The very first thing that struck me about Mark was his openness, and his sense of humour. Then when I saw the video clip (you can see in this post below) of him winning a car on The Price is Right with Bob Barker, the deal was sealed, I really liked this guy.

This is a PositiveLite.com feature interview:

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 14th is Pink Shirt Day. What is Pink Shirt Day? It all started in Nova Scotia when David Shepherd and Travis Price, in their teens, organized a day of protest when a new grade nine student had been bullied.

Together they distributed pink t-shirts to all the boys in the school for a day of solidarity and to send a message about bullying.

I love what these two teens did, and it has taken off and evolved into a well-organized and developed day with sponsors to make a statement about bullying.

Present day organizers are not the two original teens, but are the inspiration for tomorrow’s Pink Shirt Day. The Pink Shirt Day website is a great resource dedicated to bullying and homophobia

This topic is dear to me, as during grade 8 until 12, my life was hell. I remember being harassed on a daily basis to the point where I had absolutely no self-esteem.

It all started when I had to share my locker with one of them in grade 8, The guy kept stealing my gym clothes, homework etc.  I had no choice but to say something.

It is one of the reasons why I always hated my voice and started to mumble. A couple guys routinely mocked me to the point where I didn’t want to speak.

Those years were the worst in my life. At one point in Jr. High, I was placed in the track (the group that followed a particular class schedule) with the bullies. As soon as I found out I went straight to my mother and said I would not go to school if I had to be with them.

I was dead serious.

We then went to the principle where I reiterated that I would stop attending school if they forced me to be in this group.

To this day I don’t know why they just couldn’t put me in with the other group. Instead I had some special schedule.

It wasn’t until my last year in high school when I discovered “downtown” Winnipeg, and the gay club that I started to not care about what was happening as school.

Nonetheless, the baggage inflicted from those years lasted for years, and still have a faint voice in my head that I no longer listen to.  It does tell a bit of the story of why I took on a shy-yet-rebellious tone in my life, which I maintain until today.

If you have a pink shirt, or have time to get one, put it one and stand in solidarity for those who still have to endure this kind of behaviour.

Recording artist, producer and actress Erkah Badus managed to whip up a media frenzy and judgement from her recent strip tease not only due to the public nature of her nudity, but also her choice of location: the assignation site of president John F. Kennedy, historic Dallas’s Dealey Plaza.

You be the judge.

“Window Seat”

At first, without any context of the entire video, or song, the media played over and over a short snippet of the video. Many were quick to condemn her. I wasn’t so quick.

Yes, it was bold and provocative statement of a performance art piece.

The Inside Edition, known for their hard-hitting celebrity news – yes I do sometimes stop and watch a bit while surfing – declared that it was bad because the “children,” and were “innocent victims.”

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The other day I was taking a shower while I left the internet radio playing [my apologies Proud FM, but it wasn’t you….if I only you could stream you through my Apple TV – the device that connects your computer to your tv and sound system].

As I pulled the curtain, the über cheery — like quick I’m going into diabetic shock — song by the Brady Bunch, Sunshine Day, was emanating from the living room. It seemed a little surreal as I dried off to this cheery little camp tune from the 70s as if suddenly the LSD I had done in the 80s was resurging in a flashback.

They warned us about flashbacks in our school “Just Say No” campaign but I didn’t believe them.

Another reason for a metaphorical “Sunshine Day” is my next topic of my baby website I gave partial birth to last December.

On April 1^st PositiveLite.Com , a light-hearted take on poz living, will be going live with a new look as part of a hard launch – moving it out of its beta phase.

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I’ve had many moments of saying to myself, “How the hell did I end up here?”

I’ve rhetorically asked myself this question since the age of 18 after running off to Vancouver, carried on when I moved to the south of France at 19. Many of these moments in fact have been well documented.

It reminds of that song Drinking in L.A. (a hit in 2006), “What the hell am I doing drinking in L.A. at 26?.” just substitute L.A. for any number of cities in any number of countries.

Soon, it’s pretty certain that I will be feeling that way again, just not in a bad way.

I am off to New York to be interviewed by the RuPaul’s Drag Race reality show contestant, Ongina, for her Logo TV project “HIV & Me” on Friday for the weekend.

I have to tell you, honestly, as we sit there at 11 am come this Saturday, I am going to be struck by “How the hell did I get here?”

They were looking for people to be interviewed for this project. When I read the email, it stated an age range of 20 to 40.

We all know which side of the numerical value outside of which I fall.

Nonetheless, I decided to write them anyway. Read the full story

Oh the French always know how to do it.

I have to admit, being an avid fan of the sport,  these images make me want to rush out and buy a carton of smokes.

For some reason that wasn’t the intention of this French anti-smoking campaign. “Fumer c’est être l’esclave du tabac”, or  “Smoking, be a slave to tobacco,” is the caption under each photograph. Read the full story

Trust me, babysitting is not my evoluntionary role in life.

Study reveals potential evolutionary role for same-sex attraction

One possible explanation is what evolutionary psychologists call the “kin selection hypothesis.” What that means is that homosexuality may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives. Specifically, the theory holds that homosexual men might enhance their own genetic prospects by being “helpers in the nest.”

Physorg.com

That’s one theory, because this one sort of went out the window when they selected the Pacific Island of Samoa to look at a group of “effeminate” men who primarily had other male sexual partners, and were considered a third gender. This isn’t the part that threw me; it was when they were deemed “Super Uncles” to the family’s nieces and nephews.

It pains me to say this, but I’m only starting to like my niece now that she’s getting older. If this puts it into context at all, I’d take her any day as a Hannah Montanna-loving tween, over one day of her younger days.

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A recently befriended a guy sent me a dick shot on the second or third message  Everyone knows I’m not a prude. It’s Facebook not Dickbook. I congratulated him, he was my first Facebook flasher.

Social media has a few uses for me. The first is obvious, social. It’s been a great way to keep up with real “friends” and connect with others. The other takes the  form of getting word out on various writing and other projects. Facebook becomes akin to a cyber office. Trying to balance these two functions can be challenging at times.

I was inspired by this video for this post, along with my recent dick shot.

video from  the website Your Tango, it’s fun.

That got me thinking about Facebook etiquette.  My list is a rip off of what I’ve seen elsewhere plus my own additions made. Please feel free to add your own. Why stop at ten?

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A friend of mine in the US, who spends a lot of time in Africa has created a blog in an effort to disseminate what is going on in Africa.

First let me say, I’ve had some time to work in Africa, most notably Rwanda. My co-op generously raised 5,000 for me to bring over to a women’s microcredit project that Anne-Christine had introduced me to in 2007.

Yes I know, the first thoughts of that of starving children, or  Sarah McLachlan – In The Arms Of An Angel . Yet, no, this is not the main thrust of this blog, at this particular moment. And there is no doubt there is an overwhelming need, disproportionately hitting women and children.

On PoxVox.com, Anne-Christine, a journalist, author, activist, and many other things, she is highlighting what is going on in Uganda and Rwanda with regard to the anti-homosexuality legislation that could even use the death penalty.

One of my big issues around HIV these days in North America is that we’ve de-gayed HIV to the point that it has been diluted into statements such from the Executive Director of a LGBT organization “It’s something that effects everyone now.”  I’ll call her H.K.

I use initials because when I flipped out on her in 2008, I had people like her pal, the LGBT police community liaison, warning other people I know to stay away from me.

And people think there are secrets in this community.

Here’s an excerpt from her latest post:

In Uganda, evangelical groups with ties to a US secret evangelical group, The Church, are behind the draconian anti-gay bill that is being revised, but may still pass in some form by February. Warren has not spoken out publicly on the Rwandan issue, to the best of my knowledge, but he did recently publicly oppose the Uganda bill, after huge public pressure and outcry that he speak out.

In any case, I’m beginning to ramble. For anyone who maybe interested in following Anne-Christine, I suggest you do, as she has the ability to uncover some pretty interesting stuff.

Recipe to follow:

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