Blog Posts + Articles + Happenings
Tomorrow Night! LIVE! … More Than Just A Gig
Tomorrow night I'll be playing a Synthetic Division show, opening for my friends in Bella Morte. Another talented musician and friend, Lauren Hoffman, will also be playing. The venue is the 800-capacity venue, The Jefferson. It's a big gig. But for me, it's more than...
New Adventures in HIV Medication
In 2002 I made a decision regarding my HIV medications- I'd been on combination therapy for 3 years after receiving an AIDS diagnosis in 1999, and the HIV medication most certainly brought my health back. But at the same time, I was feeling the side effects and was...
What is PEPFAR? (Video)
I had the privilege of helping out AIDS Healthcare Foundation with this video on the importance of funding PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief). Check out the video, and please go to Change AIDS Obama and sign the Change.org petition. Watch the epic...
50 Random Facts About Me and Gwenn
Happy birthday to me. Now that that's out of the way, I want to post a video Gwenn and I did a few weeks ago, "50 Random Facts About Us". As sex educational vloggers, we try to tackle issues that involve HIV/AIDS in a way that doesn't get people to turn us off. On...
The HIV Negative Issue of Poz Magazine
Quite the surprise arrived in the mail today- the new issue of Poz magazine, which had some familiar faces staring back at me. So honored to be gracing the cover with my incredible partner in an issue that celebrates the HIV negative allies among us. I wouldn't be who...
Gwenn Gets Tested For HIV
This Thursday is National HIV Testing Day. Gwenn had the idea of getting herself tested for this week's video to honor the occasion and to promote knowing your status. With the help of AIDS Services Group here in Charlottesville, she did just that. Big thanks to Jason...
A Discussion With My Doctor
At my last doctor's appointment, I talked with my doctor about the recent "HIV cure within months!" headlines that were floating around online and also my decision to switch HIV meds. Part of that discussion is in this week's Shawn and Gwenn video, as well as an...
Changing HIV Medications
My latest video is a bit more personal- it's about switching HIV medications. Since I started on HIV meds back in 1999, I've switched 4 times, going on 3 different combinations, but never because the drugs weren't doing their job in keeping HIV from replicating. It's...
What People Are Saying About AIDS on Twitter 2
It's YouTube Comedy Week, and Gwenn and I found some real laughers when searching "#AIDS" on Twitter. It appears that people are still using the word "AIDS" to get across their daily frustrations. Positively Yours,Shawn
HIV Discrimination in the News
Gwenn and I combed through Poz.com and found a few stories involving HIV that we felt compelled to discuss. Hope this finds everyone doing well. Positively Yours, Shawn
Happy Mother’s Day
Our latest video is a shout-out to our moms, and your moms, too. Happy Mother's Day. Positively Yours, Shawn
Catching Up
I'd previously blogged about why Gwenn and I had a little hiatus from video-making. Well, while on hiatus, we actually recorded some of our journeys on our cellphones. One of our capers included me riding a ferris wheel in recognition of World Hemophilia Day.I know-...
We Attempt the Condom Challenge
We just couldn't wait until Tuesday to post our latest video... if you haven't heard about the condom challenge, it's a new trend that's taken off (for better or worse) where people post videos of themselves inserting a condom into their nose and then pulling that...
World Hemophilia Day
Hemophilia has shaped my life in so many ways. The physical vulnerability and the humbling effects that this medical condition has a not-so-adverse side effect: my brothers and sisters with hemophilia who have shared this journey (and our caretakers) are some of the...
My Poz.Com Exclusive Article, “Adventures in Baby-Making”
I had the pleasure of talking with Mark Zatyrka about he and his wife's decision to have children using sperm washing. (Mark's been HIV positive since childhood, his partner, Sasha, is HIV negative.) Read it on Poz.com here: Adventures in Baby-Making Positively Yours,...
Uncle Mook, Vail, Poll and My Pet Virus Screenplay
The last few weeks have been a real whirlwind... But first and foremost, I feel a public goodbye to my Uncle Mook (my dad's little brother) is in order. He was truly a great guy, always ready to have a good laugh and always very kind to me. He'd been diagnosed...
A Brief Hiatus
So no new video on this fine Tuesday. Partly because of the last video- we are getting ready for the Vail Film Festival, which has inspired me to get back to work on the screenplay to my book, My Pet Virus. In addition to that excitement, the last two weeks have...
My Life in 60 Seconds
A little over a week ago, Gwenn saw a post on Twitter about a contest put on by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Vail Film Festival. You had to make a creative video about how HIV has impacted you, and also use the phrase "keep the promise on AIDS", which is a...
Baby Cured of HIV?
In this week's video, Gwenn and I discuss the recent news that a baby has been functionally cured of HIV. Hopefully this raises awareness to the fact that mother-to-child transmission can be prevented before it happens if HIV testing is made readily available to...
VLOG: Draw My Life
Here's our latest video- it's a Draw My Life video. A lot of YouTube Vloggers are doing them, and Gwenn thought my life would work well in the context. And I do like to draw, so I gave it a shot, thinking that a Draw My Life with a little story about HIV...
VLOG: Movie Night… How to Survive a Plague
In this week's video, Gwenn and I discuss How to Survive a Plague- the movie about the early days of treatment activism. Our fingers our crossed for this incredible film, as it is up for Best Documentary at the Oscars this Sunday. Hope everyone is doing well....
VLOG: Be Our Valentine?
This week's video is all about V-Day, and why you shouldn't count yourself out if you are living with a sexually transmitted infection. Be our Valentine and Share this video with friends! Much love to you all, thanks for reading and watching.Positively Yours, Shawn
VLOG: Have You Been Tested?
Our latest vlog is about HIV testing... check it out! Last week's vlog was about the difference between HIV and AIDS. You might know the difference, but a lot of folks don't. So we figured we'd explain it. Hope everyone is doing well!Positively Yours,Shawn
Congrats to Labtest Contest Winner: Mary!
This time around the winning guess- which came under the wire this weekend- was 583... just two t-cells off of my actual count, which was 585! What's interesting is that the champion, Scott Anderson, was way ahead of everyone in the field with a guess of 588 until...
Labtest Contest IX: Win A Rise Above HIV Shirt!
(REMEMBER TO VOTE ON MY POZ BLOG COMMENTS SECTION! Link below with the other rules!)It's that time again- time to guess my t-cell count for the chance to win a fabulous prize! So what is the prize this time around? It is a Rise Above HIV t-shirt, designed by my...
VLOG: “Dear Gwenn, Are You Scared?”
In our latest video, Gwenn answers a question she gets all of the time: is she scared of contracting HIV as the negative partner in a sero-diverse relationship? Congrats to frogi1013 for winning the Giveaway from the last video. Hope everyone is doing well!Positively...
VLOG: Truthloader Interview, Win a Book!
Our second video of the new year? It's mainly an interview we did with Truthloader, a new YouTube Channel dedicated to providing the truth on a vast array of topics, HIV included. Gwenn and I were honored to be selected as their featured vloggers this week!Also, watch...
VLOG: What People Are Saying About AIDS on Twitter
It's our first new video of 2013! Going to be doing one a week, posting them on Tuesdays. For this one, we went onto Twitter and clicked on the topic of AIDS, which is "#AIDS" in Twitter-speak. Came across some real gems, let me tell ya... well, I...