Matthew Butterman

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Beautiful Precision is my goal...

Robust and effective communication through the written word is my passion! The name of my copywriting venture, Verba Optima, is translated from Latin as "best words", and my goal as a writer is to choose words that convey my client's message with beautiful precision. 

The majority of my portfolio is comprised of stories written for Handbuilt Bicycle Guide, the website that I am part-owner and News Editor for. Other areas of interest, and topics of recent articles, include music and fine arts, health and fitness, cybersecurity and cryptocurrency technologies.

No topic is off the table for me, and I relish the opportunity to learn and to expand my horizons as a writer while in pursuit of my clients' goals.

Handbuilt Bicycle News •

David Staudacher's 1992 Vitus 992: King Kelly's weapon

At the Classic Rendezvous Weekend, David Staudacher displayed a replica of the French bicycle that Irishman Sean Kelly rode to a dramatic victory at the Italian classic Milan-San Remo in the twilight of his career. David Staudacher owns a 1992 Vitus with an international race-winning pedigree. At the Classic Rendezvous Weekend, he displayed a replica of the French bicycle that Irishman Sean Kelly rode to a dramatic victory at the Italian classic Milan-San Remo in the twilight of his career. In
Handbuilt Bicycle News •

Classic Rendezvous Weekend: The Last of the Mohicans

The Classic Rendezvous Weekend, a celebration of vintage, classic and retro-inspired bicycles, takes place this weekend, May 18-20, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Organizer Dale Brown says that the 2018 event will be the final one. Dale Brown has been a major player in the vintage bicycle world since, well, many of the current bicycles in his collection were contemporary, cutting edge models. The long-time proprietor of Cycles de Oro in Greensboro, North Carolina and the popular vintage bike...
Diabetes Daily •

I Lost My Insulin!

Maybe it’s because I never joined the Boy Scouts or did military service, but I’ve never been the most organized person, and truth be told, I’m a bit scatterbrained. Nevertheless, having diabetes demands diligence and preparedness, and so when it really counts I get my act together. I’ve traveled extensively domestically and internationally during my 40-plus years with type 1, but on all those trips I never once lost my insulin permanently, until this April 1st. Yes, April Fools Day.
Diabetes Daily •

Wilford Brimley: Mr. Diabeetus

You may know him as the gruff baseball team manager and owner Pop Fisher from the 1984 film The Natural, starring Robert Redford. You might also recognize him as one of the star geezers from 1985’s geriatric reincarnation epic, Cocoon. His raspy baritone voice extolled the consumption of Quaker Oats as “the right thing to do, and a tasty way to do it” in an ad campaign during the 1980s and 90s. But you almost certainly can identify Wilford Brimley as the no-nonsense spokesperson...
Diabetes Daily •

Does Having Diabetes Give You an Advantage?

My general practice doctor, an osteopath, once told me that having diabetes is a blessing because my good health habits will ensure a long and robust life. While that might seem preposterous, it’s an enormously positive outlook on life circumstances, and this attitude in and of itself may enable the rosy outcome it predicts. But his explanation of the blessing is also absolutely correct: whether inspired by the specter of complications down the road, or just by the desire to live an active life
Diabetes Daily •

Sports Nutrition for Athletes with Diabetes

Barely 25 years ago, your choice of sports nutrition was between orange and lemon-lime Gatorade, but today it’s a nearly 30 billion dollar per year market with a head-spinning array of varieties and brands. We’ll take a look at how athletes with diabetes should make their sports nutrition choices and give recommendations based on both nutritional data and my own experiences from 32 years of endurance cycling with type 1 diabetes. Any discussion of sports nutrition should begin with a simple...
Diabetes Daily •

Going Long: Spring Endurance Sports and Diabetes

Regular physical activity is a requirement these days for optimal diabetes management. While indoor activities like weight training, CrossFit, and yoga classes should be part of an overall fitness routine, when warmer weather returns, many of us like to get outside. We will address here a few of the most common outdoor endurance activities that we can do either solo or with a group – walking, running, and bicycling – and examine the diabetes management challenges they create.
Laborocity •

The Contract Worker Marketplace: The Advantages You Need to Know Now

The On-Demand economy has created new staffing needs for businesses and greater opportunities for contract workers. Demand for workers ebbs and flows with the rapidly changing business cycle. Businesses that quickly and efficiently meet staffing needs will come out on top. Using a hiring platform to add contract workers can help solve a variety of staff shortage problems: ● Staffing demands that vary from project to project ● Seasonal shifts in labor demands ● Family, medical or maternity leave
Diabetes Daily •

Spring's Coming: Managing Your Diabetes When the Seasons Change

Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow on Groundhog’s Day, forecasting six more weeks of winter, but in many parts of the country, crocuses have already pushed through the thawing soil. The changes in your body’s metabolism that happen as the days grow longer and trees begin to blossom are just as profound as the slowdown that happens in winter. Here are some ways to anticipate and better navigate the seasonal shift. One thing is pretty much guaranteed: your diabetes management will be...
Handbuilt Bicycle Guide •

Vince Lupo's 1983 Lovell time trial bike

Toronto native Vince Lupo shows us his time trial specialty bike from the early 1980s that carries the legacy of a legend of Canadian cycling. Our continuing series The Ride features special bicycles from current or past custom builders. Soon you will have the chance to profile your own bike in our Owner's Gallery coming to HBG very shortly. Canada isn’t all about ice hockey, skiing and curling. Although winters are long in the Great White North, Canada also has a rich history in cycling...
Handbuilt Bicycle Guide •

NAHBS 2018 comes to New England: Day One

The 2018 North American Handmade Bicycle Show kicked off Friday, February 16th in Hartford, Connecticut, the show's first-ever visit to New England. Matt Butterman offers his take at first blush. The 2018 edition of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) kicked off at the Connecticut Convention Center in the capital city of Hartford on Friday, February 16th. It was the first ever visit of the show to New England, traditionally considered the birthplace of the hand crafted...
Diabetes Daily •

Be Extreme! Seven Lessons for People with Diabetes Doing Extreme and Adventure Sports

Have you ever wanted to jump out of an airplane, bungee jump from a high bridge, or scale a 14,000 foot peak? While these activities might not be everyone’s cup of tea, just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean that you can’t take part in these adrenaline and adventure sports. We tapped the wisdom and experience of Dave Nevins, a veteran extreme, adventure and ultra athlete with type 1 diabetes, and we’re sharing his advice with you. Nevins has no limits. Reading his list of accomplishments...
Diabetes Daily •

Becoming a Type 1 Parent: Two Mothers' Stories

The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes comes for many families like a bolt from the blue: in the blink of an eye, everything about the family’s previous existence changes, and life never returns to what it was like before a child or teen was diagnosed with the lifelong condition. According to the Joslin Diabetes Center, only ten percent of the families of newly diagnosed type 1 children have a known family history of diabetes. Such was the case with Karen, a collegiate minister, author...
Handbuilt Bicycle Guide •

Hampsten Cycles: sign of the boar

Steve Hampsten uses a team of some of the best builders in the U.S., and his famous brother Andy's guidance, to create bicycles with classic design virtues and understated elegance. Steve and Andy Hampsten are brothers whose talents and interests perfectly complement each other. In the cycling world alone, there are many examples of brothers where one of the pair eclipses the other, at least as far as race results are concerned: Miguel and Prudencio Indurain, and Stephen and Laurence Roche are...
Handbuilt Bicycle Guide •

44 Bikes: Now in titanium

Based in rural New Hampshire, 44 Bikes are built-to-order from steel, and new for 2018, titanium tubesets. Based in rural New Hampshire, 44 Bikes are built-to-order from steel, and new for 2018, titanium tubesets. Owner Kristoffer Henry welcomes conversation and collaboration about the bike of your dreams. He offers road, mountain, gravel and fat bike options, but for Henry, like his fellow New Englander, poet Robert Frost, the appeal is in the road (or path) less traveled.
Oratorio Society of Virginia •

J.A.C. Redford and the veil of Hollywood

We all remember the scene from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, where Toto the dog pulls back a curtain on a booth in the great hall of the Emerald City, to reveal a scrawny man frantically pulling levers and flipping switches as the booming voice and projected image of the wizard exhorts Dorothy and company to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” The men and women who write music for Hollywood productions are a bit like that man behind the curtain in the sense that viewers are...
Handbuilt Bicycle Guide •

Bicycles and Coffee: quality matters

Bicycles and Coffee, a retail shop in the western Washington DC suburb of Purcellville, Virginia, serves up the best of artisan bicycles and coffee. The name of Purcellville, Virginia’s Bicycles and Coffee holds no secrets: the retail shop in the growing community of about 10,000 people on the western fringes of the Washington, DC metropolitan area serves up the best of both prized commodities. If bikes and coffee are a perfect pair, then it’s matched by the marriage of the two passionate...
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