Works by the modernist painter Charles Demuth (1883-1935) are now on display at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Add Demuth to the pantheon of notable Americans with diabetes. Demuth lived nearly his entire life in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He had a hard life, being type 1 diabetic at a time before digital meters and pumps and all that good stuff. Not only that, he was diabetic at a time when insulin was only beginning to be used.

So, you may well ask: what did they do in the dark, dark pre-insulin days? Well, dear reader, the treatment was pretty unsophisticated. Starvation, basically. They got you eating as little as possible. Not surprisingly, life expectancy was not good in those days! Demuth suffered from a lack of energy and eyesight problems. Eventually, he was started on insulin and his health improved as a result.

For subject matter, Demuth frequently turned to the increasingly industrialized landscape of his hometown, Lancaster. Icons of the industrial skyline - smokestacks, water towers and the like - were often the subject of his paintings. The Amon exhibit is titled "Chimneys and Towers: Charles Demuth's Late Paintings of Lancaster." The exhibit will remain on display in Fort Worth through October, when it will relocate to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL, then it's off to the Whitney Museum in New York City.

Click here to read more about Demuth and this new exhibit.

Who's the fairest of them all? Good question. With a plethora of options, let's take a look to find the best meter for you. The American Diabetes Association outlined a few key points to consider when choosing a meter. Their criteria includes: insurance, budget, convenience, support and additional features.

First let's address the necessary evils in blood glucose meters: insurance. You can choose a meter only to learn your health insurance will not cover the cost of the meter, or even worse- the strips. So weed out your options first by coordinating with your health insurance provider. Next, assume that your insurance covers any meter, but only covers a percentage (if anything at all) on the cost of strips. Once you've addressed the monetary decisions you are ready to look at the fun part (I do apologize, I use the term fun loosely). These, of course, are the convenience features, including: size of the meter, size of the blood sample, countdown to result, display size, and coding for new strips. The support feature is seldom an issue, but when you need it is when you are most pleased that you have it. Does the meter come with customer support? Last, but not least- the additional feature category. Does the meter offer special alarms to distinguish highs and lows? Does it connect to a PC or perform internal trend analysis? How large is the memory? Certainly this list is not all inclusive, but will guide you on some vague considerations when choosing a meter.

Glucose meters are, quite literally, a dime a dozen. Ladies and gentleman, the world is your oyster. Make this meter market your own and take no prisoners. I know in days to come I will be sharing a few reviews of my own. Tell me what your meter can do. Tell me what it can't do. Tell me what else you want it to do. I'm sure the blood glucose meter powers that be would love to hear what tickles your fancy. Ask and thou shall receive.