The Four Days of Thanksgiving
November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving Day gets bigger every year. You got the eat-a-thon on Thursday, the shop-a-thon on Black Friday, then the aftermath on Grey Saturday…
But wait, it’s not even over then! Because then there’s the last mad dash to the malls on Sunday Bloody Sunday, before returning to work on Manic Monday, which coincides with World AIDS Day this year.
If that weren’t enough, Black Friday marked the first observation of Native American Heritage Day, which will occur on the day after Thanksgiving from now on.
Speaking of Black Friday, the news about the Wal-Mart employee being trampled to death was just horrible. There’s gotta be a way for humans to realize they are walking on other humans and for what? Just to save $75 on a television set… I just don’t get it. This is why, from now on, I’m advising my thinblooded brothers and sisters to observe Native American Heritage Day and stay the hell away from the aptly titled Black Friday and the reckless herd of thickbloods.
As far as Thanksgivings go, I couldn’t have had a better time this year. Went to my parents house up in the mountains of Lexington, and our friend Lauren and her baby, Evelyn (we covered the first presidential debate together) joined us. I got to hang out with my still-new niece, Helayna, who is 9 months old and full of smiles. Then for dinner, Gwenn and I joined Lauren at her grandparents house for a more formal affair in the evening. All in all, a very relaxed and joyous day of eating and sipping red wine.
Black Friday started early for me. Not because I was waiting in line at Best Buy, but because I woke up with a sore throat. It felt like a bacterial infection, so Gwenn took me to Prompt Care in the hopes of getting a prescription for antibiotics. When we walked in, I felt like time immediately stood still… just a bad vibe. When the receptionist told me to wait, I turned to Gwenn and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
I mean, really. At least take my name, so when I sit down and you call me up to the window, it isn’t by saying, “Hey, you.”
I’m not a snobby patient, I’m just in tune with my medical chi, and I felt like my whole day was going to be ruined if I put my fate in the hands of Prompt Care. We sought refuge at Martha Jefferson Hospital’s version of Prompt Care across town, and my medical chi vibe was immediately validated.
“Hello!” The full-of-life receptionist said. “Have a seat and let me get you signed in. You name?”
Before I could take off my coat, I was back in the room. A nice nurse entered the room, wheeling in a laptop. She registered me while I waited for the doctor, who came in less than ten minutes from the time I walked through the door.
I explained my symptoms, and he asked if it hurt when I swallowed. I swallowed, and said it hurt a little, but nothing too bad. (It got worse the next day.) Then he did a throat swab, which came back negative for strep. “Probably a viral infection,” he said. “I’ve prescribed some Vicodin for the pain.”
Now, I’ve never taken Vicodin, but I’ve heard it can take the pain away. Today, when I woke up with a sore throat, that little pill made it go away in short order.
As I mentioned after the last bout with a sore throat, I was hoping to get that out of the way in time for the World AIDS Week travels, which start tomorrow. Thankfully, the travel load isn’t too bad- we have two flights for four speaking engagements, three of which are happening in one state.
And, even with another sore throat, I am thankful to be educating this week, and commemorating World AIDS Day with my lovely love, Gwenn. Will be reporting the week’s events here, as well as on my Twitter page.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
The Karate Kid and World AIDS Day
November 25, 2008
I’m thrilled by my most recent endorsement for My Pet Virus. You may remember these guys from The Karate Kid.
While not at their 1980’s fighting heyday, the Cobra Kai Dojo is still turning out some knuckle-justice bullies who believe in the “strike first, ask questions later” philosophy. Next Monday is World AIDS Day, and I think we can all take a page from the Cobra Kai philosophy when it comes to HIV/AIDS, an epidemic that is in serious need of an ass-whoopin’.
So, if you’re looking for a way to commemorate World AIDS Day, switch your Facebook/MySpace profile icon over to the red ribbon below. Let friends know that World AIDS Day is approaching, so they can join in as well. And remember the wise lessons of Sensei Kreese:
“What do we study here?”
Karate Class: “THE WAY OF THE FIST SIR.”
“And what is that way?”
Karate Class: “STRIKE FIRST. STRIKE HARD. NO MERCY SIR!”
HIV has had it too easy for too long. It’s time for no mercy. It’s time to…
Sweep the Leg,
Shawn
Storm Lake Sunday
November 22, 2008
Tomorrow Gwenn and I will be traveling to Storm Lake, Iowa, to speak at Buena Vista University. Storm Lake is real, even though it sounds like a town from a Stephen King novel.
Wasn’t able to get out to see Twilight yet, we’re planning on seeing a matinee when we get back home. Will drop Steve from the Hemo2Homo Connection an email to see if he’s interested in seeing it- I know he likes his blood and vampire flicks, plus he may be willing to chime in on the unanswered question from the last blog- “Can vampires get AIDS?”
I’ll be micro-blogging on my Twitter site, so if I see anything Stephen King-esque on our trip to Storm Lake, I’ll report my findings there. I’ll take my camera, too, in case I come across any cops on Segways in the airport. Here’s the only one I’ve been able to capture in all my travels. I sincerely believe that Cop on Segway videos are the new UFO videos.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
The Twilight (of My Cold)
November 21, 2008
Whatever I had is finally leaving my body. With the time change, and the late nights of Nyquil-induced slumber, I went three days without seeing sunlight.
But now, I’m ready to re-emerge among the living, and the bright flashes of sunlight that greeted me today in the cold, brisk, air only made it apparent that I’d missed my deadline for my 2nd book.
To have my next book- a vampire book- completed and sent to my high falootin’ NYC agent by the time Twilight hit theatres was a great plan, the hope being to have my book published before the second Twilight movie sucks the genre dry. But my 10-long ailment precluded me from doing some final writing and editing, and early attempts to do so in a sickened haze proved unfruitful.
I felt defeated, as I played online poker in the darkness, the glow of the laptop making my face look paler than usual. Coughing quietly to myself, I drank my nectar of lemon and water, wondering if I’d be missing out on a chance to ride the vampire craze to much-deserved riches.
Then I remembered an article a friend sent me, just as my transformation to coughing fiend began early last week. It suggested a I had a much longer window of opportunity to slide through… a four year window.
The article suggests that vampires as entertainment thrive during Democratic administrations, while zombies rule the Earth during Republican’s glory days. No, this doesn’t mean I’ll wait until the end of Obama’s first term, but it does mean that I shouldn’t beat myself up for getting sick.
Still, as Gwenn and I were catching up on our E.R. episodes the other night, there was an obvious sign that I shouldn’t let my vampire book- which has a character who is HIV positive- sleep in the coffin for too much longer. In the scene, a mother asks Abbie if she can have the “talk” with her two young sons, because she is too embarrassed. It quickly becomes apparent the boys are too young, and have other things on their minds.
“Can vampires get AIDS?” One of the brothers asks.
It was like someone slapped me in the face, and asked what else do I need to finish this damn book.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
A Positoid’s Tribute to E.R.
November 19, 2008
I can’t take any pills for the kind of lingering cough I have right now, so my only prescription is some herbal remedies and an excessive amount of E.R. episodes.
For those who don’t know, E.R. is a television show about a hospital in Chicago called County General. New interns unwittingly enter, believing they will learn what it takes to become successful doctors. Those who have been around keep the dark secret of County General under wraps, never telling the newcomers that the place was built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Hoping they will take over so that they the elder doctors can move on.
Somehow the spirits never fully tip their hand to the interns, even when a helicopter lops off a doctor’s arm. Then, the same doctor perishes a couple of seasons later when a helicopter crashes down on him. I don’t know about you, but I’d be putting in for my transfer after that.
But no, the young would-be doctors stay, and over the years they meet their gruesome demises, one by one, as the rest of the E.R. hopes to accomplish the ultimate in medical miracles, to cure the ancient spirits of their insatiable bloodlust.
In the last week, Gwenn and I have cleaned out our TiVo, speeding through commerical breaks for last year’s hottest Christmas items, then hitting Valentine’s Day ads, and now, finally, we’re up to McCain and Obama ads.
The series ends in February, a dark day for thinbloods who have long enjoyed the bloodiest show to ever hit network television. I was looking for a complilation of the show’s most violent moments, but only found sappy tributes to Luka and Abby’s love story. I did find the original opening credits…
I started watching the show with Gwenn shortly after we moved in together in 1999. When it first aired in 1994, I was in a totally different place, living in Waynesboro with my parents.
Fresh out of high school, and two years away from speaking out about my HIV status. I was wondering how much my recent hepatitis C infection (found out in the summer of 1994 that I’d been infected by a recent blood product treatment, deemed to be “cleared” of the virus in 2005) would affect my health. So, when my mom became obsessed with this new show, I asked the obvious question.
“Haven’t you seen enough hospital drama in your lifetime?”
I didn’t get it.
But now, after a decade of watching it, I do. The show makes everyones’ medical dramas pale in comparison. People with HIV, diabetes, cancer and whatever else ails us as humans can tune in every week, and somehow feel better about ourselves after watching an episode. As doctors arms are lopped off, when grab a handful of popcorn. When a maniac enters the E.R. and starts shooting up the place, that missed attempt by an intern to find a vein doesn’t seem so bad. By the end of every episode, there you are,thanking your lucky stars that you don’t have it that bad.
And really, what more can you ask for from a T.V. show? E.R., you will be missed.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Veteran’s Day
November 17, 2008
In the last week, Gwenn and I sent out about 800 postcards to colleges and universities, informing them about our safe sexiness.
It’s something we’ve been doing since the beginning of our campus speaking career back in 2000. The hope is that the schools like it enough to check out the website, or write for more information and, of course, eventually have us on campus to speak to students.
Here’s the one we just sent for the Spring 2009 semester.
As it stands, we have extra postcards around from previous mailings, which makes for confusing Christmas card mailings to friends and family. “Merry Christmas, Aunt Sally!”, written beside the harrowing fact that half of all new HIV infections occur in people under the age of 25. No, we don’t really do that, but I’m thinking that this is a good year to unload outdated postcards.
I enjoy designing the layout for these postcards, and it just dawned on me that a lot of schools received the postcard (pictured here) on Veteran’s Day. Which is oddly appropriate, since that’s a picture of my dearly departed grandfather, Pop, who fought in World War II, as did my other dearly departed grandfather.
Each generation seems to have their own wars, in the literal sense, such as the Iraq War, and in the figurative sense. I know myself well enough to understand that I would suck in combat- I have a weak stomach and am only comfortable at the sight of blood if it’s my own or if it’s in a slasher flick. (Had a lot of experience there, on both accounts.)
But still, the battle to acknowledge sexual health, to be open about how Gwenn and I can successfully have a healthy relationship with HIV involved, is not something I take lightly. My jokes are my bullets, my lover is my calvary and, I hope, my dearly departed grandfathers are saluting me on the other side.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
LemonAIDS
November 14, 2008
How does the joke go? When God gives you AIDS, take lemon shots?
Well, God may not have given me AIDS, but he sure saddled me down with whatever gunk is going around. The coughing, the just feeling blah. In an effort to turn the tide today, I did three lemon shots.
What sucks about the timing is that I’ve had trouble writing this week. After a couple of days of trying, I found that my body needed to just chill out, and my mind was starting to turn on me a bit. So, instead of screwing up things, I figured I’d kick back and give myself the best chance of getting better.
What’s good about the timing is that Gwenn and I aren’t traveling for another week and a half. So I can veg out, even if I miss my Twilight deadline… All I can say now is Thank God for TiVo. I’ve been watching some ER from April- seriously backlogued there- and my new favorite show of all-time, Scare Tactics. If you haven’t seen this, you have to check out this clip from one of VH1’s myriad of countdown shows…
Aside from lemon shots and practical jokes, I’m ingesting a lot of stories about HIV. Like the guy in Germany who had a bone marrow transplant, which has apparently cured him of HIV. Here’s a story that says it’s too grueling and expensive a procedure to be considered as a “cure all”. The link above claims that bone marrow transplants are a last stage effort that kills 30% of cancer patients who undergo the procedure, but the hope is that there’s a scientific clue, something there to be exploited and pursued further.
For now, I’m pretty sure that lemon shots don’t kill people with colds/gunk. Day two of the tangy treatment begins tomorrow. I hope to report back.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Legally Bond, CT Greenlights Same-Sex Marriage
November 13, 2008
Connecticut has determined that gay marriage is legal, squarely kicking Proposition H8 in the ol’ wedding favors.
The other night I was watching Countdown With Keith Olbermann. On November 10, his Special Comment, the rant that ends his show as masterfully lampooned by Ben Affleck on Saturday Night Live, was about Proposition 8. I couldn’t write it better than he says it here.
The odds of me living a full life are great. It was the gay community that fought to have the AIDS issue brought into the light in the 1980’s, to make sure treatments were being developed so more friends wouldn’t have to be buried. To ensure that politicians would acknowledge what was happening in their communities. To get condoms distributed and information in hands.
When I was a scared kid, afraid to tell my best friends I was positive, the gay community was fighting on the streets. On my behalf.
So as long as I’m living this full life, I will do everything to stand up and fight for this issue. I strongly believe that History will look back on this for what it is, another sorry example of discrimination. I also think it is important that we all say something about this, and reveal the push to ban gay marriage for what it truly is- an act of ignorance, cruelty and hate.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Power to the Positoids
November 11, 2008
I recently wrote about how cool it would be for Sean Strub, founder of Poz Magazine, to be appointed as the AIDS Czar by the Obama Administration.
The New York Times has already endorsed Sean. Not for AIDS Czar, but for having a cool home and being one of the best ambassador’s us positoids have. In the article, Sean says, “One only needs to look at the invisibility of AIDS in this year’s presidential contest to see how our political muscle has atrophied.”
And that’s why we need him. Badly.
The good news about Obama and the AIDS epidemic is that he has already endorsed condom use as a means to prevent HIV transmission. And when he recently spoke about getting his girls a First Dog, Obama mentioned the possibility of rescuing one from the shelter. Just like Sean Strub did. Hmmmm….
If President Elect Obama doesn’t see it my way, I live two-hours from D.C. and have a closet full of foam board and markers. I will drive there and picket if I have to. We need people living with AIDS in positions of political and social influence, and having a knowledgeable, compassionate positoid as the AIDS Czar would be incredibly inspiring.
Yes we can.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
HIV in High School
November 10, 2008
As we all await teenage vampire drama on the big screen, some real high school drama is unfolding in Missouri, where just last month it was reported that as many as 50 students may have been exposed to HIV.
HIV tests were offered to all students, and 97% of the 1,300 took the test. Here’s to hoping that they pass. The New York Times reports that students will get the results this week. Thus far, one person has been confirmed as positive, and a health official there said, “We don’t feel like we can release anything that would indicate who it was. We don’t want witch hunts going on.”
Amen to that.
Positively Yours,
Shawn