January 2008 Archives

Fellow Readers, Bleeders and Greeters,

In Recent times, this blog has seen both good and bad times. From the resurrection of the Hemo2Homo Connection to the mixed results of the Weekend Predictions, you have stayed true and realized that I am indeed a better blogger than Perez Hilton, and that I was blue-hair blogging when he was still eating belly-button lint and paint chips.

But, despite all of that, I know some of you have wondered: can Shawn go on? Will he keep blogging, as he bravely battles his pet virus and delusions of grandeur? And to that I say, with a heavy, thinblooded heart and an unwavering American soul: YES!

A blog's health does not always correlate with the health of its author. But on my front, I'm happy to say that both are thriving. And as 2008 continues, I will continue to blog about me, me somemore, other people, politics, sports, my pet virus, HIV/AIDS and whatever else I am thinking about when I sit down at the laptop.

So thanks for reading: I hope you enjoy doing so as much as I love to write this junk.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

: "I am Criswell! For years, I have told the almost unbelievable...related the unreal, and shown it to be MORE...than a fact." - Criswell

Last weekend, I started making predictions about political and sporting events. Some did not believe the choices I made (Obama in Nevada and the Packers over the Giants), and were upset that I distorted the actual outcomes to claim victory.

Most of the great predictors of times past honed their skills in private before going public with their incredible gifts. But in this modern era, I do not have that privilege: every gadget I own blinks and beeps at me, reminding me of a world that needs predictions, some kind of clue as to what's ahead.

Do not fear! I am here! The boy who once had no future is now a man, in touch with the inner-workkings of the universe... behold my weekend predictions.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Obama (41%) Edwards (29%) Clinton (28.8%)
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that my guy, Kucinich, dropped out of the race yesterday. I predict he will continue to be awesome.

RESULTS:  The Mighty Decker does it again, Obama wins.  My overestimation of Edwards skewed Obama's percentage, but at least I scored a legit prediction this time.  1-0!

MISS AMERICA PAGEANT

MISS AMERICA: Miss Illinois
Miss Massachusettes 1st runner-up
Miss Washington 2nd runner-up
Additional Predictions: Miss Virginia will make the Top 16. Upon being crowned, the winner will wave to the crowd and cry. There will be no tears! She will walk to greet her subjects as the new Queen!

RESULTS:  Miss Illinois didn't even make the Top 16, and I don't even remember the fate of Massachusettes.  Miss Washington was 2nd runner-up, and Miss Virginia was 3rd runner-up.

As for TLC's Reality Check show, and their claim to reinvent Miss America... tell me, can you tell the difference between last year's winner and this year's? 

Last year's winner...

This year's winner.

ROYAL RUMBLE on SUNDAY (wrestling): Triple H

RESULTS:  JOHN CENA, winner of Royal Rumble

False advertising!  I didn't know John Cena would show up.  He wasn't one of the 30 guys listed.  I know, "Shawn, as a great predictor you should have seen that coming..."

""The day is gone, the night is upon us...And the moon, which controls all of the underworld, once again shines...in radiant contentment." - Criswell

The Hemo2Homo Connection are Shawn Decker and Steve Schalchlin.

The Hemo2Homo Connection's creators met online in 1996, and posted their first movie review in 1998. Both have been living with HIV for over twenty years, and have annoyed their friends and loved ones for longer than that.  Steve Schalchlin resides in Los Angeles, CA. He is an award-winning musician, singer and songwriter. Shawn Decker lives in Charlottesville, VA. He is the author of My Pet Virus.  

 

 

Homo: Hey, Hemo.

Hemo:  Hey, Homo.  You still alive?  

Homo: Wait. Let me check my pulse.  Ah, something's throbbing.  Yes, I'm alive!  You're that same thinblood-hemophiliac guy, right?  

Hemo:  Yup, same thinblood.  It's been 10 years since our first review, can you believe that?

Homo:  And they said we'd never make it.

Hemo:  Life expectancies of people with HIV/AIDS have gone way up since then.

Homo: And that's a good thing, right?

Hemo:  Yes!  But expectancies for honest movie-reviews have gone up as well.  So the pressure is on.  Why don't you pick the first review back?

Homo:  I love it when I get to be the top.

Hemo:  Is that a hole in the bottom of your tub of popcorn, or are you just happy to see me?  Either way, I am excited to hear what you have on tap, what, with all the late-breaking technological advances in movie-making.

Homo: I thought our new return to form should start with... a nice, refreshing musical!

Hemo: Oh, dear God. 

Homo: After all, being gay and all, homos like me are supposed to love musicals.  And why not start with the bloodiest one of all: Sweeney Todd.

Hemo:  A musical... with blood?  Tell me more.

Homo:  Well, see, it's about this barber in London who slits peoples' throats out of revenge for some judge stealing his wife and sending him away to Australia or something. (Back then, the worst thing they could do to you was to send you to Australia). After he gets back to London, he meets up with this chick who owns a pie shop, so they create this trap in the floor over the pie shop that sends the bodies down into an oven where they bake the bodies into pies.

Hemo:  Fun!

Homo:  I should let you know in advance that I'm a bit predisposed to wanting to love this one because it was the first Broadway musical I ever saw.  Right in the front loge, looking at the original cast of Len Cariou, who I didn't know anything about. 

And Angela Lansbury, who I did.

Hemo:  Wait... you did Angela Lansbury? 

Homo: No, thinblood.  Try to stay with me here, I'm setting a mood.... where was I...

Oh, yes!

The opening sound of the stage musical was an authentic steam whistle that they got right off a ship. It sent chills up and down my spine and forever turned me into a show queen -- as long as the show was about serial killers and whores.

But, God, forgive me, I have a confession to make: I still can't sit all the way through Oklahoma.

Hemo:  I hear ya, thickblood.  I rented Rent, and had to stop watching after 6 minutes.   I got halfway through the guy on the motorcycle, singing as he whizzed down the street.  If you're on a motorcycle in a movie, you best be firing away at someone with a gun, or shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.  Or chucking a grenade at robots.

Homo: Actually, you lasted longer than I did.  But Rent- like almost all movie musicals- sucked.

(INSPIRED BY HOMO'S WORDS AND THE PROMISE OF BLOODSHED, HEMO MAKES THE THE SPELL-BINDING JOURNEY TO THE THEATRE.)

Hemo:  You weren't lying, this movie is a hemophiliac's wet dream!

Homo:  What did I tell ya?  The blood really flows in this one!  A Horror movie where everyone sings and many throats are slit. 

Hemo:  Yeah, and if our little movie review doesn't bring together the hemophilia and gay communities, than Sweeney Todd most certainly will.

Homo:  Amen to that.  And you gotta love that scene in the bakery with the disgusting, cockroach pies.  

Hemo:  Reminds you of hospital cafeteria food, doesn't it?

Homo:  Oh, god.  Hospital food with a side course of broad spectrum antibiotics... Good eatin'!  Anyway, in that scene, I thought of you and wondered if you'd eat that gunk if there was cheese- your lifeforce- on top.

Hemo:  You know what I did eat in that theatre?  A black licorice Jujy Fruit! 

Homo:  So your teeth could look English?

Hemo:  The movie- like my mouth- was so damn dark: my method of holding the candy up to the screen to determine its flavor proved to be as futile as resisting the allure of a close shave from Mr. Sweeney, who sang, "I want you, Bleeders!"

Homo: No.  No.  He said, "I want you, BREEDERS!"  Clearly, he was a modern man who realized that Homo Superior kicks ass.  

Hemo:  I googled it: it is "BLEEDERS"!  He sang the line in desperation, because it's really hard to get a hemophiliac to sit down for a straight-razor shave.  

Homo:  You hemos are such pussies.  But you are learning, young one.  Forget about shaving: I've always wondered about airport shoe-shiners.  Do they use a rigged-up chair like Sweeney Todd, to help back up the U.S.'s policy that foreign positoids can't enter the country?  

Hemo:  That's some last line of defense.  If one of us gets through, we are berated into getting that shoe shine.  From the Jamba Juice to the Cinnabon, scantily-clad federal agents flirt, saying things like.  "I just love Fins!  But your shoes..."

Homo:  Are you sure you're not gay?  We should install one those chairs in the Oval Office, to dump useless humans into the White House's basement oven.  It gets triggered whenever the Prez signs legislation that says "HIV POZ PEOPLE CANNOT ENTER THE USA!"  Just as he dots his "i"...  **SCHLUMP**

Hemo:  I like that.  Let's rally the AIDS community and have that chair waiting in January 2009 for the next president.  And no more long hiatuses for us, Homo.

Homo:  Indeed, thinblood.

Hemo:  As for Sweeney Todd, I give it my highest rating: an Undetectable Viral Load.  It really got my juices flowing!  What about you, Homo?

Homo:  Let's see: blood, revenge, disgusting meat pies, Sondheim music, and great art design?  Sweeney Todd deserves two bloody stumps up.  Well done!

Hemo:  So I guess I'll see you next time at the movies...

Homo: And the pie shop!

Hemo: Or at the hospital?

Homo:  ...just not at the shoeshiners.

Hemo:  Definitely not.

ON THE NEXT Hemo2Homo Connection Review:  THERE WILL BE BLOOD...  stay tuned!!!

Don't forget to visit  Shawn Decker and Steve Schalchlin online. 

So Fred Phelps, the guy who's been trying to commit suicide via someone else's hand for years now, is now taking his AIDS-funeral and soldier-funeral protesting ways to another demented level.

Word is he'll be protesting Heath Ledger's funeral. You know, because he acted in a movie and played a gay character. If you watched the movie, you're probably going to burn in Hell, too, by Phelps' estimation.

And I'm not entirely convinced that he's not a shock-comedian, that he's doing some kind of Borat schtick. You know, some people think Andy Kaufman didn't really die...

Positively Yours,
Shawn

PS... I'll probably be paving my own way to hell when I post the Hemo2Homo Connection review of Sweeney Todd... tomorrow! Yes, tomorrow!

A little ribbing among bigots never hurt anyone.

He'll quickly be forgotten, especially after yesterday's tragic news about Heath Ledger, but I wanted to take a moment to write about Brad Renfro, who passed on January 15 at the age of 27.

He was the child star who got his big break in The Client, but I knew him from his role in the 1995 movie, The Cure. No, it wasn't a biopic on goth-rock icon Robert Smith, it was a buddy tale about two kids- one a positoid, one a negatoid.

They are 11, and Renfo plays the part of good kid, befriending the ostracized positoid. Of course, I can relate on some level since I was 11 when I tested positive. It's a nice little movie about two boys trying to find a cure in the pre-protease era. And, though I haven't seen it in about ten years, I'll be revisiting it soon.

I never met Brad Renfro, though I did have the pleasure of IM'ing someone who was pretending to be Renfro, as well as McCauley Culkin's little brother, about ten years ago or so. That's how I found out about the movie, The Cure, as well as a little bit about Brad Renfro by proxie.

You can probably go find a Brad Renfro on MySpace, and he'll probably try to convince you that he is not dead. Of course, he is gone, but his work should not be forgotten.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

The media likes to take a statement, blow it out of proportion, and repeat it a thousand times. This happened over the weekend whenChuck Norris said that he believes that John McCain is too old to be president.

I've written on here a little bit about the Norris-endorsed Huckabee, and his '92 comment about isolating people with AIDS. Well, I also wrote last year about McCain's statement from 2007, in which he was "stumped" when asked if condoms help prevent the spread of HIV.

Oh boy.

What the media isn't going to do is explore Norris's comment on a different level: by saying he doesn't think McCain would make it through a four-year term, is he, in effect, threatening to kill President McCain?

You have to take the most dangerous man alive seriously, because everyone knows that Norris would handily plow through any security measures: judo-chopping secret service agents, scaling walls and hanging onto the wing of Air Force One. All in an attempt to get one shot at the Prez.

President McCain delivering a speech in front of an American flag... Chuck waiting behind it.

McCain is leading the Republican pack, but if I were him I'd think about dropping out of the race. Of course, Norris blew any chance of Huckabee getting an invitation to fill the Vice President slot on a McCain presidential ticket, didn't he?

Positively Yours,
Shawn

DON'T FORGET: The dramatic return of the Hemo2Homo Connection... the Sweeney Todd Review in 6 days!

I did it! I did it! Flawless record.

To those who didn't believe I could do it, to those who thought I was crazy for even trying... I'll take the high road, and let the results speak for themselves.

Positively Yours,

Shawn

: "I am Criswell! For years, I have told the almost unbelievable...related the unreal, and shown it to be MORE...than a fact. - Criswell

Like Criswell, who predicted the future to a "t", which is to say he did so terribly ("...And I predict that our local American doctors will go on strike, and be replaced by African witch doctors!"), I will attempt to make my own weekend predictions in regard to sports and politics.

I have not watched TV today, so I haven't seen exit polling or any cable news nonsense. My mind is clear, and I am channeling a vision of a distant, distant future: Sunday night.

I see winners. And I see losers. I see the great attributes and condolences of victories established... victories as yet unseen by the human eye! And I share these visions with... YOU!

Unlike Criswell, I will stand accountable for all predictions on Monday.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

SATURDAY PREDICTIONS:
Nevada Democratic Caucus

Shawn's Prediction: Barack Obama (41%)


Why?
Because Barack admitted a real weakness at the last debate. And, in reference to Bill Clinton's silly statement about Obama a couple of months ago, what better setting is there to "roll the dice" on Obama than Las Vegas?

BOXING Roy Jones Jr. VS. Felix Trinidad

SUNDAY PREDICTIONS NFC and AFC Playoffs

New England Patriots VS. San Diego Chargers
WINNER: Patriots 30-7

Why?
Imagine you just saw your best friend's little brother win a fight. In this fight, he was pummeled beyond recognition. You know this because your dad videotaped the fight, and reviewed strategies with you the day after it happened.
Your friend's little brother is a scrappy kid, and he approaches you with one arm in a sling, challenging you to a fight: you haven't lost a fight in a real long time.

ACTUAL RESULT:  New England 21  San Diego 12

Q: What do Shawn and Tom Brady have in common? 
A: They've both been romantically linked to supermodel Giselle.  Oh, and they are both undefeated this year.  3-0 on the predictions, baby.

Green Bay Packers VS. New York Giants
WINNER: Packers 20-17

Why?
Football is rigged, and the NFL and it's sponsors have way to much money to be made with Brett Favre- the star of the hit Hollywood film, There's Something About Mary- in the Super Bowl.
Football will not be taken seriously as long as the NFL continues to reward actors instead of athletes who have paid their dues.

ACTUAL RESULT:  New York 23  Green Bay 20

It's all my fault: the coach for the Packers is probably an avid reader of this blog, and he thought he only needed the 20 points I predicted to win. Hey, wait... I got Green Bay's score right on the nose... that's a victory of sorts, right?

4-0 for the Decker.  A clean sweep!

""The day is gone, the night is upon us...And the moon, which controls all of the underworld, once again shines...in radiant contentment." - Criswell

I can't contain this announcement, it's too huge. My movie-reviewing partner, Steve Schalchlin, and I have to come to the conclusion that the AIDS community doesn't need new drugs: it needs us. Reviewing movies.

Steve- one of the first AIDS bloggers- and I started it as a joke 10 years ago. I was just a young pup, and here's a couple of old-school photos, the first is our Hemo2Homo promo shot, taken at a mall. Which we quickly overpaid to have printed on a t-shirt and coffee mug.

Then: The Siskel and Ebert of AIDS. Now: The Roeper and Rando Dude of AIDS.

And yes, I will be trying to sell you Hemo2Homo T-shirts in a few months.

I made a snarky little comment in the book about how Poz Magazine and The Advocate rejected our bids to grace their fine publications with our wisdom and take on The Hours, which some of you have read in My Pet Virus.

After that review back in 2003, we went to see Boat Trip- the review of which has sailed off into the Abyss of the internet. After that, the H2H Connection went into hiding until the world was ready for us. Which was 2006. The only problem?

We weren't quite ready for the world again.

Now we are.

But before you get too excited, here's a behind the scenes look at the last time The Hemo2Homo Connection plotted a comeback. Steve had made a Gmail Doc file, which is what I'm asking about in the text below. There is also reference to Steve's show, The Big Voice, which was going to NYC at the time.
_______________________________

11:16 P.M. October 17, 2006

Running With Scissors

Reviewed by the Hemo2Homo Connection

So will there be an actual comeback? Can The Hemo2Homo Connection stay on track and inspire a whole new (and old) generation of positoids with internet connections? Stay tuned to find out!

Not the host for my pet virus. That's me. I'm never wrong.

I'm talking about the relatively new host of The Price Is Right, Drew Carey.

I'd been dreading Bob Barker's imminent retirement since the 4th grade, and about a year or so ago I sensed the inevitable a few months before the announcement. I posted a blog on MySpace, a survey of sorts, to try to find a proper replacement for Mr. Barker.

I forget who all the nominees were, but I do remember that Ric Flair won the survey in a landslide. His energy would have been contagious, and I think we all missed out on something really special.

Instead we got Mr. Carey.

He's not the champ.

Of Plinko or wrestling.

I chose not to rush to judgement on this matter, and give the guy a couple of months to get the hang of things. But it's not helping. Bob aged like a fine wine, going from suave lady's man to endearing grandfather figure with a mid-90's sex scandal.

Drew? He's got some zingers, but he lets those zany audience members run roughshod over him. Flair wouldn't just stand beside them and laugh, he'd chop their chest to a bloody pulp.

Of course, I know CBS wouldn't give a wrestler the gig for liability issues. But at the very least they could have gotten the right Carey.

Imagine Mariah Carey hopping into one of those hottubs with one of the models? Or Jim Carrey talking out of his ass and doing plastic face? Or how about John Kerry, painstakingly explaining every nuance of each game in four-hour episodes?

Last week my t-cells reached their highest level since my diagnosis twenty years ago. As the lives of people with HIV are extended by ever-improving HIV drugs (including universal access to life-saving medications and daytime game shows), their demands from pop culture fixes will become greater and greater.

And without a capable host of The Price is Right, is life really worth living?

Positively Yours,

Shawn

Last Saturday Gwenn and I went to the Miss Apple Blossom Pageant in Winchester for the crowning of a new queen.

This particular pageant holds special meaning for us, as it marks the first time we kissed, which was nine years ago. I was having a couple of friends over, and Gwenn had plans to go to the Miss Apple Blossom pageant... well, she changed her plans, and my mojo must have been working that night and the rest is history!

Miss America 1998, Kate Shindle, is crowned. Positoids around the world bow at her feet.

This year also marks the 10-year anniversary of the crowning of Kate Shindle as Miss America. She advocated for people with HIV and AIDS, and even championed needle exchange programs, which she initially opposed until she researched the data on prevention.

In short: she ruled. And Kate was a huge inspiration to Gwenn when she competed in pageants from age 22 to 24.

So I've been watching the Miss America Reality Check show on TLC, and I'm shocked at how narrow-minded a lot of the girls are. I don't see a Shindle being crowned this time around. As for my state's contender, Hannah Kiefer, I had the privilege of meeting her two weekends ago. She's a nice girl, but is also an advocate for abstinence-only education.

Oh Shindle, wherefore art thou?

I emailed my hematologist about getting that ultrasound to see if there's any residual weirdness going on with the bleeding. Overall, I've felt good, just very tired over the last week.

For instance, in Winchester after the pageant Gwenn and I were hanging out with friends at the hotel, and I just crashed out on one of the beds for over 3 hours while they gossiped.

Today I got lab results back from my appointment with Dr. Greg, and the results were somewhat of a mixed bag. The good news first: my t-cells were 674! That's the highest they've ever been, at least since the early days of my diagnosis. At last check back in September they were in the low 500's.

The sketchy news is that my viral load was 124. Which isn't bad, but it shows that there is some viral activity going on with my pet virus. The labs were taken after I was on my HIV meds for two days (remember, I do a week on/week off treatment regimen). So next month I'm going in after 7 days on meds.

So we'll see. In the meantime I'll busy myself with pageants and the crowning of a new Miss America, as I sit back and dream of the day when another Kate Shindle graces us with her presence.

Positively Yours,

Shawn

I'm am beyond honored that Synthetic Division, my synth-duo alter ego, is on a t-shirt in Ross Campbell's new graphic novel, Wet Moon 3.

Sharing a romantic moment from Wet Moon 3

You can get Ross's book at Amazon.com, and can also learn more about him at over at MySpace.

I'm thinking that Raspberry Swirl is the characters' favorite Synthetic Division song. To hear the Tori Amos cover just click on the player below. And if you want a Synthetic Division t-shirt, you can order one by paypalling $12 to order@synthetic-division.com (specify size: available in Medium, Large and Extra Large)

My friend, Justin, models the shirt in Vancouver. (Facial hair is optional.)

If you'd like to order the Synthetic Division CD, Get With The Programs, paypal $11 to order@synthetic-division.com... want a shirt and a CD? Let's call it an even $20, and yes that includes free shipping. Also available at CD Baby, iTunes and www.adifferentdrum.com.
To hear the songs, just go HERE.

Or click this little do-dad.

Take a listen to "Sign" from Synthetic Division's Get with the Programs:


powered by ODEO

Positively Yours,
Shawn

She died yesterday. Watch Ed Wood and pay your respects.  She predated Elivira, whom she unsuccessfully sued for gimmick infringement. 

Positively Yours,

Shawn

Sir Edmund Hillary, the mountain-climbing legend, that is. I apologize to my vast neo-con readership if anyone got unnecessarily excited upon reading the title of this blog.

Actually, my theory on the Hill is that Republicans pray that dem Dems put her through. Puddles as large as the Gulf of Mexico have been salivated by Republican think-tanks over the prospect of running against Hillary Clinton. Just last night on TV I heard some guy with a semi shouting, "What about Whitewater?!"

Would women secretly vote for Hillary in the booth, just to stick it to their husbands for that "RUSH is RIGHT" bumpersticker? I thought it was a possibility, until Barack outvoted her among women in Iowa.

Hillary is climbing a historic mountain to become the first female President of the United States... but wait, what is that in the telescope right beisde her? On an even bigger mountain? It's Barack Obama! He's got a satchel busting with O Magazine, and women like the lean muscular tone on his calve muscles.

Actually, I'm not sure which mountain is bigger. And wait, what's that in the distance? It's Mitt Romney climbing the Mormon mountain. No, wait, it's a private helicopter dropping him off on top. But still, his challenge in rallying the Christian base around him is just as daunting.

Oh, and there's Dennis Kucinich. He's short and has a statuesque British wife and his own party won't even provide the man a booster seat in the House, much less a friggin' mountain. But hey, his day will come when Barack remembers that the guy helped him in Iowa, and everyone knows that the Democrats need a whiter-than-light running mate for Obama or Hillary.

So, I'm switching my endorsement from Kucinich '08 to Kucinich '16 after eight years as a successful vice president. When climbing mountains, it's best to use a wide lens.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

Woke up bright and early on Thursday and spoke to a class of nursing students at UVa, then Gwenn and I had lunch with our friend, Kristi (the co-host from last weekend's pageant).

Kristi mentioned that a lot of our pageant friends were worried about me, they thought I looked pale. "You did look a little pastey," Gwenn offered. But that has more to do with my aversion to direct sunlight and less to do with HIV. Still, it reminded me that people I know have concerns about my health, and strangers get the details of how well I'm doing more than friends because of the speaking thing.

It's not that I'm less than forthcoming with friends, the topic of my health just doesn't come up. And in that case, with an HIV diagnosis people sometimes take that as a sign that something's wrong.

After lunch, it was off to see Dr. Greg about the most recent health concern: the bloody wee from a few weeks ago. One of my meds can cause kidney stones, but there's no way I passed a kidney stone, unless it was a very small one. Since there's been no sign of blood since, it seems I'm literally and figuratively in the clear.

Which is great; I have no desire to switch meds. From here, the next step is an ultrasound at hematology, just to make sure nothing funky is happening on the inside.

Today's appointment was interesting because Gwenn was present. It reminded me of the early days, just after we started dating and shortly after I was diagnosed with AIDS. She came to a lot of those early appointments, because she asks more questions than I do; I just crack jokes.

It was a nice reunion. And the appointments these days are more of an ego-stroke- the receptionists love the book, they put me on the phone with a fellow positoid who reads this blog- than a nail-biting review of last visit's labwork.

Dr. Greg mentioned that one of his son's friends is doing a book report on me for his English class, and I'm still getting messages from people who are discovering the book, and probably will for many years to come since they are still billions of people whose lives have not been enriched by My Pet Virus.

And this week, I've re-sunk my teeth into the vampire book and diving into fictional bloodletting is much better than the reality of dealing with my own blood.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

This is only funny if you've ever been on MySpace, where you get "Friend Requests" from phony porn girls named "Tom".- SD

Tom, the figurehead and everyones' friend on MySpace, has recently succombed to the image-is-everything peer pressure that this social networking site has fostered.

Recently, I've gotten several adds from him, and it appears he's gone under the knife repeatedly in order to drastically alter his image. The longterm physical effects of these surgeries can't be good- not to mention the psychological toll of looking completely different every morning- and I'd like to see the license of the doctor or doctors who repeatedly perform them.

Tom, in happier times.

He has a lot of money, I'm sure. But for whatever reason he thinks we'll love him more as blonde, redhead, brunette, etc, who is scantily clad.

Sample of one of many of Tom's new looks.

I support the transgendered community whole-heartedly. This isn't about a sex change operation, it's about what one person will do to get more friends when millions apparently are no longer enough.

We all enjoy MySpace, but I think it's about high time that we look after the well-being of the young man who helped to get this site going.

Positively Yours,

Shawn

Late-breaking news that will send shockwaves through America... Brittany Gordon is the new Miss Williamsburg! Which candidate will she endorse? Will it be enough to swing Virginia in November of '08?

With co-host Kristi Glakas and Miss Williamsburg 2008, Brittany Gordon. (The one with the sash and crown.)

It helped that Kristi is no stranger to doing this, and that I knew we'd play well off each other. (She's a ham just like me, and in 2006 when she was giving up her crown she did Sears Model poses on stage, including the "Invisible Hat Tip" and the "Look, It's a Bird!" poses, respectively.)

Oh, and here's a photo of how I spent the last weekend of 2007, wearing the same tuxedo jacket...

Too lazy to click? I understand. But ReGen noted that Synthetic Division is "like a bastard child of Erasure and DEVO; it has the quirkiness of the latter, yet the sentimental grace of the former."

I'll take that any day.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

I'm not sure why I can't HTML tag on this Poz Blog anymore.  I'm going to contact the Committee of Ten Thousand (the hemophilia community's ass-kicking machine!) to make sure there isn't any hemophobia going on behind the scenes. 

(Actually, I'm lazy and slow on the tech learning curve.)

Well, I fulfilled my co-hosting duties with Kristi Glakas, Miss Virginia 2005, and it really was a lot of fun.  I wasn't too stressed, as I've been to local pageants and they aren't really known for dynamic hosting.  Our friend, Nathalie, was giving up her crown. 

Pics will be forthcoming!

 As for the now, I'm back to my local haunt to get to work on the next book, the vampire story.  It's been nice to have a break- with the holidays, gatherings, the bloody wee, the Wii action, a Synthetic Division show, the New Year and my best impression of Bert Parks.  But now I get to settle back into a routine.

 Hopefully some good fiction will have been inspired by the last few weeks of real life.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

Last night Barack Obama rode the endorsement of future Vice President Dennis Kucinich to a victory in Iowa, and The Huck brought out the anti-Mormon vote to crush Mitt Romney.

An oversimplification or gross irrationalization?  You betcha!  I love politics.

What's interesting is that you have a candidate on one side who publicly got tested for HIV Kenya to reduce stigma. And on the other side, you have a candidate who refused to clarify a fifteen year old statement in which he suggested that Madonna and Liz Taylor pay for the AIDS epidemic out of their own pockets.

One thing I do like about Huckabee is that he seems to take into consideration that poverty does exist in this country.  And he seems determined to distinguish himself from the current president.  What's funny, is that I'm watching the news right now, and Obama <I>just mentioned </I>HIV/AIDS.

This is all very exciting.  I long for a president who respects the need for and understands the importance of sexual health education and the stigma that continues to surround AIDS. Plus, it would be cool to have a president with worse initials than me.  (His "B.O." to my "S.T.D.")

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In personal news, I meet with Dr. Greg, my ID doc, next week to discuss the potential role my HIV meds played in my bloody wee episodes over the holidays.  And this weekend, I'm co-hosting a pageant with a former Miss Virginia.  I'm one gaffe away from YouTube stardom!

Positively Yours,
Shawn

Got an add over on MySpace from a band named Fumilayo, and really enjoyed a tune called "The AIDS Song". Give a listen by visiting them on MySpace: Fumilayo.

Positively Yours,

Shawn

2008 seems quite full of promise. But I can't step into it until I take a look back at '07.

It just so happened that last year was the 20th anniversary of my HIV diagnosis. I wanted to do something grand, a big publicitity stunt of some kind. But in actuality, I just lived my life and a lot of interesting things happened along the way: I gave the commencement speech at my high school, I married two of my friends, I was included in a section about kids with hemophilia and HIV in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (I'm a relic!), I stared my next book and almost lost it all and recorded and released a Synthetic Division CD.

Did I get obsessed with Sanjaya? Yes. But I wasn't the only man in his early thirties to fall victim to the charms of that young man, and what should be an embarrassment is also a highlight, too. Especially when I was kicked off the Vote For The Worst message boards for shamelessly plugging my book (think, "Sanjaya helps people with AIDS, because his singing shows that there are things in life worse than living with AIDS. Now, about my book on the topic..."), some of you wrote to them about not discriminating about me having AIDS.

Classic.

My Pet Virus 2007 Person of the Year: Sherri Shepherd

No one provided more joy to me, or Joy Behar, than the new co-host of the View, Sherri. From questioning whether the Earth is flat to believing that Jesus predated everything, she never wavered in her convictions. No other person exemplified the experience of being an American in 2007 more so than her, and several hundreds of years from now we'll be reading and learning from The Book of Shepherd, a collection of quotes gathered and preserved from The View which will be used to rebuild society after an asteroid destroys civilization.

Sherri Shepherd and her co-hosts celebrate the news of her Person of the Year Award.

The completion of the 20-year anniversary of my diagnosis was a milestone and cause for celebration, too, but now I'm in my 21st year of living with my pet virus: which means it is now old enough to legally drink. So imagine the fun we're going to be having this year?

But truly, I gotta thank you for reading this blog. I hope your new year is full of promise and pleasant surprises, too. Not sure what my plans are beyond finishing my next book and speaking with Gwenn, but once my man Dennis Kucinich takes the Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses, I can start planning my own takeovers for 2008, and figure out how to better contribute to the causes I believe in.

Positively Yours,
Shawn