Friday Five: February Links

1. I have decided to leave my comments on the topic of Miss Manners’ advice to a reader with diabetes with my Facebook post yesterday… and the rest of this paragraph! I think that my passion for spreading awareness of the realities of diabetes made me really upset when I read the advice. Online it’s really easy to let passion override patience when educating people with diabetes. I made a comment on Karen’s post earlier today, with the thought that maybe we think people notice the diabetes stuff more than they actually do. It’s such a large aspect of our lives that how can it not be visible to others? The reality is that if we don’t make a big production out of testing our blood or taking an injection, it’s very easy for that to go unnoticed by strangers (and therefore can’t make them uncomfortable). The bottom line is that I will check my blood sugar whenever I need to, where I am and I won’t apologize for it.

 

Okay, moving onto some other really great links…

2. 44 Stock Photos That Hope To Change The Way We Look At Women  These photos made me smile. My only comment beyond that is it is unfortunate that the photo of the woman doing squats with the barbell, makes the man in the background look like he’s probably naked.

3. Girl from Famous 1981 Lego Ad Has a Few Things to Say About Today’s  Gendered Toys My college psychology and sociology classes really got me thinking about the gender roles that our society teaches children. Even to some extent, in my chosen field those gender roles are still at play, I’ve been asked, “Is this too technical for you?” When we were growing up, my siblings and I all played with traditional Legos, Lincoln Logs and various other toys that have now landed in the “Boys’ Toys” department. Sure, my sister and I had Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls, along with a whole lot of pink. But we also both had Matchbox cars and action figures of our own. Perhaps that is what eventually led to my love of the color green, which is often considered a “boy” color.

4. Couples, the Internet and Social Media This is a really interesting study that had me reading the results and actually laughing a little. Here are some of the individual summaries:

  • “11% of partnered or married adults who use social networking sites share a social media profile.” This is a great source of annoyance. Couples should especially not have a joint LinkedIn account. You’re two people with two different brains, skill sets and experience.
  • “25% of married or partnered adults who text have texted their partner when they were both home together.” YUP! Because walking upstairs or downstairs to talk to each other never crossed our minds….
  • “21% of cell owners or internet users in a committed relationship have felt closer to their spouse or partner because of exchanges they had online or via text message.” Being able to check in with Brad unobtrusively when we’re apart is pretty nice. It’s also one of the 10 Habits of Happy Couples (number 9). 

5. Big Blue Data. I participated in the Big Blue Test last year, unfortunately not as much as I wanted to. They analyzed the entries and the results are awesome! Some numbers that stood out to me:

  • Of 20,150 entries, 79% of them were from people who DO NOT have diabetes. How cool is it that people who don’t have diabetes were getting involved and triggering donations to help people who do have diabetes?
  • Walking is the most popular activity. Walking is free to do and excellent for you. Take the stairs, park far away, grab a friend and go walk! If you don’t remember Mary’s Story about walking and her health… this is a good reminder.
  • Dancing averaged a 36 mg/dL drop in blood sugar. Great incentive to boogie.

I’m looking forward to heading downtown tonight for some Cleveland Restaurant Week goodness. Restaurant week kicks off today and it’s Brad’s birthday weekend so it makes it even more fun!

Before I wish a wonderful weekend, I must plug this again and ask for the favor of your vote on my Tea Party Dress Refashion for Best DIY Post. Thanks!

Have a wonderful weekend!

5 thoughts on “Friday Five: February Links

  1. Number four reminded of a Tweet I read. Apparently, the Tweeter’s wife tried to text him from the toilet to get her some toilet paper. She accidentally sent the message to her boss! Given the employment nature of LinkedIn, I agree with that not being joint. Even though Becky and I don’t have joint social media accounts, why would this be annoying? That bit in Genesis about the two becoming one flesh wasn’t just a poetic description of sex after all.

    • I have friends with joint Facebook accounts and it becomes very annoying because of not knowing which half if posting. When I only know one half of the couple, I am also less likely to interact because I don’t know how the other would respond to a stranger’s comments. It’s more or less the uncertainty and confusion that join accounts can cause that make me annoyed.

  2. You are so right about that first one. There is someone I use to work closely with, and I must’ve tested my blood sugar in front of him 50 times over the course of our time working together. At one point, the topic of diabetes came up, and he confessed that he never saw me testing in front of him. Not once. When we don’t bring attention to it, people tend not to notice.

  3. Pingback: A Response from Miss Manners, and Her Son with T1 Diabetes (!) : DiabetesMine: the all things diabetes blog

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