Last Time I Got Tested

The last time I got tested, I felt alienated.

HIV+ (left) and HIV- (right) test results.

The time before that, was late 2008.
I was a college student, and the health clinic on campus was the location I went to get tested.
They were caring, understanding, and they did the whole shebang (physical examination, tested my blood and urine, swabbed  my dick, ass, and mouth) and tested me for all the STDs imaginable.


Now I've graduated, the school's clinic doesn't accept me anymore because I'm not enrolled. 
I was stuck, I was lost.
I looked up on Google for the nearest "free HIV testing", and looked up a local clinic, Planned Parenthood, and got tested there.


It wasn't my world. There were no pamphlets for me, there were children, mothers, young straight couples. I was singled out, alone.
The nurse who first brought me in was kind and full of smiles, we went through the questionnaire without me feeling awkward.
But then I had to wait, because I didn't feel like urinating. And the next nurse who took me was older, and wasn't as welcoming as the previous. She also seemed impatient. It almost seem like she doesn't care either way if I've caught something or not. If it was tedious to service me.


I was put to get tested for Chlamydia and Syphilis and also HIV, but this new, older nurse forgot, or didn't proceed to test me for HIV. I had to ask her if I was getting tested for it and I felt obliged to really thank her for her patience and having to put up with me.


Overall, it was a weird experience to me. I felt awkward for having get tested at a Planned Parenthood.
In the future I'm just going to drive to San Francisco and get tested there, around people who understands me and welcomes me.

Get Tested

(I didn't get around to post yesterday, I apologize)

Today I will be marching.

Feb. 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

I'm marching because not only I care, I want you to care about yourself.

I actually have to head out the door right now and drive 50 minutes to to San Francisco to get there at 5PM. But what I want to say is:

Know your status,

so you can live the now.

Play it sexy, play it safe,

so you can keep on playing.

Music

"Global Village" by Just.Luc http://www.flickr.com/photos/9619972@N08/

Music is an animal.

Every song is a beast.

Its BPM the heart-rate,

its instruments the organs.

Its rhythm the bloodstream,

its genre the soul.

Some beasts can be tamed,

some controls you.

Some lets you ride them,

some kicks you off.

Which are your beasts?

Unleash them for me.

Let's dance together,

our sweat will be their feast.

Touch Me

Place your hand against mine.

Let our print-leaving palms unite.

As I bend my fingers forward,

do the same, let our hands lock.

Because I'm not letting go.

The part on my body that is constantly

touching, gripping, holding.

I want it to touch yours.

I want my prints on yours. 

And together we will create history.

What's Yo Problem?

Haruki has no patience for you.

Next time someone's acting up,
or starts ticking you off.

Instead of asking "What's yo problem?"
try asking "What's yo story?"

"Are you alright?"

Until then, don't assume that you're the righteous party.

That's where ignorance comes from.

For they have as much the right to ignore you as you do.

Cool Down

Playing it cool doesn't mean shunning people away.


It means being the most chill, drama-free person in the room.


When drama comes your way, you handle it, hold it in your palms, and douse the flames down with your coolness.


All it takes is a clear conscious mind, and the respect and love the way you want to be treated.

Be like the wind: flow, cleanse, refresh, rinse and repeat.

Cosplay

Ignorance puts words in other people's mouths.

Cosplaying is the act of dressing up as an anime or video game character.

Sometimes just a character in general, fictional or non-fictional.

There is a lot of ignorance in the anime fan subculture.  Blacks are forced to accept their differences in order to enjoy being a part of the fandom.

They are rarely treated as viable members; the beautiful white american female always winning competitions.

Hear me out.

There's no difference between a "Black" Link and a "White" Link.

The only difference is the person who's playing them.

This is a Black anime fan playing the role of Link.

If this cosplayer truly wants to play the role of "Black Link", he would've added something stereotypical to the costume.

See it as a whole, see it in wider lens: the skin color, the body mass, the race, the gender, is NOT a part of the costume.

In other news: Damn, he looks fineeeeee.