T-Cell Champion’s Victory Speech
March 17, 2010
Charles Oliff, winner of the Labtest Contest, proved that he’s not only in tune with my t-cell count, but that he’s also in tune with the people. Here’s Charles’ victory speech- which he admits may have been influenced by his recent viewing of the Oscars.
“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, Labtest Contest Champion
No, thank you, Charles. For being a true Renaissance man by already owning a copy of My Pet Virus and Synthetic Division, Get With the Programs. I look forward to a long reign by such a classy, cultured champion such as yourself. Here’s to many more contests to come. Your shirt is on the way!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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The Winner of the Labtest Contest Is…
March 16, 2010
All of us, really. I was so happy to see so many people take a guess at my t-cells in the Labtest Contest, and it was quite dramatic each time a Poz Comment came in. The ebb and flow was tremendous- so much better than that damn Clottey Pacquiao fight last Saturday.
The Labtest Contest was such a success that I made a logo!
But, like most contests, this contest saw it’s fair share of controversies…
You may notice the last Poz Blog Comment at this time is from “Shawn Decker”- now, despite appearances I didn’t vote for myself, because I already knew the results. And why would I vote wrongly, anyway? What happened was, a friend had tried to vote several times, so I posted his guess, typing in the name “Carlo”, which didn’t appear since I was logged in. Apparently, no matter who is trying to post his guess, my Comments section just hates the name “Carlo” and will refuse to post it.
My apologies to the vast Carlo readership.
Next time, however, I will be voting on behalf of myself. Of course, I’ll do so before I get the lab results back. So look out, I’ll be defending my books, CDs and Screw Smarter t-shirts from the contestants, kind of like Win Ben Stein’s Money.
Another controversy was the first disqualification ever in my Labtest Contest, due to a direct violation of the stated Official Rules. Okay, well it wasn’t in the actual rules, but I feel a disqualification of last week’s Positoid of the Day, Nina Martinez, was in order when she voted outside of the range (450-600) I’d given as a clue. Harsh? Yes, and I understand if my actions against a Positoid of the Day divides the AIDS community. I plan future Labtest Contests due to the overwhelming (okay, I could handle the response) response and protecting the integrity of the game is of the utmost importance.
Nina knows I’m just picking on her.
So, without further ado- my most recent t-cell count was… 565! With an undetectable viral load. Great news! Yay for me! … Oh, who won? Well, that distinct honor goes to the second to last vote (including the “Carlo” scandal)- an under the wire guess of 567, just two little t-cells off the mark:
Charles Oliff
(Honorable Mentions: Dorian Alexander, Ophelia De Serres, Mason Taylor, Amber)
So congratulations, Charles! You are the King of my T-cells, and you will reign until the next contest in July. Feel free to post a victory speech on the Comments section, and also let me know which prize (My Pet Virus, Synthetic Division CD or a Screw Smarter t-shirt) you would like.
Thanks again to all who participated and watched this contest dramatically unfold!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation
March 15, 2010
No, it’s about that Staying Alive… MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation is dedicated to HIV prevention and youth-driven messages, giving out grants to young educators determined to prevent the continued- and needless- infection of their peers.
Before becoming a grant-giving foundation, Staying Alive was a series of yearly HIV/AIDS programs that aired around the world on World AIDS Day, starting in 1999. In 2000, Gwenn and I had the daunting honor of representing the HIV epidemic in North America- no pressure- for Staying Alive 2. It was an interesting time for us: we’d been living together for a year, I’d “upgraded” to an AIDS diagnosis and started on HIV meds, which helped me get better but were wearing me down with side effects.
When the filmmakers from Staying Alive showed up, I had just stopped my first combination of medications, and was about to begin my second regimen, the hope being that the side effects would be more tolerable. (They were.) It’s a strange thing having that moment documented, and how the passing of a positoid pal who’d long before encouraged me to start meds, Stephen Gendin, inspired me to buck up.
I forget how harrowing those days were. I just put the blinders on, did what I had to do and thanked my lucky stars I had a good doctor, a great partner and an excellent chance to get through a rough patch in my health. Some of the other people living with HIV around the world, also featured in the Staying Alive 2 program, weren’t as fortunate.
Here’s our clip from the show: try to ignore my bleach blond do which, unfortunately, I can’t blame on the side effects of HIV drugs…
Staying Alive 2 from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.
Last Monday, which was International Women’s Day, was an absolute thrill, because I finally got to meet Georgia Arnold, the producer of the program we appeared in, who is now the Senior Vice President of the Staying Alive Foundation. She found me on Twitter last year, and wrote something to the effect of, “Hey!!! Remember me?!” It was great to get back in touch on Twitter, which has been awesome for me in regard to corresponding with champions from across the pond as of late.
Georgia was in DC for the International Center for Research on Women’s celebration of Women’s Day, where Bill Roedy, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MTV International, was honored for his commitment to Staying Alive. He is such a great guy, and it was nice to chat with the only other guy in the room besides me wearing ultra-casual sneakers. (It said dress “festive” for the event, we both agreed that being comfortable was key, especially after seeing Georgia carrying her heels in hand at the end of the evening.)
During Bill’s speech, he said something to the effect of: ““I believe in the
media’s power to be a force for good.” I believe it, too. And am happy that Bill uses his position to back up that belief by supporting Staying Alive’s mission to raise awareness about the HIV epidemic.
Now, if Bill could just call the US offices in NYC and do something about that Snooki…
Positively Yours and Happy to be Staying Alive,
Shawn
Don’t forget to vote in my Labtest Contest! Voting ends Monday, March 15 at midnight EST, winner announced on blog tomorrow. Good luck!
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The Winner Olympics With Lennox Lewis
March 13, 2010
I had the coolest thing happen on Twitter a couple of weeks. As Gwenn and I were keeping up with the Winter Olympics, I noticed a post by a former Olympic Gold medalist. “Surfing the internet…”
It was made by none other than Lennox Lewis, the last reigning unified champion of the heavyweight division, respectfully. Now Lewis focuses on his broadcasting work with HBO and, occasionally, wastes time on social networking sites just like I do. As I watched the glory (and agony of defeat) of the Winter olympians, I decided to RT Lewis and hashtag it with “The Winner Olympics”, saying he wins for most boring tweet by a former Gold medalist.
NERD ALERT: RT= Retweet in Twitter nerdspeak, it’s basically reposting someone else’s message.
hashtagging = usually a topic that gains popularity, I hashtag with things that are goofy.
Well, I was stunned when, minutes later, Lennox Lewis himself replied! That’s my response above, like a fanboi I RT’d his response because every other celebrity I’ve written to on there has ignored me.
Aside from just the the utter cool factor of this exchange, Lewis always carried himself with honor in the ring, retiring in 2005 after one of the bloodiest brawls of all time against Vitali Klitschko. Whereas most celebrities don’t respond to me on Twitter, Lewis is smart enough to know that HIV can’t be transmitted through tweeting and retweeting… I know, I know- being ignored has nothing to do with my HIV status. But I do feel compelled to share a story about Lennox Lewis that I’d kind of forgotten about.
Back in 1995, Tommy Morrison had his last legitimate fight against Lennox before testing positive for HIV and retiring from the sport. When it was suspected that Tommy Morrison likely, and unknowingly, carried HIV into the ring with him for his bout against Lewis, the former Olympian was asked about it just as the news was breaking. It could have been an opportunity to cause panic, but Lewis responded with calm. He got tested and it came back negative. (He’d pummeled Morrison pretty good in that fight.)
That fight is merely a footnote in his a career that includes a knockout of Mike Tyson and two wins over Evander Holyfield (one was an official draw, but Lewis won that fight handily), among many other noteable achievements. But as a positoid, I tip my hat to him- belatedly- for how he dealt with HIV back in 1996.
Always a winner, indeed.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
If you’re a fight fan, you know that tonight Manny Pacquiao is fighting underdog Joshua Clottey in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. I’m calling the upset: Clottey wins in round 5. Why? Because a thinblood never bets against a guy with the word “clot” in his name!
To read about my last fight and how, unlike Lewis, I retired after a defeat, check out my 1998 Poz column, Kid Gloves.
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Snooki Speaks At JMU
March 12, 2010
It’s been ten years since Gwenn and I started speaking at colleges, and we’ve been fortunate to have been invited to so many diverse campuses across the United States. One of the schools that has been a glaring omission has been James Madison University, where Gwenn went to graduate school.
If Gwenn had chosen another university, then it is likely we would have never met. One night way back when, JMU hosted Jeanne White, Ryan White’s mother. A friend called me that afternoon (thanks Jenny or Erin!), I ditched out on an AIDS Services Group board meeting (”bored”, as I called them- I was 23), and the rest is history. So JMU- obviously- will always hold a special place in my heart. That written, allow me to indulge in sour grapes for the fact that a school that is so linked to us, and is a mere 50 miles away, has never invited us to educate their students on sexual health.
But Shawn, maybe they don’t know you exist?
That’s not true, over the last eight years we’ve been in contact with people from the school, and it’s just never happened. Most schools don’t know we’re out there, and that’s why we work so hard to get into conferences to address the need for some kind of HIV/sexual health education that humanizes the issue.
Recently, we had the honor of speaking at Purdue University, a pretty conservative school. A couple of students saw us at the AFLV conference in St. Louis, went back to Lafayette, IN, and fought to bring us in for their school’s first ever Safe Sex Week. It was awesome. We also had the opportunity to speak at Valencia Community College in the last two weeks down in Orlando, FL.
So why focus on JMU?
Because I saw on TV that they have invited Snooki from the Jersey Shore to speak at their school.
Fucking Snooki.
I don’t normally curse on the blog, but you gotta give me that f-bomb. I’d joked in a previous blog entry about her being at the big NACA conference where Gwenn and I got to showcase, and that maybe I needed to wax my body and apply to Jersey Shore to get more speaking opportunities. Looks like, to get to JMU, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Not everyone was upset. The event at JMU was sold out, and Perez Hilton excitedly wrote the following about Snooki’s March 4 appearance, her first ever gig at a university.
“Snooki appeared at James Madison University last night to entertain the students and hilarity ensued including a fist-pump tutorial, a back flip and an abs contest! LOVES it! One Perezcious reader told us that Snooki talked about hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio in El Lay AND Lindsay Lohan saying, “She’s nasty!” LOLs!”
Sounds fascinating. Really. Schools bring in entertainers, and Snooki is to me what apples are to oranges. In their defense, James Madison does invest in worthy educators, having recently brought in my good friends, Kelly and Becca, who speak on sexual assault. But still, the whole situation- for lack of a better word- makes me ill, both mentally and physically. I get angry, because Snooki has no idea what she’s doing, or that there is a great opportunity in having a captive, built-in thanks to fame, audience.
During her visit to JMU Snooki said, in defense of a question that insinuated that she was a poor representative for females: “”You’re telling me you’ve never gone to a bar got a little out of
control, and hooked up with a few guys?” she said. “It’s human nature.
I’m young.” Too young to follow that up statement up with substance. Like why it’s important to think about the possibility of hooking up before you go out, or to use protection, or ask if your random partner has been tested.
Anything.
But when the word substance brings up alcohol and not education, then you can’t really expect too much of someone. And, in all fairness, I wasn’t there to see the event. Maybe in between the backflips and the ab contest there was a condom demonstration. If that’s the case, please correct me on the Comments section.
And who knows? Maybe Gwenn and I will get the opportunity to do the follow-up conversation and speak to a very small percentage of Snooki’s audience? If the last ten years is any indication, that likely will not be the case, and there’s no way that I, as a thinblood, am going to work on my backflips to make myself a more appealing prospect.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Don’t forget to vote in my Labtest Contest! Win something!
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The Labtest Contest is Here- So Win Something!
March 11, 2010
When I first started blogging about being HIV positive (those blogs are somewhere, I think) in 1996, one of the ideas I had was The Labtest Contest. I wanted to make getting my routine rounds of blood drawing fun for my new friends in the AIDS community.
At the time, I didn’t realize my counts were low- they’d been low for so long that was just normal for me. I was so happy when my friends participated. Either they too thought it was an innocently goofy idea, or they were enticed by my grand prize- which was a signed picture of myself with a random celebrity. I do believe that Stephen Gendin (RIP) once won a signed polaroid of me and Danny Bonaduce.
Why the stroll down memory lane? Well, I’m bringing the contest back!
Why? Well, I got better swag now. In the fourteen years since the first and last Contest I’ve written a book, released a pretty cool synthpop CD and have made some killer safe sex t-shirts, pictured here. Plus, I have more t-cells than I had back then, so the element of danger has been removed from the Contest.
If you want a chance to win some of my cool crap, just leave a Comment with your guess as to what my latest t-cell count was. If you’re the closest, then you get to choose which gift you want: a copy of My Pet Virus, a CD of my band Synthetic Division or a Screw Smarter t-shirt. Need a clue? Okay: the t-cell count is somewhere between 450 and 600.
Which means act fast! There’s a limited number of guesses. (ha ha)
Official Rules
1. You have to post your guess 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. If no one votes I reserve the right to delete this blog entry and pretend this never happened..
6. Deadline is Monday, March 15.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Yesterday was the fifth annual Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Check out Regan’s Poz blog about it. You probably didn’t know that about yesterday, because Corey Haim died and that got more coverage. To read a great blog entry on Haim, visit my friends at (Wo)Men Speak Out.
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Today is International Women’s Day
March 8, 2010
Think there’s no more progress to be made for women now that Kathryn Bigelow cockblocked ex-hubbie James Cameron and became the first female to win Best Director last night at the Oscars?
Think again.
The most recent issue of Poz explores how women are handling life with HIV and the sobering news of its impact: “Women are uniquely vulnerable to HIV. Lack of self-esteem, few resources, gender power imbalances, legal and political limitations, societal misperceptions and even basic biology have contributed to the fact that HIV/AIDS is now the No. 1 cause of disease and death among women ages 15 to 44 worldwide.”
Not to switch gears, but even in winning Best Picture and Best Director for the Hurt Locker, Kathyrn Bigelow had to field numerous questions on what she learned from James Cameron, whom she was married to from 1989-1991. When asked about her historic achievement in cinema, she said, “I hope I’m the first of many, and of course, I’d love to just think of
myself as a filmmaker. And I long for the day when that modifier can be
a moot point.”
On International Women’s Day, we should long for the day when AIDS no longer cuts women down in the prime of their lives, so they can even have the opportunity to go kick some male ass in all walks of life. Because, and I believe the world knows this, we most certainly deserve it.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Positoid of the Day: Nina Martinez
Check out her profile in the July 2006 issue of Poz!
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Positoid of the Day: Jack Mackenroth
March 1, 2010
This is the first Positoid of the Day Award. I won’t be able to do this every day, just whenever someone with HIV does something inspiring or magical or both. Today’s Positoid of the Day is Poz coverboy Jack Mackenroth, who has more than earned the honor with this Flashdance-inspired ride through a NYC subway.
Enjoy!
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Friendly Faces at NACA
March 1, 2010
I’d posted about Gwenn and I showcasing at the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conference a couple of weeks ago, but I haven’t really said what a big deal that was. We got a much coveted 15-minute slot to do our thing, selected from hundreds of submissions, because you’re basically speaking to representatives/students from hundreds of colleges at one time.
No pressure, right?
The good thing is that Gwenn and I had done a NACA regional conference last fall, so we’d already whittled down our hour-long program to a lean, mean 15-minute fighting machine. Basically I axed my entire love life before Gwenn, and instead of a Q&A session we just blazed through the most common questions- do we have sex? How condoms work for us? Is Gwenn scared to have sex with me. (Short Answers- 1. Yes 2. Well, never had a break or slip 3. No.)
It’s funny, our program is deeply personal… but we’ve been speaking about our relationship now for a decade, and how the “program” has evolved is something I am proud of- in the beginning, we were focused on what we do and why we care about HIV education. Now, it’s all about throwing those skills out to the audience, and also explaining why we aren’t scared, why we are safe and that they and their friends may not be, based on assumptions (I can tell by looking at someone if they have something). In the last year or so, I’ve also made it a point to advocate for those who are living with any lifelong sexually transmitted infection. As it is with HIV, the job of preventing further infections lies with us. And of course, one has to know their status to begin with, which is why testing is important since symptoms for just about everything that is out there often don’t reveal themselves.
It’s complicated. And it’s not.
Going to NACA also meant we had the opportunity to see more of our speaking friends. Joe and Bil do a program called “When the Gays Move Into Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”, which is all about being in a same-sex relationship in a world of hetero privilege. They are also hilarious, at the conference they had Joe & Bil pink scarfs and were raffling off a pink toaster. At NACA, you see, giveaways are a must, because everyone is bombarded from all angles, and you gotta have your name on something that gets back to their school so someone says, “Hey, Joe and Bil were awesome! I loved them,” and begins the process of sharing that program on their own campus.
We gave away Joe and Bil-approved pink Screw Smarter t-shirts.
At NACA we also ran into Todd Murray, whom I’ve been in net communication with over the last several years. It was great to shake hands and thank him for all he’s been doing to show that HIV looks like all of us. Check out the organization he founded, Does HIV Look Like Me? On the way to Boston and NACA, we also got to have coffee with the co-founder of >Just In Case, Marsha, while in Los Angeles. She gave us some condom-carrying compacts to take to Boston, and they were a big hit. It’s nice to see how perfectly style and safety can go together.
Aside from those of us who work in the educational field, there are also a myriad of bizarre pop culture icons. Mr. Belding from Saved By The Bell is a mainstay, and there was a sighting of Ruthie from the Real World Hawaii. Our friends Sue and Melissa at the College Agency weren’t above being starstruck when Snookie happened by- there was even talk of asking Snooks to be an alternate for Gwenn in our “A Boy, A Girl, A Virus” program. (JUST KIDDING. God, I am KIDDING.)
So yeah, NACA is huge. That’s why Gwenn and I freaked out when we were selected for one of 14 showcase spots, because we know tons of people apply for them. Joe and Bil got one, and so did our friend Erin Weed, founder of Girls Fight Back.
When Erin’s college friend, Shannon, was murdered, Erin dropped her post college career plans, learned about women’s self defense, and embarked on a mission to educate women about the fine art of kicking ass. Not only that, in recent years she’s branched out, training a handful of young women to go across the country as part of the Girls Fight Back team.
After our nerve-racking showcases were over, we had dinner with Erin and Megan Norwood, one of her GFB’ers. Later that night, we went for a drink, but the hotel bar was closed, leaving hundreds of NACA attendees in the lurch. There was a “bar” across the street that happened to be a bowling alley. It didn’t look open, and there were a few sketchy guys standing around outside smoking.
I’d never felt safer in my life than I did walking in between Megan and Erin.
The guys were cool once we got closer, and they informed us that the bowling alley was opened. It was actually packed, name tags from NACA dangling about as people unwinded a bit after the hectic 5-day conference was beginning to officially end. After chatting with Erin and Megan, screaming over bad music, we retired for the evening. Oh, that’s Erin and Megan with Mr. Belding, by the way, their booth at the conference was right across from his, and Erin couldn’t resist getting a photo.
The next morning it was back home, we beat another snowfall to get onto the plane- perfect timing once again. This semester has been so busy that it’s been hard to keep up with blog entries to tell all the stories… but I’m happy about that. 2009 ended roughly, and I’ve been put to the test this year and have passed with (literally) flying colors.
And if anyone at NACA cared about what Gwenn and I had to say about sexual health, next year will prove to be even busier. If that’s not the case, I’ll just have to hit the weights, wax my chest and apply for Jersey Shore.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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The Legendary Rocktree Brothers
February 24, 2010
While in LA Gwenn and I also hung out with Josh and Jenny, whom I went through the last trimester of high school with and beyond. Josh and I always made our own entertainment in Waynesboro… and, as it turns out, we continue to entertain ourselves, at least as far as we can stretch our budgets.
Good thing is that we can afford the occasional coffee. And Josh took us to one of his favorite neighborhood spots, Pete’s, so renowned that Katie of Calvino Cafe here in town said, “Oh, Pete’s is great!” Best of all, my ol’ buddy Josh sponsored me for a Decker’s Daily… sweet!
Josh’s artistic touch isn’t relegated solely to awesome shades: he designed the Bella Morte album art for Beautiful Death and also did the artwork for Lauren Hoffman’s latest album, Interplanetary Traveler. On top of that, he’s the guy responsible for the excellent Screw Smarter t-shirts that Gwenn and I use to spread the word about sexual health on college campuses. (pictured in previous blog entry) Click on his shades or mine to see more of Josh’s work via the Decker’s Daily Coffee blog.
While tooling around in a vintage record shop looking all badass, we came across an old Rocktree Brothers album. The Rocktree Brothers are a little-known duo that released a series of short-run albums in the early 1970’s- so finding a gem like Brothers in the Sun was a real treat. The problem was that the album was warped- not one song played.
So what were we to do?
As we decided to come up with a back-up plan for the evening, Jenny and Gwenn started laughing. Not being able to enjoy Sun was hardly a laughing matter, so we asked what was up.
“You two look like the Rocktrees!” Josh and I glanced at one another, then the photo- we didn’t see it. “Josh is a handsome man, but he’s no Mills Rocktree,” I said. Josh took a look at hard-drinking Olan Rocktree and then me- he didn’t see it either.
“Look closer!” Jenny said. We did. Maybe it’s just that our ladies see the coolness in us that has helped the Rocktree Brothers gain favor in hipster circles in Seattle, London and Scandinavia. Who knows? Either way, it’s a great compliment, we figured.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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