Scary Real-Life Halloween Story
October 31, 2008
From the Canadian Press: Saskatchewan investigating after hospital found to be reusing syringes.
It’s a terrifying article, but don’t make the mistake I did when first reading this. I thought it said “Sasquatch investigating after hospital”. Come to think of it, any hospital that reuses syringes should have to answer to this guy.
Positively Yours,
ArrrrAAARGHAGH!
Happy Halloween
October 31, 2008
It’s Halloween! One of my favorite times of the year! That’s why I’m turning off my brain, and turning the blog over- for the very first time-, to a special guest: Frankenstein…
But, before I do so, I want to post a couple of funny videos. Here are some not-so-scary outtakes from the Dark Shadows TV series, which, upon first glance, should have been called “The Fly”.
Alright, have fun tonight and eat lots of candy. I am off to scare children in my Frankenstein costume- that’s how I get my free candy.
Positively Yours,
ArRRrrrRRGGGGGAHGH!
Most Important Election?
October 29, 2008
Disclaimer: Another entry about politics…
It’s one week until our next president is elected. All the polls indicate that Obama is in the lead, and that Virginia is going to be a key state. They say if Virginia is called early, Obama likely has won. If it trails off into the night, I say that Joe the Positoid will be Joe Six Pack times two.
Or no, wait, if I vote for Obama I’m not a “real Virginian”. And I probably would be considered Joe Chardonnay, not Joe Six-Pack. Either way, if Obama tanks, I’m getting tanked. If I have to resort to huffing to get through the night, then so be it.
This is widely considered to be the most important election of my young generation. Yes, the first black president of the United States is pretty badass, but after the last eight years I’d have to say that 2000 has thus far been the election of my lifetime.
A sex scandal! A Democratic one! Which caused a Vice President to avoid using a widely popular sitting president to win an election! And out of nowhere, a former president’s son comes to the rescue and runs a successful campaign as, get this, a Washington outsider!
I, of course, was in the tank for Al Gore. I look back on that wide-eyed, young 25-year old positoid I once was, thinking that the Republican party blew their chances when they went with Bush over McCain. I was convinced that McCain would beat Gore in the general, and that Bush didn’t have a shot. They guy just seemed like a bit of a manchild.
I felt bad for McCain when he lost the primary in 2000. I kind of liked the guy, especially when he railed against Jerry Falwell for being an “agent of intolerence.” Plus he was really cool with the Daily Show guys, calling them a bunch of “rapscallions” or something of the sort.
Then I felt horrible with Gore’s agonizing, drawn-out defeat. Say what you will about Florida, but if Gore hadn’t have kissed his wife at the convention, and had won his home state of Tennessee, Florida wouldn’t have mattered. Several years later, the American voting public lined up to kick me in the balls once again when young Sanjaya was voted off of Idol.
But I digress.
McCain may be running on fumes and squeezing the assumed soul of Joe the Plumber for every ounce of inspiration, I still think that he is unbeatable in the general election. And if he does win, I will blame the Democrats for not supporting my original choice for the party’s nomination: Mr. Dennis Kucinich.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
I Am Not Joe the Plumber
October 29, 2008
Joe the Plumber has officially endorsed John McCain!
I really can’t stand that guy, Joe. A political operative, and now a rallying call for the McCain camp, who namedrop him as some kind of proof that they have a blue-collared friend. “How ’bout that Joe? He sure did tell Obama, didn’t he?”
No, Joe stood there like a douche with his arms crossed, pretending to listen to Obama answer his manufactured question. Joe delivered his lines as stiffly as the poor actors in this ad who are pretending to admire Joe.
t’s suspicious how often McCain is mentioning Joe the Plumber. It’s making me think that, should McCain pull off the upset, he’d support gay marriage just so he can pursue Joe and lock down down the deal before anyone else can.
Positively Yours,
Joe the Positoid
AIDS Treatment: How Soon is Now?
October 27, 2008
A recent study suggests that the newly diagnosed will now be pressured to immediately start on HIV drugs. Here’s the story, afternoon glory.
In the study, they found that people who started on HIV drugs with higher t-cell counts had a better survival rate. My worry is that I foresee doctors shoving pills at newly diagnosed people who have healthy immune systems.
I can’t overstate the role that HIV drugs have played in my health since I started in 1999. I also can’t overstate the importance of not starting on AZT in 19
90 when it was suggested I do so- I wouldn’t have adherred to the treatment in the early days of my diagnosis. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend waiting until you have less than 100 t-cells, like I boneheadishly did, either.
A daily reminder of your status in the form of pills is something that you have to be ready for, mentally and emotionally. If the physical threat isn’t there yet, I don’t think a positoid should be asked to swallow more than they already have to, all things considered.
One other thing, the article mentions that drug holidays are a no-no. ” Another key study found that briefly interrupting treatment to give patients “drug holidays” puts them at grave risk.” … How about some details: How long were the holidays? What were the patients numbers/health like when they took the holidays?
I blog my truth, without assuming that my truth would be the truth of anyone else living with HIV. I write occasionally about my week on/week off HIV meds schedule, which I’ve been doing successfully for six years now. I don’t feel like I am at grave risk.
I know the medical community likes to paint people with medical conditions with big, broad strokes. My only suggestion is to let the patient determine which colors are used, and not to strap everyone down with the same well-intentioned advice.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Lock-Up: Condom Edition
October 24, 2008
A story that is getting national headlines right now involves a high school in St. Louis, where up to 50 students are being tested for HIV , after being exposed to the virus.
The details are fuzzy- someone tested positive and informed authorities that quite a few people were in danger of also being positive. The article skirts around how these people were exposed- it mentions all the risk factors, including sexual contact, unsafe piercing and tattoo’ing- but I’m guessing it was probably unsafe sex.
A recent story that isn’t getting headlines happened to a couple of my friends.
After hitting the grocery store, the couple decided to swing by CVS to pick up some condoms. Once they got to the aisle, they noticed that condoms were locked up. They went to the register, and asked for assistance. “I don’t have a key,” they were told. When another employee who was closer to the aisle was asked if she could unlock the glass door, said employee blushed, giggled nervously and exclaimed, “I don’t have a key!”
Then she ran away.
My friends stood in shocked silence. Still condomless. Finally, the employee returned, mentioned once again that she did not have a key, and disappeared never to be seen again. The third time was the lucky charm, and the door was unlocked.
Now, it’s a pet peeve of mine that condoms are locked up to begin with. And if it’s any wonder why condoms are stolen, then this story should clear up that mystery. Fortunately, my friends are in their late 20’s, and weren’t going to take no for an answer… but imagine if a high school student dealt with this kind of ignorance?
When I was in high school, a friend went into a drugstore to buy condoms before they were locked up. The person behind the register asked if he was old enough to buy condoms. My then 14-year old peer handled the situation a bit differently than my friends this week at CVS… “Fine, I’ll get the bitch pregnant!”, he shouted, before throwing the condoms at the drugstore employee.
In terms of the St. Louis story, it is mentioned that the students had HIV education. Did this involve proper use of condoms, or any advice outside of “don’t get it”? And beyond that, should we be warning students about the attitudes they will face when attempting to purchase condoms, which are locked up like hardened criminals?
Positively Annoyed,
Shawn
Saved by the Wedding Bell
October 23, 2008
Erin Weed arrived, and she didn’t kick my butt. In fact, we had a great time catching up, and realized it’s been over a year since we hung out in person.
I didn’t even have to pull out my fake letter from my hematologist. Or the fake emails from readers concerned for my well-being, hoping against hope that I wasn’t going to be beaten to a pulp… so I could live to blog again. So what saved me?
A wedding anniversary. Today is Gwenn and I’s four year wedding anniversary.
Positively for using anniversaries to your advantage, Positively Against Prop 8.
Shawn
This Positoid’s Life (September-October 2008)
October 22, 2008
I’ve been writin’ a lot of blogs with no pictures and my camera has been screaming for attention. So here’s the last couple of weeks of This Positoid’s Life, with nifty captions. Enjoy!
Saturday, September 27: Bruce gets married! Bruce is a good friend and merch man for Bella Morte (here, from left, Gopal former and founding member, Andy, Bruce, Micah and Tony).
Bruce and Eliza go on their honeymoon, so Gwenn steps in to do merch for Bella Morte’s CD release party the following weekend. Fun fact: Gwenn manages the band, but sleeps with the lead singer of…
Synthetic Division opens the show for the Bella Morte CD release party! (That’s me and Marshall Camden, who is not smoking in this pic.)
I snapped this photo from stage while singing a cover of “Photographic” by Depeche Mode. Get it? That’s two members of Silent Muse, who will be playing with Bella in December.
We have fans, check out the shirt! That’s me and Sharley, who rocks.
Andy Deane resteals his thunder with Bella Morte- CD release party is a success!
A couple days later, it was off to Beaumont, Texas, for the Triangle AIDS Network conference on HIV. I spoke solo last year, but this year Gwenn and I went together to speak about being in a sero-discordant relationship.
What was interesting about this year was that Hurricane Ike had ravaged the community about a month before the conference. There were blue tarps on roofs that were waiting to be fixed, and rain water caused more flooding the night before we flew back home.
And speaking of home, another speaker, Tom Donahue of Who’s Positive, was at the conference, too. He dropped me a line quite a few years ago, just after he tested positive. Well, turns out he’s been living in Charlottesville for a year, and the first time we met in person was in- you got- Texas.
Here he is with a new camera, which he was very excited about. I think he was working for the Pozarazzi of Poz Magazine, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that photos of me don’t sell!
One of the problems brought about by Hurricane Ike as it pertained to the conference was the host hotel- they were closed longer than expected, which meant the conference needed a new home. It also meant that Gwenn and I and the rest of the speakers spent a night or two at a Catholic Retreat Center in the woods. I picked Room 13, just because I thought that was funny, given my love of Friday the 13th movies…. well, the joke was on me when I woke up that morning, and there was no power!
Everyone knows the power goes out before you bite the bullet. Fortunately, the only thing I missed as a result wasn’t a limb to a machete-wielding maniac, it was a shower.
The conference went well, and it was nice to see some new faces this year, and some familiar ones from last year’s conference.
On the way home, I posed with some cardboard cut-outs of the two respective presidential tickets, and I had a revelation…
The “Rebel Without a Cure” has been supporting these guys?
Look at McCain, he’s the only one of the four who was ballsy enough to pose for his cut-off without a big cheesy grin. That’s enough for me, consider the Rebel Without a Cure a full-fledged member of the Team of Mavericks. (I figure that, being a smartass with AIDS, my endorsement probably hurts.)
Then this past weekend, Gwenn and I spoke at the 4th Annual Conference on HIV in Maine, where my ego was stroked by quite a few people who knew me from my column in Poz. One very nice person said she’s been reading it for over ten years now… another stopped me in the hallway and apologized for gushing. I encouraged her to go on, then later she asked when Synthetic Division was going to play in Maine… hey, maybe someday Tom can sell those photos to the Pozarazzi after all?
Oh, and with all the above Gwenn found time to judge the Miss Hill City pageant in Lynchburg, Virginia, while I was at home with Andy of Bella Morte, watching Bernard Hopkins box Kelly Pavlik’s ears. If any sporting event should make cocky democrats, who believe in polling, nervous, it should be the sight of the 43-year old Hopkins dismantling the previously undefeated Kelly Pavlik.
All of this is the perfect tie-in to my column in this month’s Poz magazine. It’s about, what else, pageants. You read read “Life’s Rich Pageant” at poz.com. (For a trip down memory lane, here’s a column I wrote for Poz in 1998, “Kid Gloves”.)
If this blog seems long, well, it may be the last one until the after life. Just found out Erin Weed is coming into town today. I thought I heard her cracking her knuckles on the voicemail message.
Pray for the thinblooded maverick.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Erin Weed on the CBS Early Show
October 19, 2008
Erin Weed of Girls Fight Back was on the CBS Early show, giving tips on women’s self defense. Here’s a clip:
You may remember the video I posted of her beating up someone in a big helmet. I foolishly taunted and challenged her, and she accepted. I laid low, and I thought in all of her travels she’d forgotten and I was off the hook…
Well, I got an ominous message from my friend, Weed: “I’m coming to Charlottesville, this week.“
I plan to get hopped up on clotting factor all week, just in case she launches a surprise attack. Still, I think my big trap may have finally done me in… stay tuned.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
California Dreamin’ of Gay Marriage
October 17, 2008
The issue of gay marriage in California is bursting at the cumberbund, and unfortunately it looks like the tide is turning in favor of hate-mongering.
Here’s a blog post by John Corvino at 365gay.com, couldn’t agree with it more.
Positively Yours,
Shawn