#my social media withdrawn and very mysterious funny friend made this

[n4rval]

Not sure if you like people saying anything, and if you don't? Delete this. But Incase you don't mind, Happy birthday. :) 🎂🎉 Glad you're here.

thank you so much anon. 🍰

me and my husband wingdings gaster ut/dr will be enjoying a cup of tea in a fancy floral tea set and a very generous slice of cake for this wonderful ides of march weekend

[meta-squash]

books on the manic street preachers in order of quality:

everything: a book about manic street preachers by simon price - best one so far. very respectful. has lots of great information as well as anecdotes and articles. simon price was a friend of theirs (if you can call a journalist a friend) and a fan, so the way the book is written really makes them feel more like regular people and less like rock stars. in general it’s also just a very funny and entertaining read. there are sections on each individual member of the band as well as chronological stuff about the band’s history. downsides: it was published in 1999 so it only has info up to this is my truth tell me yours, and if you don’t like simon price’s writing style, then you’re screwed. some of the information is a little skewed considering the rumors and made up stories about the band that were flying around in the media in the early days.

triptych: three studies of manic street preachers’ the holy bible by rhian e jones, daniel lukes, and larissa wodtke. published 2016. this isn’t really a biography of the band. it does mention the band’s career, both the early days and more recent, but mostly it focuses on the holy bible album as indicated in the title. each person looks at the album from a different angle: the first looks at the album through the political/social context of its time period and influences, the second at its literary/media influences and references, and the third examines how the album (as well as the bands subsequent discography) deals with memory and archive, in context of global and personal history. all of it is really interesting and fascinating to read through. downsides: obviously, it expects you to know the basic history of the band and to have listened to the album; it also digs into certain philosophical and literary theories that i already knew from uni classes but other people might not, so googling may be in order.

33 1/3 the holy bible by david evans - published 2019. another book that talks specifically about the holy bible. this includes a lot more information about the actual instrumental and studio production of thb, which i thought was really interesting. it also analyzes the holy bible from the lens of wales and culture in the 90s and why it is such a welsh album. lots of talk about history and how thb reflects both history and the events current to its creation, which i thought was great. it does also briefly go into emg, but not much. downside: there were some points i disagreed with, but i think that’s more about how one reads the lyrics, not anything wrong with the book itself

a version of reason by rob jovanovich - was published in 2009. has some new anecdotes and new sources regarding the early days. however, it mostly focuses on richey and richey’s disappearance, so there’s not a whole lot on the band between 1995 and 2009, aside from summary and highlights of their career. he briefly mentions journal for plague lovers, but clearly finished writing and sent the book to print before the album was released, so there’s not a lot on it unfortunately. for a lot of the book he talks about actually traveling to various places in wales and england that were important to the band for whatever reason, and tries to retrace richey’s steps from february first, which is kind of cool. downsides: huge swaths of information are clearly taken straight from simon’s book and slightly reworded. there’s a bunch of random bits talking about non-manics things that are interesting but only tangentially pertinent.

riffs & meaning by stephen lee naish - published 2018. started off as a 33 1/3 project but ended up something else and so was independently published. mostly analyzes know your enemy, which is interesting because it is an overlooked album. it has some interesting analyses of kye songs, which is cool because that’s something we don’t see very often. downsides: most of the book is signposting instead of really going in depth with an argument, which is really frustrating because it leaves you wanting something more substantial. it jumps around a lot in its points and seems a little unfocused. also there’s a surprising amount of typos.

manic street preachers: nailed to history by martin power - published in 2012. honestly if you’ve read the simon price book or as many articles on the manics as i have, it’s mostly rehashing and summarizing information. a lot of it is rushing through highlights of their career. there are a few more anecdotes and more information regarding their later career. it’s good that it includes more on the manics post-richey and their successes and stories about that. downside: it’s definitely more of a perfunctory biography, not meant for people who have already read a ton of literature on the band.

richard by ben myers - i would not put this one at the bottom of the list, but i also don’t think it belongs in the same list as the others, since it’s not a biography. published in 2010. this book is fiction, but it is heavily based on richey and the band. personally, i enjoyed it. it’s an interesting exploration of how life in a band might affect a person, and an imaginative idea of what happened to richey after he abandoned his car. honestly myers gets nicky’s “voice” more accurately than richey’s, but i feel like it would be difficult to try to write as eruditely as richey did, and might alienate an audience. i read it the first time round totally ignoring its inspirations and reading it as pure fiction, and then the second time acknowledging that it was based in true life. both ways were very interesting and i really did enjoy the book. downsides: if you are offended by the use of real people in fiction, this isn’t for you. also, [spoilers ahead] the “ending” of the novel, aka all the chapters which take place after richey leaves his car behind, gets very weird and unrealistic and kind of silly. it requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, which kind of made me disappointed because i was hoping for something as realistic and introspective as the rest of the novel had been, and then it wasn’t. i was frustrated enough to try and write something inspired by his style, but with the kind of ending that i wanted/expected when i picked up the book.

withdrawn traces by sarah hawys roberts and leon noakes - published 2019. horrific, conspiracy-mongering trash. they literally say that richey predicted brexit at one point, that he might have known secrets about the illuminati etc, and that he might have been kidnapped by drug lords? it gives slightly more information on richey’s childhood than we’ve had before BUT that comes with a huge pile of salt because more than one person has come forward saying they were misquoted or never even said what was attributed to them in the book/that events that were included in the book didn’t happen. it also essentially ignores the band as a whole, even kind of insults them. it makes absolutely wild claims about richey and his lyrics and just him as a person. rachel edwards’ introduction says she wants to focus on richey as an artist and a person, not as a mysterious disappearance, and then the book goes on to do the exact opposite, focusing entirely on conspiracies and his disappearance instead of his art and friendships and stuff. at some point i’ll get a whole write-up of this book done, but lets just say i only finished it because i was hate-reading it, not because it was good. downside: this entire fucking book. literally it just sucks. the only good thing is you get to see some of richey’s sassy schoolwork from primary school taking the piss out of his teachers.

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Logan Merwin: The T1 Boy Behind the 'Fueled By Insulin' Race Truck

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/logan-merwin-the-t1-boy-behind-the-fueled-by-insulin-race-truck/

Logan Merwin: The T1 Boy Behind the 'Fueled By Insulin' Race Truck

Since he was just a toddler, 10-year-old Logan Merwin in Connecticut has had a love for cars that's evolved from playing with Hot Wheels toy cars to big dreams of monster truck racing when he grows up. Given that he's been living with type 1 since just 17 months old so it's all he's ever known, Logan is channeling his passion into making a difference through diabetes awareness and advocacy.

Quite literally, Logan is "Fueled By Insulin" and is the inspiration behind a very cool diabetes-themed racing truck dubbed "New England's First Type 1 Awareness Racing Truck." He's made the New England news recently, with truck driver and team owner Tony Lafo Racing and their sponsor American Sign Motorsports taking Logan's story to heart and creating the Fueled By Insulin campaign to support the beloved Children With Diabetes organization. Longtime racer Lafo is taking this cool diabetes-themed #82 Ford F-150 Pro-Truck to races all around the New England, most recently on April 29 and this coming weekend on May 7.

Very cool, and it happens to coincide with the month of May, when America revs up its engines to mark NASCAR racing season. Coincidentally, but unconnected to Logan's story, the JDRF has a new initiative on that front: T1D, Motorcraft, and Me, that makes this an especially timely of story to share.

Today, we're thrilled to share an interview with Logan's devoted D-Mom Samantha, all about the awesome stuff they've got going on these days.

Talking Insulin and Trucks with D-Mom Samantha Merwin

DM) Hi Samantha, of course we're going to ask you to start by sharing Logan’s diagnosis story...

SM) Logan was diagnosed July 11, 2008, and is now 10 years old, and next summer we’re planning great things for his 10-year dia-versary in 2018.

As a baby, he was always playful with us, energetic and ready to start his day. He had his 15-month pediatrician check and had been sick right afterwards for days. He recovered, but a couple of weeks later at 16 months we noticed that he was eating less and drinking more. He was filling diapers constantly and withdrawn. Over the course of a couple more weeks he stopped eating anything but small snacks. We still thought it was one of those kid’s phases but grew more anxious when we were at a birthday party and he wouldn't play or connect with the kids; he just kept drinking and hanging around us. We called the pediatricians office 3 days later because when he started sleeping several hours later every morning, we knew something was wrong -- as he was always like he is now, jumps up ready to start his day. We asked for an appointment later that week but thankfully they recognized the symptoms and called us back to come in that same night. They were literally waiting for us, whisked us in, pricked his finger and sent us to the children’s hospital. We caught it early as he wasn't in DKA yet, his blood sugar was in the higher 500's so we didn't have to get admitted.

What a scary transition to have to make...

Yes, we went back and forth for a few days getting educated on what we would now have to do to keep him alive. Those first three months were a rough road until we put him on a pump. He hated the shots and it was mentally draining on all of us to do them.

Anyone else in the family with diabetes?

No one else in my family has it, but my husband’s brother was diagnosed with type 1 when he was in college, in his early 20's.

Did that create a special bond between Logan and his uncle, and how is your brother-in-law doing these days with his T1D?

I wish they lived closer so we could have free, safe babysitting! We have no relatives within close geography here. When they see each other during our annual visits to Chicago, they definitely have their own conversations about type 1 and they definitely do test together.

Well, it seems you're creating an extended online family with your blogging. Can you share the story behind the Elbow Bump Kid blog?

Logan was trying to think of a catchy fundraising name or slogan when he started fundraising for CWD in 2016, and he decided on elbowbumpchallenge, which turned into elbowbumpkid -- since he bumped the most elbows EVER at the FFL events! Pretty funny, but he's known for it in school as well. They usually shake hands when entering the classroom and Logan has been elbow bumping instead every year. Here's our very first blog post, about the origin of the elbow bump.

We understand Logan's also a runner, doing 5K and 10K events. How did he get started with that?

Logan wouldn't play team sports until second grade and his favorite part of soccer, etc., was always the running. We had a running club at school that year and he loved it. That started his love for running. I wish we had more time in the day to have him practice more; we rarely have time for more than a mile after school.

Does diabetes get in the way when he’s running?

Well, since he was diagnosed as a baby, he has never known a life outside of T1D.

His diabetes does slow him down with running occasionally but mostly it's the combo of the asthma. We really have to prep well for both diseases or it's disastrous, as we have experienced! He did a great job in the Disney 5K running for JDRF in January, and he's looking forward to practicing to run the 5K for JDRF and the 10K for Children With Diabetes in January 2018.

And how did he first develop such a love for cars and racing?

He’s always been into cars in some form, he used to sleep with a Hot Wheel in his hand when he was 2 -- it was a little gold car. When we lost power during Hurricane Sandy for days, we piled Hot Wheels outside our house and let him race them down our walkway. He was into monster trucks and classic cars for a while as well. While the Hot Wheels phase died down for a bit, it came back in full force over the past year. For a school project last year, he pulled the town tax records on cars listed registered in town, then sat in center of town recording cars that drove by to see if it matched with town records.

He also decided last year that he was saving to buy a Lamborghini when he's 18, so as he gets money he goes to the bank (with whatever he doesn't spend) and deposits it. He's pretty dedicated to that. We ran into a dealer when we were in London and he was able to get a pic or two up close!

That’s too funny! Any plans to go into racing when he gets older?

Since he was around 4, Logan decided he was going to be a monster truck driver on the weekends when he grows up. His main job will be running the hotel he plans on building and working at his bank. Or as a coin inspector for one of the federal mints. He can't decide... then again, he’s 10. But it's always something involved with cars on the weekends. Who knows with this kid, anything is possible!

Anyone particular in the racing or running communities who's been an inspiration to Logan?

When Logan was little, my friend Jen sent him a video of NASCAR driver Ryan Reed, who we had never heard of prior to that. He has looked up to him since as a role model. He also met IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball at Friends For Life in 2016 so he has multiple role models that he follows related to racing cars. On running, he recently met Diathlete Gavin Griffiths while we were on spring break in London and has enjoyed following him on social media and reading his stories.

We are really lucky as he has had opportunities through FFL and otherwise to meet amazing role models in sports and life. He really feels like he can do anything and won't be limited when he grows up thanks to these experiences.

Let’s talk about race-truck driver Tony Lafo and the fundraising support…

I'm sure you listened to Stacey Simms' Diabetes Connections podcast, and what I said there is true about how we met Tony Lafo, driver and owner of Fueled By Insulin – it really was that simple!

He was a mystery donor to Logan's random JDRF campaign pushes over the years, as I always post them in our town Facebook group once a year when I want to make a goal. We didn't have an email or address for him until this year when for some reason the website had his email listed, so I could send a personal thank you. A few weeks later, I had posted a fundraiser Logan was doing at a local supermarket and Tony reached out to us to discuss the race truck partnership.

We brought it to Jeff (Hitchcock) and Laura (Billetdeaux) of CWD, and here we are, days from the first race on April 29. He's SUCH a nice guy and his whole crew has been so nice to Logan. He's been stopping down most Tuesdays and either playing Hot Wheels with at least one of them or sweeping their floors while they work on the truck. He doesn't know any other type 1's other than Logan, and he would prefer to help somebody local than send off a check somewhere. When he's not racing he's a full-time Fire Service Volunteer.

How cool! What’s the fundraising commitment?

Tony Lafo Racing, LLC, will help raise awareness by featuring the CWD logo on the #82 Ford F-150 Pro-Truck, as well as the Hauler and T-shirts and will donate 10% of race winnings to Logan's fundraising efforts during 2017 -- with a minimum pledge of $1,000.

What kind of challenges are you facing as Logan trains?

Logan isn't out of school until mid-June so his running right now is a running club on Thursdays and whatever we can do on weekends. We plan to do a practice 5K each month starting in May to gear up for January, slow and steady at first. My biggest challenge is figuring out the minimum I have to carry with me, his supplies weighed me down a lot. When we practice locally, I usually just toss the bag down somewhere but having it on me the whole time was a lot of weight (EpiPens, inhaler, smarties, juice, Dexcom, meter, and so on). We have been concentrating on the fundraising part right now, planning events to fundraise to meet his goals.

What else does this amazing kid have planned?

He will definitely take his advocacy to the next level, sooner rather than later. Right now he's focused on fundraising and raising awareness for type 1 where he can. I suspect in future years, he will be involved with advocating to ensure everyone has access to basic supplies. We have had a lot of conversations, once he realized that not everyone can afford insulin or a Dexcom. It's an ongoing conversation and if I felt there was a good opportunity for him to get involved in a couple of years, I'd present it to him and let him decide. We always make him feel comfortable that no matter what happens, he will have access to his Dexcom and insulin, but he's aware of the challenges and concerned for others. He's a very active kid and can't imagine not having his Dexcom to help manage his care.

Your family seems very supportive of so many different D-Community orgs. Can you tell us about those connections?

We have been touched by so many nonprofits over the almost 9 years with type 1. We have a love for JDRF and do the run every year; Logan loves the pen pal program from Beyond Type 1, and I love their ongoing constant articles and communication. I really feel like they have connected the larger diabetes community.

Regarding the CWD Friends for Life conference, I knew about the event for years but didn't sign up until 2015 as we were starting to experience our 7-year itch. I was looking for something different to help rejuvenate us and not free-fall into burnout. CWD does a great job with these events, bringing children and families together in a safe environment where they bond and have fun while learning. As parents there are a ton of sessions for us on everything you can imagine from learning about new technology to support groups. So we both loved it our first year. Logan even had a bunch of people sing happy dia-versary to him on his 7-year date. When returning to the event in 2016, Logan was inspired to write a speech to ask other kids to help CWD and bring awareness to the need for fundraising for the event. He loves being around "his people," especially the teenagers and young adults with T1D. He's inspired by them and can't wait to help at a CWD event when he's older like them!

And you're involved with the #WeAreNotWaiting movement too, right?

Yes, there are so many other nonprofits we adore and I hate leaving anyone out, like Nightscout Foundation, where we have access for the nurse at school to view Logan's blood sugars when he's there to help keep him safe. While we have to narrow our financial/fundraising focus to make an impact, we will support the organizations that help Logan and other T1 kids wherever we can, whenever we can. Logan always says that while JDRF funds for a cure, so many other nonprofits like CWD help kids in their lives every day until there's a cure. So we focus on both aspects -- fundraising for a cure and helping kids live full and healthy lives with the disease.

Thanks so much for sharing your family's story, Samantha! Can't wait to see what the future has in store for Logan, and we'll definitely be on lookout for that cool race truck!

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

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