Showing face again
Is it quiet around here, or what? Still I see some of the cool cats are still here. Good for you! It makes a visit so worthwhile.
I think occasional visits like this are going to be it for me. But boy, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since I last wrote here. I’ve been busy.
I’m firmly established now on PositiveLite.com, where I’m the Contributing Editor. This basically is what it sounds like; I contribute original material while I also edit and manage the efforts of the dozen or so other regular contributors. You can read all my recent stuff here if you’re so inclined.
In the course of that work, I’ve interviewed some amazing people. Look through my recent out-put there for some of them. Look for instance, for my interview with Paul, a poz guy, an ex-inmate, ex-user from Palm Springs who stands out on intersections in the hot desert sun with a hand-drawn placard advertizing HIV testing. Or the poz guy Kengi, formerly homeless himself, who does HIV outreach and runs support groups for homeless HIVers on skid row in Los Angeles.
I have turned in to a HUGE fan of twitter, where I’m @ruraltweeter. Who’d have thunk?
In any event, the site has done incredibly well. I don’t want to reveal numbers but let’s just say growth has been phenomenal. More importantly, it feels like the best and most rewarding work I’ve ever done. Perhaps I’ve found my niche.
My niche has also involved myself and my colleague Brian becoming a knowledge resource for anyone wanting to know about the use of social media in HIV work. I spoke on that subject at two national organizations last month, one in Toronto, the other in Ottawa.
I have the opportunity, scholarship gods willing, to go to the North American Housing Summit in September, held this year in New Orleans, and cover it for PositiveLite. I’ll know by July 15 whether that’s a go.
Along with all this has come some perks. I now have accredited media status with many Toronto theatres, which means free tickets to opening nights which I take full advantage of. The catch is I have to write a review for the next day. So I’ve been in Toronto a lot, acting as theatre critic for the site, and burning a bit of midnight oil in the process.
Other good stuff? I was accredited media for Pride Toronto this past weekend, which means having a press pass giving access to the parade route inside the barriers, which is something I’ve always coveted. You can see my two Pride posts, with photos, on the site.
In other news, the dogs are all fine, as is Meirion. One sour note is my feet. The peripheral neuropathy, a side effect of the drugs I take, has worsened. My doctor has reacted by dropping Truvada from my five-drug combo and adding Gabapentin. But it remains the case that walking a lot hurts, so I don’t.
Still, I’m pretty blessed, no? I always have been. How about you?