Geek Crafts and Urge Magazine
January 30, 2009
Check out a very cool web site called Geek Crafts, which features links and comments on totally geektastic homemade items, like this little guy, Brad the Crochet Vampire.
I was honored to be interviewed by Renee for Geek Crafts, answering questions about what it’s like to speak about my personal/medical life at colleges, be a thinblood and why I decided a vampire book would be a good idea for a follow-up to My Pet Virus.
Could it be… the blood?
Also, a local magazine called Urge did a cover story on me and Gwenn. Click over if you want to read the story and check out a great new publication that focuses on all things artistic as they pertain to the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Find out where to get a copy of Urge here.)
Oh, and I’m the back-up quarterback for the Steelers if Big Ben goes down on Sunday. Wish me luck!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Cello Scrotum: 1974-2009
January 29, 2009
Scratch another one of my dream campus speaking programs- “Cello Scrotum & You”. It just came out that the condition is a hoax. Read more about Cello Scrotum and it’s magical origin on the BBC’s news site. For now, let’s all share a moment of silence for “Cello Scrotum”: 1974-2009.
“Anyone who has ever watched a cello being played
would realize the physical impossibility of our claim.”
- Baroness Murphy,
Godmother of “Cello Scrotum” and, ultimately, it’s Angel of Death
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Blocked by a Boner
January 28, 2009
The Medicaid Family Planning State Option was dropped from the stimulus package after a public outcry from House Minority Leader, John Boehner (pronounced “BAY-ner”).
This would have either: a) provided health care coverage for 2.3 million women while generating savings for states and the federal government or b) funded the pro-abortion business. That’s depending on whether you side with Planned Parenthood or John Boehner.
My thinking is that contraceptives and condoms are secretly viewed as abortions by many lawmakers. As a sex educator, I support the Medicaid Family Planning State Option as part of the stimulus package, because I do think that unwanted pregnancies (which are usually followed by unwanted marriages, unwanted families, unwanted in-laws and unloved children) are quite costly on so many levels. And I don’t think income level should dictate whether someone has the right to have access to the pill. Guys like Boehner feel differently.
Now, I know what it’s like to live with HIV, it hasn’t always been easy and yes, it’s probably shaped the way I feel about about promoting condom usage. I imagine Boehner had a rough adolescence, too. Can you imagine being a boy, and being called “boner” by your friends in the presence of girls as you went through puberty?*
That would suck.
Former Miss America Judge (2006) and current Hardball host, Chris Matthews, got in on the act, too, applauding President Obama for removing Family Planning from the package, claiming that the United States is not like China and shouldn’t dictate how we procreate. Comparing this to China’s two-child mandate was buffoonery of the highest order.
I know the abortion issue is touchy. But my thought on the matter is that, if abortion is the ultimate evil, then support of contraceptives and family planning to prevent the likelihood of an abortion ever taking place is an obvious conclusion… am I wrong here?
If you think Family Planning should be part of the stimulus package, call the White House at (202) 456-1111, or email them here.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
*NOTE:Shawn Decker has no proof that John Boehner was, is or has ever been referred to as “boner” by his friends or colleagues in the House and Senate. If that is not the case, and Decker is wrong, he apologizes for the error and thinks Boehner’s friends are nimrods for missing such an obvious way to ridicule their buddy.
Photos from Vegas
January 28, 2009
Finally! Pictures from the glitz and glory of Miss America! Click on any of the pictures to go to the entire photo album on Facebook.
Tara Wheeler, Miss Virginia 2008!
Tara did a great job at Miss America representing the Commonwealth. Her evening gown was the best on her preliminary night, and with her background in hockey as well her training with the Army, she could have kicked everyone’s butt at the pageant!
But she didn’t. Why? Because she’s classy: she’s Miss Virginia.
Took this picture after the final night of competition. I mentioned to Tara that one of my other favorites of the week was Miss Kansas, Emily Deaver, and she said that they were roommates (every contestant gets one) and that Kansas was as cool as she came across to the audience.
Another cool person is Tara’s mom. She gave me a big hug and told me she reads the blog… (hi! Tara did a great job!) She also said, “Tell Gwenn we haven’t forgotten about the dress she loaned Tara for Miss Virginia!”
Miss New York, Leigh-Taylor Smith!
Leigh-Taylor is another Virginia girl. In pageants, you have to win a local to go to state, then win state to compete at Miss America. What was interesting about this year was that Leigh-Taylor moved to New York, won Miss Brooklyn and then Miss New York! In Virginia, she was Miss Arlington, and when her year was over she crowned the new titleholder… Tara Wheeler!
So many people traveled to Las Vegas to cheer on both girls. It was a pretty rare opportunity for the Commonwealth to seize the crown, and rule the world of pageantry…
As it turned out, the pageant Gods selected Miss Indiana. But Tara and Leigh-Taylor did themselves and their homestate proud. LT was able to snag 3rd Runner-Up, and got $15,000 in scholarship money, which is the big difference between Donald Trump’s Miss USA (more exposure, less for the contestants- including clothing) and the Miss America Organization.
Speaking of clothing, it wouldn’t be a trip to Las Vegas without some shopping. And Gwenn snagged this Betsy Johnson sweater… was it for the fashion, or was this a sign to all the ladies of the night swirling around her man in Vegas? Or a none-too-subtle sign to Miss Virginia that she wants that dress back?
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Back Home
January 26, 2009
That’s where Gwenn and I spent the last 6 nights… it’s where 52 title holders (the big 50 states, as well as Miss DC and Miss Virgin Islands) battled for the right to become the next Miss America…
Am finally home now, and in the next couple of days I’ll be posting pictures and stories from Las Vegas, including surprise cameos from a few of the stars of the cult classic memoir, My Pet Virus. (No, the cameo isn’t by me, Gwenn or Ric Flair. Or Depeche Mode.)
All in all, it was a great vacation for us. And, aside from going to see the pageant and hang out with friends, we were there to celebrate our ten-year anniversary. A fitting backdrop, since Gwenn and I shared our first kiss on a night when she was supposed to go watch a pageant (Miss Apple Blossom 1999), but instead made a surprise trip to see me in Charlottesville.
The rest, is, well history! And I’m so looking forward to the next decade, as well as sleeping in our own bed, which is where I’m heading now.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Bush’s Last Day
January 19, 2009
I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the historical value of this fine day: Bush’s last on the job as the most powerful man in the universe. (Sorry, He-Man.)
I just hope we all learned our lesson on this one. And that next time we elect a “Washington outsider”, we make damn sure he isn’t secretly the son of a former president. (Who knew?!) And also, if we elect someone because they’d be cool to have a beer with, let’s make sure they didn’t swear off alcohol due to a lack of self-control.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS… I voted for Obama because I’d like to shoot pool with him… does he even shoot pool???
Survey Says
January 18, 2009
Poz magazine and NAPWA (National Association of People With AIDS) have teamed up with the American Psychological Association to make sure that mental health issues for positoids are not overlooked.
There’s a brief, anonymous survey here, if you are HIV positive, or a “positoid”, as I say, consider filling this out. I did- it was quick and easy. This is not an aspect of our health that we think about as much as we should, and in filling out the survey I recalled an instance shortly after I’d been on HIV meds, where I felt like I was depressed, mainly because of the confusion I was feeling as a result of certain side effects.
“APA and NAPWA want to ensure that important mental health services are well funded when the CARE Act is again reviewed by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in 2009.” That’s how it’s worded on the survey page, and I couldn’t agree more.
Sharing your experiences could help the people holding the purse strings realize that people with HIV deal with psychological hurdles that go unnoticed/untreated because so much attention is focused on the virus, and not on the patient.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Miss America and the Recession
January 18, 2009
As millions of people descend on D.C., Gwenn are I are escaping to witness a coronation of a different kind: the crowning of a new Miss America in Las Vegas!
Of course, I’ll be watching all the Obama highlights on television, but we can’t lose sight of how important Miss America is going to be once we hit the full depths of the “deprecession.” We’re going to need a symbolic figure who is somewhat aloof to distract us while the administration is doing all the heavy-lifting behind the scenes.
Oh, and that’s a photo of Miss America 1998, Kate Shindle. My favorite of all-time. She wasn’t aloof- she supported clean needle exchange programs and condom use as means to prevent the spread of HIV… Kate, can you come of retirement and compete again? Pretty please?
Of course I’m kind of rooting for Miss Virginia, but my heart is with Miss New York, Leigh-Taylor Smith. She joined Team Supersnack, the AIDS Walk NY Team, last year and helped raise money for positoids. She’d be a great beacon of awesomeness.
Gwenn and Leigh-Taylor representin’ at the AIDS Walk last May.
Now, about the deprecession… that’s really why I’m heading to Vegas: I am putting everything I own on the color Red in roulette. Blood red. Let it ride, I say. A couple of years ago, a guy hired a publicist and did the same thing.
Of course, with Obama and Miss America stealing all the headlines, money for PR is wasted- nobody would cover me so I couldn’t count on a sympathetic boost in book sales to put Spam on the dinner table if the roulette table turns out to be a cruel mistress.
So the PR money would be better off sitting up there on Red for the doublin’.
Why Red? Because I’m a thinblood. I might just punch myself in the nose for good luck as the roulette wheel spins around, my financial fate hopping from number to number, color to color. If there’s not a bragadocious blog posted in the next week or so, you’ll know things didn’t go my way and I couldn’t afford internet access or no longer own a computer.
Maybe I’ll hold the computer back.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Update on 2nd Book
January 16, 2009
I sent the file for my 2nd book to my agent today, and couldn’t be more relieved to be done. For now.
Of course, I’ve declared victory before. You may remember that back in June I wrote a blog entitled New Book “Finished”. Thankfully, I had the intelligence to put the word “finished” in quotation marks. I wasn’t finished- I sent the book to my agent, then wrote him back later telling him not to read it.
Then I had a deadline set for November, but when I spent most of the month sick, the deadline got bumped until after Christmas because I didn’t want to screw up the book by writing when I was under the weather.
But now, I let out a huge sigh of relief. The vampire story is where it needs to be, and if my agent approves, he’ll submit it to the publisher. If he doesn’t approve, I’ll take his suggestions into account. (My agent, thankfully, is a “horror guy” with a killer sense of humor whose opinion I trust.)
Gwenn proofread the book this week and caught some grammatical errors while jotting down some notes. I was expecting more ink on it, so it was a pleasant surprise that I didn’t have a ton of corrections to make. Of course, in publishing there are no guarantees. But one way or another, this book will see the light of day. And I hope- when the time comes- you’ll be enjoy sinking your teeth into it.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Hemo2Homo Connection Looks Back
January 15, 2009
2008 was a great year for movies; mainly because it marked the dramatic return to form of the only Living-With-AIDS Movie Review duo, “The Hemo2Homo Connection”, myself and Steve Schalchlin. Recently I caught up with my wiser half to ask him a few questions about the year that was 2008.
Shawn (AKA “Hemo”): What was your favorite movie of 2008?
Steve (AKA “Homo”): Milk, followed by Slumdog Millionaire. You?
Shawn: Tropic Thunder!
Robert Downey Jr. got screwed at the Golden Globes, losing Best Supporting Actor to Heath Ledger.
Steve: He died- plus he was brilliant in The Dark Knight…
Shawn: Robert Downey Jr. was brilliant in Tropic Thunder! And he’s been legally dead at least seventeen times since 1989. So what was the biggest dud of 2008?
Steve: Did The Happening come out in 2008?
Shawn: Yes.
Steve: Then The Happening.
Shawn: Lastly, what was your proudest moment of the Hemo2Homo Connection in 2008?
Steve: That we are still doing it!
—————
Ten years ago we posted our first review, I don’t even know what movie we butchered. We were rolling for a bit, then went on hiatus. When I was writing My Pet Virus, I thought it would be funny to put our review of the AIDS-mentioning movie, The Hours, in there, half expecting my editor or publisher to suggest that it be removed.
But no, it was well-received. And thus the fire in the belly of the H2H was re-ignited, never to be extinguished again. Really, writing those reviews with Steve is a lot of fun, and here’s to hoping Hollywood throws us some more softballs in 2009.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
The Hemo2Homo Connection are Shawn Decker and Steve Schalchlin.
The Hemo2Homo Connection’s creators met online in 1996, and posted their first movie review in 1998. Both have been living with HIV for over twenty years, and have annoyed their friends and loved ones for longer than that. Steve Schalchlin resides in Los Angeles, CA. He is an award-winning musician, singer and songwriter. Shawn Decker lives in Charlottesville, VA. He is an HIV/AIDS educator and the author of My Pet Virus.
To read the Hemo2Homo Connection reviews of the Dark Knight and The Happening, simply follow the non-Rick Astley links above.
Gwenn's Fashion Blog: A Latte Style
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