Where The Hell Am I?

Thursday, March 18, 2010

MiniMed Paradigm® Revel™ Insulin Pump!!! Whoop, whoop!

Okay, if you read my blog, you know I'm in auto-immune disorder hell.

I've got type 1, insulin dependent, diabetes and a thyroid disorder. I still have them. The thyroid disorder has shifted from Graves' Disease to hypothyroidism. Lovely...just lovely. However, the thyroid stuff is easily treated.

What's not? The diabetes. I currently wear a very old model of an insulin pump. That was because when I went to buy one when I lived in South Korea, they only had that model available. Since I'd never been on the pump, well, what did I know?

Now I'm back home. I'm back to exercising, which is very healthy, but for a diabetic can be downright dangerous because I have to adjust my insulin doses down. I thought I had but two weeks ago, fell into severe hypoglycemia aka low blood sugar. That kicked my medical care into high-gear. I'm glad I have access to medical care. However, I'm just frustrated that it takes almost dying to get a higher level of care in the USA.

One good thing? I'm getting a new pump! I'M.SO.DAMN.EXCITED!!!

Here is the video for it.

It's the new MiniMed Paradigm Revel Insulin Pump. It does so many cool things that will help me manage my blood sugars and live better.

You might not care, but I'm so darn excited!

(Haven't fixed the code, so "read more" leads you nowhere.)

Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

This is a great 20 minute video that I got it via email this morning and am finishing up watching it now. I've GOT to share this.

It's Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a writer, talking about how the single story robs us all of perspective.

Since it also touches on my previous post, which most people got. There is always the tragic exception who wants to call you racist for talking about how race impacts your experience...alas. I appreciate the intelligence and wide scope of vision of those who did get it.

Please share this.

Code still not fixed. Please skip the "read more" link if you're viewing this on the main blog page. (However, if I keep blogging like this, I just might take the time to fix the code.)

Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, March 4, 2010

"Get Yo' Bulgogi On..." Really, asshole, I mean really?

Image from Just Another Blog

If it's not clear from the title, this is a rant.

I've been in NYC since late August. During one very short-term assignment, I discovered a restaurant on 32nd Street. I LOVE it. After living for eight years in South Korea, Korean food IS comfort food for me. NYC is definitely a city you have to adjust to. That means I have bad NYC days, just as I had bad Korea days. Of course, as I spent more time in Korea my bad Korea days were much fewer and further in between. I know the same with happen with NYC. However, right now, I'm very sensitive to the insane amount of mean people here.

I had a bad NYC day on Monday. At the end of the day, I decided to head to my favorite spot on 32nd Street and get some Korean food. As I was walking in, two white men were walking out. One saw me and said, "Get yo' bulgogi on." Now, he very well might have just been saying it in general, but really? It's rare I pass whites in NYC speaking Ebonics unless it's in jest. My initial read was he saw me. It registered to him that a black woman in a Korean restaurant isn't something you see often. Then this smart ass decided to say something funny. However, I chose to just ignore him. I mean really, what if I was wrong and it was just an oddly timed moment?

However, assuming my gut reaction was correct, the irony is 1) I really don't like bulgogi that much and 2) if he knew my history and about my eight years in Korea, he would have just zipped his stupid f%^kin' yap.

There is another element here. That is an element of entitlement. Please explain to me why some whites seem to think they're the only people entitled to experience and like foreign cultures? (Please note I said "some" and not all, so don't wander in the comments saying I'm laying this on all white people...I'm not.) I ran into this while in Korea a lot. I'm running into it here a bit too. However, in the USA, so few people have spent any significant time abroad that it rarely comes up.

I don't know how many times I get the very impressed with themselves Caucasian who happens to have a few visa stamps in their passport and think that entitles them to be a world expert. I might entitle them to being a backpacking in Europe expert or a summer work in Mexico expert, but world expert? Nah. Hell, I'm no world expert. I know NE Asia and, specifically, South Korea. I've traveled to a few places but just because I've spent a few weeks in Paris doesn't make me an expert. How damn hard is that to understand?

Rant over... (and, um, yeah...that code ain't fixed yet, so there is nothing after "read more".)

Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Roasted Prosciutto Wrapped Okra Stuffed with Crab and Chevre

Thanks to Roboseyo posting a link on Facebook to this site recently. He made it very easy for me to indulge in some food porn this morning.

I made myself an spinach, onion and cheese omelet with turkey bacon and my favorite breakfast cereal, grits. However, that wasn't enough for me. I needed some visuals.

FoodPornDaily.com hit the visual spot. This was my favorite: Roasted Prosciutto Wrapped Okra Stuffed with Crab and Chevre. Can you say "ohmygod, that just looks and sounds incredible!!!"? ;)

I love okra aka lady fingers. It's a soul food staple and is used in many other cuisines too. I grew up with it added to a lot of the veggie dishes that my mom made. I also love prosciutto. This sounds like the ideal cocktail party finger food or appetizer, so I'm sharing.

That just looks incredibly delicious. Click over to the site and, I'm sure, you'll run across a pic of a personal favorite too. Not only are the shots great, but there is a good range of foods on the site.

Eat well and be thankful that you can.

(Again, I've got to fix the code. If you're looking from the main page, the "read more" link leads you to nowhere.)

Sphere: Related Content