“My Week With Marilyn” stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, in a film about a week she spent making a film with Laurence Oliver.

Michele Williams‘ trick is to avoid doing an impersonation of Monroe and instead embody the first superstar. There was a light inside Marilyn she could turn on and off and Williams somehow manages to express it on screen.

It’s a touching performance of a complex woman.

Jessica Ellen Cornish, better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English singer-songwriter, currently signed to Island Records.  She began her career as a songwriter for artists including Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus.

Divabetic: Diabetes 12 Steps

Millions of people credit the original 12 Steps for their recovery from addiction to alcohol and other substances. I believe the guidelines of the 12 steps, with a few changes, can apply to diabetes as it has for  substance abuse or addiction. The 12 Steps describe a path toward self-discovery and personal growth.

Our Diabetes Twelve Steps aim to help you accept your diabetes. We’d like to support, encourage and empower you on your journey from ‘diagnosis to diva.’

Many times facing the truth can bring a measure of guilt, which is a great motivation to become “entirely ready” to manage your diabetes. As with all the steps, the ability to become ready comes from a higher power, a power greater than yourself.

STEP # 2: I have made a conscious decision to improve my care and therefore the quality of my life.

Come see Mr. Divabetic and his fabulous Fruit Suit on Saturday, January 28, 2012, 9AM  - 2 PM in Belle Glade, FL.  Meet local and national experts in diabetes self-care, fitness, food and beauty/fashion. Play games, get educated, feel empowered to live like a diva!!! This free dazzling diabetes outreach event is sponsored by Glade Interagency and Lakeside Medical Center.

Divabetic Presents The Golden Rules of Diabetes with The Golden Girls 

Palm Beach State College - Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center

1977 College Drive

Call: 1(561) 996-1620

FREE ADMISSION

Divabetic: Oprah's Next Chapter

Seeing a bit of positive ratings movement, the struggling Oprah Winfrey Network is getting more of what seems to work — Oprah.

She’s back!!! The network revealed Tuesday that Winfrey’s “Oprah’s Next Chapter” would expand from one to two nights a week, starting next weekend, and run that way through February.

The two-night approach begins with a piece on a trip Winfrey took to Haiti with Sean Penn to run Sunday and Monday.

“Oprah’s Next Chapter” is Winfrey’s latest series since her talk show went off the air last spring.

It’s landed just in time for the struggling network.

In the series, Winfrey visits people on location for in-depth interviews. The show has turned into OWN’s most-watched program of any kind, averaging 924,000 viewers.

“I think it is a good thing,” says ratings expert Brad Adgate of Horizon Media about the program’s expansion. “It seems that Oprah’s on-air commitment to OWN continues to increase as time goes by, and I don’t think that was something she had originally planned when the network was announced,” said Adgate. “How much more on-air time beyond this will she, or can she, do?”

OWN arrived in January 2011 to great fanfare and huge expectations. It also launched with a partial lineup of shows and little by Winfrey. At the time, her daytime talk show was still eight months from ending, limiting her ability to get on the air.

The most-talked-about show when the network began was a reality series that merely followed behind-the-scenes activities on Winfrey’s talk show.

Since then, though, the channel has been dogged by executive changes, programming shifts, weak ratings and a suggestion that Winfrey isn’t the draw she once was.

Moreover, Discovery, Winfrey’s partner on the channel, has invested more than $250 million into getting the network off the ground. To start OWN, Discovery gave up on Discovery Health.

Expectations for OWN may have been too high, with people believing everything Winfrey touched would turn to gold.

“We did overestimate it a bit,” Adgate agrees. “I think the landscape is cluttered with female-targeted cable networks and shows. They have failed to create a franchise show; it is difficult to program compelling content 24 hours a day. OWN has a niche in the TV landscape that could be a little smaller than originally anticipated.”

Divabetic: Step 1

A chronic illness such as diabetes pushes us to live today. It shows us our limits. But we don’t have forever, and illness demonstrates that fact with symptoms, disabilities, and scary predictions of complications. It gives us undeniable evidence of our mortality, encouraging us to change, adapt, grow, and focus. In other words, ‘you got to have faith’ – like George Michael sings.

Lisa Copen, founder of Rest Ministries, a Christian chronic illness community, says, “Dealing with daily chronic pain is exhausting and excruciating. Knowing that the God I believe in still has my best interests at heart, and that He watches over my family and my ministry…gives me the ability to ‘rest’ in spirit and not use any energy on worrying.”

But faith doesn’t require a belief in God. Faith in the future can help you let go and live for now. Even if you don’t know what’s going on, faith can help reassure you that things will be all right.

I think living in the moment helps me cope with disability. I need to do about ninety minutes of stretching every day to maintain my limited mobility. It used to be really hard — boring, time-consuming, annoying. Lately I’ve been getting better at appreciating the time for what it is — breathing, focusing on my body. It feels good.

STEP 1. I have faith in the cure. I acknowledge that diabetes is something that I will live with every day of my life.

READ MORE: To read all of Divabetic’s 12 Steps visit our Reading Room at divabetic.org 

“How can you compare diabetes with alcoholism. No way!!!”

So okay, at our  Divabetic Club meetings women and their loved ones come together to ‘share’ their experiences living with diabetes. The good, the bad and the ugly … “I’ve lost weight, gained weight, exercised, over slept, binged, thrown up, stopped taking insulin, checked five times a day, stopped checking and/or didn’t take my dog for a walk for a week”-style confessions … with tears or laughter. And yes, Divabetic Club’s golden rules are: no judgements and keep coming back!

But still I didn’t get it. I didn’t see the similarities.

Of course, I’d like to think that I was blindsided by the fact that we dress it up a bit with a feather boa! (Maybe the feathers threw me off.) But now, seven years after we sold our first Divabetic ‘Sugar’s the Bitch. No Me.’ t-shirt, I get it. I see.

Divabetic is about ‘acceptance.’ Divabetic is about learning how to accept your diabetes. We understand that the  journey toward acceptance  has nothing to do with time. You can be newly diagnosed or living with diabetes for decades before you accept your diabetes. That’s okay.  Because once you do, you learn diabetes is no longer about ‘neglect,’ it’s about ‘respect.’ And that’s what “Keeps Your House A Home.” 

You don’t have to like it, but you do have to manage it. One day at a time. just like AA!!!  Here are The Divabetic 12 Steps (by The Divabetic Club NYC:)

1. I have faith in the cure. I acknowledge that diabetes is something that I will live with every day of my life.

2. I have made a conscious decision to improve my care and therefore the quality of my life.

3. I will respect not neglect my diabetes and I embrace the idea of self- management.

4. I am more than my diabetes but I acknowledge that diabetes may always be a part of me.

5. I understand that despite my best efforts diabetes can often throw me a curveball. I hold myself accountable for my current quality of life I forgive others for past imperfections.

6. I understand that my numbers give me greater awareness and are not an indication of personal failure.

7. I have the power/strength/perseverance to overcome these pitfalls.

8. I acknowledge and appreciate the concerns my family members and friends have for my well-being.

9. I will not judge others based on their personal habits.

10. I will consult with a qualified healthcare professional before engaging in any new form of treatment.

11. I recognize that my body, my diabetes and my life experience is different from the person sitting next to me.

12. I will help encourage others to improve their care.

The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, and Neva White MSN, CRNP, CDE, share tips on pain-free blood glucose monitoring.

GLAM MORE, FEAR LESS! Learn how to accept your diabetes with the national nonprofit, Divabetic. Join for one of our upcoming free dazzling diabetes outreach events in Belle Glade, FL and Philadelphia, PA. Get more details at: divabetic. org

When dieters who didn’t normally eat spicy foods ate a soup seasoned with cayenne pepper for lunch they ate 60 fewer calories at their next meal AND burned an extra ten calories (it’s a small amount, but over time it adds up!).

Divabetic: Demi Moore

Demi Moore was hospitalized for “exhaustion” was the headline last night but sources now say  the cause was an epileptic seizure. There’s also claims that the 49-year-old actress is being treated for anorexia and substance abuse issue. The news of the health scare may not have been too surprising to celebrity watchers who have been closely keeping an eye on the actress in the wake of her split from Ashton Kutcher.

Last fall,  Demi Moore had many fans worried about her health after she appeared thinner than usual at several red-carpet appearances to promote “Margin Call.” But she kept up a brave face in the wake of all the rumors regarding her appearance and her marriage. In a statement, Moore said, “It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton.

“As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life. This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation.”

Demi Moore’s  next film release is ‘LOL’ starring Miley Cyrus and Ashley Greene, due out later this year. “I really loved the movie; I loved working with [Cyrus] and the director. They just put it on pause because they had another film they were focusing on. It’s a tough thing when you have a movie you’re looking forward to coming out,” she said of the flick.