Monthly Archives: May 2013

Technology at a crossroads

Technology at a crossroads

I love technology.  I do.

I’ve written about it before, it’s part of my twitter profile, and I see the value of technology to engage citizens, connect people and improve lives.  Technology can bridge the gap between communities and continents, it democratizes all voices, allowing citizens to participate on a level playing field, and improve access – closing the educational divide.

You use it, and you want it

budgetfeedback

Here in Cary we’ve seen our citizens use technology to engage with the Town:

– Citizens use the Town website to look up Town agendas, minutes and development activity and watch Council meetings on YouTube.

– Provide budget feedback via Twitter (24 tweets), post on Facebook (37 comments) and email (66 emails).  The number of  Tweets and Facebook posts combined (61) this year were more than ALL of the input we received for last year’s budget (59 comments.)

– We saw you create an online petition signed by 1275 residents to save the Cary High School Water Towercarywatertower

  •   – A biennial survey that shows 54.5% of our citizens own or plan to own a smartphone this year and the trend is that smart phone users outnumber basic phone users.
  • And on and on…  Read More…
Our weight

Our weight

I think about it all the time.   But this is the first time I’ve ever written about it. Ever.

It’s private, but you and I see it every day.  It’s my struggle with weight.

I’d like to say that I’m fine with what I weigh; that it hasn’t stopped me from doing what I want to do, and be who I want to be. But that wouldn’t be true. And if I hope my blog is anything, it’s honest. So, here is the elephant in the room. It’s me. (Pun kinda intended.)

I’ve been bigger than I am now, and certainly smaller. I’ve been on every diet known to mankind. Cabbage soup? HCG? Weight Watchers? Nutri-system? Yes, all those and more. I was on my first diet at the age of 12. I can’t count how many I’ve been on since then. I KNOW what to eat, what not to eat, and how to lose weight. I’ve done it plenty of times.

Over the years and through it all, I’ve been lucky to have friends and family that continue to love and support me for who I am, not what I look like. Although my outside has been many sizes, my heart and soul continues to be as big as it can be, and I think that’s a good thing.

I AM active – which surprises many people. All my activity has probably kept me from having any weight related problems. I bike (averaging about 25 miles at a time, and even done a century!), walk (sometimes run), take dance classes, play volleyball (when I can), garden and more.

So, why am I writing this post?

I went to a screening of the “Weight of the Nation” documentary by HBO – put on by the Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) this week. We only watched the section on childhood obesity called “Children in Crisis” of the documentary – but the impact of the obesity epidemic on our children and our nation just hit home for me.  (You can also watch the full documentary on their website at: http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com)

Here are some telling figures:

•  Children that have a TV in their room are more likely to be obese

•  79 million Americans are pre-diabetic

•  Half of obese teenage girls become extremely obese by their early 30’s

•  In the US in 2010, over 63% of people are overweight or obese

•  Twenty years ago, no state had an obesity rate above 15%. Today, more than two out of three states, 38 total, have obesity rates over 25%

Read More…
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