kiwis are birds too

you ever notice that kiwi the fruit looks a lot like kiwi the bird? look.





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so i went to attempt to donate blood again the other day. they call me every few months because i'm on a sickle-cell donor list, meaning i provide blood for patients suffering from sickle-cell anemia and in need of transfusions. sickle-anemia is a painful, debilitating, hereditary disease that affects mainly people of African-American and Hispanic heritage.

for some reason, a lot of Black people don't donate blood, so finding a suitable match for sickle-cell patients is extremely difficult. so seeing as how i'm Black, and my blood type is O Neg (which means i'm a "universal donor" - whoo hoo!! anyone of any blood type can receive my blood. so call me if you need some sweet Dfly blood. i was a born giver :-D), they call me, and i go get needled up and give.

the problem is, ever since i was a teenager, i've suffered from repeat bouts of iron-deficiency anemia. it used to be so bad that i could barely climb stairs without feeling like i would keel over. so i have to take this super-duper loaded iron pills, and try to eat iron-rich foods (which, being vegan, can be hard sometimes). but i guess my body isn't all that receptive because every other month, my iron is low. so, what do you know, i get to the place and they prick my finger, tell me my count is too low AGAIN, and send me home. SIGH. now i have to wait two more months before i can attempt to donate again. and they signed me up for a research study to study chronic iron-deficient anemics who are donors and how i respond to iron pill "therapy". should be interesting.

i'm sure sick of people rejecting my blood though. and i'm not about to each a steak to make it better.

hopefully next time around things will be a-ok.


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have you seen this guy jennifer hudson (American Idol/Dreamgirls) is engaged to? seriously Jen? seriously? this guy was a competitor on I Love NY. any man who would sign up to try to get with that train-wreck of a woman needs not be my fiancé. i'm just saying. if i were a betting woman, i'd be taking bets as to how long it will be before US Weekly reports their deeevorce.

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