D-Blog Week: Ideal Diabetes Service Animal

Well, here we are - my first post for Diabetes Blog Week to run over here at The Corner Booth.

Don't worry, I haven't been slacking. At least not completely.

Most of my D-writing these days can be found over at DiabetesMine. You can make sure to catch some of my week's earlier posts - on a Fun Petition and Memories - over there. Plus, there's a whole slew of them (to the tune of 130+ every day!) to read, too!

Since I wanted to make sure to tackle one of the topics that we won't be featuring there, my little corner booth online seemed like a great place to post it!

So, here we go...

Diabetes Wild Kingdom Wildcard

What is the ideal diabetes service animal? Think beyond the obvious and be creative in explaining why your choice is a good one. For example, maybe a seal would make a good service animal - it flaps its flippers and barks every time you get a good blood sugar reading! (Thanks to Tristan of Based on a True Story for this topic suggestion.)

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut...or Cheese

You are a cashew and I'm a pecan, but despite our differences we are both nuts in this crazy world...

When someone calls the cashew a pecan, you don't go about changing the name of the nut. That's just stupid.

Let's just be reasonable, and not get all nutty about this...

On 2nd thought, maybe I am up for a name change.

I'm going to start referring to my diabetes as "Cheese"...

That way, maybe I'll come to like my chronic condition a little more.

And, it will go better with wine.

That's all I have to say about that. For now...

Blurry Lines in the Sand

I’m standing on a beach.

My eyes look to the path ahead, a blanket of sand stretching out endlessly on uneven sandy terrain.

Moving forward is a must, but what I’m walking toward isn’t clear.

A horizon filled with water and sky sparkles like a mirage on the canvas way far away, calling for me to walk toward it. Despite my knowing I’ll never reach that point.

No clear distinction between them. Sky and water overlap, weave together like abstract art and colored with majestic hues of red, orange, yellow, blue, and pink. Where one ends, the other meets – but the eyes, the mind, can’t tell the difference.

Those two worlds collide, even though they’re part of the same picturesque horizon scene.

Maybe it's all in my mind, a mirage after all. Still, it seems like I should walk on.

But just as uncertain is the path ahead.

There’s a line in the sand, but it isn’t straight.

My steps may zig and zag on the undetermined route forward, marked by high and low points that will both be a part of my journey. One step may be here, the other there. Even as I move ahead.

A breeze blows, so even seeing where that line is drawn isn’t easy.

Blurs in the sand, my steps uneven, as I walk to a world collided. From a merger of worlds merged together in the sand.

Even more, I've only got one sandel to wear. Sandel wearing and barefoot, both define me.

Where do I step? Does it matter? Is one foothold the same as another? Does my journey’s end depend on every step? What do people think if I'm barefoot in a spot that is better suited for a sandel step?

 

Really, am I the same guy walking ahead no matter how I choose to step forward? Am I defined by my choices to step to the left or the right, with this foot or that, even if I must hop between feet and across the line to keep my footing?

Whether I'm professionally a beach walker or personally a vacation stroller shouldn't matter. Sometimes, I don't think it does. Other times it matters. But not everyone sees a distinction, just like I can't see the line or horizon before me. 

Sometimes, I want to stop walking, because those blurry lines make me not want to put either foot forward.

Maybe this beach isn’t the vacation spot I thought it would be.

And these people around me aren't on vacation with me, but are holding me back.

Then again...

It could all just be in my mind, a mirage itself, and there is no line and the beach is flat and it's a simple walk to the ocean nearby.

Revisiting The King of Diabetes Rock N' Roll

This fun post originally appeared here on The D-Corner Booth about two years ago. But Elvis was on my mind recently, as evidenced by a recent Facebook status:

Lord Almighty, I felt a sting from infusing! Hotter hotter, it's burning under my skin. D, D, D, this feels like I am on fire. My set's a flaming, and I don't know if it should be pulled. Just a hunka hunka burning leg site. Hunka hunka burning leg site... #ElvisIsAliveAndLivingWithDiabetes

So, in honor of that recent mindset, I've opted to re-post the following blog from March 2011. Enjoy!

The King of Diabetes Rock N' Roll

Those of us in the Diabetes Online Community are music lovers, and we're loyal followers of the magical musical phenomenon known as BluntLancet. (#BluntLancet, for those Lanceters on Twitter). We've come to know the story Behind The Music and even learned of some hidden lost albums of those years long past and rumored new releases on tap.

But a recent episode of Lows in my own D-Life revealed the makings of a truly epic Blunt Lancet secret, a golden nugget that can only be described as a secret that the world would marvel at. It may very well be destiny or will of the Diabetes Gods who made this revelation happen with the help of a Low Blood Sugar.

Concept Cars and That Future Flying DeLorean

Being born and raised in The Motor City, you might say that cars have always been close to my heart.

Don't confuse that with being able to recite auto stats or recognize makes or models. Hell, it doesn't even mean that I can fix any part of a car... flat tires and brake lights are possibilities, but not 100% certainties based on my skill set. Not at all.

Still, I've been to my share of auto shows through my years as a native (suburban) Detroiter and Michigander. And so I've been to enough in my life to have seen a whole bunch of Concept Cars.

You know, these are the vehicles that might also be known as "dream cars" or design prototypes that haven't come to fruition. And probably won't. Because most don't.

Anyone in the auto industry or who's a car show fan certainly knows this.

One of those well-regarded dictionaries with a British name tells me the definition of a "concept" is: 1.) An abstract idea; a general notion. OR 2.) A plan or intention; a conception.

Nowhere in the definitions does it say anything about these definitely coming to market, and changing the way we drive or operate on the roadways.

Basically, these show off new styling or new technology. Many times, they are marketing tools used to assess how people (potential customers) might feel about some new or unfamiliar design. If the public reacts favorably, then maybe the manufacturers will go ahead -- assuming they can even be designed that way in mass production and is something the company can ultimately afford to do. These concept cars might eventually lead to different vehicles down the road (ha!), but clearly any concept vehicle is not ready for the roadways and it's not time to trade in our keys for a better model.

No one who knows what they are talking about would think to pitch a concept car as a sure thing, though. You'd probably get laughed out of an auto show, even if you happen to own a car and drive one every day to and from the office. Some in the auto show world might even think about revoking your access, because you somehow swerved across the center line between "concept car" and" road-ready, driving-approved", and then smashed into ongoing traffic by publishing that thought in a popular auto magazine that many car-lovers read.