DONATED BLOOD AGAIN for the Blue/Orange blood drive. The questions just seem to get longer, but the crowd was good today — and, somewhat unusually, almost all male. Usually it seems to lean the other way.

I don’t know if Tennessee will beat Kentucky again, but either way it’s a win. And yeah, this is a recycled photo from a past donation, but it always looks about the same. And hey, it seems like everybody’s recycling imagery these days anyway. . . .

BLOOD SHORTAGES IN KNOXVILLE: I’ve donated twice this year; guess I’ll have to do it again soon. I’m afraid this problem is more general, though.

SO I DONATED BLOOD TODAY — no picture, because, once again, I neglected to take a camera. On the other hand, I’ve probably gotten all the mileage I can out of the blood-donation photo op already. This time it was at my gym where they were having a blood drive, and, as is often the case, I was the only male donating. If I were single, I think I’d donate more often — there are lots of young, attractive women there, they’re presumptively healthy and probably somewhat altruistic, and it’s natural to strike up a conversation since they keep you waiting a lot. (I chatted with a lovely oncology nurse today). I didn’t really start giving blood until after I got married, so this is all academic to me, but you single guys out there take note. And besides, it’s embarrassing that men are so underrepresented.

BLOOD-BLOGGING: I donated blood again for the Blue/Orange blood drive. (This picture is actually from last year because — yes, it’s humiliating to admit — I didn’t have a digital camera on me. But it looked about the same, except that I was wearing a Tennessee Law Review t-shirt this time.)

As I’ve noted before, the extremely strict rules on blood donation nowadays mean there’s often a shortage of donors. I try to give whenever I can to help make up for that, and I encourage you to do the same if you’re eligible to give blood.

SO MY MEMORIAL DAY ACTIVITY WAS GIVING BLOOD: I missed the blood drive at the law school this spring, and I try to give twice a year, given that under the new, stricter rules I’m one of the relatively few people who can give blood these days. They had the blood drive set up at the mall, so I donated while the Insta-Wife and Insta-Daughter shopped for swimsuits. (They scored big at Guess.) As I’ve noted before, the questionnaire gets longer and longer, but the Medic folks did a pretty good job of moving me through quickly. Unlike some of my experiences donating at the University, the crowd here was more than half male. Then again, the sex-ratio has evened out the last couple of times I’ve donated at school, too.

If you’re eligible, consider donating — I’m not really kidding about the shortage of donors these days.

UPDATE: Amusing caption: “Already I feel the power of the nanobots coursing through my veins! Soon I will be fit to sire a race of immortal robot lawyers.” But one that comes years after the fact. . . .

I DONATED BLOOD TODAY, as part of the Blue/Orange blood drive competition with Kentucky. Tennessee had a lead of well over 100 pints, meaning that we’ve got a decent chance at winning something this weekend, anyway. . . .

Turnout was very good, and once again I was interested to see that the sex ratio — once skewed heavily toward women — seemed to have evened out. The blood folks said that was their impression, too. Best button: “Phlebotomists have bloody good ideas!”

The list of questions and exclusions seems to get longer every time I do this. As I’ve noted here before, I wonder if all these exclusions might not cost as many lives as they save. Since I’m one of the few people I know who’s eligible to give blood, I try to do it a couple of times a year, since it’s got to come from someplace.

UPDATE: Reader D. Norwood writes: “As the parent of 2 immune deficient children who are alive today because of regular infusions of a blood product (gamma globulin), I want to thank you for donating blood. You literally saved lives today and 2 of those lives are very precious to me.”

If you can donate, it’s good to do so. We take blood availability for granted but, like a lot of things that we take for granted, it’s only there because people do what’s necessary.

JUST GAVE BLOOD as part of the annual Blue/Orange blood drive competition with the University of Kentucky. The list of questions they ask just keeps getting longer, and I continue to wonder how much good (or harm) it’s doing, given that as a regular donor I get plaintive “we’re short of blood” calls on a regular basis now. (More on this here and here.) At any rate, they’re screening out so many people that I encourage everyone who is eligible to donate — there aren’t that many of us left.

One interesting observation: This is the first time I’ve donated on campus where there were more men than women giving. Usually it’s quite lopsided in the other direction. One of the techs there told me that it’s been that way this year; no idea why.

I GAVE BLOOD at the law school blood drive right before my Constitutional Law class. I’m not sure how good an idea that was. Giving blood never makes me dizzy or faint, but I was just a touch lightheaded — it was sort of like having downed a shot right before class. For all I know, it was an improvement. . . .

Aside from my secretary (who had donated just before me, and who kindly snapped this picture) and one male student, the crowd donating and waiting was entirely female. I don’t know if that’s representative or not, but it seems as if every time I donate on campus it’s that way.

Anyhow, there’s apparently a non-trivial blood shortage in most of the nation, and even those places with plenty on hand are having to send some of theirs elsewhere to make up the difference.

Part of the reason may be (as I blogged here and here back when InstaPundit was young) that they’re getting more and more picky about who they’ll take blood from. In particular, they seem extraordinarily worried about mad cow disease, with ever-more-stringent limits on blood donation by people who have spent time in the UK. Perhaps the reasons for that are better than I realize (which is a bit worrisome, if so), but I wonder how many lives it’s saving, versus lives potentially lost because of blood shortages. Has anyone looked into that lately?

In the meantime, I guess the rest of us in the ever-dwindling group of approved donors should roll up our sleeves. It’s virtually painless, and no big deal. Plus, I got a free cookie!