Hallowe'en is a time of transformations.

In the ancient Celtic traditions (and the modern Wiccan ones), Samhain is the time at which the Goddess — old, and lonely, and missing her lover — goes to the Summerland to be with him. With her goes light and warmth, fertility, and life. The Samhain Sabbat denotes the end of summer/fall and the beginning of the winter seasons, a time when the last harvest has come in and when the herds are pared down to what the community can feed through the winter, and what will be able to reproduce in the spring.

It is a time of plenty, preceding a known time of famine.

It is also the start of the new year.

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In the rainbows-and-unicorns world of diabetes activism, it is often said that one of the most egregious oversights in international politics is the lack of available medical insulin in economically-depressed areas and emerging nations. Our standard-bearers act as if all we need to do is ship tons of strips, gallons of insulin, and forests-worth of needles to the middle of the African bush and every person with diabetes will live forever in the world of Blood Sugar Nirvana and No Complications.

The truth of the matter is much more complex.

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If you have only one day to see the Tour of Somerville, Monday's the one to aim for. The Borough of Somerville puts on a day-long festival that starts with a Memorial Day parade before proceeding to a family fun-ride and the day's races. Vendors of cycling gear, healthy-lifestyles, and other stuff are set up on the lawn in front of City Hall; club team tents are lined up on the lawn along the side street; and the whole area is punctuated with local fraternal organizations selling burgers, hot dogs, and other "hand" foods while spectators line the barriers along the route. It's also the day Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis plays "meet the public" in a big way, signing posters and team cards under the Sanofi tent as well as racing in three or more of the day's criteriums.

Sunday, The Other Half needed rest, so I headed off to the Bound Brook Criterium -- part of the Tour of Somerville series of bicycle races -- on my Flintmobile Flintstonecycle Specialized Dolce ("the courtesy of [my] two feet", natch) to cheer on Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis. (READ MORE)

Like the old ad for Skittles (chewy fruit-flavored candies), diabetes bloggers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. [OK, all Skittles are square, but that's not the point.] Right here on Blogabetes, we range from parents of children with Type 1 diabetes (Carey, Julia), people who have lived most of their lives with type 1 diabetes (Nicole, Lindsey), people who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as adults (Michelle), and people with type 2 diabetes (myself, Mike). (READ MORE)

Well, Carnival for a Cure, anyway -- the annual fundraising event presented by the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI). Four years ago, it was at this event that Nick Jonas went public with his type 1 diabetes. This year, he returned, courtesy of Bayer HealthCare, to thank everyone and to continue to inspire children, teens, and adults with diabetes. Through dLife, I had the opportunity to speak with Nick and ask him about his life with diabetes. My own challenge was, in ten minutes, to see if I could learn something that hasn't been asked and answered hundreds of times over. (READ MORE)