Time to Speak Up
February 11, 2008
My tainted blood is pumping red, white and blue. I know I’m not a politico, though politics have crept into this blog as of late. I’m just excited about the political landscape, and how engaged people are on all sides of the barbed-wire fence.
I support Obama, but I know there are folks who support the other candidates just as passionately. I didn’t want to be an Obama Girl With AIDS, just posting my silly little blog and not doing anything substantial, so the last two days I’ve placed calls for the campaign.
Obama Girl didn’t vote for Obama in the Jersey primary: she was hungover from a Super Bowl party two days earlier. Earlier, she slipped that she was actually for Hillary, who didn’t get her vote, either. Look for Obama Girl in an upcoming American Legends Coin Collectors series.
It’s pretty simple: you log on, create a profile much like MySpace, and you earn points by helping out. If you get enough points, you get a Joe Camel windbreaker. (Not true.) It’s pretty awesome, though, cold-calling folks, and I really like being on the other end of that shit stick for a change.
“Hi, this is Shawn, I’m a volunteer for the Obama For America campaign…”
“I ain’t interested!” *CLICK*
Out of 30 calls, I’ve probably had 5 conversations. Most of the time it’s just as simple as leaving a message on someone’s answering machine, reminding them that the primary is Tuesday and I’m calling as a shill for Barack.
Barack Obama, just before he announced that he was running.
Of course, the easiest thing about making these calls is when someone screams in glee when they hear Obama’s name. “Yes!” It’s cool to hear the enthusiasm, and I don’t try to convert or kill the buzz when I encounter someone who feels the same way about another candidate. One of the reasons I like Obama is because he is respectful of the opposing political party and I, as a person with hemophilia and HIV, know that both Republicans and Democrats have stepped up to help my community, one that can easily fall through the cracks.
So, regardless of who you are voting for, if you live in Virginia, DC or Maryland, try to get out tomorrow (Tuesday) and vote in the Primary. If you don’t know who you like, check out the Candidate Calculator.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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In other news, Gwenn and I hit the road this week for another semester of speaking! Here’s a video of us doing our thing.
Full-Blown Obamania
February 9, 2008
All the symptoms are presenting themselves: an audacity of excessive hope, an accute deficiency of cynicism and unexplainable waves of enthusiasm.
Yes, I know if he is elected he’ll have to endure the worst first-possibly-only-term a president could have. It’s there for whoever wins, because you can’t clean up a junkyard- or even try to- and come out smelling like roses. Sure, it sucks that the only antidote for Obamania is an Obama presidency.
Oh well, I’ll still take that medicine.
Speaking of medicine, I’m going in for labwork on Monday to see if my viral load is undetectable after a week on meds. (New readers: I take my HIV meds for one week, then go off for a week.) At last check, my t-cells were close to 700: the highest they’ve been in 20 years (GREAT NEWS!), But my viral load was detectable.
Those labs were taken at the tail end of a week off meds. It’s one of the few times in eight years on meds that the VL has been detectable. I’m not worried, since it was such a low blip. Doesn’t mean I’m in any imminent danger, at worst it means that if repeated tests show an increase in viral load, then I may have to switch meds.
I doubt that will happen.
What I am curious about is finding out how Obamania has affected those rising t-cells.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS… the issues are what matters, find out which candidate agrees with you, and then vote for them.
Romney for Drunkenstein’s!
February 8, 2008
So there was a guy who wanted to open a bar in Tempe, was denied a liquor license, and to protest that decision he wanted to kill football fans at the Super Bowl.
You can read the story here. It’s hardly amusing, and thankfully he didn’t go through with his attempt to prove that he could handle the pressures of unlimited access to beer. What is funny is that locals opposed the liquor license because they heard that his Halloween-themed bar was going to be called “DRUNKENSTEIN’S”.
Killing people? Bad idea. Naming a bar “Drunkenstein’s”? Great idea.
In other news, vaunted businessman and multigazillionaire presidential candidate Mitt Romney is now out of the race…
I can’t help but piece these two stories together. Even though I don’t drink too often, I am absolutely in love with the idea of Drunkenstein’s lining every street in America and, in my opinion, Romney’s the only guy whose got the business chops and the free time to make it happen.
I hope you’ll drink to that plan.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
From Super Bowl to Super Tuesday
February 4, 2008
The New York Giants did it!
I probably lost some t-cells over that game, watching Giants slip in the endzone, drop footballs, flip them into Patriots open arms. But all the while they hung in there. Plus, Eli Manning is engaged to his college sweatheart, and Tom Brady- who chickened out on getting his legs lopped off- is dating Giselle Budngendkingsinton.
Now on to the next underdog: Barack Obama. I’m not sure if he’s actually an underdog at this point, but I do hope he fairs as well as the Giants did tomorrow. Before I go on, I have to say I’m not a Hillary hater. And I do have a fondness for the Clinton presidency. I wasn’t following politics too closely when Bill took office- I was 17- but five years later I was stunned to find my way into the White House on World AIDS Day, 2007.
Along with a handful of teen HIV/AIDS educators, most had started groups at their high schools, I met then AIDS Czar Sandra Thurman and Vice President Al Gore through the White House’s Office on AIDS. At 22, I was the oldest guest there, and the only positoid, and I’d hardly scratched the surface of my educational work at that point. Still, just being invited into the White House validated my desire to change attitudes about those living with HIV. Being thanked by my government for my role in the fight against AIDS… those were the days.
That trip to DC was an important moment. My adult life was really beginning to take form, ten years after the 1987 diagnosis that was supposed to kill me before I could drive. Having written that, I stand by my feeling that this country can be run by more than two families. Since 1980, a Bush or Clinton has been in the White House, for better or worse. I think, for lack of a better word, it’s time for a change.
Barack Obama, he’s my Manning in the game. And I hope he goes all the way.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
My Pet Virus… The Movie?
February 1, 2008
In 2005, I didn’t have a book deal. Or an agent to find me one. The only thing I had were a few files on my computer called “My Pet Virus: The Book” and a dream.
(And HIV.)
Still, I was looking ahead of the book and dreaming of the story on the big screen: and on the Movies Section on the MySpace page I wrote about MPV: The Movie, starring James Van Der Beek, turning in a stirring performance, as Shawn Decker. Well, in the last several months I was approached by an interested party about turning the book into a screenplay, and a talented, funny young writer is working on it right now. Which is pretty rad. (No word from Van Der Beek’s peeps, yet.) It’s only in the beginning stages of what is sure to be a lengthy process, but it’s cool that this is out there, floating around. Whether others feel inspired, or find the story worthy of being birthed into that format, well that is totally out of my control.
And I’m cool with that. Just the other day I got a message from someone who just completed a high school book report on My Pet Virus. The book is out there, floating around. And I love that. So now, with the fantasy that much closer to a reality, I’ve gone back to fantasizing about who would play me in MPV: The Movie, and I’ve come up with someone who is even more worthy than James Van Der Beek: and that is Bruce Willis.
Too old, you say? Nonsense.
One need only to go rent The Kid, starring Mr. Willis himself, to be convinced that he is the man for the job. In The Kid they didn’t put make-up on him, and Bruce didn’t have the boyish qualities that made Martin Short shine as Clifford. (In 1992, Martin Short delighted- and terrified- audiences with his portrayal of the meddlesome 10-year old, Clifford.)
In The Kid, all Bruce Willis did was throw on a baseball cap and act his ass off. By the end of the film, as the credits rolled, I had no doubts that Bruce was indeed a kid. And he’s the only person who can bring life to my life’s story.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS… Can you imagine the Hemo2Homo Review of My Pet Virus: The Movie?
LIFE IN PHOTOS
Face Time fun with my Goddaughter. She was digging our phone chat- even though we were about three feet away from one another.
Making the enemy quit out with @squirrel_munky and @vaineos :)
Closing out the Joe with @gwennbarringer this afternoon.
Caught in full Mocha Mode...
Speaking About Sexual Health
Since 2000, Shawn and Gwenn have been speaking about sexual health together, sharing their personal story and empowering others to be safe. If you are interested in having them speak at your event, fill out the Contact Us form.
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