Blog Posts + Articles + Happenings
Whitman-Walker Clinic’s Gala is Friday
The Whitman-Walker Clinic's 17th Annual Spring Gala is this Friday in DC, and it's called the Masquerade on the Mall. Tickets and more information are available here. At the event Poz magazine and Miss America, Caressa Cameron are being honored with...
The Need For Hospital Visitation Rights
Poz recently posted an article online, Obama Extends Hospital Visitation Rights to Same-Sex Couples, that is worth checking out. It's about how the prez is extending a helping hand to a community that is not yet able to legally wed, which can cause problems in the...
World Hemophilia Day Shenanigans
Saturday was World Hemophilia Day. And I was determined to squeeze as much fun out of it as possible. Especially when Decker's Daily sponsor, Nina, asked me on Twitter if anyone was going to sponsor me for an iced mocha on the big day.I hadn't really thought...
Cheers to a Friend
One of my friends, Katie, had surgery this week for problems she'd been having as a result of Crohn's, mainly recurring and consistent pain. I was so happy that the procedure went well, and hope this is the beginning of a pain free existence for her. One...
Big News: Synthetic Division Going On Tour!
No, not a tour of duty- the military hasn't lowered standards enough to accept a soldier like me. Instead, I'm taking my music on the road to promote the release of A Symptom of Life... check out the tour schedule below! Follow the red line- that will be me...
Dab the AIDS Bear’s Angel for April
My positoid buddy, Dab, named me his AIDS Bear Angel for April 2010. So instead of blogging about myself today, I'm going to let Dab take it away! Click on me and the little bear, who helped raise funds at a Synthetic Division show last July, to read Dab's very...
Now is Too Soon: Goodbye, Tim. Goodbye, Clint.
In the midst of recognizing the passing of Ryan White, the HIV/AIDS community lost one of its brightest lights, Clint Walters, this week. Walters, an HIV educator who was diagnosed at age 17, was unable to survive a heart attack he suffered in his home. ...
Ryan White- Twenty Years Ago Today
Today marks the 20-year anniversary of the passing of Ryan White. I never like to say someone "lost their battle with AIDS" simply because they were HIV positive when they passed to spirit, and to use that phrase in the case of White would be an especially gross...
Synthetic Division: A Symptom of Life
Last month marked the 20-year anniversary of Depeche Mode's Violator, which just so happened to mark the 20-year anniversary of my dying wish to meet the band. Next month I'm releasing some new Synthetic Division (that's my music monicker) music to commemorate...
The Easter Edition of Decker’s Daily
Today was great- Gwenn and I got to help surprise our good friend, Riki, who turned 40 on April Fool's Day. He's an incredible guy, one of many folks I am lucky to know as well as I do. For instance, somehow, at his birthday party the renowned local chef gave me...
Stuarts Draft High’s Cool
Last fall I had the privilege of speaking at Stuarts Draft High School, which I lovingly blogged about in August. It was a rare opportunity to speak to high school students, and was facilitated thanks to one of my friends, Allison, who now teaches English there. Well,...
NYC: Support Steve of the Hemo2Homo Connection!
One of my proudest accomplishments as an HIV edu-tainer has been my work with Steve Schalchlin as the Hemo2Homo Connection, the AIDS community's answer to Ebert & Mr. Roeper. We've been laying low recently, after an excellent 2009 that saw us review such...
Miss America Interview in Poz
I had the privilege of interviewing Caressa Cameron, Miss America, for the new issue of Poz magazine, which is now on their site for you to enjoy... so go, enjoy! Wait, need a teaser? Well, I'm good at teasing, so here you go. One of the questions I...
Happy Birthday, Dab
I spend a lot of time on Facebook, and one of the features is that there is a big (or little) list of peoples' birthdays, which are either happening, or coming up in the next few days. Occasionally I look at it- sometimes by accident, and will then go post on...
The HIV Positive T-shirt
Have you seen them? I first saw one when Annie Lennox sported it. Have a look at this video to hear her explain why she is trying to break down the stigma that is helping HIV continue to thrive.About a week or so ago, Gwenn saw on Facebook that our friends...
What Health Care Reform Means to Thinbloods
So the Health Care Bill finally passed the House, to much chagrin and fanfare. It's one of those two America moments; you either love it or hate it. Like the hit TV series Alf, or those corndogs wrapped in pancakes.For fear of persecution, I won't say how...
K-Y Ask Why?
While flipping through a copy of Real Simple in bed one night, Gwenn came across a contest for K-Y lube called "K-Y Couples Place". Couples and fans of the K-Y product were invited to submit a 300-word essay on their relationship, after which 10 couples would be...
Decker’s Daily reaches 300th Episode
In honor of the 300th episode, I'm mainstreaming my Decker's Daily Flickr Blog to the main blog. Not just a fad, Decker's Daily has earned it's spot. And here's a symbolic toast of the iced mocha to everyone who is fighting for health care reform! One of...
Depeche Mode’s Violator Turns 20
Today marks the 20-year anniversary of the release (UK) of Depeche Mode's career-defining album, Violator. It's safe to say that no other album has had quite the same impact on my life as this one. I discovered Depeche Mode a year or so before this album's release. I...
T-Cell Champion’s Victory Speech
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...
The Winner of the Labtest Contest Is…
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....
MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation
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...
The Winner Olympics With Lennox Lewis
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...
Snooki Speaks At JMU
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...
The Labtest Contest is Here- So Win Something!
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...
Today is International Women’s Day
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...
Positoid of the Day: Jack Mackenroth
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...
Friendly Faces at NACA
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...
The Legendary Rocktree Brothers
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...
Friendly Faces at AFLV
This semester has been busy for me and Gwenn, and thus far we've had a great response to our program, A Boy, A Girl, A Virus, which is all about safe, sexual decision-making and how we keep Gwenn safe in our relationship.Here we are at the Association of Fraternal...