Continuing Connections - #DBlogWeek Day 7

Welcome to Day Seven of the Sixth Annual Diabetes Blog Week.  We are down to the last day of what truly is the most fun week of my year.  But it isn’t over yet!  We still have one more post to tackle.

Our topic today is Continuing Connections.  The very first inspiration for Diabetes Blog Week was to help connect our blogging community, and that continues to be the most important reason it's held every year.  So let's help foster and continue those connections as we wrap up another Dblog Week.  Share a link to a new blog you've found or a new friend you've made.  Or pick a random blog off of the Participant's List, check it out and share it with us.  Let's take some time today to make new friends.

So this had been a whirlwind week.  Diabetes Blog Week always is, but I also had a conference to attend on Thursday and Friday and a family wedding on Saturday.  It’s been so much fun, but I’m hundreds of posts behind on blog reading.  That’s actually a very good problem to have, except when it comes time to look back over the week.

I know I still have a lot of connections to make and blogs to get to know as I make my way through the link lists.  But for today’s post, I wanted to share the amazing vloggers I’ve discovered.  This was the first year I’d been asked if DBlogWeek was open to vloggers (short for video bloggers) and I was happy to answer with a resounding yes!

So please take a moment to meet and check out the Diabetes Blog Week Vloggers. 

• Diabetic Danica
• Sarah Fesalbon - Futuregrl123
• Lauren Jones
• Shelly Jardine - lynnshell78

I’m really inspired and impressed by the vlogs these ladies are sharing.  Vlogging has never been something I’ve been comfortable doing, so I admire their talent.  When you can see a person’s face and hear their voice, you can’t help but feel connected right away.  And that’s always been my biggest wish for Diabetes Blog Week.  So thank you Danica, Sarah, Lauren and Shelly for taking this week to another, most awesome, level!

Here are more Continuing Connections - Sunday 5/17 posts.

What is Diabetes Blog Week? Click here for an explanation.  You can also check out a list of participants over here.

Advocating in Real Life

Part of my duties as a volunteer Advocacy Team Chair for my local JDRF chapter include setting up and attending Promise Meetings with our local legislators.  In a Promise Meeting, advocates thank the legislators for past support of diabetes issues and funding, talk about what issues are currently important (right now it’s FDA guidelines for the Artificial Pancreas Project) and tell our story of life with diabetes.  This real life interaction is very powerful because when the government officials are voting on issues concerning diabetes, they will remember the faces and stories of people these issues affect.

True confession time . . . . . . I was unbelievably nervous about doing my first Promise Meeting.  I’ve never met with a government official before.  And now I was in charge of coordinating and running the meeting.  Yikes!!  So, I decided to vlog the Before and After of my Promise Meeting (complete with my messy home office in the background and a quick cameo by K.C.).

As I said in the vlog, the group of advocates who attended the meeting with me were amazing!  We had 45 minutes slated for the meeting, but we talked for almost an hour.  The Congressman told us that this was his fifth Promise Meeting in five years, but it was the first time the meeting involved such lively conversation and interactions!  My team did an excellent job and made the meeting such a success, you’d never know that none of us had ever done a Promise Meeting before.


If the thought of face-to-face advocating with government officials has you nervous, don’t be!  Remember, you are an expert on life with diabetes and sharing that is such a rewarding experience.  You can sign up here to attend a meeting in your area.

Have you done any off-line, in person advocating?  Do you have some insights to share?

Outside The Box . . .

Step outside the box: Take your diabetes thoughts and instead of blogging about them as usual, push yourself to express them in a different way today. Make a vlog. Create a piece of D-Art. Write a poem. Draw a cartoon. Post a collage. Anything goes - as long as it is outside of your usual bloggy comfort zone!

Yesterday I said I wouldn't sing.  I’m not brave like Reyna, who rocked out.  When Meri showed she’s just as brave and sang a lovely ballad for us, I did wonder if I should be more brave - but quickly decided NO!!  But then, last night, I saw Kathy’s post.  Kathy (or Minnesota Nice)  has long been a hero of mine.  When I watched her video, I cried.  I was impress by her courage, I was touched and I was inspired.  She stepped WAY outside of her comfort zone - not just by getting in front of the camera, but also by talking about diabetes and sharing.  And I thought “Look how freaking brave my friend is.  If she can do this, can’t I put myself out there and sing?”.

So this video is for all of you.  But first and foremost, it’s for my wonderful friend and fellow knitter, Minnesota Nice.  I love you, Kathy!!

Don’t forget to add your post to the Saturday snapshots-Saturday 5/14 Link List.  Please enter YOUR BLOG’S NAME in the field marked Your Name and the link to YOUR SPECIFIC POST in the field marked Your URL.

Bloopers!!!!

I am totally stealing Kerri's idea of posting a blooper reel because I have no other blog content.  Unfortunately, before I took my "Making Movies" course, I never saved any of my raw footage.  I always shot in one take because I didn't know how to edit clips together.  If I made a mistake, I stopped the camera, deleted the video and started again.  So the only footage I have to work with is from my hobby vlog.  Luckily, I suck in front of the camera, so there were a few clips just waiting to be put on a blooper reel!!

What keeps me "sane" . . .

Chris from A Consequence of Hypoglycemia did a fancy vlog about what hobby gives him a much needed break from diabetes and keeps him sane.  I thought I'd give you a look at my favorite hobby too!

This vlog is not as fancy as Chris's; he's obviously a video master! And I'm still pretty uncomfortable in front of the camera - which shows when I babble on and on while completely forgetting basic rules of grammar!!  But I did a vlog anyway.  Now it's your turn.  What hobby do you reach for when you need a little break?

What diabetes supplies to you lug around?

A while ago Lee Ann from The Butter Compartment did a vlog in which she went through her purse to show all of the medical supplies, and medical waste, that she lugs around.  Yesterday Kerri at Six Until Me did a similar vlog.  So I decided I'd put the contents of my purse on display for everyone too!

Things I learned while making this vlog:

• The video quality of my laptop web-cam is pretty poor.  The words often don't match up to my lips.  There is also a flash of light near the beginning which seemed to make everything blurry for a while.
• I move too fast and use my hands too much when I speak.  I can't help it, I am half Italian.  All of that fast movement doesn't help with the blurry issue.  (I did debate trying to shoot this again on my digital camera, but I couldn't deal with making another big mess.)  I apologize in advance to anyone who gets motion sickness while watching my vlog.
  
• I need to learn how to put the fancy lettering on the vlogs so I can show people's web addresses when I talk about them.
• When I'm nervous, I tend to over-state the obvious.  And babble.  And incorrectly identify things.
  
• I need to learn to hold things up higher if I expect the camera to see them.
• I carry enough candy in my bag to treat lows for the whole D-OC.
• I can't tell a dime from a nickel.
• Travel cups will crack me up.
• I'm forgetful in front of the camera.  I meant to shake my empty bag and see how many old test strips would fall out.  It didn't happen.  Maybe that's a project for a future vlog!
  

Too scared to watch it? No? Okay, don't say I didn't warn you!!

Vlogging Snacks

Today I recorded another vlog post. For some reason, I decided to record it in the absolute ugliest spot in my house - the half pulled apart kitchen. Complete with the cabinet that is missing a door and has part of the paint stripped away. For an added bonus, I also stood in front of a sunny window. Hello, blinding sun glare!!! To make things even worse, for some reason my lips and the sound are out of sync, so it looks like you are watching a video dubbed from a foreign language. Oh yeah, and I babbled quite a bit. Then I talked with my mouth full. Good going, Karen.

So if, after all those warnings, you still want to watch it . . . click below. Don't say I didn't warn you!!

WTF is that line about the cheese being for St. Patrick's Day? It will never last that long. And why did I feel the need to specify that I found the frozen edamame in the freezer section? Where else would it be?

Yes, my vlogging still needs some work.

First vlog post . . .

Well, I've got a new laptop. And it has a web-cam. So I decided to jump on the vlogging bandwagon.

I've always been more comfortable writing than speaking. I did three takes, and this is the least bad of the three. I didn't ramble quite as much and most of what I wanted to say came out okay.

I definitely think K.C. is the star of the vlog!