Snarky Sarkies... Everywhere!

The bad news is: There are a lot of Snarky Sarkies out there.

The good news is: There are a lot of Snarky Sarkies out there making noise about it!

A quick update on the grassroots Snarky Sarkie campaign; in little over one month the results are encouraging. As you may have seen; people are proudly sporting their favorite Sarcoidosis awareness slogans in public and its starting to ignite discussion about our disease.

A few things you may not know are that people from as far away as India, Austria, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Norway, England, and Peurto Rico have joined the movement. That was unexpected. Very cool.

Also, in a very very cool turn of events (or event) The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research is auctioning off four very popular tee shirt designs (SupercalifragilisticexpiSarcoidosis) this Saturday February 7th at the 2009 KISS Chicago charitable event (Kick In to Stop Sarcoidosis) Let's hope these shirts bring in a ton of donations each (wouldn't it be great if some eccentric gazillionare with a huge heart bid a bajillion dollars?) The FSR does great work all year long, visit and support them when you can.

What you also may not know is that while anyone can wear a shirt or sport a mug to promote awareness, there are Snarky Sarkie shirts specifically for the friends, brothers, sisters, moms. dads, sons, and daughters, of we Snarky Sarkies. I hope to add even more designs specifically for those that love us, care for us, and put up with us.

I hope soon to compile the stories of what happens when these messages hit the eyeballs of John Q. Public. That's phase two of my plan. I have an interesting few tales about me and the "Secret Sauce" shirt... but you're gonna have to wait on that one... heh. Anyone who has a good story about the public reactions they get, please private message me.

Another unforeseen pleasant side-effect of this has been the opportunity to help those with disfiguring cutaneous sarc explain down the stares of others and enlighten them at the same time. Very satisfying.

I have also had some unexpected thanks from a sister sites of ours; the gals over at Womens Heart have taken a shine to the "Fearless Heart" design, which was orriginally designed for our Sarc Heart family. Also, some folks from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune really love the "OW!" design. So, if anything, we are inadvertently helping other causes as well.

The Prednisone designs also seem to have some cross-over appeal for our friends with other disease that require a dance with the evil little pill. We're happy to lighten the burden with levity if we can.

New designs are on the way as promiced, such as: "Sarcoidosis Research Needs a 10 Trillion Dollar Stimulus Package!"

Oh! And for those newbies out there wondering what the heck a Snarky Sarkie is: A Snarky Sarkie is someone with Sarcoidosis that is not content to sit back and be quiet about Sarcoidosis, but fights it with every fiber of their being! With guts and fortitude! Are you, or do you know, a Snarky Sarkie? Wear a shirt or sport a mug and flash yourself proudly!

We need all the walking billboards we can get.

Thank you all for participating.

—theGardener

ps. I have read, with great enthusiasm, the good works that our UK friend, Keifs, has done with his Sarcoidosis Petition drive. If someone wants to get the ball rolling with a US version, that would be swell. We also have an open letter that I crafted in my journal to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi... everyone is invited to copy that and send it in. Here's the link: A Small Slice of Mercy



— My name is theGardener; I have two dogs, a cat, and a really weird sarcoidosis secret sauce shirt that gets me funny looks.

"Don't just complain... Be a Snarky Sarkie!" Click Here!

Read More of TheGardener's Journal Here.