Last Day of Guessing (and Voting!)
July 12, 2010
At midnight I close the voting on my Labtest Contest. I’m debating whether to sneak in a guess of my own… what I do know is that I’m adding a copy of my latest CD, A Symptom of Life, to the prize mix. Okay, now the pot is sweet enough, so take a stab!
Also, while you are typing away, please consider giving my friend’s organization, The Harry Potter Alliance, a helping hand. I blogged about their bid to win $250,000 at the end of June… well, their contest ends at midnight tonight as well, and the stakes are much higher than my little contest. The HP Alliance is within 10 votes of winning… 10 votes, good God.
So please, vote at hpaforthewin.com. You just have to have a Facebook account, it’s three self-explanatory clicks. Here’s to the magical thinking of high t-cell results this week, and the ability for the Harry Potter Alliance to change more lives and fight for LGBT rights and other awesome causes.
Thank you for the support!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Win Lauren Hoffman’s New CD
July 9, 2010
I have the first item for the eventual winner of the Labtest Contest. While having coffee with yesterday’s NPR Song of the Day songstress, Lauren Hoffman, I asked if she’d donate a copy of her new album, Interplanetary Traveler, to the winner.
She said yes!
So the winner is in for a real treat. If you went to my coffee blog and wondered what the clue was, it was right there on the July 5 photo: a picture of one of the stars of Lauren’s music video for “Interplanetary Traveler” that I shot last fall. Here’s what I wrote on Decker’s Daily:
July 5, 2010 - At the coffee shop, I ran into
one of the stars of the Interplanetary Traveler music video I shot for
Lauren Hoffman. We discussed the video, shot last fall, and I gave him
an update on what Lauren and his co-star, Evie, were up to these days. Then, to his surprise, they dropped by and had coffee with us! (Well, Evie had milk, which we call a “Bebecinno”) See the video at: http://forlauren.com it is and will always be one of my proudest artistic achievements.
_____________________________
Here’s the music video for your listening and viewing pleasure. For those who don’t know, Evie, referenced above, is Lauren’s daughter and Gwenn and I’s goddaughter. Evie makes a star turn in the video. Enjoy, and get those guesses in before midnight on Monday for your chance to win Lauren’s CD!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out
the lovely Gwenn’s
Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD:
Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now
on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Labtest Contest Time
July 7, 2010
Last March I held a “Labtest Contest”, giving readers of this blog a chance to win something cool simply by guessing how many t-cells I have. Well, tomorrow I get my routine labs done! So pony up with those guesses.
For a refresher, here are the rules (subject to change, just like my t-cells):
Official Rules
1. You have to post your guess (between 300 and 700 t-cells) on my Poz blog Comments section
2. Relatives are disqualified (only because that makes this seem official)
3. Closest wins- no Price is Right logic applied.
4. One vote per person.
5. Deadline is Monday, July 12, 2010 at 11:59 EST.
I should have my lab results by next Tuesday, and will post them on the blog mid-next week.
I got a killer idea for what I’m going to give away this time- for a clue, go check out my coffee blog, Decker’s Daily, and let the speculation begin. You may remember that the contest was fierce last March, and the ultimate winner was Charles Oliff, who has carried the title with grace since his incredible victory, when he guessed 567, missing the actual result of 565 by just two tiny little t-cells.
He’s looking to hit it right on the mark this time and defend his title. He also gave this very classy victory speech, which went a long way toward helping some of the other near-miss guessers cope with their defeat:
March 17, 2010: “I would first like to thank the poz blog, for giving me
a place to comment my guess. I would like to thank Shawn Decker for his
awesome book and music – without which, I might never have followed his
twitter feed and seen the contest. I would also like to thank my fellow
contestants – for we are all winners here in having Shawn’s numbers be
good. Thank you, thank you, I will wear the t-shirt with pride.” – Charles Oliff
Charles won a Screw Smarter t-shirt. And since the last contest, he and his lovely wife Rachel became parents- congratulations! If ever there was a time to pounce on the distracted champion, now is it. And, as I wrote, this time I really have something really special up my sleeve. I told ya where to go for a clue, and that’s all I can reveal at this time… so good luck with your guessing!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
AWESOME MUSIC NEWS: “Pictures From America” by my friend, Lauren Hoffman, is NPR’s Song of the Day today. It’s from her incredible new album, Interplanetary Traveler… check it out!
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out
the lovely Gwenn’s
Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD:
Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now
on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Back to the Future Day?
July 5, 2010
I hope everyone had a great day celebrating the 4th of July. I won’t lie, I had some beers and a veggie dog (Gwenn and a majority of my friends are vegetarians) and a real dog (I’m still 15% meateater) and then started a week on HIV meds before going to bed.
Why HIV meds? Because I’m HIV positive. :O)
Over the weekend Marshall and I played a Synthetic Division show, which was pretty cool. It was a small venue called Zakk’s Coffeehouse in Murfreesboro, NC, and it was cool because it was the first time Marshall and I had played together since last October, when we performed at the Campaign to End AIDS rally in DC. Marshall has been a touring machine since then, playing bass for Bella Morte and going on at least three tours since last fall…
I’m not sure how the negatoid does it. After two weeks on the road in May my battery was drained.
Lately my energy has been better, despite a couple of annoying injuries I’ve been trying to play tennis at least once a week and I haven’t felt as wiped out as I was when I wrote my blog entry about fatigue. Another heat wave is hitting today, and will linger, so that combined with being back on meds may have an effect on my lazy bones. We shall see, I’ll nap when I need to and try to work off that hot dog if the opportunity presents itself.
Hey, we all knew yesterday was the fourth… but do you know what today is? Well, there seems to be confusion about whether or not July 5, 2010 is the date that Doc Brown from Back to the Future wants to travel to before being attacked by the Libyans at the mall. My net research on this was admittedly limited, but I’m glad I looked it up before posting the misinformation, choosing to side with the movie buffs who are irritated with Twitter posts claiming it’s the date… I don’t know, I’m staying out of it.
What I do know is that we shouldn’t let any of that squabbling kill our July 5, 2010 future buzz. Twenty five years ago when Back to the Future was released, it was scary times for people with HIV. The antibody test had just been discovered, but nobody really knew if there was any chance for a future for those already infected. We’ve come a long way- but still need to fight to get treatment to those who need it, to rally against the creation of more ADAP Waiting Lists for people who are too poor to afford health care or HIV meds.
This future, for all of its faults, is indeed a reason to celebrate. Even if some of us are a little hungover from the recent past: yesterdays Fourth of July festivities.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
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Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
My Reputation Buried By A Tweet?
July 2, 2010
I’ve worked hard to be, if not a respected voice, at least a voice of some reason in the AIDS community. I know, at times, I come across as a bit shameless. But hey, considering the shame so many who live with HIV- in silence- feel, I just consider myself a pendulum of sorts that swings positoids out of the shame zone.
The other night, I decided to play a joke on my friend, Andy Deane. Even though he’d just plugged my book on his Facebook page. See, Andy is the lead singer of Bella Morte and horror novelist. So I thought it would be funny if I posted a fake Retweet; for those who don’t know about Twitter, when you RT (Retweet) a message, you’re taking someone else’s post and then copy/pasting it to your network. A little “RT” appears before the post, just so people know it’s not your words, but those of whomever’s twitter address appears right after the “RT”.
Sounds simple, right?
Well, even if you don’t get the explanation, you’ll enjoy my joke. I posted a fake RT message, then plugged in Andy’s twitter address after it. Here’s what I posted:
RT @Andy_Deane ain’t gonna lie- just got home from midnight viewing of Eclipse. Cried as I realized this was the best movie I’ve ever seen. 4:46 AM Jun 30th
Not only that, I encouraged my army of 921 loyal, obedient Followers (Twitter’s word for Friends, basically people who want to read your brain farts) to RT that message, letting them know it was bogus. 2 complied with my command. I don’t exactly have a David Koresh hold on my followers just yet, but I am working on it. Anyway, I went to bed proud of my handiwork, figuring I’d ruined a friend’s professional life in less than 140 characters, the Twitter limit for posts.
When I woke up, I was horrified by what I saw: a Retweet from Andy Deane. A “RRT”, as I’ll call these from now on- a Retaliatory Retweet. He posted: RT @ShawnDecker I’ve been faking this HIV thing all along. But hell, it got me a book deal & a hot wife with serious jugs, so whatever. 1:44 PM Jun 30th
I was under siege- there is no more damaging claim that someone could make against me than to have the world question my HIV status. Andy knows this, he attacked my weak point just as I’d attacked his- this was war. But I was now throwing pebbles at a tank and realizing that this is now my equivalent of Obama’s “birthers” scandal. You know, all those claims that Barack wasn’t born in the United States by (mostly) people who don’t think Hawaii is part of the United States.
Just as Andy faces questions as to whether he is on Team Edward or Team Jacob, I also face the prospect of people picketing my HIV educational talks with “SHOW US YOUR HIV TEST RESULTS!” signs. Worse than that, I had to come to terms with the painful fact that Andy, for once in his life, had bested me.
To stop the bleeding, I’m going to have my doctor admit on camera that I am indeed HIV positive at my next doctor’s appointment, which is this month. That means that, yes, another LabTest Contest is on the way. In the meantime, I will do my best to make amends for my vicious, unprovoked personal attack. Andy Deane has not, and will not likely ever see, any of the Twilight movies. He loves gore in his movies, and is way more into zombies than vampires anyway.
As I work hard to rebuild trust- both with Andy, people who have read my book, heard me speak and called me a friend- in light of this nasty, nasty rumor that’s being circulated… ah, I’m laughing right now. He got me back big time, a serious sack tapping that, I have to admit, I instigated. In all the years since I opened up about my status, and my friends have known that they can make AIDS jokes with me standing in front of them (hell, they are usually directed at me, in good nature of course), I never thought the best joke of all would be that I don’t have HIV.
Perhaps someday, right?
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Sack-Tapping Futbol Fun
July 1, 2010
Gonna keep this entry light and nimble on the type front. I know “athlete” doesn’t come to mind when you think of me, so I won’t bore you with the details of my awesome farm league baseball career or my recent tennis injury (okay, I will, it’s a slightly sprained wrist that should be fine in a week or so, depending how committed I am to wearing my CVS wrist guard that cost $30 friggin’ dollars, though Gwenn opened up all the boxes and I tried on the cheaper options- like the stylish black one- but they didn’t feel as comfortable or protective… was bummed that the decent one only came in a flesh-tone that will surely invite the “Oh no, what happened?” reaction upon sight…).
However, I will bore you with soccer stuff!
Or football. Or futbol.
I’m not following the World Cup during this session, but I did follow it in 1994 (Sega had a killer FIFA game for the Genenis) and 1998 (I had a Brazilian girlfriend). The one thing that caught my attention this go around was a great video montage on the Craig Ferguson Late Late Show. Check it out.
In relation to that incredible video, I saw a news item on the recent teen phenomenon of “sack tapping”. Basically, it’s teenage boys punching or heavily slapping one another in the nuts. It’s not overtly/consciously sexual; it’s kind of like the new Kick Me sign, only in the form of a sudden frontal assault, and one that is aimed at a friend instead of an enemy. Of course, the news story I saw made you believe that syphilis and AIDS were merely warning signs, a gnat terd prelude to a Rodan case of the squirts in comparison to the rampant sack tapping that would eventually lead to the end of the human species due to the male sex’s inability to reproduce.
Which is why reading this article on Discovery News about sack tapping earned a Retweet from me on Twitter. (thanks to @ansinanser for posting it)
Okay, so much for a short blog. Better protect my wrist, which I’m hoping feels better in the morning… of course, it’s hard to complain about this problem when we live in a world where friends are going all Joe Frazier on our floppy treasure.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out
the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD:
Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now
on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
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
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