World AIDS Day 2009: What To Do?
November 28, 2009
World AIDS Day is upon us once again. This Tuesday will mark the 23rd year of its observance. For the last ten years I’ve traveled with Gwenn to educate about HIV/AIDS- this is by far the busiest time of the year for us.
So, I’m going out to talk about how HIV has impacted my life and dispel some of the myths about the virus, such as “you can tell by looking at someone that they have HIV”, as well as the importance of safe sex and the effectiveness of proper condom usage. You may be wondering what you can do to observe World AIDS Day this year…
Well, plenty!
The most simple way to be involved is cyberly. Add a red ribbon to your profile image on Facebook or wherever you choose to do your social networking. On Facebook, you can add a ribbon to your profile picture quite effortlessly by going here. Be sure to write a status update explaining why there’s a ribbon on your pic- don’t assume others know that Tuesday is World AIDS Day just because you do! Do what you can to spread the word, because I’m kind of afraid that Tiger Woods is going to get an X-ray on Tuesday, thus erasing all coverage of HIV/AIDS on the news.
Recently I reconnected with Georgia Arnold of MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation. Way back when in 2000, Gwenn and I appeared on MTV’s educational program on World AIDS Day, which you can see here. (Gwenn and I appear at the 16:15 mark.) You can witness our only picnic on the mountain, plus I sing a song and get blood drawn… not sure which is tougher to watch!
Speaking of songs, Travis McCoy of the Gym Class Heroes teamed up with Staying Alive and has really put in the time for the cause. He traveled the world, witnessing how HIV/AIDS is impacting people and wrote a song specifically about the epidemic, “One At A Time”. The proceeds from the song go to the Staying Alive Foundation, which awards grants for HIV prevention efforts.
Get the song on iTunes on World AIDS Day. Hear a preview of the track below.
Travis McCoy - One At A Time from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.
Fellow Charlottesvillians looking for something to get into? Though I won’t be in town to partake, the AIDS Services Group and their partners are offering several ways to support the cause this year:
Tuesday, December 1st
Candlelight Vigil, 5 - 6 pm, ALC Copies, corner of Barracks Rd. and Emmet, St.
Wednesday, December 2nd
Dinner at X Lounge, 5:30 - 11:00 pm, 10% of food revenue will be donated to ASG
Thursday, December 3rd
ASG Open House, 5 - 7 pm, ASG office, 963 2nd St. SE.
Friday, December 4th
Free Confidential Testing, 3 - 7 pm, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, 717 Rugby Rd.
Saturday, December 5th
AIDS Walk, 9 - 11 am, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 190 Rugby Rd.
Sunday, December 6th
Return of the Drag Queens, 7 - 11 pm, club 216, 609 E. Market St.
For more information about any of these events
please contact Chris Radice at 434.979.7714 x 251
—————–
Looking for something closer to you to get into? Check with your local AIDS Service Organization. Either way, it’s very important that we continue to discuss HIV/AIDS and do our best to acknowledge the impact this virus has had on our planet, and prevent further suffering and ignorance of it as well.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS… I’ll be tweeting my World AIDS Week travels, so go here for micro-updates.
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Carson Raymond Foundation
November 24, 2009
Gwenn and I watch a lot of poker on TV, usually before we go to bed. It’s oddly hypnotizing- the sound of the chips, the chatter at the table, Ali Nejad’s wonderful Poker After Dark commentary.
I also enjoy playing Texas Hold ‘Em… my gambling nickname? “UpperDecker”.
The Urban Dictionary defines an “upperdecker” as such…
“The upperdecker is a prank that you can pull on
a friend or loved one, or more likely someone who deserves it. An
upperdecker is defined as defecating in the upper tank of a toilet,
allowing it to fester for as long as possible and sending a chilling
brown residue into the bowl upon each flush.”
Example: At a party where they run out of beer one might like to leave an “upperdecker” to show their disapproval.
It’s just my last name combined with my cunning ability to get the upperhand on my opponents. And a good nickname is important because in poker, just like in line at the grocery store, you have to get every psychological edge that you can on whoever is acting in front of or behind you. Now, has my intimidating nickname forced a host to occasionally fold a big hand to me?
Very likely.
At the table, I keep this a secret… but, here I can reveal… I promise I have never upperdecked anyone.
____________
A few weeks ago, I got a notice from one of my poker pals about a fundraiser that involved playing a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. The minimum suggested donation was $100, and I thought for a while about whether to enter, since things are a bit tight financially this month. What convinced me to do so was that the proceeds were going to the Carson Raymond Foundation.
Carson lived in the community; I didn’t know him personally, but I heard from my barber about the boy who died from H1N1 back in October. The foundation was set up in his honor to encourage kids to “Go Play” by raising money to build baseball fields and provide transportation and equipment. Carson loved the sport, and in reading about him and the foundation, I remembered how much I loved baseball; how excited I was when my parents let me “go play” baseball alongside my big brother, despite having hemophilia. The clincher to donate/participate was a local newspaper article, in which John Raymond- Carson’s father- explained that “parents should not be freaked out that their kid is going to die
from this.” He went on to say that kids are less likely to die from the swine flu, and that his son had a history of illness and “just had the wrong body for this.”
The tournament was last Friday night, and I ran into a friend whom I’d played cards with a couple of years ago. He said he’d coached Carson in baseball for a short time. After catching up, we went to our assigned tables- 14 in total, with 8 or 9 players at each one. With over 120 players, the tournament was a smashing success before it even got started. Carson’s family was there, smiling widely and thanking people for showing up to “Play” in Carson’s honor.
The tournament was set up to go fast, as to raise more money for the Foundation and spend less on renting the room at the Doubletree hotel where it was taking place. Though I’ve played a lot of poker over the last five years, this was my first real tournament. I was prepared to be back at home in my pajamas in no time, but as it went on I kept surviving, and won hands without threatening any shenanigans that involve a toilet bowl. People were in good spirits; it was all good, clean fun.
Though all the money went to the Foundation- as it should- there was a prize table set up for players who made the Final Table of 10. My friend, Carson’s former coach, made it to the final table, where a crowd of people were gathered. I scooped up my short stack of chips, the third smallest at the table, and joined him there. I’ll spare you the hand-to-hand details and cut to the finish: I got second place, and won a 40″ flat screen TV that I’ll probably sell to the chagrin of everyone I know. When I got home with that TV, it was the most exciting return to the townhome in ten years, when Gwenn came in wearing her hard-earned Miss Powhatan crown.
I got to meet Carson’s family, and told them how much I admire them. They lived through- and continue to cope with- a tragedy that occurred less than two months ago, yet there were the Raymonds, smiling and doing something to contribute to their community. It was a privilege to contribute what I could to their foundation, and it was an absolute honor to go play for Carson Raymond.
This one was for you, kid.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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(b)Lab Results and Killer Books
November 20, 2009
A couple of weeks ago I went in for my every-four month labs to see what’s cookin’ with my pet virus. Good news: my t-cells are 511 (28%) and the viral load was less than 48 copies, which is near nothing. That’s pretty much the same as they were in June, and have been in the ballpark for the last couple of years.
As has been chronicled, I do a week on HIV meds, followed by a week off. These labs were taken after 6 days off meds. With the success I’ve had keeping my numbers stable, I broached the topic of trying one week on, two weeks off meds.. but Dr. Greg wasn’t too keen on it, thinking that two weeks would be too much time for the virus to cause trouble. He said he wasn’t too worried about the short-term effects, but was thinking that down the line it could present other problems in my body.
I relented quickly, because I respect my doctor for going along with the plan that has worked like a charm. And he’s the one who reads every boring article that comes out about the intricacies of this virus.
My reason for wanting a longer break has been absent-mindedness and lethargy. Recent articles on how HIV can affect the brain and memory haven’t set me at ease, either. I don’t write much about my worries about living with HIV, but I can say that losing my wits is right up there at the top. And it’s especially frustrating on the days when things just aren’t clicking in the old nugget; like when I wake up feeling exhausted instead of rested or, in the middle of a shower, I wonder if I’ve already washed my hair or not.
This tends to happen after a couple of days on meds. But I do wonder whether I pin everything on the medications, because laying blame on the virus is too damn scary a thought.
If I haven’t been blogging much, it’s because because my terd brain is liking the Twitter format: in and out, done in less than 140 characters. I’ve been working on my second book. Printing it out and realizing it wasn’t quite up to par has made me doubt myself and my ability to focus and tell a story that’s 70,000 words as well, another reason why the two weeks off fantasy materialized. Also, 70,000 words is a substantial amount of characters… way more than Twitter allows. If I don’t get the book where I want it, maybe I’ll just release the damn thing for free on Twitter as a 500-part series?
The inner battle to continue my writing career has been fueled by the literary (sales) success of Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin, both of whom outsold my cult classic memoir, My Pet Virus, in a matter of minutes. Palin’s book even offed Rachel Maddow, one of my favorite TV politicos.
See, I plan to outsell both Prejean and Palin together, but it’s going to take a lot of books to do it… and that’s why I’m sticking with one week on, one week off meds schedule that has worked for me. Writing isn’t fruitful at the moment, so I’m setting the book aside until the new year. There’s World AIDS Day/Week to focus on, which is taking me and Gwenn to five different states in five days. And then there’s the holidays soon after.. but when the dust settles, I will write again.
In the meantime, I will sleep with one eye open, looking out for that damn Going Rogue book of Palin’s. If you want to live to see 2010, I’d suggest that you do the same.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Hemo2Homo Connection: The Butt For You Review
November 15, 2009
No, the Hemo2Homo Connection movie review team has not ventured into the realm of adult entertainment. Some months back, both Steve Schalchlin- my erstwhile movie review partner- and I were approached by a padded underwear company to give their Butt For You product a review.
Steve, of course, wrote his promptly back in May.
I slacked.
When the last month’s issue of Poz magazine came, and I was feverishly flipping to my column to read my handiwork (I still get excited every time a column is published), I came across a review of… padded underwear. “Oh, shit,” I thought. I’d not yet reviewed the sample pair of underwear that was sitting in my drawer…. the very pair of underwear that I shared some great memories with: a Depeche Mode concert, a couple of long writing sessions on a hard chair in the coffee shop and a car trip that lasted about 6 hours. Of course, they were washed in between uses. But I really put these things to the test!
Maybe I procrastinated with this blog because, while I may be very public with my HIV status, I am far less vocal about a more obvious problem in my life: I don’t have an ass. And I’m not sure what happened to it. I’ve posted Missing signs all over town, and haven’t heard a peep. I couldn’t put a picture on them because I have no recorded evidence that I ever had an ass to begin.
This issue may be hereditary; my brother doesn’t have an ass either. In my case, it is said that HIV can affect fat distribution in the body. So at least I have an excuse. What sucks isn’t the vanity expect, it’s that it gets uncomfortable sitting for an extended period of time due to the lack of an ass. This is why I was psyched about the padded underwear sample.
As soon as I put them on I became a different person: I flaunted my ass. “Check it out!” I told Gwenn, prancing around the bedroom, refusing her sexual advances* because taking off the underwear would have had a Sampson-losing-his-hair effect on my mojo. At the coffee shop, I made a female friend touch my bum against her will. “I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said as we stood in the parking lot and I yelled. “Just touch my ass dammit!”
To see me modeling the underwear, click here.
The vanity of it all had turned me into a monster. But that was just the aesthetics. After sitting for a while, I didn’t notice my ass hurting, which was good. During longer stints, however, I found myself wishing I didn’t notice my sore butt… maybe after the initial rush, I was hoping that more of the discomfort would be alleviated. It was better, but I wanted full-on relief. More padding. More ass.
If Badunkadunk For You is coming down the pipeline, sign me up, man.
Till then? I would recommend Butt For You for my fellow assless wonders of the world. Steve really enjoyed his pair, and with the terrible seats in my local movie theaters I anticipate Butt For You joining me for the next Hemo2Homo Connection review.
You can check out Butt For You here. They range in price from $37-$60, and the cushion pads fit neatly in two little cheek slots in the back of the underwear. Once you get the hang of sliding them in, it only adds a couple of minutes to your morning routine: worth it if you have a desk job that requires a lot of sitting.
Just make sure you avoid the temptation to ask a co-worker to rub your ass.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
* there may or not have been sexual advances made by Gwenn Barringer as the sole result of Shawn’s wearing of the Butt For You padded underwear product.
** that may or may not be Shawn modeling the product.
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Veteran’s Day: The Truth About Gays in the Military?
November 11, 2009
The Onion has done it again. They’ve peeled back the rhetoric to examine- in a comedic manner- why there is a ban on gays in the military. Perhaps it’s love for, and not fear of, gays that is the culprit?
Allow the fake general to explain.
Happy Veteran’s Day. Here’s to a future veteran’s day that honors all who serve our country proudly, regardless of sexual orientation. Let everyone fight for me, because thinbloods will be the last ones allowed out on the combat fields… I ain’t complainin’, I’m more cut out for Mortal Kombat than actual combat.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Reform Passes House, V Fails
November 11, 2009
The Bill for health care/insurance reform passed the House, up next is a vote in the Senate. I’m sure you don’t come to Shawn’s Blog for all of your political news, but this has captured my attention as of late and I’d feel kind of toolish if I didn’t write about what was important to me.
This guy was happy, too, saw him while I was out enjoying my Decker’s Daily Coffee.
Last week I likened the vote for Virginia’s new governor to the airing of the re-envisioning of an early 1980’s sci-fi classic, V. Well, I finally watched V to escape the Democrats limp showing at the polls, and I got hit over the head with some none-too-subversive political commentary.
For starters- it’s obvious that the aliens are evil. They show up in every large city and broadcast a message in whatever language will get the point across depending on where they are. The alien leader is female- as it would appear- and she is hot, which means the human race is pretty much doomed. From there, for some reason, she has to turn to the American media to get their message across….
What, did the UFOs run out of fuel, or did the wide-screen TV on the bottom of their spacecrafts short out?
Anyway, from there it became apparent that they came because they fear our half-black president. There, I said it. “They are offering hope,” one wide-eyed teen says to his mother, who doesn’t get why he’s jumped on this aliens-are-here bandwagon. Crazy kids and their gullibility! Then, when the hot alien leader lands an interview with Scott Wolf, presumably of the Today Show, she says they want to cure humans of their ailments with their new-fangled alien technologies.
Cool, no more hemophilia and AIDS. I’m down with that.
But before I could imagine a life without my medical Achille’s heels, the line came: “You mean, universal health care?” Which is, quite obviously, evil. Us humans survive because we allow a large portion of our species to die off. I’m being sarcastic. But I was right- this time I was pulling for the aliens, especially since humans wrote this garbage. And, in terms of watching more, I’ll be pulling the plug on the new V, now having to pluck down money to see the aliens really get us good in the new alien abduction movie, the Fourth Kind.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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It’s Your Call: Will Reform Happen?
November 6, 2009
Yesterday in DC, opponents of health care reform gathered to wave signs and chant their claims that they are more patriotic than those who want to provide decent, affordable and ethical health care to their countrymen.
As Tool Academy standout and Matthew Shepard denier Virginia Foxx looked on, House Minority Leader, John Boehner, got a semi as he blustered about his founding fathers. He then proudly recited a passage from his traveler’s edition of the Constitution, which he must have dug out of the bottom of a box of cereal… patriotism is fine, but Boehner was quoting the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.
Instead of correcting him, Representative Michele Bachmann just read along with him beside Foxx, as other more-patriotic-than-thou Republican representatives stood behind him.
Would I have known the difference had I not been alerted to the blunder? No, because when I was learning those things in public school I’d just been diagnosed with HIV and given less than two years to live. (That timeline may not hold up under serious scrutiny: editor’s note, editor being Shawn Decker.)
In this month’s Poz magazine, I wrote a column on why I support this measure and that something tangible needs to be done on this issue. You can read more personal stories here. I don’t think you have to have been born with a medical condition
or know the difference between the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence to understand that this is the issue of the day, and today is the day to act. Tomorrow the House votes on health care reform.
Call your representative’s office and tell them- if it’s the case- that you support health care reform.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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“V” Is For Virginia
November 4, 2009
When I was a kid, I loved the sci-fi series, V. So I was optimistically excited about the premiere of the new take on the story of aliens who descend on Earth and gain our trust before revealing… a darker agenda.
Remember this?
V was awesome. It was like the original Lost, only cool stuff actually happened. Right now, that precious new episode is sitting on my TiVo, because I am too bummed about tonight’s election results to deal with a potential blow to my childhood nostalgia if they blow it. Why so blue? Because here in real life, Democrat Creigh Deeds allowed Republican Bob McDonnell to trounce him for Governor of Virginia.
Some say Deeds lost it in the debate, when he turned to his opponent and screamed, “Reptile! You are a reptile!”, over and over again as McDonnell unflinchingly stared out into the crowd until his democratic rival was wrestled away from the stage.
Actually, what hurt Creigh was the campaign strategy to distance himself from Obama,
who has an over 50% approval rating in Virginia, particularly among the
demos who stayed home on voting day, specifically, the under 30 crowd
and black voters. Well, now Creigh sure has a lot of distance from Obama. It’s a smaller version of Al Gore distancing himself from Bill Clinton back in 2000, and we all saw how that one turned out for the human race.
What bothers me most about the blowout election result is that I know that Glenn Beck is going to wake up with a wet spot in his tighty whities this morning because of what went down in my beloved Commonwealth of Virginia. And there’s probably going to be a stain right beside it with Maine’s name on it, too. But at least Maine mobilized, even though it wasn’t enough to uphold the right for same sex couples to get married. I wonder what’s worse: fighting your ass off for what’s right and losing or just sleeping through it all?
We have wrapped marriage up in so many laws and privileges that it shouldn’t even be up for a vote- this is a moral issue. Do we live in a country that believes all men and women are equal? Or are we a giant PR machine with… a dark agenda?
Any way you cut it, I don’t have to turn on my TiVo to get a viewing of the Reptilian takeover of the human race. Which, the more I think about it, is why now might be a good time for an escape into the world of V and science fiction. Only this time, unlike when I was child, I may be pulling for the aliens to finish us off.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
If you agree with me on the issue of same sex marriage and Glenn Beck
being a moron, than this is a real bummer of a blog entry. And I’ve been
too
inconsistent with updates to leave it at that. So check out this video
I found on YouTube of Glenn Beck called The Weepening.
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Hate Crime Legislation, Ryan White CARE Act, HIV Travel Ban
November 2, 2009
In the last several days, President Obama has signed anti-hate crimes in law, the Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization Bill and also lifted the travel ban on people with HIV. Here’s video of him explaining who Ryan White was, and why lifting the ban is important.
The travel ban was a knee-jerk response by our government in 1987- and lifting it is a great achievement. Back when it was put in place, there were a lot of irrational fears about transmission, and perhaps the still-lingering stereotype that all people with AIDS want nothing more than to pass their virus onto others. But really, a travel ban is discrimination based on a medical condition that isn’t easily transmitted, unlike the flu.
Still, I feel like it’s important to post a few comments by cowards who voice their ignorance under the veil of internet anonymity on YouTube.
Here are my favorites, and my respectful rebuttals:
Beliserius1 (20 yr-old) so… Instead of quarantine the Pandemic, we embrace it. At the cost of those who, in majority, actually contribute to the taxes, Unlike immigrants who arrive to get treated.
Shawn: Beliserius1, you are an idiot. Just stay quarantined behind your computer in your parents’ basement, whom I suspect are the ones paying all of the taxes in your household.
krrrruptidsoless
(age 49) … This is great. As if our water isn’t bad enough. Are there other diseases that we have prejudiced against. I feel horrible that we have tried to keep disease out of this country. Doesn’t the constitution give disease rights. Or am I jumping the border. Ebola should be next on the list to invite.
Shawn: You’re worried about how lifting the travel ban on people with HIV will affect your water? You can’t throw that out there and not elaborate. My hunch is that you’ve confused your sink with your toilet. Also, are you the father of Beliserius?
friteND14u
(age 33) This is just… awesome!! 
——-
The last comment got the most positive response of the ones posted. The hate-filled, ignorance spewers got negative votes. So, overall, the vast majority of people who see this and learn that there was a ban in the first place, seem to support what the President is doing. And what the president is doing is moving forward from the mentality of 1987.
Obama also debunked my Tool Academy nominee, Rep. Virginia Foxx. She’s the gem who, months ago, suggested in the House of Representatives that Matthew Sheppard wasn’t killed because he was gay and that hate crime legislation was a hoax. For the first time, sexual orientation was included in anti-hate crimes law.
So big thanks to the president for making the world a lot less scary this Halloween for the gay community, and for people with HIV in this country and abroad.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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