World AIDS Day 2012

This time last year, I was finishing the very last of my major course requirements in order to graduate. I created a Storify [collection of stories, videos, photos, etc.] dedicated to World AIDS Day; I have embedded it into this post. This is such a serious disease and black women are the highest number of new cases every year. Get tested. Know your status!

October is all about PINK

October is breast cancer awareness month. Really, that's enough said. So for the next 31 days I'm painting the town pink. I'm not even sure how much pink clothing I have but I'm about to find out. Breast cancer has recently hit very close to home for me so now I'm all about awareness and prevention.

So many all victim to breast cancer every year and it is so tragic. There is so much we can do to protect ourselves if we just are a little more aware and go to the doctor regularly. So, lets take care of ourselves, raise our awareness, and remember to wear you pink.



[LATE] #AugustWritingChallenge - Pain - Day 21

I can assure you time does not heal all wounds. In fact, time doesn't even heal some wounds. What time does do, however, is make you forget temporarily but as soon as something reminds you that pain just comes bubbling back up to the surface.

When it comes to pain, both physical and emotional, I think humanity is working in the wrong direction. Doctors are always trying to figure out how to relieve you of pain you are already in as opposed to keeping you from pain in the first place. There are so many books about how to get over being hurt and how to forgive. I see very few on how to apologize or how to avoid hurting and offending others. I wonder how much better the world would be if we all just tried to hurt each other less?

#AugustWritingChallenge - Obsession - Day 14

Everyone has a vice, every. single. person. I have several. Glee, Harry Potter, stationary, etc. but there is only one that I think is hazardous to my health, only one that I think I should quit... sugar. I have a sweet tooth that would blow your mind. I mean it is bad cookies, cakes, pies, sweet rolls, tarts, and the topper of all... ICE CREAM. Oh. my. Lord. I can go ham on some ice cream. Flavors are irrelevant; I don't discriminate.

I came across an [article] today on Marie Claire's web site. It's all about the effects of sugar on your body. Now that information wasn't necessarily new but what it also says is that some doctors are advocating that sugar be regulated in the same way as tobacco and alcohol.

Now, I do think that government regulation might be a bit extreme but I completely understand the parallel. In my mind, anything can become a drug, not just those classic substances that we all know. Now sugar may not have you twitching or stealing from your family but let me not have my apple fritter in the morning with my white chocolate mocha and see how unpleasant I become. Better yet, I've noticed that I could be having the worst day on the planet but, oh baby, a hostess iced honey bun will set me right on track again. Just like any other addiction, the more sugar you eat the more you crave. I'm praying my metabolism is not permanently damaged.

Even if you don't go for the addiction theory, research proves that a diet that is sugar-saturated can make you more vulnerable to diabetes -- which EVERY woman over 50 in my family suffers -- and heart disease. Another [article] from Forbes lays this out by referencing a study done at UCLA.

The point is I know myself and I know if I don't start making some serious changes to my diet, I'm going to be in some serious trouble. So, here's my first step:

Hi, my name is Dilane and I'm a sugar addict. 

I'm going to work on it though. I have faith that slowly but surely I'll make progress.