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:
I first got to know Mark through his blog on The Body (there is a link to it at the end of the post). When launching this site we began chatting on Facebook, and thought he was the perfect person with which to start off the PositiveLite.com interviews.
Mark has been doing what I’ve been aspiring to do for quite some time, and that is use multi-media (i.e. video, writing, images) in a blog format covering all sorts of great topics, and with his flare for writing and wit. Mark’s life story is as colourful as they come, and his public recovery from Crystal Meth is a great example of life without Tina.
First of all, how can I not like someone who won a car on The Price Is Right! I love when you were asked if you had a girlfriend and you replied, “I have several.”
They interviewed everyone standing in line before The Price is Right taping, and I just turned on my adorable 19-year-old charm and tried not to fag out too much. What’s funnier about my responding to Bob about the girlfriends is my boyfriend Charley in the audience, wearing a matching red t-shirt and jeans. If I had won a fur coat, he would have jumped on stage and thrown it on.
And yes, between my commercials and TV and videotaped drag, my life does seem well documented. I just always wanted to have the most fabulous memorial service *ever.” Now that I’ve lived longer, the material is kind of piling up a bit.
I’m interviewing various HIV positive community members who use humour in their lives. Since the readers are predominantly Canadian, could you give us a bit of your background (as best one can who has so many rich life experiences).
My upbringing was typically American — dad was an air force pilot and we moved around a lot to various military bases. I don’t recommend organizing a makeshift parade through the air force base, dressed in drag, at the age of nine. It’s the kind of thing the superiors frown upon.
All I know about Canada is that Vancouver completely seduced me (well, it had some help from the locals) when I visited there a few years ago, and I like the accent. I had a one-year boyfriend from Quebec, and let me just say, ooh la la. Oh, and Paul Shaffer. Does he count?
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