#even went old school School Essay style and wrote it out on paper before typing it~

[captainhysunstuff]

First of all I want to say that I love your art!! It's so cute and wholesome and it instantly puts me in a good mood<3 Secondly, I want to know whether you think lawlight took showers or baths during the Yotsuba arc? And maybe some hcs on this?? (sorry if my grammar is incorrect)

Hello~! Thanks for the compliment! I’m so glad you like my drawings~! I’m glad they make you happy. That’s, like, the entire goal with my blog and art~.  And your grammar’s fine, don’t worry~.  ^__^

It took me a bit to consider their bathing situation, in terms of canon and what I personally want, and I came up with quite a few thoughts~. It’s a little long, but here it is:

Bathing preferences:

I like to imagine both L and Light preferring to take baths.  A chance to pamper themselves and relax, maybe even turn their brains off a little seems like a welcome break for these brainiacs.  However, this is a rare luxury for them, especially with the Kira case going on.  They don’t want to relax or feel like they can’t afford to.  So, for time’s sake, they mostly shower.  Though, perhaps when they’re both stressed to a point, they cave and have a bath night, if only to preserve their sanity.

Showering:

Platonically/canonically:  I imagine they don’t really talk to each other while showering.  It’s a necessary function, and they’re both physically vulnerable.  On occasion, they’ll argue or snipe at each other, which could lead to slippery and painful fights, so it’s just best not to talk at all.  They shower at the same time in a joint stall built for two since L prepared accordingly with their living conditions, so it’s spacious enough for them to wash themselves comfortably without disturbing the other (aside from L’s surveillance).

On friendlier terms:  They’ll be more tolerant of each other, maybe engage in brief conversations.  (”What brand is that, Ryuzaki?  It smells amazing.” ��“Oh, it’s *insert obscure brand*.  Do you want a bottle or two?  It comes in a large variety of scents...”)  If something falls or is out of reach and the other is aware of it, they immediately retrieve it for them and don’t mind if they get a little closer than necessary.  It just improves the shower’s flow and reduces awkwardness that way.

Romantically:  Well...~.  Lots of coy looks, sometimes blatant admiration, and invitations.  Whether or not they can wait until the shower’s over depends on the day.  If it was a rough day and the other is visibly upset, one may offer a massage or to wash the other.

Bathing:

Platonically/canonically:  If they’re both bathing at the same time, they are either quiet to the point of ignoring each other or they won’t shut up.  There is NO in between.  They’re relaxing.  Anything can and will leave their mouths or nothing at all to preserve the quiet (maybe some sighs and junk, but no real interaction).  I have a funny image in my head of there being two tubs next to each other since they refuse to bathe together at the same time in the same tub, and they couldn’t stand waiting for the other to finish.  This was unplanned for, and after a few fights, L finally had it arranged for their bathroom to have two tubs.  XD 

Though, if only one wants to take a bath, the other will shower at the same time.  Then, they’ll sit nearby and occupy themselves with an activity until bath time is finished.  Conversation is limited then.  I feel Light would do crossword puzzles and occasionally say “*insert number* letter word for *whatever*,” regardless of whether he’s already filled in the answer or not.  He just wants to see if L knows the answer.  7 times out of 10, L will get it right, or rarely come up with a different answer that also works, leading to Light explaining why that word would or wouldn’t work in this puzzle, followed by some discussion.  L would read while he waits.  Sometimes, unprompted, he’ll read aloud to Light, either because he really enjoyed the section or to share how terrible the writing was.  For the latter, he and Light might discuss how they would make it better or more impactful.  For the former, Light would never admit it, but he finds L’s reading voice in this setting soothing and subtly/subconsciously encourages it. 

I imagine if the bather is feeling a bit antagonistic towards the other, they’ll pettily splash them and put their respective activity at risk, which could lead to some glaring and a lengthy internal debate on whether or not it’s worth getting their bedclothes wet kicking the other’s ass.

Romantically:  SAME TUB NO QUESTION.  In addition to the above, cuddling, massages, and general fooling around.  Or just quietly enjoying each other’s company, but fully aware of the other.

And there’s my bathing/showering headcanons~!

[gisapot]

Yellow, a poem

PREFACE

I have returned with a recycled piece. 

Well, not exactly ‘recycled’, per se, because it’s not really trash in the first place. It’s quite the opposite actually, if you ask my friends about it. They say this is the best poem they’ve ever heard from me, but then again when I first showed this to them, they never really knew what kind of things I wrote, or my style. They just knew I wrote poetry, but I never showed it to them, so they didn’t really have anything to compare this piece with.

I will not tell you what this poem is, but it starts out with a color that I never really liked that much. I don’t hate it, but it’s not my favorite color. At the risk of being bullied by my friend Eloiza (again), I wrote this thinking about my friends’ favorite colors. My friend Donna’s favorite color is yellow, and I just got so fixated by that color when it’s not even my favorite. 

Yellow reminds me of the HYYH series (is it because of the Young Forever album?). It makes me think that it is the epitome of youth. (Okay, yeah, it is the Young Forever album.) What was the epitome of my youth before I went off to college away from my parents, restarting with new people I don’t know (but I was supposed to connect with because we shared a language and culture)? I don’t remember, but I do know I have more of the compulsive (not compulsory) romance arc, and a very small friendship arc. Everything was so experimental and honestly, now that I look back on it, very cringe-y. Ugh. Why was I foolish enough to think I would find true love there? True love can eat shit.

I say that, but honestly, when is everything I have written in poem form not been about love? I have written essays much more mature than this, but I guess before being mature you have to chip off the im- prefix from being immature to become wholly you. 

I look back on this poem with all this in mind and I honestly think this is... very protected. It doesn’t shell out as much as my newer pieces because I was so careful when writing it. I took care of the form and the points I wanted to cover. Technical-wise, this is a perfect poem (no time for modesty, I am truly proud of its shape). But as the loud and over-sharing writer wanting to convey something, especially something so personal and important to me, I think this falls short. It didn’t say as much as I desired for a poem like this to say. 

(I wrote a follow-up piece to this after a year of publishing this though! I used it in addressing all the holes I had in this poem in terms of my personal thoughts. Although I kind of thought that the shape was something questionable unlike this one, I finally was able to clear the regretful air when I wrote this poem. It’s called Leviticus 18:22, and I kind of got that published in a national spoken word folio. Let me know if you want to read it as well!)

And with that, I hope you like this piece. 

Yellow. You realise at four – five? – years old That there are different shades of yellow: There’s the yellow of a ripe banana, The yellow kind of white of your grandma’s half-slip, The yellow of a neon Stabilo you jab into the wall, The tip no longer sharp, no longer straight.

Straight. You realise at five – four? – years old That there are different types of people. There is the straight: boys like girls like boys, There is the gay: boys like boys like boys, There is the lesbian: girls like girls like girls, And some people are in between.

Between. You realise at seven – six? – years old That you’re one of these different people: You’re an in-betweener: boys like girls like boys like girls, Girls like boys like girls like boys. He’s so handsome – “coffee, tea, or me?” She’s so pretty – “buy one, take me.”

Me. You realise at six – seven? – years old That it’s wrong to be not-straight: You’re sinning against God, You’re disappointing your parents. You’re a freak of nature, you’re a mutant. Queer, strange, gay, faggot, dyke. You’re not: You’re a Catholic school girl.

Girl. You realise at ten – nine? – years old That you don’t fit into the mold: You’re not boyish, you’re not a tomboy. You like pink, you like pastels, you like flowers. You like looking pretty, you like soft and smooth. You like lipstick and eyeliner and doing your hair. So why do you like those of your kind?

Kind. You realise at fifteen – sixteen? – years old That how the world treats you is not right: You’re hurt, tortured, hidden, locked away, Never to be seen or heard at all. You retaliate in the same bitterness and anger – no one’s ever been kind, So why should you?

You. You realize at sixteen – seventeen? – years old That you’re in love with her: She doesn’t know what she is but, She knows she’s in love with you too. And you hide in places and steal kisses in the dark, In the stench of parking lots and dark stairwells, And you wrap your arm around her waist as she sleeps, Limp on her stomach as it rises and falls with her breaths, And you are content.

Content. You realise at seventeen – eighteen? – years old That the world will never stop: It’s always going to be cruel and insulting, And it’s going to be painful, They’ll call you fickle and childish and non-existent. No one will ever be okay with who you are, Even if you’re a National champion in another country, Even with all these accolades and accomplishments. You’ll never be real, You’re still a make-believe.

Believe. You realise at seventeen – you’re sure it’s seventeen – years old that comprehension is not far-off anymore: not when the day after love won, you are approached by a pretty psychology major with brown hair asking you if you could fill out a little slip of paper with five check boxes, “what is your sexuality?” “Straight male?” “Straight female?” “Gay?” “Lesbian?” And smack in the middle, the third word glares at you like the three-o-clock sun, “Bisexual.”

[enchantingnightmarealpaca-blog]

Scheduled Procrastination

1362 Words

         I live my life one impending problem at a time. I have constant problems nagging at me like a background white-noise telling me that their due date is coming soon. I’ve learned to put off almost everything until the time when I feel like I have just enough time to due if so that I will feel satisfied with the product that I have created. To this end I have adapted my writing to fit this style of living and this all began with the help of my brother’s guidance. Because of my brother I’m a procrastinator now, but this wasn’t always true, so let me tell you the narrative of my current literacy.

         When I was a kid growing up in my small hometown of Kerman I was always the one who raised his hand and finished his homework before class had even gotten out. My routine of first homework then playing worked out perfectly until I moved and had to change school districts. At my old school I was told by my parents I was a big fish at a small pond and that at this new school I would be able to fit in with those around me a lot better. Looking back on this time I believe that the move was a great choice for myself as I was able to reach a higher caliber of learning, but it was also the start of my transformation.

         In my new school I was put in the best classes because I tested well, but this was an extremely strenuous time for me. My stress was so bad that I even had white hair as a 7th grader. All I wanted at the time was to do my best in school and make some friends, but it was extremely hard trying to balance school work and my personal life, so I picked one. Personal life won out, as I was too stressed and didn’t have fun to counter my constant studying. At the time I felt like a loser because I would cuddle on my bed with a good book and read. Not saying that reading makes you a loser, but I knew that I could be with friends instead of reading and that brought me down because I hadn’t any.

         To try and fit in with those around me I had to adjust my schedule to fit them in. This meant that some days I would play before I worked. To my surprise the schedule worked out extremely well and I had no problem getting anything done, except for writing. No matter my schedule writing always was a pain in my side because I never was able to get it into gear and put my thought to paper. This had never happened prior to 7th grade, but now the writing topic started to get tough. Upon further examination I now know that it was all because I was a poor writer, but at the time I blamed it on me just being mediocre at everything.

         Looking for answers to my writing dilemma I came across my brother Chris playing games in his room. During this time, he was in college and I assumed that he would have some greater insight into how I could write better. My brother helped me to learn that I wasn’t stupid as I had come to realize but that I was the complete opposite. He said I was like him and that we were terrible writers unless we were forced to do it. I told him that this was ridiculous and to tell me the truth about his writing techniques. He just told me that it was the truth and proceeded to fill my mind with his past accomplishments of getting the best of grades on essay due to his energy drink fueled nights filled with pressure and constant typing. He went on and said that my poor writing habits weren’t because I didn’t have enough time, it’s just that I wasn’t using it to my advantage. His advice what to wait until the day before my essays were due to try and write them. Believing his stories to be true I did exactly that and got some amazing results! Like he said the pressure I placed on myself to not fail an assignment forced me to write and even made my essay better. To this end my brother completely changed how I wrote and it has stayed with me until this day.

         This was the turning point of my writing. No longer was my writing mediocre and bland, but spontaneous and erratic but still having structure. My fingers would type away and ‘masterpieces’ were created. This is when I became the scheduled procrastinator. The one who plays games until 12 to then write and essay until 4 in the morning. Pressure creates diamonds and I applies this slogan to all my school work and sure enough diamonds were everywhere except in a couple special cases.

·       You can’t BS a responsible teacher

         There are some teachers who know what you are supposed to be writing about and I encountered a couple of these cases. They didn’t accept my BS FRQ answers and would force me to rewrite them. FRQ’s were the bane of my existence as they forced me into a different case of pressure that I didn’t work well under. This may run contrary to my prior thoughts, but there are different kinds of pressure that some people work well under like the difference between being on stage pressure and not completing and assignment pressure. Learning of my weakness of being on the spot with FRQ I practice and stayed up to date in class to counteract this.

·       You can’t write on anything you don’t know

          If you don’t know what it is that you are writing about then you can’t write a book report on it. Case and point would be my essay on the Giver. I had read the book up until I lost interest, so I did what any student would do at that point and turned to spark notes. My essay came out to be the least detailed essay that I had ever written. I couldn’t follow prompt because I had so little knowledge and my essay grade became an F. I also learned from this and adjusted my schedule to allow for reading, so that when I did have to write essays on books I would be fine in that regard.

         The worst part that I have learned about writing like this is that depending upon what the topic is on I can have varied results on how well I write. For me to write on myself on essays much like this I can do fine as I know the subject matter, but if I was to write on my abstract things like “what is zero?” I struggle to complete it in one draft. That was one prompt that I had to write about and it ended terribly for me because I took a gamble and my mathematical approach didn’t work. 

          Seeing how this was my go to way of writing essays, I just adjusted everything I learned and adapted it around my pattern of writing. This was so I could maintain as good result. I would study prior to write and keep up in class so I don’t run into the previous special cases. I learned that the way my brother procrastinates wasn’t the way that I should do it, but that I needed to adapt to every situation of writing so that when the time comes I don’t BS my work.  

         Despite my past success with procrastination writing I have learned that it is a horrible way to write and it wasn’t for me. I am not someone who just waits last minute to write, but someone who is prepared to write when that last minute comes. I adjust my study habits and the time that I must hold off before writing so that I am successful in each endeavor that I face. I am a scheduled procrastinator and that is how I’ll always be.

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Saying Goodbye to Pioneering Diabetes Advocate David Mendosa

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/saying-goodbye-to-pioneering-diabetes-advocate-david-mendosa/

Saying Goodbye to Pioneering Diabetes Advocate David Mendosa

We referred to him as a "father of the Diabetes Online Community," and anyone who’d ever known or connected with him felt the passion to help that burned beneath his kind and gentle spirit.

It’s no exaggeration to say that David Mendosa was one of the top diabetes writers in the world, a journey he began after his type 2 diagnosis in 1994.

Sadly, our D-Community is now mourning this lost friend from Boulder, CO, who passed away on May 8 as a result of an incurable form of cancer diagnosed in April. He was 81, and in his last email update sent out only a week before his passing he quipped, "I am glad to be able to write that this type of cancer is not one of the many complications of diabetes.”

A third-generation Californian who moved to Colorado in 2004, he was born in August 1935 under the name Richard Alexander Mendosa; he went by "Dick" until the mid-70s and later "Rick," until he legally changed his name to David in 2005.

Those who knew David on any level describe him as not only kind, gentle and compassionate, but informed and educated with a quick wit and a love for nature and the outdoors. His email newsletters over the years mixed diabetes info with reports on bird watching and reports on other animals and plants.

“David's knowledge and generosity are widely known and serve even after his passing as a model for all who would venture into the digital world to share their experiences with others,” said D-Dad Jeff Hitchcock in Ohio, founder of the Children With Diabetes organization and one of the original DOC’ers alongside David back in the mid-90s. “He was diligent in research, precise in language, and gentle in all his work. A tall man, he towered over most of us, but not because of his height -- rather, because of his kindness. David Mendosa's voice and spirit will live on forever in the digital world he helped to create.”

An Original Forefather of the DOC

As noted, David was a pioneer and a sort of godfather of the Diabetes Online Community (DOC), having started his patient-led informational site back when the Internet was still in its infancy.

Jeff Hitchcock describes the summer of 1995 as a time “when the World Wide Web was just emerging from the confines of university laboratories” and there were only four sites devoted to helping people with diabetes: the now-defunct Diabetes Knowledgebase at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Jeff’s Children With Diabetes forum; the Diabetes Monitor by Dr. Bill Quick; and David Mendosa’s hailed On-line Diabetes Resources. (Yes, kids: there was a time when online was hyphenated!)

“In those early days... David, Bill, and I developed a unique kind of friendship -- a virtual friendship born of the Internet,” Jeff tells us. “We got to know each other first through email and only later in person when we would meet at diabetes conferences. Before all-knowing search engines like Google, we shared new finds like treasure, sending each other emails to help spread the word to the readers of our three web sites. Unknowingly, we laid the foundational bricks to what would become the Diabetes Online Community.”

David's Diabetes Directory remains online as one of the largest collections of its kind, comprised of all kinds of online diabetes sites and blogs and 1,000+ articles he's put his name to over the years.

You name it, David wrote about it on his own site, through his 12 years at HealthCentral and many more spots online and offline – writing on everything from diabetestechnology and new medications, to diet and complication stories and the mental health aspects of living with this condition, not to mention his own personal anecdotes. He always embodied the “Your Diabetes May Vary” mindset, embracing our D-Community’s differences, while happily sharing his own approaches and insights. And he was not afraid to change his mind and his approach if he felt it warranted.

Impressively, he actually lost an incredible amount of weight -- going from 312 pounds to 168 pounds, or nearly half his body mass! -- in the course of a couple years, and he was so impressed with the new drug Byetta that he wrote a book on it. That led to him also focusing on his diet, and becoming one of the early adopters of low-carb eating a decade ago after initial skepticism about the eating trend, and it was through his writings that many found the courage to at least try it out (myself included).

From his personal musings, it’s always funny to read David’s recollection that “the World Wide Web tricked me," as he didn’t think it would ever take off. It’s also fun to look back on how nearly 20 years ago, when he was writing for the few existing D-publications both online and offline, the American Diabetes Association once dubbed him “a noted Internet observer.”

Certainly, David was larger than life in our D-World and close to our hearts.

Connecting with People… and Finding Love!

Interestingly, it was through the early DOC (as it existed in forums and message boards back then) that David met his wife, Catherine. He shared that story a decade ago in a blog post, writing that he’d turned to the Internet just a month after his T2 diagnosis and eight months later through a message board, he connected with the woman who would eventually become his second wife. He also shared the heartbreaking story of Catherine’s death in 2007.

That blog post at HealthCentral was how longtime type 1 and diabetes journalist Ann Bartlett in the Washington D.C. region first met David, who would become a dear friend and mentor through the years.

As it turned out, her very first blog post set to publish was delayed – because David’s wife had passed away, and he wrote the tribute to her for that day. She remembers seeing the D-Community's response over someone they’d never met, and from that day she fell in love with not only the DOC but his writing style.

“I found myself laughing, feeling frustrated and completely in sync with many of his struggles and it became crystal clear that his view of living with type 2 diabetes had many similarities to my own dilemmas of living with type1 and I quickly got in his blog boat and grabbed an ore,” she said. “David greeted anyone willing to stand up and be a voice in the diabetes community with love and respect.”

Through it all, David’s love for writing abounded. He pondered retirement last year, Ann recalls, but said there was still so much he wanted to write about and wasn’t willing to give that up.

David greeted anyone willing to stand up and be a voice in the diabetes community with love and respect. Ann Bartlett, friend and fellow diabetes writer

Beyond Diabetes – Early Life, Outdoors

Beyond diabetes, David's life was just as amazing -- and like any proud journalist, he chronicled his own story in various articles and photo essays.

In his younger years during his late teens, he started out working for the Riverside, CA, Press-Enterprise newspaper as an assistant sports editor. He soon enlisted in the U.S. Army in his early 20s where he worked for their Public and Troop Information Office and as a correspondent for the Overseas Weekly briefly during his service. He then returned to California where he studied political science and served on the college paper at UC Riverside. After getting his master’s degree in government from Claremont Graduate University, he went to work for the U.S. government for as a foreign service officer in D.C. for 11 years and then four years in Africa.

After that, in what he dubs his "radical years," he dabbled in real estate sales and computer and small business consulting before turning back to journalism in the 1980s with the Hispanic Business Times – all before diabetes entered his life and he turned to that in the mid-90s.

Tied into his own diabetes management but also embracing his love for the outdoors and nature, David was an avid hiker and outdoorsman who snapped beautiful photos during his many travels -- and yes, he also wrote about that on a Fitness and Photography for Fun blog! Being a practicing Buddhist also gave David a unique mindfulness, and it was one that he often brought into his own diabetes writing when exploring meditation’s effects on BG management, or just embracing a calmness in approaching one’s health and life overall.

Thank You, David!

“His loss to our community is immeasurable, but he gave us a tremendous gift of leaving behind years of research, education and inspiration. He will always be a gift of inspiration for me,” Ann says.

Tributes to David have been popping up all over the DOC – from forums like dLife and TuDiabetes, tributes at HealthCentral and Diabetes UK, to a blog post by T2 peep Bob Fenton, and numerous comments being shared on his CaringBridge page, where David began writing about his cancer journey in April.

We echo the sentiments about his compassion and caring attitude and his institutional knowledge of anything related to diabetes.

Personally, I recall first stumbling across David’s writings back in the very late 90s during my college years. Once I began reading blogs and connecting with others, his name was always top of my daily reading list. And then, I recall reading about that very first Roche Social Media Summit in 2009 and eventually attending the second summit that following year, and being able to meet this rockstar IRL. I’m humbled and blessed to have kept in touch through the past several years, and share stories both personal and professional beyond just diabetes.

Another long-termer in the DOC, David Kliff in Chicago who began publishing Diabetic Investor in 1997, has known David through the years and recollects:

“What I remember about him most was that he was a true gentlemen and old-school journalist who didn’t mind helping a newbie,” Kliff says. “It was ironic that over the years our roles reversed and it was my turn to help him, which was a pleasure to do. David was a great guy and tireless advocate for patients with diabetes. He sought the truth and investigated everything fully before writing. David understood diabetes wasn’t about the toys we use or the drugs we take, but the people we are.”

In keeping with his wishes, David’s family updated his CaringBridge page to reflect that there will not be a service of any kind. However, anyone who has “journeyed with him” at any point is encouraged to donate to CaringBridge in his memory or to the Colorado-based TRU Hospice Care Center that took care of him in the later days.

David, we will miss you so incredibly much and are honored to have known you through the years. Thank you for all you did for this world and our D-Community! Rest in Peace, Brother.

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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