased any since well before my England trip, I was practically starving!) unpack and do laundry. It was a very restful yet productive day.

The Manhattan Walk to Cure Diabetes was on Sunday and I decided to brave the clouds and go. Unfortunately, the PATH emergency drill totally through off my spidey sense and I ended up arriving in Manhattan late. I thought I’d meet the walkers by the Brooklyn Bridge instead of Battery Park, and hopefully meet up with Scott Strumello, but unfortunately that just didn’t pan out and I managed to forget to bring his cell number with me (I haven’t yet transfered all the numbers into my iPhone). It was still a nice walk and certainly a good way to get off my butt!

Since the day wasn’t going entirely to plan, I decided to kill a few hours until church by going to a movie. I went to see How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which - while not as good as it could have been - was pretty hilarious. More of a rental, but still worth the two hours. Then I went down to Soho to buy some make-up and then it was off to church.

Pretty much my weekend re-cap. I’m planning on heading into the city again on Friday to check out the TODAY Show’s Diabetes Fair. It’s literally 3 blocks from our NYC office so I figured it would be worth going. I’ll report back on how silly/super it is. The things I do in the name of blog material…

Diabetes 2.0

The Diabetes Research Institute is holding their annual diabetes research conference on Saturday, October 25 in New York City.

Among the usual topics of updated research and technology, there will be sessions on diabetes and exercise, the diabetes police, and diabetes burnout, which brings a more well-rounded look at living with diabetes. There is also an lunch panel with Amy Tenderich and Jeff Hitchcock, among others. After the conference, attendees will be invited to a small cocktail reception where we can meet each other and chat.

In addition, if you are attending this conference and are staying for the evening, I am inviting any and all to have dinner with me after the conference in Manhattan. As usual, I don’t disclose locations publicly, but please contact me at amblass [@] gmail.com if you are coming to the conference and would like more information about a dinner outing.

Although this doesn’t exactly fulfill our dream of having an adults with diabetes conference (don’t worry I haven’t given up on it yet!), it does get us a little bit closer by having a major organization recognize the fact that type 1 diabetes does not just affect parents and children. My hope is that the interest and attendance for this conference will show potential sponsors that a future conference would have a really great turn-out.

If you are in the New York City area or would like to come down for the day (c’mon, it’s the Big Apple! Who wouldn’t?!), please visit their website to register or receive more information. I’ll be attending and I can’t wait to see everyone!

Adventures Across the Pond

Although I’ve been back in the States for 2 days, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down and type out a recap of my trip. I thought about doing a lengthy report but I think doing a recap will be easier for everyone. I have uploaded all the picture onto my Flickr gallery, so feel free to check those out.

Here’s what happened:

I left Friday night and spent a sleepless six and a half hours on a plane. I made a valiant effort to sleep, but with lights on, people talking, a baby behind me and the obvious fact that I was on an airplane made it pretty challenging to get any shut-eye. When we landed, I made my way through customs and onto a bus heading towards Bath on pure adrenaline.

After I settled into my hostel, the Bath YMCA, I spent a few hours wandering around town and getting myself acquainted with the area. Because of jet-lag, I had to keep myself awake until the appropriate time to sleep. I managed to stay awake until almost 10:00, and then fell soundly asleep until 9:00 the next morning.

I spent Sunday morning on a walk around the town of Bath as part of the Jane Austen festival, where our tour guide pointed out places relevant to the two books, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Afterwards, a girl I met on the tour and I went to the Costume Museum and the Roman Baths. Very enjoyable and I learned a lot about the town from it. They even have water from the hot springs (that’s where they get the name Bath) available to drink - a lot of people say it’s nasty but it just tasted like really hot tap water. We also had coffee and then attended a concert of early 19th century music before going our separate ways.

Monday was tour day - Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Circles, the Lacock National Trust Villages (where we saw Harry Potter’s parents house and the archway where the first photograph was taken) and Castle Combe, plus a few random pit stops along the way. It was a great way to see the English countryside and get a little more out of my one week trip to England. When we got back to Bath, I stopped by the Bath Abbey to take some pictures. I attempted to read back at the hostel, but promptly fell asleep until well past the closing time for most restaurants so I had to settle on Indian food.

On Tuesday morning, I took a long walk up the side of a hill in the south part of town, where there were some really great views of the town. Then it was off to London on a two and a half hour bus ride! The first part of the trip, to Bristol, involved me sitting next to some foul-mouthed thirteen-year-olds. The second part was better, as I sat next to a very cute English boy. Too bad he was 17. Headed straight to my friend Melissa’s flat in London and called it a night pretty soon after.

The weather was fairly decent all week, but Wednesday it rained so I hit up Westminster Abbey, the Winston Churchill War Room museum and the British Museum. Afterwards I went back to Melissa’s neighborhood where I participated in her church’s discussion group held at a pub. We had a lively discussion about the economy and whether or not money is evil.

Thursday was a much nicer day, so I spent the morning walking around and taking pictures, like of Big Ben, before checking out Tate Modern and then heading over to Buckingham Palace. The Palace is only open during August and September (part of the reason I planned my trip for now) and it was BEAUTIFUL. We toured through some of the drawing rooms, the gallery, the coronation room and the huge ballroom where they hold all the state dinners with politicians. It was lovely and I encourage everyone to see it - if you’re into that sort of thing. That night, I went with my friend Melanie - an American living in London - to a Twitter meet-up called Twestival, where they were accepting donations for a food drive. It was so much fun and I met a lot of really cool people. Best exchange of the night: “So, are any of your followers here?” “Well, I’m an American…” “Ohhhh.”

I took a break Friday morning and slacked off a bit by watching the BBC and the horrors going on at home. America makes for very depressing television. Then I went off to Camden Town in the north part of London, where there was an awesome market set up with tons of punk and alternative style shops and stands. It reminded me a lot of Portland, so it was very cool. Afterwards, I wandered around Picadilly Circus and through Leicester Square before meeting Melissa and our friend Caroline at a pizza place. You can read her recap here.

Saturday was Oxford day, though I wasn’t feeling very well. Melissa went there, so she showed me a few of the colleges and the pub where Tolkein and C.S. Lewis hung out at. It was very cool, though my feet were aching and I had a bit of a cold so we went back pretty early. Melissa and I ordered in Indian food and watched Lord of the Rings before packing up for our mutual departures the next day.

I flew out Sunday morning and arrived back mid-afternoon. I managed to again stay awake until pretty late, so my internal clock is pretty much reset (I think). I don’t really think jet lag is something that affects me all that much, and which I am eternally grateful for.

Cheers!

Repeat: The Cheesecake Mystery.

Last rerun of the week! This is the one where I almost died from cheesecake. Well… kinda… not really… but it makes you want to read it, doesn’t it? Go read! It’s actually kinda funny.

The Cheesecake Mystery.

New posts return on Monday!