shake it up

photo credit: brett pompeii

"Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God: Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
~Marianne Williamson

today i am sharing the newsletter i have been working on with the SIN tribe. it's our second edition, and i think the guys have done quite an admirable job. there are so many people who work on this and it is really a feeling of accomplishment to have it done. now, i can't wait for the next one.

and on some level, i hope it does shake some things up here in denver. i don't think non poz men are overtly prejudiced, but i do think that avoidance and the sounds of silence from both poz and not-poz can affect a new positive man's self image negatively. i do hope in a small way that such a publication with words and with pictures allow my peers to see themselves a little easier and feel a little less alien.

SINews Colorado Volume 2- click here

i have always loved this song. i choose it for its spunk and a naive rebellious quality that its percussion heralds. the lyrics mirror a trek to mecca that is so eerily like one which is so common and so vital for many gay boys from small towns in america. they adventure to the cities intending to experience and to express their sense of self among "community". and hiv is a part of some of these boys' stories. lyrics here

r u ok in the usa--- i'll be ok in the usa--