December 2007 Archives

Christmas is over. The holiday sweater vest has been shelved, though the Christmas tree will definitely fight to keep its spot well into January.

I've survived the Red Wee Episode, and should get answers as to what happened in 2008- next week, though it has put the Tag Team Challenge in jeopardy. I just don't know who would sanction a physical contest that involves me, even if I'm backed up by the entirely clottable mountain of man machine that is Mr. Dennis Kucinich.

Give 'em hell in Iowa and New Hampshire, Dennis!

Speaking of wrestling, Ric Flair's last match is on the horizon if you believe wrestling hype. In the storyline, if he loses one more match he has to retire. I don't know what I'll do when he no longer gets in there and kicks some ass, though this video provides some clues:

Maybe instead of getting in the ring, Dennis and I should challenge Flair and The Huck to a Wii Match? One of my favorite gifts of all-time has to be the Wii. And the wrestling game my bro got me is incredible. I can be Ric Flair and he actually punches people in the balls and bleeds like a stuck pig.

Awesome.

OK, I'm off this comp now. I've been neglecting Gwenn with some serious Wii'ing as of late, and I can't forget the young woman who braved the elements to make this happen. And on a deeper level, I can't help but think of a question I've been asked quite a few times: "Would you go back and not get HIV if you had a chance?"

I ignore the fact that I'd have bled to death had I refused the treatments that infected me in the 80's, and say, "Well, I may have never have met Gwenn otherwise."

Which means I'd never have gotten a Wii.

Which means my life would have no meaning or joy.

Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS: Playing tonight at Outback with Bella Morte and Phoenix Noir in Charlottesville! Synthetic Division action!

The holidays are supposed to be about spreading joy, right?

Well, riddle me this: why is one of the season's greatest items, the holiday sweater vest, only acceptable if worn by females who over the age of 41? Why can't we all partake in the excess? The patches upon patches, the glitter, the snowmen and the reindeer and Santa and whatever else can be sewn on a sleeveless vest... don't we all deserve to wear every non-denominational symbol of enchantment on our bodies?

I think it's high time that we all march through December hand-in-hand: every woman and man of every age, shape, color and creed together in a bedazzling display of fashion gone horribly wrong.

I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything that sounds more right than that!

Positively Yours,

Shawn

So Friday it happened again: cranberry juice where lemonade should be.

I went into the hematology infusion center, got factored up, and am still wondering what's going on. Should find out after the holidays, which is to say I'm not in any life-threatening situation here.

In the meantime, I'm taking a nasal spray of Stimate, which boasts my factor levels, every other day. So tomorrow before I go to bed, I'll booger blast myself again, the hope being that during the day on Sunday there's no relapse. If that happens, I have to go in Monday for more factor since the place is closed on Christmas.

The crummy thing aside from a tinge of fear every time I urinate and that I've been unable to drink my fave holiday drink- the blood-thinning white russians- is that Gwenn and I won't be able to go to Cleveland for Christmas, which really sucks because her mom has had her own health issues recently. Ah, damn my thinblood. I wasn't too worried about going up there for the holiday until this second episode. The hematologist wants me close to home, just in case. The good thing is that we'll be going to Cleveland in January- thus avoiding the holiday travel. By then I expect this whole issue to be resolved entirely.

As for the wee, it's yellow now so I'm mellow. As for the Wii, Gwenn has reached Pro Level in bowling before me. But I'm still undefeated in boxing. And, as of today, we're all set on Christmas shopping.

Positively Yours,

The Band Plays On: I'm playing with Synthetic Division on Saturday, December 29 at Outback Lodge, with Bella Morte and Phoenix Noir. If I don't shake my booty as much as I did last time out, I hope you understand. :O)

I forgot to mention that I got some other labs done on Tuesday at the hemo-clinic, but haven't heard back: no news is good news.

Another funny thing that I failed to write about last time was that my hematologist said that if I ever have another issue like that at 5 A.M., that it's best to just wait until their infusion clinic opens at 7:30 instead of going to the E.R., where no one knows about hemophilia.

For instance, in 2005 they came at me with 10,000 mgs of factor. I take roughly 2,000. Good thing we caught them before they injected me. Then on Monday, when the nurse came in to infuse me she started to pump in the factor. The second she did that I said, "Wait, not so fast."

"They told me to get it in in less than 5 seconds," she said. "That sounded strange, I was going to do it in 10."

It's supposed to be a two-to-three minute process.

So yeah, upon thinking about these things, I figured it is safer to bleed it out at home for a couple of hours rather than go to the germy E.R., which probably sees and treats sasquatches on a more regular basis than thinbloods.

Then my hematologist said that she's the only one in the hematology department who is comfortable treating and observing people with hemophilia- I didn't know we made people involved in medicine so nervous!

But, three odd days later and all is still well. It's funny how quickly I move on, how I immediately just went back to my routine of trying to get things together for Christmas, perfect my Wii bowling, hang out with one of my good friends who is in town. Just all the fun holiday stuff.

Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't send out a sentiment to Dennis Kucinich, who lost his brother yesterday. Our team has had a rough week, and my wee issue pales in comparison to what he must be going through. Big positoid to vibes to the little guy with big ideas.

Positively Yours,

Shawn

Gwenn braved the elements on Sunday, standing in the chilled A.M. to wait in line for this season's Red Rider B-B Gun- the Nintendo Wii!

She woke at the ass-crack of dawn, and got to the store- which opened at 8- at 5 A.M. She was going to keep it a secret, but folded a couple of weeks ago when I said, "Don't kill yourself trying to get one." That's when she had to share the numerous google searches which turned up numerous message boards about numerous strategies about how to get a Wii this year.

Wii Alerts informed whenever a Wii was for sale online, but you had to get the message within seconds on email or text to have a shot. "Damn!" Gwenn said a couple of times, "I had a Wii Alert..." "Really, don't kill yourself over it."

But Gwenn had a challenge, and a friend joined her at Target in the hopes of procuring the gaming system.

Along the way, we've enjoyed some old and new holiday traditions. We took my parents to the Paramount theatre here in C'ville to see an afternoon showing of a Christmas Story. Mom brought over some cookies she bought from the holiday cookie fundraiser for the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren- the site of my first talk about living with HIV back in 1996, to a youth group.

"Some" cookies.

This year was the most we'd ever received. My theory is that Mom buys so many cookies each year, that she inspires people who have no business baking to get in on it to raise money for the church. (Neon-orange sherbet fudge, anyone?) I'm not sure the cookie-giving is actually complete, as Mom ominously mentioned that a flatbed truck would be delivering another Christmas present in the near future.

All in all, the season has been moving along well. I set up my Rudolph the Reindeer naitivity scene, we got out tree, and I got a brand-new sweater vest!

And last Sunday, when Gwenn returned at 8:30 A.M. with a look of victory on her face, I knew that she'd scored. Oh yeah, she also said, "I got the Wii!" And later that night we set it up and played with friends.

The frigid scene at Target. I'm excited. And then...

You'll shoot your eye out! You'll shoot your eye out!

I didn't shoot my eye out. Or throw myself headfirst into our TV. Or get a hernia like one friend did. You won't find my story or photos on Wii Have a Problem.com. Something was amiss just before we plugged in the system... I noticed some discoloration in my urine. I thought I'd just take notice next time I wee'd, maybe I was seeing something, my eyes googled by over-exposure to holiday lights and cheer.

An hour or so later, Andy, our friend who lives up the street, came down and helped us get set up. Then Gwenn and I played some Wii bowling, and she destroyed me. I practiced, but didn't get much better. I vowed to extract my revenge, and thanked her again for the best Christmas present ever.

Then, as we were about to go to bed and do our nightly ritual- watch Arrested Development on DVD- I used the bathroom downstairs just after shutting off all the lights and trees and Wiis: And wouldn't ya know it, wee had a problem: Product (RED) Urine.

This is not a common problem for me. About ten years ago I had blood in my urine, but that was from a bear hug from a friend. (Yes, a hug. It was brutal!) I hadn't had any physical trauma, but remembered the nosebleeds from a few weeks before, which persisted for several days.

Not taking any chances, Gwenn and I went to the E.R. to get some lab work done to find out what was up, and get a blood product treatment. After receiving the clotting plasma, I used the bathroom a few times, and each time there was less blood. Finally, about an hour and half later, I was all clear.

Some HIV meds can cause kidney stones, but that's not a listed side effect of mine. Plus, if I'd passed one it was so small that I didn't even notice. Other lab results didn't show anything funky with my platelets, so it wasn't ITP like in 2005, which was good news. I kind of figured that because, in 2005, the initial blood product treatments didn't work because my platelets were so low. (Cheap plug: Read all about the 2005 incident in the dramatic conclusion of My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure.)

After the labs came back and the bleeding had stopped, Gwenn and I were allowed to leave the ER. When we got home we crashed out for about five hours, then we woke up late in the afternoon. We'd planned to have a few friends over, and I felt fine. Especially after I dominated them in Wii Bowling. And yes, I told them my sad story to gain sympathy.

This morning I went in to hematology for a follow-up, and there are no real answers as to what happened. So, as of now, I know two things: 1) there was blood in my wee and 2) there is Wii in my blood. Hopefully the prior was just a small blip, one little burnt-out bulb on the strand of lights that can be tucked back into the tree and quickly forgotten.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

No word from Camp Huckamania in regard to the challenge. I guess they chose to ignore their Google Alert. Which is good, because instead of doubling down on protein shakes, I can finish up SUPERBLOG!

I blogged about December 1st, World AIDS Day itself, the day after it happened, but there weren't any pictures... that's why that blog was not annointed with SUPERBLOG status. We drove the first half of World AIDS Week, next up was the flying portion.

We drove to the airport, and on the way I stopped at Kohl's to pick up a sweat holiday sweater vest. But they had NONE. So we went to Macy's and, just like two years ago, I hit the jackpot there. I didn't go with the one above because of the sleeves, but to be honest, I'm kind of kicking myself over that decision now.

For World AIDS Day, we were invited to speak at a Catholic University, St. John's and the College of Saint Benedict. Here's a group photo of our new pals, who survived the snowfall. (One student had a close call on the icy roads just after we left... yikes.)

Gwenn and I usually arrive about an hour or so before our program is set to start. The time is best spent mingling with the folks who brought us, but sometimes you can get in the way of things. It's a fine line between being polite and "hovering". Gwenn often says to me, "You're hovering!"

Well, when Bree and Andy, both instrumental in bringing us to campus, said, "We have a little room if you want to relax before the program," I thoguht, "That's nice." But you don't want to be all Rick James and not be with people. Sure, we'd just driven in the aforementioned snow, but really, we were cool. It wasn't that bad.

Then they suggested again, and again. Maybe I was hovering?

Then Gwenn smiled, "Shawn, we should go." We'd (she'd) finally gotten the hint, and when we went in the room they'd written "THANK YOU" on the chalkboard, had some nice little treats including Christmas-themed yogurt pretzels available and two shirts for us. Jackpot!

I call this Don't Suck Insurance. Just kidding. It was very sweet, literally, and I gorged myself on pretzels before the talk.

Since we share our lifestories, the talks can be pretty similar, which is why the Q&A section is a life-saver. The issue of whether we can have kids comes up (we can, check out Sperm Washing on Wikipedia), and usually devolves into us explaining that we're not ready for kids. Or pets.

And then I said I'm not even sure if cats are safe for me in relation to hemophilia (a joke, you'll get it when you view the clip below), and asked if anyone had met Pinky the Cat. The students had not, and I told them to YouTube him:

Pet of the Week. God God, who did Pinky beat out for that honor?

What's best about how Gwenn and I do our thing is that it's loose. I have fun speaking, and so does Gwenn, and students have fun interacting with us. Oh, before I forget, I really had fun with Gwenn at the Virginia Tech talk.

We both had mics, and had not done a soundcheck before. The sound module was right there beside us, so as Gwenn's doing her intro I'm hooking up my wireless mic, clipping it to my shirt. "TESTING... ONE TWO... TESTING." I sold it, and people thought, "She is going to kill him," as Gwenn glared at me. People love awkward humor, once they realize- thank God- it's a gag and not the real deal.

Everything at St. John's/St. Benedict went well, and left our friends with some HIV/AIDS and Pinky the Cat information before hitting the road to the airport in Minneapolis, where I desperately wanted to find the Larry Craig bathroom and get a photo. Instead, I got a sandwich.

The day after World AIDS Day, we spoke at the University of Arizona, and in terms of weather the climate was much more friendly. Just before the program as we were driving onto campus, we noticed tons of people walking to the university, and Events staff and cops and cars parked everywhere: obviously a football game or something.

"Wow," I said to Gwenn. "People are very excited about coming to hear us speak!"

Well, some people were, at least. And shirts, shirts came into play again. When we arrived, a lot of the event organizers were wearing Boy, Girl, Virus sweatshirts, as worn below by Stephanie:

The back reads: "Shawn Has HIV. Gwenn Does Not. They Keep It That Way."

Then it was home to lose a game of Star Wars Monopoly SHAWN RULES to friends before heading to the last talk of the year at NYIT in Old Westbury on Long Island.

We took the train, and then got off near our hotel, which no one had any idea where it was. We ate at a Olive Garden, then went to a Borders. "Hampton Inn?" It was strange, everyone worked in the town, but didn't live there. Like a spaceship dropped them off and picked them up from above.

So we called a cab. It picked us up and drove us about 1,200 feet to the Hampton Inn. OK, half a mile, but still. It was just off the main road, where all the businesses were. When we arrived, the Inn was overbooked, and as regular customers (Gold Members! Rick James was a Gold Member I bet) we'd been bumped even with a confirmation number.

Which is not supposed to happen! What did happen was we were arriving late, around 11:15 PM, and they thought we weren't going to show and gave our room to someone else, probably a couple of hours earlier.

What's funny about traveling so much and being young is that everyone thinks it's the first time we've stayed at a hotel or flown. The manager was stunned when he saw we were Gold Members, then did what any good night-time manager would do in this situation: he lied to us. Apparently, according to him, the 150-plus people staying were Gold and Platinum members too. Incredible!

So another cab took us to another hotel. The next afternoon things were looking up, and we spoke at NYIT for the second time in as many years.

Having a laugh with Mark and the NYIT gang.

I gave away a signed book (that I bought at the Borders) after the talk to anyone who could answer a key trivia question from the book.

Who did I choose to meet through the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 1990?

A. Hulk Hogan

B. Michael Dukakis (pictured)

C. Depeche Mode

Our friend who came to see us speak said, "Michael Dukakis... isn't he the white supremicist?"

"No, that's David Duke."

First person said Hulk Hogan. Wrong. Next person said Dukakis. Wrong. Last person was just in the right place at the right time. was shellshocked that anyone thought I'd meet Hulk Hogan as my wish.

I really enjoyed this year's World AIDS Week travels and talks. Everyone was so welcoming, and I understand that this time of year is- in many ways- the one big shot I have at raising awareness about this topic.

Since we wrapped up the speaking, I've thrown myself into the holidays. Gwenn is trying desperately to find a Wii, and I'm sporting my new holiday sweater vest... which will be revealed in the next blog!

Positively Yours,
Shawn

PS: Any schools or students interested in having us speak at your school: you don't have to wait until World AIDS Day! We've developed a program geared towards Spring Break 2008, if you're interested, contact Amy Butler at CAMPUSPEAK or email: info at aboyagirlavirus dot com.

PPS: Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

OR JUST VISIT US AT:www.ABOYAGIRLAVIRUS.com

Due to Mike Huckabee's 1992 questionaire in which he stated that all people with AIDS ("the carriers of this plague") should be isolated, the dramatic conclusion to SUPERBLOG part II has been pre-empted quicker than Sharon Stone on Larry King.

Now, I'm not going to get on a high horse about this whole thing. I'm sure I'd be embarrassed if some of my words from 1992- when I was a junior in high school- were made public. If that happened, this is probably what would go down.

Dad: Shawn, we're ordering pizza tonight.

Shawn: Cool.

Dad: What kind what you like, son?

Shawn: I want pepperoni.

Dad: We got pepperoni last time, why don't...

Shawn: Why don't you go to hell! I wish you were isolated somewhere where I'd never have to see you!

Of course, that's absurd. My dad would never balk at ordering pepperoni pizza. But what I'm trying to get across is that 1992 was a long time ago. One of the many differences between me and Huck is that I was a junior in high school, and he was running for Senate.

Since the statements were dug up, Huck mentioned that not much was known way back then about AIDS. Of course, by 1992 people had been told for years that HIV was not transmitted via casual contact. In fact, with Magic Johnson's recent disclosure, that information was being recirculated all over again.

Man, if more people agreed with the Huck in '92 I would have been quarantined. At the time, I was sporting a black leather jacket, and being quarantined would have definitely cramped my style.

Dennis Kucinich and potential tag team partner, Shawn Decker

Speaking of politics, last Friday night, I went to see Dennis Kucinich speak. I like the guy. And I know he's called all kinds of unsavory things and is thought to have no chance of stealing the glory from the frontrunners, Hillary and Obama. (Watch out for Edwards, folks, he's up to somethin' I can feel it in my bones.)

But when I think about it, there's no better candidate for the kid who had no chance of survival twenty years ago than Mr. Dennis Kucinich, who brilliantly mentioned sexual health education as a possible deterrant for abortion at one of the debates.
In fact, I was all primed to issue a challenge to join Kucinich and debate Oprah and Obama on the neutral grounds of the Maury show... until Huckabee's statements were revealed. To make matters worse my childhood hero, Ric Flair, has officially endorsed the Huck along with Chuck Norris.

FACT: Did you know that there is no real theory of evolution? Just a list of animals that Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

So now, instead of battling for the democratic nomination, I want to call on Dennis Kucinich to join me in issuing an ever greater challenge: A Quarantine Cage Match! On one side, myself and Dennis. On the other, the Huck and 16-time wrestling champion "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

If we win, then Dennis Kucinich gets the Democratic nomination, no questions asked. C'mon, everyone including the savvy Clintons would agree to this. Dennis is 5'7 and I have a bleeding disorder for God's sake. The spoils of victory need to be worth the risk we'd face in that ring.

But what if we lose?

Well, I would stay in the cage and everyone with AIDS would have to join me inside the locked, steal contraption until President Huckabee lets us out. Yes, he gets to be president, innaugurated right there in the cage. The stakes couldn't be higher, which is why the match would take place in Florida this March at Wrestlemania.

So there it is. Spread the word. I'm going to drop Dennis an email about this to see if we can get this thing going. Does anyone know a good seamstress? We'd need matching tights.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

Very few blogs I write about are annointed with SUPERBLOG status. This is one... but why you ask? It's simple: cool pictures.

Gwenn reacts to the life-changing information. She's been SUPERBLOGGED.

Every year World AIDS Week takes me and Gwenn on a fabulous journey. If you've been reading my blog for a year, you'll remember that we visited some schools and then spent World AIDS Day 2006 staging a bed in at the Kenneth Cole store. (He tried to get us to dry hump.)

This year, there was no media stunt planned for World AIDS Day, but we did hit 7 colleges and universities in 10 days. Starting on Tuesday, November 27.

Brookdale Community College

We opted to drive to New Jersey for this noon program, since we'd be speaking again in Jersey later that night. Plus, we'd avoid the post-Thanksgiving delay flights that trudge up things on the Monday following Turkey Day.

Also, the boys in Bella Morte let us borrow their GPS system, which they named Becky and Gwenn quickly renamed Melissa. GPS is awesome, and it's particularly effective if you type in the right address.

But more on that later.

I was lame and forgot to get out my camera at Brookdale, but the response and turnout was a great way to kick off the 10-day jaunt. The student bookstore was there, and I signed some copies of My Pet Virus. Then people asked me, "Hey, where are the Don't Come bracelets?" I made a joke about having them available, which was a joke on top of joke that happened when I was talking about my bumbling foray into safe sex in high school. (Think Sting and tantric sex. No, don't think that, I'm sorry.)

The talk was at 11:30 AM, which is a strange time to speak but not entirely uncommon. We took advantage of waking up early and we got my niece a Hannah Montana-related Christmas gift. Gwenn realized that we had way too much time to kill after the talk, and wisely got our hotel room for another day, so we could sleep some more in the afternoon.

I was worried, because this is what the end of the hallway looked like...

William Patterson University

There was no madman, and we made it out of the hotel safely, and on to the second talk of the day at William Patterson University. This is where I screwed up with Melissa. I put in the wrong street address, and we ended up driving down what appeared to be a bike trail. The only thing missing, as we drove by houses wrapped in trees, was a machete hacking into my upper torso.

We got turned around, and made it to the venue at exactly start time. Which in college speaking terms is 15 minutes before go time. (Nothing ever starts on time, which is really nice in these situations.)

We'd been to WPU a few years before, and were informed that we were voted the educational session of the semester. Pretty cool! I wanted to show that we still had it, and that I wasn't past my educational and irreverant prime.

After dropping a dated American Pie reference, I struggled to regain the trust of the audience. Just kidding, a funny thing that did happen was when a male student asked how I'd inform the next girl that I was positive. I must really look like I'm young and in my prime, which made me happy. But, of course, Gwenn didn't really like that one so much. I'm laughing as I type this, because really, you get every question under the sun four times after speaking for a few years, but this one?

An Instant Classic!

The student bookstore rocked it again, and one girl ran to her room to get money to buy a book. I didn't know this until she returned, out of breath, and said, "Thank God you're still here!" I rewarded her tenacity by signing her name wrongly in the book. And I never do that! I'm so obnoxious about that, too. "L.... I.... S.....A?"

But on this night, I was having trouble with accuracy with the GPS and the spelling of names. But I did alright with the speaking. :O)

Virginia Tech

We left NJ and drove most of the way towards Virginia Tech, where we'd be speaking the next evening. Along the way, we stopped in Middlesex, PA at the Middlesex Diner. We've been there 5 or 6 times, and it rules. What's funny is that we're always there at 2 AM-ish, and someone is always vacuuming.

The next day, we tooled around Christiansburg and found a carrying case for Melissa, so she'd be safe when she was returned to the roughshod crew of Bella Morte. I gotta say, we really were starting to bond with the GPS, even after my directions screw up.

Then we spoke at Tech, which was nice because we'd never been there even though it's two hours from our house! Everyone was really nice, and afterwards I totally geeked out and was talking about Star Wars Monopoly. "Really! With my rules the game lasts less than two hours!" I also got a recommendation on Apples to Apples.

Emory & Henry

The day of the E&H talk we had a lot of time to kill, since it was only about 30 miles away from Tech. So we roamed around a bit and then ended up at another diner, The Master Chef. I expected one of the Iron Chefs to pop out of nowhere and slice me about the upper torso with a machete, but instead a nice guy (the Master Chef, perhaps?) instead sliced a grilled cheese in half and served it to me.

Yum-tastic.

Sign in bathroom: "Our aim is to keep this bathroom clean: your aim would help."

What was great about Emory & Henry was how many students turned out. 20% of the school's 950-1000 students came to hear us speak! Here's a photo of Gwenn before the talk, which is less impressive but you get the picture...

There were so many people crowded in that it got pretty warm. Near the beginning of the talk, I noticed a spider crawling around and made a little bit of a scene. I just imagined someone freaking out over it, so I carted the little guy off to safety. Karma points? Not sure.

Here we are with the toughest gang at Emory & Henry, the group responsible for promoting sexual health issues on campus.

After Emory & Henry we drove home, and arrived around 1 AM. One night at home before starting the second leg of our journey, flying out to speak in Minnesota and Arizona, then off to NYIT in Old Westbury, New York.

The bed felt good, but I knew there was more work to be done. Which is good, I like speaking about HIV/AIDS and I just so happen to think that Gwenn and I make a good team!

Plus, I knew that the next day, on the way to the airport, Gwenn and I were going to look for the ultimate Christmas sweater vest for me. I'd gotten one two years ago, and realized that I was ready to change things up. Plus, I'd spoken with a couple of students along the way who encouraged me to not give up and continue the search.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

PSS.. no, the SUPERBLOG is not over!

Part 2 coming soon!... will Shawn and Gwenn survive World AIDS Day in a snowstorm in Minnesota? Will Shawn find the perfect holiday sweater vest in time for Christmas? Stay tuned to find out!

This month's edition of the International Carnival of Pozitivities is up!  It's a traveling blog, featuring loads of postings by and about positoids...

What were you expecting, half-naked Brazilians?

Yes, I used that joke again.

You can read the new edition of the ICP at DropDeadHappy.com.  Also, be sure to check out all the other positoid blogs here at Poz.com.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

This day is somber. It's when positoids realize they are no longer the top story, and are once again relegated to the CNN scroll. Perhaps every 14 hours or so, a little tidbit of info rolls by, in between NFL groin injury reports.

For me, World AIDS Day is always World AIDS Week. Like Carnival, but without the half-naked dancing Brazilians. The week involves speaking at several universities, and this week alone Gwenn and I have spoken at 6 schools. (I'll be posting more when we get home, including pictures.) For now, I want to reflect on World AIDS Day, 2007.

The alarm was set. Gwenn and I were at The Holiday Inn Express in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Later int he day, we'd be speaking to students at St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict: yes, we spent World AIDS Day at a Catholic University. Getting invited was one thing, getting to the school would be another. See, we were in the midst of an impending snow storm, so we set the alarm extra early to give plenty of time for the short drive to the school.

What we didn't know is that we'd be getting a wake-up of a different kind.

The walls of the Holiday Inn must have been thinner than my blood, because it sounded like the woman in the next room was in my bedroom. Groaning. The groans that can only mean one thing. I looked at my clock and wondered, "Who in the hell is having sex at 7:30 AM?!" Then I heard that Staind song, "It's been a while..."

Then I fell back asleep.

Then I was woken again to the same sounds. And I thought. "Who in the hell is having sex at 8:50 AM?" Then Staind again. I wondered why this song, then I thought of the poor sheets in the hotel room beside me.

And then Gwenn and I made the drive to the school, driving very slowly. Every World AIDS Day, we seem to be traveling in the dead of winter, and the chances of dying on the way to speak about AIDS far outweigh the odds of ever dying from AIDS itself.

After speaking to a very receptive and kind audience, we got in the car and I tried to pull out of the parking lot. The acceleration pedal did nothing, perhaps the two hours of snow was too much? Gwenn let out a sigh. Then noticed that I was still in Park. Once I got into Drive, we were good to go.

We made it to the airport, and flew out after a lengthy de-icing process which caused us to miss a connecting flight from Phoenix to Tucson. At the US Airways gate, we informed them that we were going to be renting a car and driving. Then the older guy to my left, who also missed his connection, asked in an accent I couldn't decipher. "Are you driving to Tucson tonight?"

Crap.

I hate that the first impression I have of a stranger is what the expression on their face will be when they are slitting my throat. And it didn't help that his accent reminded me of Jeff Bridge's character from The Vanishing. But this guy was shorter than Jeff. And when I found out he was from Iceland, I warmed up to him.

So off we went from Phoenix, with Pieter from Iceland in tow. If I was going to be killed by a madman, then at least I'd go out in a blaze of altruism. Plus, I'd be immortalized! That story would have to be picked up by the national media. "Young AIDS educator killed by Iceland's top serial killer on World AIDS Day." The movie adaptation would be a boon to the career of Jeff Bridges and James Van Der Beek as Shawn Decker.

Of course, Pieter was fine. And his sister and niece were very happy to see him. And he floated us some money for the rental car. And then Gwenn and I made it to our hotel and went to sleep, happy that we made it out of the snowstorm and that we weren't going to be miss a speaking engagement.

And I wasn't dead. A very happy ending to a day that started with at least two happy endings.

Positively Yours,
Shawn