Sean Penn used to be one of those people that … well, I’d cringe whenever I’d hear his name. There were all those “bad boys” movies in the 1980s and that whole Madonna thing and … I remember a few times over the years that someone would start talking about him … and to tell the truth, I just sort of stopped listening. Then, several years after the movie came out, I finally convinced myself to watch Dead Man Walking, a movie that totally took me by surprise, although it wasn’t until he’d done I am sam and Mystic River that I started to think that maybe he wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Now, granted – I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from what I am hearing – one of his next movies may just prove me wrong again. I’m talking about a movie, currently set to release in November called Milk.

Milk is the latest movie from Director Gus Van Sant (the same guy who brought us Good Will Hunting, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, and My Own Private Idaho, just to name a few) and tells the story of San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk.

If you don’t know about Harvey Milk, go rent the excellent documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk.

On November 27, 1978, then city supervisor of San Francisco, California, Harvey Milk was assassinated by the recently resigned city supervisor, Dan White. White was convicted of his crime, but only received a seven year sentence because his legal defense team claimed junk food made him temporarily incompetent. Yes, this was the original “Twinkie Defense”. San Francisco erupted in riots over this – and the Milk assassination became one of the crucial turning points in the fight for gay civil rights.

Even this early in the game, Sean Penn is already starting to receive adoration from the way he is portraying Harvey Milk, leaving some to start to wonder if a second Oscar Award is coming soon. (His first was for Mystic River.)

Me? I just wonder what Barbra Streisand is thinking right now?

Her Son-In-Law, Josh Brolin, who recently finished filming Milk – where he plays Milk’s assassinator Dan White, has just started filming Oliver Stone’s W. where he plays George W. Bush – Two totally opposite (yet strangely similar) real-life characters I’m sure The Funny Girl has some pretty strong feelings about…

And from the recent cover of Entertainment Weekly – he appears to have a pretty good likeness…

…although this is now starting to lead into a topic for another, later, blog post!

Yes. I know. It’s been ages since my last post, and I’m sure some of my loyal readers are probably thinking I’ve jumped off the end of the world. Well, I am happy to say I’ve done no such thing! Looking back, I guess I just needed a break.

Since you last heard from me, there have been a few changes in my life … a new roommate … lost the job that was stressing me out eight days a week … and truth be told, I was starting to let it all get me down. I had worked very hard to get where I was, and within a few weeks it all came crashing down before I could really enjoy my own success.

There have been a few times over the past several months that I wanted to write about all that crap – after all, it was all stuff I think we all have to deal with at some point… like dealing with co-workers and bosses who have their heads shoved so far up their butts that they can’t see the world around them … or being held accountable for other people’s mistakes and losing your job over them while they get promoted … these are just a few examples about how the word of the month for January, 2008 was: UNFAIR!

All this time … “Noli Nothis Permittere Te Terere” was burning in the back of my mind… not just the blog itself, but what that phrase means – Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down. However, every time I would sit down to write – all I could think about was how badly my life sucked and how unfair the world had become … and that didn’t fit in with the spirit of Noli Nothis Permittere Te Terere. So, I just decided to wait awhile until the time was right.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from an old student of mine who needed some advice. Truth be told, I don’t think I helped him all that much, but at least I was able to put his mind at ease a little bit. Thing is though – I think it did more for me than for him. It’s weird … I spent two years at that place … and in those two years, I did some amazing work. I helped more people than I could possibly remember. I don’t want to take too much credit for other people’s work, but – when you hear from a student that he got promoted at work because of what you taught him … or when you hear from a student that she is so happy that you taught her how to e-mail and IM with her grandchildren (who live in across an ocean) that she hasn’t seen or talked with in over five years …

I have a few such stories … but it’s hard to remember those types of things when the bad stuff happens – and all you seem to remember are the clients you tried to help with the same stuff over and over again but no matter how hard you tried, they refused to make themselves any better. All you remember was asking your boss to help out with a situation only to be yelled at because of something totally unrelated and inappropriate that had nothing to do with you in the first place.

How the heck are you supposed to not let that get you down? Sometimes, maybe you can – but other times, you can’t.

I’ve come to realize that sometimes you do need to let things get you down – at least a little bit. The important thing is that you find a way back up. When life gives you a lemon, make lemon-aid. That’s ok, but when the universe gives you a heaping, steaming pile of bull-shit … then what can you do? I think if you put it aside and work on it a little here and there, give it some time – and in the end, hopefully you’ll have some fertilizer to make the flowers grow.

For two years, worked hard to develop the classes I taught. I was there when the program was formed, and I was the only one still there when, because of funding issues, we had to cancel the program … and then a few months later, I’m not working there anymore … so that’s the end of the program, right? Well … maybe. But, I’m not ready to give it up yet. What’s stopping me from taking the original concept, making a few adaptations (such as changing it from in-class format to internet format) and then coming up with a new program, based on the old model, but new, different, and better? Well … nothing. In fact – that’s what I’ve been doing since I got that phone call. (It’s nowhere near completion, but you can check it out – http://www.virtuallypositive.com

And that is the spirit of Noli Nothis Permittere Te Terere!

When I started this blog (after several - ok, more than several - failed attempts at blogging) it was because I had something to say, and I figured this was a good way to say it. I never saw myself as the whole activist type - although I know others who do, considering everything I’ve been through and what I’ve done with my life … I consider myself more as a thinker, an educator, a helper, people person… I like to help fight for the cause, but more from the background - more like being the supporting actor than taking the lead role. And blogging fit right into this….

I’ve tired (from time to time) to post about things that really matter to me … maybe just to raise awareness - maybe just to talk about it in a way I don’t see too many other people talking about it …

That is, after all, the spirit of “Noli Nothis Permittere Te Terere” (Don’t let the Bastards Get You Down) … Bad things happen to everyone in this life - especially when you’re a little bit different - and, for me anyway, well … the way I see it, one has two options: Sit there and take it and let it drag you down with it, or you can do whatever you can about it and hopefully become better in the process.

My most responded to post, Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone, Unless The Bastard Is A Faggot is a perfect example of this.

One of the issues many (if not all) gays and lesbians face (at least at some point in their lives) are messages from the right-wing Christians about their belief that homosexuality is a sin, an abomination to God - and these messages can appear everywhere. For someone trying to deal with their own issues (religious issues, personal issues, or sexuality issues) these messages can be quite a downer.

The battle of basic human rights is something that the gay community has been fighting for awhile now… in their daily lives, in the courts… and the religious right is there for the fight.

The original post was a great example of this… and in some ways it was a wake-up call. One of the ways the gay community has been fighting for their human rights was using the courts to help protect their rights. A gay bar gets shut down for no reason other than it’s a gay bar, our right to freely assemble may be compromised.  A gay guy is murdered brutally just for being gay and the gay community thinks that should be a hate crime.

So, what was stopping the religious right from using those same tactics? They say it’s their constitutional right of freedom of religion to persecute homosexuals, it’s protected by the Bible and the Constitution. They say they want to continue spewing their anti-gay message, and anyone who says they shouldn’t are violating their constitutional right to free speech.

In many ways, lots of us are fighting the same battle over and over again… the one that goes “Homosexuality is bad.” “No it isn’t.” “The Bible says it is.” “My Bible doesn’t say that.” “Yes, it does. Right here.” “Nope. My Bible says Jesus was about love and tolerance, not about persecuting people.” “You’re mis-reading the bible, because it says, right here, that Homosexuality is bad.” “No it isn’t.” “The Bible says it is.” … see the pattern here.

And reading the comments to my post (17, so far, as of today) you’ll see quite a bit of that pattern. I mean, come on, people - can we get past that? It really isn’t getting us anywhere.  But, unfortunately I think it’s going to continue for eternity. Nobody’s going to win this one - unless we decide to just drop it. (But, I don’t see that one happening anytime soon.)

So, I guess the Noli Nothis Permittere Te Terere message is: just don’t let them get you down. It’s a pattern that has nothing to do with who you are, just what you are.

It’s hard to believe another year has almost gone by, and in March 2008, I’ll be celebrating the two-year anniversary of this blog. It takes a lot to make a blog successful, and - truth be told - I’m still learning a lot of what that is… But, I thought I would just take a moment to look back at the successes I’ve had in the past year.

So, what have my top stories been? Unfortunately - my number one blog post appears to have the one where I complained about seeing Britney Spears’ crotch.  It’s weird - I was just ranting and raving about something so minor and trivial in the grand scheme of things. Yet, after that post, my blog went from getting 10-20 hits per day, to getting about 200 hits per day. (It did go down a little after the whole Britney Spears Shaved Crotch thing died down - not that it’s dead yet.)

The second top post appears to be the one I did about Lance Bass coming out of the closet. Again, it was a minor post that I didn’t think was going to amount to much.  Now, granted, I’m not sure why everyone looking for Lance Bass information came to my site (unless they were looking for pictures) … but I’m not complaining. Actually - I am saying  Thank You!

The world of HIV research is often ignored by the mainstream media. And what does come is often confusing, and without knowing the full scope of what’s going on, that might just be for the best anyway. But, even the smallest news story has major implications.

Germen researchers recently found that there is a protein in semen that enhances the ability of HIV to spread.

This little bit of information can help explain a lot of the things we’ve known all along. With a few minor exceptions, HIV is normally spread one of two ways - sexually, or through drug use. The vast majority of which is transmitted sexually, and men who have sex with men are still one of the largest number of people testing HIV Positive.

Before now, each of these factors had their own explanations. For example, more people put themselves at risk through sexual activity than drug use. The first cases of HIV were reported in the gay community, and if you live with the delusion that men who have sex with men never have sex with women… well, let’s just say that all this sounds good in theory, but…

Yes. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but I’m trying to keep it fairly simple. For example, HIV lives primarily in the blood, but that’s not to say that it isn’t found in other areas of the body either (vaginal fluids, breast milk, semen). Most HIV treatments concentrate on what’s in the blood… see, I’m afraid I am losing you already.

So, what does this mean for all of us non-scientists?

First off, I think stories like this should remind us that HIV is a sexually transmitted disease. While we’ve always known HIV can be transmitted via semen, perhaps we ought to be paying more attention to that.

Secondly, this story might help point the way to new treatments. It’s important to remember that in the grand scheme of things, HIV is fairly new to the scene, and new treatment ideas are still big news.

Up until recently, all HIV medications fit into one of only a small handful of categories. But, they all seem to work along the same lines - interrupting the way that HIV attacks the immune system by making more copies of itself in the bloodstream. The process has many steps, and each category of HIV medication we have now interrupts this process in their own way, somewhere in that process.

As I said before, the medications we have now work primarily in the bloodstream, but most (one report I recently read said approximately 80%) new cases of HIV were transmitted through (unprotected) sexual contact. So, what do you think would happen if we interrupted that process?

Yes. I know. There are a lot of “If’s”…

If there is a protein in semen that helps HIV infect new cells (which appears to be true) … if most cases of HIV are transmitted sexually (which, again, appears to be true) … then … would it be possible to think that if science could come up with a way of fighting HIV from blocking the protein found in semen from interacting with HIV, would it be safe to assume the HIV Infection rate would go way down?

Just … something to think about. Keep in mind that it takes an awful lot of time to go from scientific discovery to working everything out and coming up with a new treatment (let alone getting it approved by the FDA.)

Throughout the past week, I’ve been watching in the news media about the four individuals who got HIV after receiving organ transplants. On the local and cable television news networks, I have heard so much about how this could have happened, and what’s being done (via the government probe) about it. Via the Internet (especially the blogs) it’s more about … well … paranoia.

It’s starting to seem like every time I get an e-mail, read a blog or network post, I read something that contradicts what I read ten minutes before. It’s all so confusing. One guy says: This hasn’t happened before. The next guy says: That information came from an unreliable source, there have been a few, but they are rare. The next guy says: We need to have a better system in place so this doesn’t happen again. The next guy says: The system we have works great, why not just leave it alone. The next guy says: This hasn’t happened before. The next guy…

It’s hard to know how to respond. Not to sound like I am imitating Grissom on CSI - But, what evidence does the science give us?

The Basic Facts of the Case: Four patients got HIV from infected transplant organs. The gentleman who donated his organs had been exposed to HIV a matter of days before the transplant. As a matter or procedure, all organs are given Rapid HIV Tests before transplant.

The situation: The Rapid HIV Test is a very accurate test when accurately performed (and they’re easy to do). According to the CDC Website about the Tests used:

In the clinical studies by the manufacturer (OraSure Technologies, Inc.), the OraQuick test correctly identified 99.6% of people who were infected with HIV-1 (sensitivity) and 100% of people who were not infected with HIV-1 (specificity). The Food and Drug Administration expects clinical laboratories to obtain similar results.

So the test has an accuracy rate of 99.6% with no false positives. All in all, it’s the most accurate rapid test available.

Here is another fact some may find surprising. The Rapid HIV Test does not actually test for HIV itself, but rather for the antibodies the body produces when it is infected by HIV.

The Problem: When the human body is infected by HIV, it takes time for it to produce the antibodies. For some people, it could take the body a matter of days for the body to produce the antibodies, for others it may take longer. The reason for this is that everyone has different body chemistry and there’s no possible way of knowing how long it will take to produce the antibodies. (Think of it this way: when I get a headache, I take two Advil and it goes away. My roommate gets a similar headache, takes four Advil, and it barely takes the edge off. Why? Because our bodies are different.)

One of the questions I’ve heard over and over again is: Are there any tests that test for the virus itself? The answer is yes, but it’s not any better. For example, doing a viral lode test (which tests how many HIV viruses are contained in a unit of blood) is one costly example - however the test takes much longer to perform and the most sensitive tests can not detect HIV if there are less than fifty viruses per unit of blood. In persons who were infected with HIV in a matter of days before this test, it still may not show up.

With other tests, similar restrictions still apply.

The Solution: The bottom line is that there really, at this point, is no direct solution. But, maybe this can be a wake up call for us to find one.

There is an old saying that goes: “In life, there is no 100%.” In other words, nothing works 100% of the time. It’s unfortunate, and sometimes it totally sucks, but it’s something that we as human beings need to deal with.

Or, maybe this should be a wake up call. HIV can happen to everyone, even those without high risk factors. The one question I haven’t heard through all this:

What can we do to help people who have been infected (or affected) by HIV?

Since when is the Bill of Rights un-American? And, since when is the disregard of humanity good values?

In case you were wondering, I’m speaking about the Andrew Meyer incident that’s been all the rage on the news (and in the blogosphere) lately. I’ve had so many differing opinions on what happened – it’s hard to tell what the real news story is. Or, even if there is one … everything seems to be getting a little out of focus.

Just in case you don’t know what I am talking about – Andrew Meyer is the Florida University student who was tasered by the police when he became disruptive following a John Kerry speech. (Google it if you haven’t seen all the footage yet.)

What really pissed me off came from the Right Wing News blog post entitled Andrew Meyer Deserved To Be Tazered.

Granted, I could be wrong – but aren’t the “Right Wing” folks supposed to be all about good values? It’s what we keep hearing from them… and it’s hard to not read anything from the “right wing” that doesn’t contain words like “family values” or “Christian values”… And I’m just curious as to what kind of values it is when abusive police tactics are warranted.

If you read the Right Wing News post, it makes it clear that (in their opinion) Andrew Meyer was merely exercising his right to free speech. Sure, he was annoying. Yes, he was causing a disturbance. However, can you honestly tell me that you’ve never seen anyone do anything like that before at a political event? Come on – it happens all the time.

I have also heard many say he was resisting arrest. Yet, between the footage shown on the news (and on YouTube), and the RWN post – that theory gets blasted to bits. Seems the poor guy caused the disturbance because he felt he should have been given a chance to speak. John Kerry agreed to take on his questions. He’s got two police officers behind him to make sure he stays in line (not currently trying to arrest him) and when Meyer asks questions that are obviously geared to cause controversy, he is tackled by the police, placed in handcuffs, and THEN tazered.

I always thought Tazer guns were used to help subdue someone – not to punish them or extract revenge…

But, that’s not what this blog post is all about – it’s about the way we react to these sorts of news stories. (Or, blog posts. Or?)

Much of the coverage surrounding this event has made me question one thing that I have yet to hear on the news or read about in the newspapers or blogs:

What was the mental health status of Andrew Meyer?

The guy had appeared to have a history of pulling stunts, causing disruptions, and doing things to bring attention to himself. Had he ever been evaluated by a mental health professional? Do his actions suggest that he was dealing with some sort of mental health issues? Had anyone addressed these issues at all? And, if so – does this make the police response any more (or any less) acceptable?

Do those with mental issues DESERVE to be tazered?

Does anyone deserve to be tazered?

I’ll have to think on this for a bit…

This year for our annual Gala, we had someone make a video. It was supposed to capture the essense of all us staff people - what we do on a daily basis - who we are as individuals and as employees. I could say a lot more - but I will let the video speak for itself. (Sorry it’s in two parts - can’t help that.)

To be honest with you - I never thought all that highly about Tammy Fae Messner. Although, to me, she always was Tammy Fae Baker…

Growing up isn’t all that easy for a gay boy in an Evangelical Christian household. After my parents learned I was gay, I spent a lot of time in church where I was prayed over, went through religious “therapy”, and was constantly reminded that gay people were sinners with no hope of salvation.

I got that message loud and clear at home as well - and not just from my parents - but, on the TV too. We watched our fair share of televangelists (more so at my Grandma’s house as my parents preferred religious figures who could shake your hand after the service) and yes, we watched PTL with Jim & Tammy Fae Baker. So, when Jim Baker would talk about the shameful “Sin” of homosexuality with his wife standing by his side - I figured they were all alike.

At this point in my life, I was struggling enough already to accept my own gay feelings. Those who know my coming out story (which I’ll post at a later time) know that I had started to figure out I was gay at an early age - and knew all too well that there were people out there who thought homosexuality was ok, but there were even more out there who thought that it was not. I tried to not let those who were anti-gay influence me too much. But, still, it was a lot for a young teen to deal with. It wasn’t like we had a lot of gay-positive role models back in the mid-1980s…

I just always assumed Tammy Fae was one of those anti-gay people, and dismissed her whenever I heard her name. Unfortunately, with her, and all that makeup, the air-conditioned dog houses - it wasn’t all that hard.

Somewhere along the way, Tammy Fae taught me something rather important about myself. I, who had put in so much hard work breaking down stereotypes and fighting prejudice, should have taken a long hard look at myself a long time before I did. Yep. I stereotyped her. Yep. I was somewhat prejudiced against those gay hating homophobic evangelical types.

And when I found out she was going to be on The Surreal Life, even though I hate “reality television” I thought to myself - “oh, that’s bound to be interesting.” When I found out who she was going to be living with - namely, porn-star Ron Jeremy - I decided to watch. Just one episode. I’m no Ron Jeremy fan. I’m no Vanilla Ice fan. (Far from it, actually.) I wasn’t an Eric Estrada fan either - although he was part of the reason I discovered I had a uniform fetish - but that’s besides the point. I just knew the former televangelist was going say something, and I was waiting for it … waiting for it … and … damn.

She not only seemed to mind sharing a house with a porn star - she actually seemed to make him her friend.

What The Fudge-sickle? Where’s the lady who used to stand by her husband while he talked about (among other things) the evils of pornography? (After all porn was just as bad as being gay.)

After that - the more I learned about Tammy Fae - the worse I started to feel. I totally misjudged her.

While it’s true that she never said anything on television while I was growing up in defense of the shameful homosexuals her husband would pray for on national television for - she, herself, never said anything like that. Not even close. She never seemed to have a bad word to say about anyone. She seemed to love and respect everyone.

I have often said that most of the Evangelicals I have ever met (or even heard about) seemed to forget a couple of Jesus’ most important messages: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” or even that whole “Love your neighbor” thing. Tammy Fae, I guess, was actually all about that.

Somehow I missed some of her accomplishments. I missed it when, back in the 80s, she talked with a person dying of AIDS on her Christian show. (Keep in mind it was a HUGE taboo back then.) I missed it in 1996 when she hosted the “Jm J and Tammy Fae Show” with Jm J. Bullock (a - gasp - homosexual). I missed it when she told Larry King that she always admired the gay community. I missed it when she said that “God loves everyone.”

I am sorry, Tammy Fae.

I hope you rest in peace.

Thank you.

How’s this for a Beaver Shot?

Want to see a Shaved Pussy?

Here’s the thing. I’ve had this blog for over a year now … and I like to think that I’ve had some pretty interesting things to say. Lately, I’ve been looking at how visitors have come to my blog and which posts they’re looking at. There’s some variation from day to day and week to week…

The topics where, in my opinion, I had a lot to say are frequently visited shortly after I post them, never to be viewed again. And, the posts where I rant or rave about something trivial or almost meaningless seems to get all the blog traffic.

What the heck is up with that?

So, I look at the terms people are putting into search engines to find my blog and what do I see? Today, several people found my blog by searching for “Shaved Pussy”. A few more found my blog by searching for “Beaver Shot”.

Why does my blog come up on those searches, you ask? Well, back on World AIDS Day (December 1) I posted that I was sick and tired of seeing so many posts about Britney Spears exiting a limo wearing a skimpy mini-skirt and no underwear - and so few posts about World AIDS Day, HIV, or anything all that important.

I thought it would be a passing trend. But, appearently more people are still finding my blog by searching for beaver shots than who might be interested in what I have to say. (Unless I have something to say about shaved genetalia.)

Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone - Unless The Bastard’s A Faggot is - just about - the only exception. That post alone already has 15 comments, and in some ways, it was one of my most serious. I talked some about those biblical double-standards and never imagined it would be as popular as it turned out to be.

I am still scratching my head - asking myself “Why that post?” “Why not some others too?” Is that post my One Hit Wonder?

I haven’t been posting too much in my blog lately - in part because I have been busy at work - but, in part, I just keep asking myself “Who’s gonna read this anyway?”

If you’re still reading this - I’d love to hear from you. Even if you just leave me a comment that says “Hi.” Just let me know you’re still out there, ok?

June 12^th marked the anniversary of a landmark legal case known as Loving v. Virginia.

The plaintiffs, a black woman named Mildred Loving and her white husband Richard Perry Loving were arrested in 1958 when they returned to their Virginia home after being married in the District of Columbia. Because Virginia law prevented interracial couples from being married, they were arrested, pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to a year in prison. However, the trial judge suspended the sentence for 25 years, as long as the Lovings left the state of Virginia and didn’t come back for 25 years.

The Trial judge, Leon Bazile issued the following statement:

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

The Lovings moved to Washington D.C. where they began a series of lawsuits claiming that Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which caused their marriage to be considered a criminal act, was a direct violation of the 14^th amendment to the Constitution. Ultimately, the Supreme Court overturned their convictions and declared the Racial Integrity Act unconstitutional. The opinion of the court stated:

Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival…. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.

It is interesting to note, however, that while this decision declared that laws which prevented interracial couples from getting married was unconstitutional, it still took around 30 years for some states (such as Alabama) to take those laws off the books.

When doing research on this topic – it surprised me (in a way) to read what people had been saying at the times about interracial marriages – like the quote from Leon Bazile above. They started to sound very similar to what some people are saying about gay marriage.

Ok. I understand it. Kind of. When you feel very strongly about a subject, you are going to find whatever you can to justify it – especially if it conflicts with your other beliefs. Some people do turn to philosophy or religion. For example – you think prejudice is wrong. However, you don’t like gay people. So, you have two options. Either change the way you think, or find a way to make it acceptable. Now, many people think the Bible says homosexual behavior is immoral. Therefore, it’s ok to be prejudiced against gay people. After all, if God says it’s ok, it’s not prejudice, right?

There used to be a lot more people who thought that interracial marriages were disgraceful, immoral, and an abomination. Interracial couples were often the target of violent attacks, pranks, name calling, etc… They justified their hated by saying God didn’t want people of different races getting together. They said it wasn’t natural. They said it was abomination against God’s will.

At some point in history, we all went through a paradigm shift. It started with interracial couples standing up for themselves. It started with a few brave individuals who would speak out against the injustice of it all. And today, when we look back at those brave souls, we consider them visionaries – we consider them heroes.

Because their paradigm shifted before other people’s? Maybe. Or, maybe it was because they said something about it.

I’ve already started training for Ride For AIDS Chicago. After starting my new job at TPAN, it’s been getting off to a rather slow start. I can, however, see myself slowly making progress … I’ve lost five pounds, and I still have a few more weeks to get everything ready.

When I signed up for the ride, I set my fundraising goal at 1,000 bucks. (Actually, I thought I could raise more than that – and I still want to – but I figured that’d be a good place to start.) I’m already a quarter of the way to that goal … so I am confident that with everyone’s help, I can reach that goal (and then some)!

Things have been going pretty good, but I just thought I would give my blog readers a minor update. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to my blog (the new job has taken up more of my time than I had thought it would) but I am still working on it, having fun with the new job, and trying to get in some serious bike training when I can.

If you would like to sponsor me – please visit http://www.events.org/RideForAIDS/sponsorship.aspx?id=4703

I thank you all for your support!

Corky McGraw

Sometimes, you find something silly on the internet and you can’t help but blog about it, right?

Now, I’ve always wanted to go to London. Before I die, I would like to … at least once. Why haven’t I gone yet? Well … it isn’t exactly the kind of place I can hop on my bicycle and just go… Right?

In the computer classes I teach, we like to cover some of the really cool things you can do on Google… search for information … look up movie show times and reviews … finding driving directions … So I was thinking, what if I wanted to go to Miami – how could I get there? Cool. That doesn’t sound so bad. Ok, what if I wanted to drive to Cancun (it is Spring Break, ya know.) Oh, drats! Google can’t tell me how to get there. Oh-well. How about London? What the [BLEEP]? Check this out…

I can “drive” to London?

Check out Step 20: Swim across the Atlantic Ocean (3,462 mi) … What?

Watch out London … here I come. (Just bear in mind that Google Maps also says it’ll take me over 29 days to get there… sigh)

Someone just asked me why I decided to join Team TPAN in the Chicago Ride For AIDS. The answer, it seems, is simple.

When I arrived in Chicago, a little over four years ago, I didn’t know very much about this city … I didn’t know very many people (in fact, I only knew one) … in fact, I knew nothing about life in Chicago at all. It was hard for me to get out, meet people, make friends. I didn’t want to hang out in bars. I looked at a few social groups, but none were right for me.

I had been here for a month when I got sick. It wasn’t anything major, just pneumonia. (Community based, thank goodness.) I spent a week in the hospital, but once I was better, I decided to start checking out support groups and social venues. The first place I called was TPAN.

All I could do (physically and mentally) at that time was attend a support-social group twice a week. After awhile, once my immune system started to build itself up and I got stronger, I began volunteering. Just answering the phone at first – but as more time went by, and I started making new friends – I would also help out with other things too. Special events, organizing things, or even just spending an hour helping to unload the supply truck or stuffing letters into envelopes. Now, I work for TPAN, do as many special events as I can – in part, because it’s fun, but also because I highly doubt I would be as good off as I am now had it not been for some of the fine folks at TPAN.

I have come such a long way in four short years. I can’t believe it, sometimes.

It is important for me to be involved with the AIDS Ride because … well, it feels important to support the people who supported me four years ago. This will also help show my physical progress as well. Four years ago, walking up two flights of stairs made me lose my breath. And, in just four short years, I’m about to embark on a 180 Mile bike ride. Whoa!

It is the least I could do … help raise money for TPAN (and BE-HIV) … and be a part of something as wonderful as this.

That’s why I want to ride.