A Positoid’s Tribute to E.R.
November 19, 2008
I can’t take any pills for the kind of lingering cough I have right now, so my only prescription is some herbal remedies and an excessive amount of E.R. episodes.
For those who don’t know, E.R. is a television show about a hospital in Chicago called County General. New interns unwittingly enter, believing they will learn what it takes to become successful doctors. Those who have been around keep the dark secret of County General under wraps, never telling the newcomers that the place was built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Hoping they will take over so that they the elder doctors can move on.
Somehow the spirits never fully tip their hand to the interns, even when a helicopter lops off a doctor’s arm. Then, the same doctor perishes a couple of seasons later when a helicopter crashes down on him. I don’t know about you, but I’d be putting in for my transfer after that.
But no, the young would-be doctors stay, and over the years they meet their gruesome demises, one by one, as the rest of the E.R. hopes to accomplish the ultimate in medical miracles, to cure the ancient spirits of their insatiable bloodlust.
In the last week, Gwenn and I have cleaned out our TiVo, speeding through commerical breaks for last year’s hottest Christmas items, then hitting Valentine’s Day ads, and now, finally, we’re up to McCain and Obama ads.
The series ends in February, a dark day for thinbloods who have long enjoyed the bloodiest show to ever hit network television. I was looking for a complilation of the show’s most violent moments, but only found sappy tributes to Luka and Abby’s love story. I did find the original opening credits…
I started watching the show with Gwenn shortly after we moved in together in 1999. When it first aired in 1994, I was in a totally different place, living in Waynesboro with my parents.
Fresh out of high school, and two years away from speaking out about my HIV status. I was wondering how much my recent hepatitis C infection (found out in the summer of 1994 that I’d been infected by a recent blood product treatment, deemed to be “cleared” of the virus in 2005) would affect my health. So, when my mom became obsessed with this new show, I asked the obvious question.
“Haven’t you seen enough hospital drama in your lifetime?”
I didn’t get it.
But now, after a decade of watching it, I do. The show makes everyones’ medical dramas pale in comparison. People with HIV, diabetes, cancer and whatever else ails us as humans can tune in every week, and somehow feel better about ourselves after watching an episode. As doctors arms are lopped off, when grab a handful of popcorn. When a maniac enters the E.R. and starts shooting up the place, that missed attempt by an intern to find a vein doesn’t seem so bad. By the end of every episode, there you are,thanking your lucky stars that you don’t have it that bad.
And really, what more can you ask for from a T.V. show? E.R., you will be missed.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Shawn’s Favorite Things: Engine Down
August 8, 2008
To escape the impending clot-fest of the Olympics, I ran off to Richmond to see a screening of Engine Down’s new DVD- “From Beginning to End”. Here’s the trailer:
Watching the documentary gave me a lot of insight into the band, whose music is still among my favorite. It also brought back a lot of memories, how I came to know their music and their bass player, Jason, the gentleman who open the trailer above with a toast to his friends.
I always assume the bands of mutual friends suck, because statistics back up such an assumption. So I wasn’t eager to check out this “great band” my friends, Kelly and Jeff, kept telling me about. Plus, back in 1999 it took more work to hear a band. The night I met Jason, I mentioned our group of mutual friends go putt putting and his eyes were the only set that lit up.
A friendship was born.
When his then-girlfriend, Danielle, got a job working alongside Gwenn at the local AIDS Services Organization, it only insured that we’d be hanging out and putt putting on a regular basic. I also heard his band- and they were actually good.
Very good.
Around the time I met Jason, I’d just started meds, and I remember Danielle telling me how much Jason enjoyed our friendship. And that he worried about me. I was still kind of skinny, gaining weight back on my first set of HIV drugs. But he was skinnier than me- he was in an indie rock band, after all.
After hearing Engine Down, I had an ambitious idea for the local goth music night, run by new friends in Bella Morte. Why not get Bella Morte and Engine Down together for a fundraising show? I selflessly offered Synthetic Division (just me swaying behind two synthesizers) as the opener, and both bands donated their services.
In 2005, cuddle-time with Jason and Jonathan of Engine Down
The Tokyo Rose, the sushi bar that hosted the show, was packed. Indie kids and goth kids bantied about in their skinny jeans and leather pants, and our friends from the AIDS Services Group gave out condoms to everyone. I talked briefly about my HIV status before launching into a 20-minute set, swaying behind the keyboards before the pros in Bella Morte and Engine Down took the stage.
For six years afterwards, the flyer stayed on the refrigerator. I have a feeling the flyer is going to make a dramatic return.
When I wrote My Pet Virus, I was so moved by a lyric on their final, self-titled album that I asked if I could use it. (They said, “Hell yeah!”) It goes as follows:
“Please don’t ask me again, please don’t ask her again. It’s okay you didn’t know we have a long time waiting.”
That resonated with me in regard to my job, working with Gwenn and educating about HIV, which means opening up our personal life for Q&A, often fielding the following query: “Gwenn, what would you do if Shawn got sick? Or died?” I take pride in making people comfortable enough to ask such questions, but Engine Down gave that pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay, you have a long time waiting.”
If you’ve never heard of Engine Down, check them out. I promise they don’t suck.
“Cover”, from the album Engine Down
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Check out my memoir, My Pet Virus, and click to read a sample. Video of reviews.
Give a listen to "Sign", one of my songs from Synthetic Division’s Get with the Programs (co-written with Kyle Wiggins):
Get the song here on iTunes!
Be sure to visit ShawnandGwenn.com, where you can see clips of our educational work at colleges and universities, as well as media clips from MTV safe sex programming and a Dr. Drew talk show. 2006 video of me and Gwenn, when I was finishing up My Pet Virus.
Haven’t seen a real blog in a day or so? Follow my cellphone micro-blogging at Twitter.com.
Shawn’s Favorite Things: Pretzels
June 20, 2008
I was recently reminded of Oprah Winfrey’s Favorite Things episodes by Kathy Griffin’s new season of Life on the D-List- one of my favorite things, incidentally. I thought, “Why not do that on the blog? Shawn’s Favorite Things?” And what would be a better Favorite Thing than large pretzels?
Big, ballpark pretzels with grains of salt the size of Skittles. Yum, yum, yum.
Oprah, of course, gives away her Favorite Things. I would love to do the same for readers of this blog, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t have much money and I’m kind of on a tight budget this summer.
Still, I’m convinced that you like those pretzels just as much as I do… I don’t have the corporate connections that Oprah does, all I got is a savvy spirit and willingness to give. I know there’s a way to get one of my favorite things into your hands without going broke. Hmmm….
Did Shawn steal the pretzels for you? Is he currently a free man? Find out by continuing to read this blog!