Type 1 Diagnosis Story

Don't Call It A Comeback, Top 5 Celebrities that will make your Christmas Party More Eventful

I have blogged off and on since way back in 2005 on Myspace. I came across some of my old posts today, from those old blogs and thought I'd dust off the old keys on this laptop and write a bit. David's Brain, the V.I.P. section hit it's peak in 2011 when I wrote almost daily. I would come on here off and on to talk about sports, write my own lyrics to popular songs or bring awareness to type one diabetes. Since 2011, I've somehow gotten over 32,000 views with no real topic for my posts.  

If your only outlet to this world is reading my blogs, then I am sorry I haven't had a post since April 26, 2017 and that was a tiny blog about ESPN Layoffs. There are broken links, pictures and gifs throughout my blogs, but I don't think they change the points of the blogs I used to write. I want to start keeping up with this regularly again. I may bring back my winners and losers of the day as that was a popular section of my blogs.  I would also do top 5 lists which I want to bring back starting today. To get back into the groove, let's do a top 5. Today, I am going to do:

 Top 5 Celebrities Who Would Make Your Christmas Party More Eventful

Honorable Mentions

Charlie Sheen

I didn't say it was going to be legal. Just eventful.  Can you imagine doing white elephant with this guy in your circle? You could open the gift and it could be a hooker or a block of cocaine.

Deion Sanders

When I was growing up, this man could do no wrong.  He was good and he'd tell you he was too. He would high step right into your party and make you dance to Christmas Rappin' by Kurtis Blow.

Top Five

5. Guy Fieri

If you know me, you know it is in my mind Guy Fieri is a partying machine.  I once had a friend that no matter what you did when you went out with him, it would be one of the craziest nights of your life. That's what it would be like if your Christmas Party went to Flavortown. Fieri would tell his cheesy one line jokes while slamming your egg nog and stealing your girl. 

4. Miley Cyrus

Eventful is not always a good thing. As I think Guy would be a trip, Miley coming to your party would be a trip... to the ER. She does all of this for attention and she is the cliche child star head case, girl was known to throw it down at parties. She'd come in like a wrecking ball and "do what she wants." Chestnuts won't be the only nuts roasting on an open fire if you invite Miley.

3. Justin Bieber

I'd be lying if I didn't used to think this kid was a douchebag who did bad things just to be the cool kid. I think he egged Keyshaun Johnson's house or something like that, and I know he's been busted for street races, and I know he's been a jackass and the butt of many jokes but I actually think he'd be fun to have a Christmas party with. I could see myself now trying to do the Ludacris part from "Baby" with my wife looking at me like, "Dave, don't embarrass me in front of the Biebs like that."

2. Ocho Cinco

Okay, I'm kind of being a homer here, but here me out (or really read me out). This guy single handedly brought fun back to being a Bengals fan.  He made it fun. If he can make a stale team with a stale owner cool, what could this man do for your Christmas party? On the 5th day of Christmas Ocho would bring you Five Golden Teeth. He wouldn't take anything too seriously and he would be cool if you catered McDonald's. No need to get fancy with him. You doubt this decision? Child please.

1. Tommy Wiseau

So this guy is still Hollywood's biggest mystery. They made a movie about him because he made the worst movie ever made. He spent millions on making "The Room" and no one knows how he made his fortune, where he's from or how old he is. This guy would drop dollars on your party and you could party in style.  Santa may not be played by the best of actors (Tommy may want to do it himself) but this guy is so strange, all of your guest will leave the party more puzzled than when they met this man.  If you haven't seen The Disaster Artist or The Room, both are must sees.

Winner of the Day: The Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Team. On a night where their team honored former coach Bobby Huggins, the team dismantled the UCLA Bruins on national TV to show they may be a force to be dealt with come tournament time.

Loser of the Day: Jake Walter. Son of former Bengals player Joe Walter, Jake, a 7 foot center for Cov Cath was destined to go to Xavier, however he never enrolled. Turns out a couple of weekends ago, Walter is alleged to have raped someone against their will using his size to not let her go and laughed and said something like you will get over it. 

Link to the cincinnati.com article

Quote of the Day: "You gotta have life your way. If you ain't losing your mind, you ain't partying right."

Song of the Day: The Christmas Guest by Reba McIntire

Photoshop of the Day: 

#ESPNLayoffs

Around 100 on air personalities let go by ESPN. Layoffs are horrible. Anywhere. You may love some of them and hate others but say a prayer for their families. ESPN made their money based on cable subscription and less and less people are getting cable. They paid huge contracts to NBA, NFL, the SEC and MLB because the formula always worked and now they are letting go many good people because of it. It is a sad day for those who lost their jobs do to the carelessness of the big wigs. Dusty Baker, love him or hate him, always said, "You are never as good as you think you are and you are never as bad as you think you are." ESPN could not stay on top for ever. It just sucks to see so many fall for the bad deals they made. People get their sports online now and through clips. No one watches SportsCenter anymore and they didn't see it coming upstairs. It's a shame. Thinking of the families of those who lost their jobs at ESPN or anywhere for that matter. 🙏🏼

Another Diabetes Frustration Blog.

Somebody cure juvenile diabetes already, jeeze. The problem is the diabetes industry is a billion dollar business. What motivates people to cure the disease?

If you don't have it, you may not be as motivated to look for a cure because it is such a money maker but the truth is juvenile diabetes is one of the worst diseases you can have and it is under appreciated. We fight every day. We are tough. We get zero breaks and zero good night's sleep. We could take too much of our medicine and seize or pass out. If we don't take enough, over time, our organs will fail and our nerves will disturb our feet. We could die any day we don't take care of ourselves. Diabetes could be the death penalty or life in prison.

I had gotten sick from my asthma this week and had to take prednisone to help me get better. The prednisone makes my blood sugar rise and it made it go so high my meter didn't even read the number. Diabetes is scary. Every day. And it's not always my fault. Stress, exercise and even excitement can effect sugar levels. No one sees the daily grind of what we go through: constant needle pricks, needles and set changes. I laugh when I go to the doctor and they ask if I'm afraid of needles. 

I've lived with diabetes since 1997 which means I've had it longer than I haven't. Some days you just want to give up and there have been days when the disease nearly over took me. I am thankful for the support I've had in my life that help me through the tougher times. The medicine that keeps us alive keeps rising in price and it's not like we can go without it. 

And it's not fair, I'm not asking for sympathy, just an honest effort at a cure. Since 1997, when my doctor told me there would be a cure in my lifetime, there have been many false alarms but now I am beginning to believe it will never come. I believe so many dollars would be lost. If they cured it and not to mention so many diabetics how long would the waiting list be for the said cure?

Life Under Trump

Life, under Trump, or any president of the United States of America, for that matter, is what you make it. If you supported Clinton, Sanders, Bush, Rubio, Cruz, or anyone else, this is who is the president. This is still the land of the free. Trump does not have absolute power. Life is what you make it. If you want to make this a miserable country by rioting and stating he's not your president, that's on you. Rioting does nothing but take down businesses that worked hard to get where they are. Some of them, started from the bottom, and worked their way up to owning their own store. The "American Dream" some call it. Some are still pursuing that dream. 

The Declaration of Independence says life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Donald Trump will not stop you from pursuing that. You may have to work even harder to obtain that dream, but that's in your hands. I have not stopped pursuing my dreams even though the prices of insulin have gone up 1000 percent and I need that to live. I have gotten no help from government on this front and guess what, it's not stopping me from getting married this June and starting a new chapter. 

Donald Trump is the president now and I am not going to cry about it. I will adapt and overcome. If Donald Trump is "not (your) president" then who is?

Lost Boy The Hood Version

I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy, " they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."

I am a lost boy,
From Neverland,
At least thats what I dream about,
I'm from the hood no reason to pout
Lucky to get a toy,
Sometimes the belt,
sometimes the hand,
Gotta be strapped if you go out,
Coming home tonight, there's doubt,
Why can't I go to Neverland,
Hang with Peter Pan,

I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy, " they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."

R.I.P. to homie Harambe,
shows you if you don't watch out, 
you'll be a zombie,
Those kinda shootings happened 
every day on the block
mid afternoon, didn't matter 
sh*t going down at 2 o clock
I wish I were in Neverland 
where gorillas don't get shot,
where the good people last 
and the bad guys get caught,

I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy, " they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."

I'll take down Capn' Hook 
with my gang banger skills,
Hang with the Lost Boys
and they don't pop pills,
Like the dudes in the streets, 
hustlins all i see,
if I stay much longer
 I may end up like Harambe,
Shot because I'm not on the right street,
Shot because I'm not quick on my feet,


Please let me get to Neverland,
I wanna roll with Peter Pan,
and try to take out Captain Hook,
And write a new ending to my book,
I been spending most my life,
Living in a Gangsta's Paradise.
Because I'm 23 now, will I live to see 24
The way things is goin I don't know...

I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy, " they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."

Making lemonade out of lemons since May 12, 1985

When life hands you lemons you make lemonade. On my birthday in 2011, the first day off of my parent's health insurance plan, I had a miniature breakdown.  I was working security at the DHL airport and I was working 6 nights a week. Working the strange shifts they gave me left me as a zombie. You are never really awake and you are never really asleep. My mind was always on auto-pilot.  I was hitting a wall. I wasn't taking good care of myself and I really had no real reason to live.

On that day in 2011, my birthday, it all came to a head. I was standing, wanding people as they headed into work and BOOM! my blood pressure began to skyrocket.  I went down to a knee. My blood sugar rose to the 300's as well. I had no clue what was going on.  A co-worker of mine called for the supervisor.  They called them lieutenants there for some reason, but whatever. The lieutenant called 9-1-1 and I took the squad to the hospital.  This day was my rock bottom. I can honestly say it was one of the worst day in my life. All of my bills were going to have to be paid out of pocket because I had no health insurance.  My health, itself was not important to me.  

I kind of just gave up.  When you have type 1 diabetes, it's hard to explain, but it affects you in ways no one understands but other diabetics.  It tugs at your psyche. It is like carrying a rock on your back up a hill. Every day. Every single day.  Some days are clear and some days are storming, but every day you start at the bottom of the hill carrying this boulder on your back. This disease has no mercy. This disease has no breaks.  It breaks you down. It makes you disciplined. It affects your relationships and your social life. It affects every aspect of your life.  There are days I wake up fatigued and days I feel fine. On May 12, 2011, everything crashed and burned and there I was, sitting in the hospital, wondering what I had to do, to make it.  

Fast forward to today, May 12, 2016, my 31st birthday. I am here. I made it out of that dark place I was in. Hard work was part of it, but there are many reasons why I am here and in a happy place.  Firstly, angels.  Yeah, not the halo, flying angels on stained-glass windows, real life angels.  I am not a very religious person.  I grew up Catholic. I went through all the sacraments and I wear a crucifix on my neck every day.  But I don't actively practice. But people throughout my life have shown up to make me laugh, to cheer me up and to carry me when I need carrying. I can't thank them enough for this.

Secondly, friends and family.  To me, family are friends and friends are family.  They've seen me go through some stuff, man. Like, life or death stuff. They've also seen me triumph over all of that.  They make me laugh and make me smile every day.  I'd give you all a shout out but you know who you are.

Thirdly, my fiance. Amy has been there for me since I met her a couple of years ago.  We have been engaged for a year now and she puts me before herself often.  I'm high maintenance and very needy. She doesn't care and is happy to help me.

Finally, attitude changed everything.  That day in 2011 when I went to the hospital, I was pessimistic about life. I didn't see a point in fighting anymore. I saw no hope. I hated my job, I hated my diseases, I hated the way I treated myself. That day, I chose to take better care of myself. I woke up everyday with a positive attitude. I went back to trying to make someone smile every day. I realized making others happy makes me happy.  You know how in Elf, Santa's sleigh runs on believers, well I run on smiles. Then, Shelli Hill. She helped me get on at Great American, I was able to get on for the benefits and it literally changed everything.  I didn't have to spend thousands every few months out of pocket on insulin.  I was back and better than ever.

Now, I sit in front of you five years later, a better person. A disciplined person. A happy person. Hopefully, a good friend to everyone I meet. A stronger person. A loving person. A funny person (although Amy would tell you otherwise). I always tell people, I'm so sweet God made me a diabetic.  I have to live up to it, and I'd be lying if I told you I do everyday, but most days are good days and I am thankful to God for blessing me with these 31 years and I am so grateful everyday.