Diabetes Art Day: I Have To Think It's Funny.

My inspiration on this Diabetes Art Day comes from this beautiful song by Amanda Palmer. (Video here - probably NSFW.)

Find more diabetes art on the Diabetes Art Day website. (And thanks go, again, to Lee Ann Thill who organizes this event each year. I love seeing what our community chooses to create and share!)

Diabetes Art Day 2012.

My entry this year was inspired by a moment on Saturday night (Procrastinating until the last minute, party of one.), as a few of us who went to the TCOYD Des Moines conference wandered the downtown sculpture park.

We found a circle of stone chairs (well-lit, as all of the other pieces of art were) with a table in the middle, and there happened to be as many seats as there were people with compromised pancreases. Scott commented that it was pretty creepy to be sitting in the middle of a park when it's pitch black, as you can't see what's coming up behind you. But then again, that's the beauty of a circle.

Find out more about Diabetes Art Day at www.diabetesartday.com and on Facebook, and find entries on Twitter by searching the hashtag #DArtDay!

Diabetes Art Day.

It's coming! One month from today!

I've participated the last two years - found here and here. Will you join me again next month?

Ripped directly from diabetesartday.com:

Diabetes Art Day is a web-based initiative for the Diabetes Online Community to “tell a story” about life with diabetes though creative visual expression. It’s a way for us to tell our stories so we can connect and share with each other and with our loved ones. It’s a way to generate diabetes awareness outside of the DOC by sharing artwork on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and community websites. Diabetes Art Day is for people young and old with any type of diabetes and their families, so children, spouses, parents, siblings, or anyone who is affected by diabetes can participate. For this one day, you’re encouraged to break out of your linguistic comfort zone, bust out some art materials, and make a piece of artwork – painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, an installation piece, a mixed media something or other, or whatever you can imagine. Whether you have lots of experience making art or none at all, Diabetes Art Day is for you to show the world what it’s like to live with diabetes in that “a picture is worth 1000 words” kind of way.

On September 24th, create a piece of diabetes-related art and upload it to the Diabetes Art Day gallery (and your website, blog, Facebook page, Twitpic, whatever...)! Let's do this thing!

Diabetes Art Day: Van Low.

It's Diabetes Art Day! Here's my piece:

Title: Van Low (An Interpretation of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, But With A Low Blood Sugar)

Medium: Paintbrush (for Mac)

For more Diabetes Art Day pieces, visit www.diabetesartday.com! (There's also a Facebook page.) Thanks for putting this all together, Lee Ann! :)

Diabetes Art Day 2011.

Do you know what a week from today is?

...yes, it's Thursday.

...yes, it's also the first of September.

...oh, right, and you probably saw the title of this post.

September 1st, 2011 marks the second annual Diabetes Art Day, created and facilitated by the fabulous Lee Ann Thill, and I'm super excited! Last year, I did a drawing by hand representing how I feel about the robot parts I wear. This year, I'm actually not sure what I'm going to do - but I'm pumped (ha) about whatever that will be.

If you aren't familiar with Diabetes Art Day, here's the scoop (in Lee Ann's words):

It’s a way for us to tell our stories so we can connect and share with each other and with our loved ones. It’s a way to generate diabetes awareness outside of the DOC by sharing artwork on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and community websites. 

Diabetes Art Day is for people young and old with any type of diabetes and their families, so children, spouses, parents, siblings, or anyone who is affected by diabetes can participate. For this one day, you’re encouraged to break out of your linguistic comfort zone, bust out some art materials, and make a piece of artwork – painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, an installation piece, a mixed media something or other, or whatever you can imagine.

 Whether you have lots of experience making art or none at all, Diabetes Art Day is for you to show the world what it’s like to live with diabetes in that “a picture is worth 1000 words” kind of way.

Details on how to participate (like, for instance, where do I upload the dang thang?) can be found on the Diabetes Art Day website, and if you'd like to talk about it on Twitter - hey, there's a hashtag too! (It's #DArtDay.)

Get out your pencils, markers, stickers, paint, pastels, charcoal, glue, glitter, frosting, googly eyes... and get to creating already!

The Saturday Seven.

...Because I missed the boat for posting the more typical "Friday Five".  Whoopsie!

1. Today marks the return of Husker Football, and I'm pumped.  (Ha!)  Apparently so is Facebook, as my feed has nothing but "Go Big Red!" and "Can't wait for the game tonight!" for the past several hours.  I think I can already hear the Tunnel Walk music in my head.  I work about 3 blocks from the edge of campus, and it's always fun to see the beginnings of the football festivities on Fridays.  We're watching the game at home tonight, and the food will be mostly low-carb snacky food:  veggies and dip, deviled eggs, little smokies, etc.  Yay snacks!
2. My blood glucose levels have been kinda stellar this week, and insulin seems to be going to work faster than I'm used to.  My meter tells me that my 7-day average is 123, and I can be pretty happy with that.  My 90-day average is still 140, though.  I just need to keep plugging away at it.  I attribute this streak mostly to increased exercise.
3. This past Wednesday was Diabetes Art Day, and wow, were there a lot of participants!  You can see a lot of d-art in one place on Lee Ann Thill's website, The Butter Compartment.  She's the one who started the whole thing!  (Thanks, Lee Ann!)
4. I'm starting to really dislike Blogger.  Inserting images and trying to edit formatting can be downright infuriating.  Grr.
5. After almost a quarter-century, my "kidneys don't know I'm diabetic".  That's what a doctor told me this week after I had completed the 24-hour creatnine clearance testing I have to do every once in a while.  YAY!
6. I'm debating whether or not to attend TCOYD in Des Moines at the end of the month.  I've never gone to a Diabetes Conference before, and this one seems to be the closest one to me (even though it would be at least a 3-hour drive).  But...  I don't really know Des Moines, I don't know where to stay, and the JDRF Walk in Lincoln is the next day.  But it could be fun, and I'd get to hopefully meet some other T1's there.  Decisions, decisions.
7. Oh, hey, Hurricane Earl?  James Jones called.  He wants his middle name back.  (P.S. Glad all of my east coast friends appear to be unharmed.)

Hope everyone has a stellar weekend!

Happy Diabetes Art Day!

 

The Piece: Take Me Away, By Kim

The Medium: A blank page from an old sketch book (it's got to be at least 10 years old), and automatic pencil. My old art supplies must still be at my parents' house.

The Message: I rely heavily on my robot parts (my insulin pump, and Jim the Dexcom CGM) to save me on a daily basis. By working together, those two have helped me lower my A1C from the mid-8's to 6.5, which hopefully saves me from that scary dude on the left (that villian, Complications). Jim leads the way, as you'll notice that his finger points in an even-farther-away direction from Complications. He also has a sweet downward-arrow hairdo. All the kids are doing it!

The Idea's Origin: Lee Ann Thill of The Butter Compartment proclaimed that September 1st, 2010 is the first annual Diabetes Art Day. I'm looking forward to browsing around the DOC today to see what everyone came up with! :)