text:
Friday, June 26, 2009
Posted by Doe Cheese at 8:23 AM 0 comments
Labels: michael jackson, r.i.p.
Michael Jackson is reported dead
This can't b true.
It fucking can't...omg..wtf...
Posted by kimmie e at 12:28 AM 0 comments
Thursday, June 25, 2009
To Die For!
Posted by Doe Cheese at 12:07 PM 0 comments
Labels: shoe
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Posted by Doe Cheese at 12:55 PM 0 comments
Labels: movies
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
maybe this is our fault
i beg for comments like every second of my life...and what do we get none. i just dont understand it. are we afraid to comment? are we too busy to comment? are we too lazy? i just dont know what to think anymore
Posted by kimmie e at 2:30 AM 1 comments
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
drizzy drake
Here is the URB interview from October's finest...enjoy
A lot has happened to Drake since URB interviewed the Lil Wayne protégé this past spring for our Next 100 issue. His track, "Best I Ever Had," hit number one on BIllboards Hot Rap chart last week (and number 18 on the Hot 100 chart) making him the biggest new rapper so far this year. URB went back at grabbed the full transcript of our original interview with Drake, taken just a few months before he blew up:
URB: You said your family was from Memphis originally. Have you still got family over there? Do you spend time with them?
Drake: Yeah, I did spend time there when I was younger. My parents were divorced when I was very young so my father went back to Memphis. I was there at a very great time, a very influential time. Around the ages of like 12, 13, 14, 15 even, like right before I started doing DeGrassi, I was there sort of just soaking it all in. It was around the time when Memphis actually had a dope movement, before Kia Shine had that "Krispy" song, they were actually hailing Yo Gotti, Kink, and Skinny Pimp. The artists were just making real hard shit. You know, Ball and G, Three 6 was doing their thing. It was great. It was that real Houston feel where everybody was just riding around to Memphis shit. That's the one thing about the South that I love that I incorporate a lot into my music. It's just that feeling, that excitement when something new drops, just to support an artist. I really drew a lot of influence from being there when I was younger. I like the culture a lot. I mean it was hood, it was hood as fuck, being around Orange Mile and Peppertree apartments. My family's all over Memphis so I've seen a lot of it, but it was a great time to soak that all in. And having contracts in Toronto, Canada, which is very multi-cultural and very safe, it was cool, it gave me two perspectives.
If one thing 2008 proved is that it's OK for pop music to be weird. Santogold and M.I.A. hopping on Jay-Z tracks, and nevermind that Kanye just released a rap album without rapping. Wayne is obviously on his own planet. How do you feel about that transition?
I think it's amazing. I think it's great to see rap fans finally start to appreciate music. Rap is great. Rap is a great form of music. But it is just that, it's a form of music. There are other amazing genres to explore. So for Santogold and M.I.A. to crossover into that world is amazing because, a year ago, we might have listened to M.I.A. and Santogold in the privacy of our own space because people might have thought you were weird if you said, "Yo this is what I listen to in my free time." So now, just to see hip hop fans start to appreciate it is a wonderful thing. It's funny 'cause even being in the studio the other night, I think Killer Mike summed it up best. He was just like, "Rap, at this point, without melody and without something more, [without] a musical composition to it--it's just becoming unimpressive." To rap and rap and rap is only great if you're saying something potent. You have to be a Kanye, you have to be an Andre 3000, you have to be a Jay-Z, because at this point, I think without music behind it, just to rap is getting repetitive. They are those guys that will just be able to rhyme for the rest of their lives because their minds are just so vivid. That's not to say that rap is dead or rap is dying, I don't think so. I don't think hip-hop is going anywhere. I just think that the bar is getting set a little higher and I think that's a great thing. I think it's gonna turn out a lot of great product. Everybody's gonna have their market, like the Soulja Boys and the Gucci Mane's, they'll always have their market because, in the South, Santogold and M.I.A. may not really apply. They can't relate to that stuff. They hear that and they may not appreciate that just yet, maybe they will one day, or maybe they won't at all. Maybe they'll ride with their artists and that's their thing. But on a world level, it's amazing to see hip-hop fans appreciating hip-hop with real music.
As a new artist trying to put yourself out there and establish yourself, how does this changing world inform the decisions you make as an artist?
For me, my writing and my music has always been about self-expression. I had a very interesting process in discovering that it was OK to start doing this hybrid and start exploring my talent a little more. My decisions had nothing to do with 808s and Heartbreak or the fact that people were starting to appreciate M.I.A. My decisions had to do with the fact that I realized I could sing. I realized that i have writing talents outside of 16 bar verses or 80 bar verses or whatever I choose to do. It was really just sort of a discovery for me as far as my creative capabilities, as opposed to moving with the times. I still feel like I'm not doing the type of music that Santogold or any of those artists really do. I think I'm doing a hybrid that's more in my own lane. It's dark, it's evil, it's sexy. Really it's more for women. It's sort of R&Bish more so than abstract, out-the-box type crazy stuff that might take you a minute to sit on it and really comprehend. I think my brand of singing and rapping and the combination that I'm doing is easier to grasp. What I like about it most is that I can only write music with melody when I really draw from life experience. So it always means a lot to me. The songs always mean a lot to me because they're honest. They're what I'm going through at the time. That's when i get inspired to write R&B. The other thing is, from the perspective of the two together, it's just different because I'm still talking that shit that people want to hear. I'm not saying weird things, I'm still being a rapper. I'm still saying ill things that make girls chuckle and make guys go, "Damn, I think that way sometimes." The hardest thing to do is to translate thoughts and have them move from your mind and come out of your mouth and still have the color that they have when you're thinking them in your head. There's a few people in the game that can do that. That's why I've always respected names I just dropped like Andre 3000, a guy like Phonte, a guy like Kanye, or Jay. Jay has tales from his life and from the streets that he can say in a million different ways and it always captures you. My mind just works a certain way and I think people appreciate that. I'm honest. So to get it from here to there and let it flow out to the people, I think that's what they appreciate. It's witty, it's clever, it's enjoyable to listen to. It's not some fake story that you have to be in a dream world to appreciate. You can actually be living your life and say, "Oh shit, that relates to me. I felt that way on Tuesday."
How did the remix to Lykke Li's "Little Bit" come about? Where was the real life inspiration?
[My manager] Oliver sent [the song] to me and said that I should remix it. At first I was thinking about rapping over it, but then as i started to listen to the song I pulled up the words. The writing in that song is phenomenal. I tip my hat to whoever wrote it. The thoughts in that song are exactly what I'm talking about. They're real, human emotions when it comes to love. And me, I'm scared of love. I'm scared to commit to somebody. Especially at this point in my life. So my lyrics and my side of things just really came from that, from having somebody in my life that could be the right person, but I'm not ready to do anything about it right now. So it's like, I love you a little bit, but not enough to make it official, enough to write a song about you and at least let you know that that's how I feel. It was perfect. It worked out perfect for me and I became a huge fan of hers. I listen to the album all the time when I need to just clear my head. I can't wait to actually meet her. We were just talking about her and Peter Bjorn, the gentlemen that produced the record. I'm looking forward to getting a chance to meet everybody. That record was great for me because it's just a little foreshadowing of maybe the direction that I'll choose to go maybe two or three albums down the line. I'm not gonna really go there yet. I still wanna make a classic hip-hop record, a couple classic hip-hop albums, sort of get people accustomed to the fact that I can sing and rap and do all these different genres because if you hit them with that right away they might be taken aback. That's the whole purpose of doing the mixtape, to do it on a level where it's like you can see that I'm clearly experimenting, so don't take it too serious. I'm curious...I'm looking forward to everybody's feedback on the whole thing because I'm rapping and singing and it's not generic songs, it's a map of my life in the last 10 months. So with that being said I'm definitely paying attention to the feedback. I know people say never to do that but I'm paying attention to it. It hasn't been bad up until now so I'm not too worried.
Speaking of feedback, what did your muse think about the "Little Bit" remix?She's scarce with compliments, she's a tough critic. She gave me some kind words, which to me [showed] that it meant something special. For her to recognize it, and I didn't even tell her, was perfect. I delivered my message. That's what life should be about as a musician. That's what it's all about to me anyway. I had influential people in my life, women and people that are around me that are supportive. This whole journey, if you're truly committed to it, is something to document. Some people choose to document it on camera and fill you in on their actual life and tell you what's going on, but I'd rather just let you know through music, metaphorically what's going on in my mind. Because I'm growing, ever since i was on the T.V. show I've been growing, my fans have grown with me. So I'm just hoping that through this project they'll continue to grow with me. Because I've come along way from the type of music i was making, like with Trey Songs' "Replacement Girl," and shooting a video that maybe to a lot of people thought had no substance behind it. I was disappointed because I'm a driven, creative person and it didn't represent me the right way. So through my mistakes and through my triumphs, it's amazing to have people with me.
How do you deal with that when you feel like you've been misrepresented? Especially if it's your first splash on this 106 and Park scale and you feel like they missed your essence.
I'll tell you, I always feel like that was a great song. And at the time, i can't say that it didn't represent me. I've become the person that I am now, the music lover that I am now, the individual that dresses the way I do now, after meeting people like Oliver, and my engineer, 40, and my DJ, Future. After forming these relationships, I've become this person. So I can't ever regret being that person prior to influence from certain individuals. It was me at that time. I won't ever say I regret it. I can look back and say, "Well damn, now that I'm in this position and know this much more, I probably would have done it different." But you can always do that, and if you ever beat yourself up over that you'll drive yourself crazy. I wouldn't say it misrepresented me. It was just a point in my life and I hope nobody ever faults me for it because I'm proud of it. I'm proud of my work. It just shows growth and that's what an artist should do, is grow. If I had another song that sounded exactly like that and shot another video that looked exactly like that, then there would be a problem. Then you could throw the caution flags up like, "OK, this is not somebody to love." But I'm growing, that's what we do. I'm 22 years old.
How did you meet Wayne?
I met Wayne through a friend of mine, J Prince's son, who I met on MySpace actually and we just talked back and forth. He was interested in my music for about about a year and a half, ever since the Trey Songs joint, he reached out. He always pressed Wayne to listen to the music and one day I guess when they had time when they were in Houston he played him about two songs, I think they got through about two-and-a-half songs. I think Wayne called me when I was in the barbershop getting my hair cut. He called me from Jazz's phone so I thought it was Jazz. I picked up and I heard a completely different voice, I knew the voice right away but I didn't wanna believe it so I'm like, "Whatever, man." And he's like, "Yo, this is Weezy," and I'm [sarcastically] like, "Yeah, aight." He's like, "Yo, this is Weezy, can you get on a plane by tomorrow at 8:00am?" And I ended up spending a week out on the road with him.
And with "Ransom," you must've been thrilled to hear him go in like that?Just to see that Wayne was truly excited. And as things kept happening, like at the VMAs, the looks he kept giving me were on some "Yo Drizzy I got us!" That's a powerful statement to start your verse with. When we heard that I remember we were in Atlanta, it was me and my engineer, and we just stopped the verse right after we heard that. I mean whatever he says after that, I know he's gonna kill it, but the fact that he started the verse with my name and said, "I got us," he formed a union with one sentence. I'm sure in five years I'll realize how powerful that verse was. But now, I definitely see it, but we'll realize what it really meant and him spitting his "Money to Blow" verse at the VMAs, he did something great for me which was, just let people know that he sees me as a peer and not as a project or something that he has to really make. He doesn't have to make me. He kinda let people know that I'm already there, he just brought me to the light.
The song sounds like a battle...
I think you can tell from the amount of bars that we spit, it's always sort of this undiscussed competition. But it's a great competition. We're not actually competing. We're just two guys who like to rap and we have a lot of thoughts running through our heads. I usually do my verse first and send it to Wayne, and that excites Wayne and he does his verse. So, he does have the upper hand on me by hearing my verse, but that's why he ends up jumping on a song and being aggressive as he does. I don't send him 16 bar verses that are mediocre. I let him know like "Look, Tune"--I call him Tune--"I'm going in! Like you say all the time, I'm about to go in! I hope you hear what I'm doing." It's always fun to hear what Wayne does afterwards, it's always fun to get that email back. Basically his verse let's me know what he thought of my verse. And every single time it seems like he enjoys the verse and that he enjoys being on songs with me. And that alone is an honor. So when it came to "Ransom," it was out of character for me because "Ransom" is not necessarily something you would hear me doing. When you hear the beat you wouldn't say, "Oh, that's Drake. He gotta rap on that." I think what we do a lot is just pull one another into each other's world. Sometimes i go into Dedication 3 land and Carter 3 land and then sometimes I pull him into So far Gone and Thank Me Later, where we just do abstract different stuff. But he still raps, like we did a song for his new album and it's great. I'm singing and he's rapping, it's different. We recognize each other's talents. I don't know who isn't a Lil Wayne fan, but obviously it goes without saying that I was a Wayne fan before I was Wayne's friend and Wayne's artist. To sit here and describe what an honor it was to go through this process is pointless. I read the comments on the iIternet too and people sort of go back and forth about that debate, you know, "well, who raps better?" and "is Wayne writing his verse?" So it's great, man. It's great to get people talking and that's what we both love to do, just make music that gets people excited and gets people talking. That's our goal.
But, the best feeling is to be on the tour bus and he'll play the record and he'll just be rapping the verses like they're his. He'll be rapping my verses like those are his words. Passionately, he doesn't just say the words. He'll stop what he's doing and look to the sky and flash his ice, or whatever he's wearing, and shake his dreds like he's really passionate about the words I'm saying. I know that he enjoys the verse.
How do you deal with the conflicting views of your growth, from teen TV star to rapper to singer?
I just have to rest comfortably in my head with the theory that there's always going to be people that like and people that don't like. I can't please everybody and therefore if it feels right and if it has a place and it makes sense then I'm gonna do it. I don't sit in the studio and make 20 records a night. One, I don't have that kind of work ethic, as far as writing. Writing does take me time because I put a lot of thought into it. I can't make 15 joints in one night and then maybe one of them is special. I do what makes sense, so if I hear a beat and it inspires me I guarantee you that by the end of that night I'm going to get a record out of that beat that we use somewhere or means something to all of us. I rarely spend time on a record and it becomes a throw away record. Somebody who hears "Ransom" and then Googles me and sees a pictures of me in a jheri curl afro and a wheelchair might bug out for a second. but like i said, we all grow. I was 14, 15 years old and it was the right move for me at the time to be on TV. I did a lot of studying with a lot of acting coaches and I'm grateful for that because I plan to get back into acting as the music picks up. Everything happens for a reason and that show was a great stepping stone; I built a lot of strong relationships at MTV and people know me. But the greatest thing right now is that my fans don't call me "Jimmy" anymore. They don't say, "That's the guy from the Degrassi." They say that's Drake. They may have not have heard all my songs, but they'll find out eventually that I'm doing music is the most important thing. I'm getting a 100,00 plays on MySpace each day, [that] is important too. It's important that I'm getting mixtape orders from Paris and Stockholm as I start to branch out with things like the Lykke Li song. People know me in places that I've never even dreamt of going. And with that being said, I hope that my fans grow with me. We were all young once, you were young too at one point and you enjoyed it, but it's time to move on.
Posted by kimmie e at 4:23 AM 0 comments
Labels: drake
Kimmie's Work Out Plan
I've been coming home late night and workin the ass out [stop] I think you should too [Stop] So stop bullshittin and being lazy [Stop} Renew yourself [full stop]
Posted by kimmie e at 4:09 AM 0 comments
googoo gaga
Posted by kimmie e at 3:58 AM 0 comments
Labels: lady gaga
speidi...lmao..click on the pic n see them on the view lol
Posted by kimmie e at 3:46 AM 0 comments
Nanna: Finnish Top Model
Finland has got it goin on because they have women like Nanna, a super gorge, lesbian tall ass supermodel. In my recent life I have become supportive of the gay pride movement and anyone who has the guts to be openly gay and high profile gets my vote. Check her out.
Posted by kimmie e at 3:38 AM 0 comments
Labels: models, Nanna, reality tv, tyra
Monday, June 15, 2009
Today's Hotness
Posted by Doe Cheese at 11:49 AM 1 comments
Labels: todays hotness
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Posted by Doe Cheese at 11:40 AM 0 comments
Labels: girl crush
Shoe Fanatic!
Posted by Doe Cheese at 11:36 AM 0 comments
Labels: shoes
Midnight Snack
Let the eat fashion
These designer cupcakes look mad good lol
-Doe Chee$e
Posted by Doe Cheese at 11:28 AM 0 comments
this is anti autotune death of the ringtone
check out Jay-Z's new song "D.O.A (Death of Autotune). tell me what you think, that is if you decide to effin comment! (i had a moment right there). The song may end up being apart of "Blueprint 3" and basically just talks about every artist who has been hooked on autotune. The production is crazy...actually this beat is ridiculous kudos to Kanye and NoID..dunno if its sampled from anything in particular, but i do know it gets its inspiration from "na na hey hey kiss him goodbye"...yea that song...listen...i dig it.
Posted by kimmie e at 1:07 AM 1 comments
Labels: Albums Dropping, jay-z, mixtapes, new music
Friday, June 5, 2009
fells point
Fells Point...FELLS POINT. Now for some odd God forsaken reason I had never been to Fells Point until my senior year in High School and I was born and raised in Baltimore (county--you gotta put that in there). Fells Point is basically like Carytown in Richmond (for all my VCU heads) but with water. If you are not familiar picture a historic fashionable small quaint community with thrifty nifty stores music and hot eating spots. I will admit racism can be present in places such as these HOWEVER you see a lot of friendly faces and if you catch the area on one of its busiest days it can make you feel like your walking around in somewhere that's actually important. It can act as your own personal Baltimorian heaven if you let it. Hit it up if you are in the area and if you come visit me remind me to take you there....it's located "behind" the harbor BUT still on that shit lol the website even has its own CRIME BLOG, that's how you know it's still Southeast Baltimore lol
Posted by kimmie e at 2:14 AM 1 comments
Labels: on location
Harry Pottah...yea boy
More proof that I'm a geek. I have read every book in this series, the first 3 twice and I'm thinking about beginning the series again. Yessir I am a Potter fan and did I forget to mention that Daniel Radcliff is a hottie? HE IS. This is the trailer, you should have seen it already...Twilight or Potter...its about taking sides lol
Posted by kimmie e at 2:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: videos
Posted by kimmie e at 2:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: guilty pleasure, the sims
R KElly "the DEMO tape"
The King is BACK! You can argue with me all day, but I will remain grounded in my decision that R Kelly is THE KING of modern day R&B. The man is musical genius. He defies boundaries. It's like he wakes up, pees, gets dressed and says "Hey today I'm going to make a gospel song", or "Hey today I'm going to make a country song", or "Hey today I'm going to make a classic bomb ass collaboration with some nigga who ain't even that hot but im going to make him hot". R. Kelly is that shit. Which is why Queenie proudly brings to you the MIXTAPE...Click one of the two pics to download and enjoy. (pic 1:direct download, pic 2:datpiff)
Posted by kimmie e at 1:35 AM 0 comments
NikeMVPuppets: Why Do We Live Together? lol
Best commercials EVER! That's what I'm talking about. Now I am not really into basketball unless it has something to do with Eric Maynor and VCU BUT I have been watching the playoffs and more recently the finals and I will say that I have been more than entertained. Expecially that game where Melo was given Kobe a run for his money...I love Melo...eyyyyy Baltimore..watch the vids. LeBron and Kobe...the chalk toss one...clasSICK lol
Posted by kimmie e at 1:16 AM 0 comments
Gap 09
The Gap is keeping it so totally real this summer, defining the season with blends of jean, khaki, and a genius use of bright colors. The new collection offers the Gap classics you are fond of such as trouser pants, shorts, trenches, summer scarves and shoes. Patrick Robinson completely did the damn thang! He takes one unoriginal commercial item and makes sure that it has its own individual appeal. The clothes seem to fit perfectly and come in the Gap's standard multi-size menu. Of course the best thing about this entire collection is that it's totally AFFORDABLE, CHIC, and ECO-FRIENDLY---so I made that last part up, BUT still it looks ECO-FRIENDLY and that's what counts. It also offers a sensible idea of how the modern MAN should dress (emphasis on MAN) or maybe just a cute little boy. So go to your local mall and try some ish on buddies!!! Say WHAT!
Posted by kimmie e at 12:59 AM 0 comments
Labels: The Gap
TLC and LIL KIM???
It is becomming so difficult to decide whether or not to post on Queenie or on my own site. All I know is that this ish is getting boring because the public is not responding and maybe that is our fault, but you know everyone has a life. If I could get paid for blogging best believe I would...but I gotta eat too dig? Well what's new in news....hmmmm
I heard on the radio that TLC is inserting Lil' Kim as the "new" Left Eye when they go on tour. I actually got very excited when I heard the news, but to my dismay the rumors have been cleared up and KIM is NOT replacing Left Eye. They issued the following statement:
We want our fans to know that replacing our sister Lisa is not, nor has it ever been an option. TLC will always consist of Chilli and T-Boz. Lisa's spirit lives on through us. She cannot be replaced. We may collaborate with other artists, just like many other groups have done, but we will never add anyone to TLC.
We love Lil Kim and have been talking about collaborating with her for awhile. We hope to have an opportunity to work with her in the near future."
-Chilli & T-Boz
Posted by kimmie e at 12:27 AM 0 comments


text:
Serves 4
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons honey or sugar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha or any hot sauce you like
2 small Kirby or Persian cucumbers
1 small red onion
1 mango
1/2 small jicama
3 scallions
1 bunch mint
1 bunch cilantro
1. In the bottom of a salad bowl, squeeze in the lime juice; add honey or sugar and let dissolve. Stir in the ginger, fish sauce and Sriracha. Taste and correct the seasoning. If the dressing is too spicy, more honey will cut the heat.
2. Cut the cucumber, onion, mango and jicama into a medium dice. Slice the scallions. Chop the mint and cilantro. Transfer everything to the salad bowl and stir until coated with the dressing.
(Recipe courtesy Hope Korenstein, "7×7 Cooking," Skyhorse Publishing, $16.95)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf rtf lrf pdb txt html
Douglas Hammett has been in the gospel ministry for almost 40 years. He has been involved in many areas of ministry, often covering several areas at the same time. Those areas include Pastor, Church Planter, Staff Evangelist, College Professor and President, Author, Life/Ministry Coach, and Missionary. He has traveled extensively on mission trips around the world as well as preaching for Bible, Missions and Revival Conferences. He has a heart for God's people and desires especially to help preachers advance their ministry for Christ whether in the United States, or on the foreign field. He served for over 20 years as Senior Pastor of the Lehigh Valley Baptist Church in Emmaus, PA. Then in October, 2010, he moved to Botswana, Africa to serve there as a missionary. Pastor Hammett and his wife, Beverly, have 4 children and 7 grandchildren.


text:
Hard News: Flying Nun: Thirtysomething
38 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 Newer→ Last
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
FN Obscurities compilation
Bobzilla by The Jessels
b/w The Worst Noel - 1982, 7", (xmas001)
recorded in the lounge at Jessel Street
(I was one of the massed and just-ok chorale)
JacksonP, in reply to
FN Obscurities compilation?
Maybe it doesn't rate as obscure after the Matador re-release, but there was a time that listening to Nelsh by Bailter Space required a tape cassette player, or knowing someone with the Vinyl. I've always loved Separate Circles. Not online anywhere I could find. Yet.
I've had several email contributions to the brief, and I'll post them here, starting with this one from Brent Giblin:
Still Giving the Nun Love
So it was my Birthday on Saturday 19th where I turned something in my 40's (cough cough) . Nothing too unusal in that except I noticed that The Bats were playing. So I rounded up a few friends for a pre-match Flyining Nun vinyl only party and off we went full of bithday cake and Flying Nun IPA to the Kings Arms. While enjoying the strange pleasure that was Graeme Hill on the farfisa organ playing instrumental Nunhits lounge style (Pin Group, Gordons, Chills, Tall Dwarfs, Bats ) I decided it was time to see if I could get a momento of what was already a memorable gig.
In the old days i would have just ripped down a poster from the wall or cut through layers of posters on an outside billboard with a craft knife, but I decided I would be a bit more "good citizen' so I blagged one from the doorstaff.
Seeing my oportunity i asked Paul Kean if he would sign it since it was my birthday. Not only did he oblige he dragged me backstage got the rest of the band to inscribe and then proceeeded to play " By Night" during the gig expecially for my birthday.
Now this is the kind of awesomeness that got me excited about seeing flying nun bands live in the first place. None of this NME never tour here, too cool for school stuff.
Here were bands I could buy records from and then see them live the same week. Maybe even bump into them in the beer queue. This kind of access gave me a total buzz in 1981 and still does. Thanks Flying Nun and The Bats for helping to give me a legal birthday buzz and I return the good wishes for your month long celebration.
Another contribution, from Darren Hammond:
Needles and Plastic
I first heard 'Needles and Plastic' soon after it was released, on Radio U, in Chch (which was still an AM station back in those days!). Something about it just grabbed me, the goofy but insistent guitar riff, and the lyrics (which confirmed my feelings about nightclubs) connected with me. I had to own this record, and that day I went into a shop in Chch (it may have even been the shop Roger used to run...) and bought it.
A few weeks later, I played it to my friends, and they all laughed at how ridiculous it was. It stung a bit, but I still loved it ...
The song stayed with me over the years, and is still in my top 5 songs ever to this day. I saw the Straitjacket Fits live a number of times, and Dimmer also, but had never heard the song played live, and I was resigned to that fact. But early in 2011, I heard that Shayne was playing some shows where he was going to play stuff from right through his career! I was very excited, and booked tickets almost as soon as they went on sale.
Later, at the Kings Arms, Shayne announced the song I had always wanted to hear live, mentioning that it featured a swear word in the first line. I suddenly realised that I had always thought the lyric was 'Fat gut in a studded belt...', but realised it was 'Fat cunt...' Oops!
Anyway the song and the show were great, and Shayne is still making great music, as are all the Flying Nun bands I used to listen to back in 1985 on Radio U. If I believed in knighthoods, Roger Shepherd should have one!"
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Graeme Hill on the farfisa organ playing instrumental
Nunhits lounge style
Was Graeme in The Heptocrats? My memory is now unsure...
I loved them live, keyboard and stand up bass, their Cassette release (on Paul Luker's excellent Industrial Tapes) was a long time fave - perfect for long drives - I can't find it! I think I musta loaned it to someone, Noooooo.....
Their only FNun appearance was on The Last Rumba compilation - which easily has the worst FNun cover (I know this, 'cos I did it...)
In the old days i would have just ripped down a poster from the wall or cut through layers of posters on an outside billboard with a craft knife, but I decided I would be a bit more "good citizen' so I blagged one from the doorstaff.
I hope ya bought one of the poster postcard sets, too...
:- )
Another one, from reader Mike O'Connell:
Aah, Flying Nun 30 year's old, hard to believe. My best moments would have to be seeing the DoubleHappys in their prime with Shayne (sans the P then) Carter at his caustic best, especially a show at the Zanzibar in Chch (a long defunct venue close to where the new Dux will emerge) where (as per Needles and Plastic) he ripped into the fat c*#ts in studded (and flashing light) belts, 'hanging out' on the dance floor for the Blue Monday, etc disco that followed in the same venue, Carter relishing the opportunity to have a crack - as he often did in those days. Wayne was quieter but his guitar was no less meaner!
The sad news from the N Island soon after meant no long anticipated return gig at the Zetland (also long defunct - scene of another fab double header round the same time from the Chills and Bird Nest Roys).
And they were just like that, no more. But there songs remain relevant - I still drag out the famous double B-side Anyone Else Would/ The Other's Way 7" and give it a blast when the opportunity arises! RIP Wayne Elsey.
Email Web
Actually, here's a challenge: can we work up a theoretical track listing for a FN Obscurities compilation?
Here's a few …
Flak: St Tropez. Flak and 8 Living Legs were each to have three tracks on the shared 1984 Emigration EP. The smart and spiky St Tropez was mysteriously left off the Flak side, but the lyrics remained on the insert.
This Kind Of Punishment: After The Fact. Maybe not so obscure, but this song is perfect for those moments when the world is grey, and not even bright grey.
The Clean: Point That Thing (Dub). It really is a dub version. From the Oddities tape, a masterpiece of hiss and lo-fi. Cassettes are big again, apparently. What am I bid for my copy of this hipster classic? Oh wait, I'll have to find it first.
Able Tasmans: Close Up Theme. The instrumental theme from a TV1 current affairs show. Early Tasmans: organ, bass & drums. Unrecorded as far as I know.
Children's Hour: How Is The Air Up There? Again, Unrecorded as far as I know. I heard them play the all-time version at their final show at the Windsor.
Email Web
Part two, brought to you in defiance of the irritating error message ...
Bailterspace: I'm In Love With These Times. The Bailterspace who recorded the Nelsh EP were quite different from what came later, and this one has the Clean all over it, because it was one of their songs and Hamish Kilgour drums and sings.
Headless Chickens: Crash Hot (12" version). The version of Crash Hot on the Body Blow LP didn't match the earlier version on the flipside of the Gaskrankenstation single, which sounds far more accusing, aggressive, and plain loud.
Straitjacket Fits: So Long Marianne. This cover was a highlight of their 1987-88 live sets and was preserved on a beautifully huge and warm sounding 12" B side.
Fetus Productions: Halocast. From their first LP (1980-81?) which wasn't strictly speaking a Flying Nun release … but Halocast is one of the best things they did. I love it when the guitar squeal and feedback kicks in to the first ringing riff ... hear also Flies from the Self-Manipulation cassette, recommended listening on the walkman while walking around Albert Park.
Sacha, in reply to
perfect for those moments when the world is grey
Grey Parade by JPSE. Not a rarity but rarely played, and haunting.
Russell Brown, in reply to
Children's Hour: How Is The Air Up There? Again, Unrecorded as far as I know. I heard them play the all-time version at their final show at the Windsor.
Blazing version. But Chris was very firmly of the view that it was stupid to record cover versions.
For their last tour they worked on a cover of 'Wichita Lineman', but couldn't get it down.
JacksonP, in reply to
Straitjacket Fits: So Long Marianne.
I concur.
Rob Hosking, in reply to
Straitjacket Fits: So Long Marianne
I'll drink to that.
And add:
Builders 'Ginger Jar'/'What a Hoombah' single.
Coupla utterly geekish ones: Able Tasmans 'Nelson the Cat' off 'The Tired Sun' EP, and 'Do the Glandy' by the Eric Glandy Big Time something or other Band.
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
and 'Do the Glandy' by the Eric Glandy Big Time
something or other Band
The Eric Glandy Memorial Big Band
What do you remember about making the only LP ever recorded by the Eric Glandy Memorial Big Band, 'Adrenal Glandy: Songs of Love, Hate and Revenge' ?
"Eric Glandy was the most important artist of his era, although you wouldn't know that from the band's live shows, recordings, or rehearsals. We hit our peak before our first practice, actually. Before we even thought about having a first practice, in fact — and from then on it was a sickening spiral downhill into recording industry hell and substance abuse. Those we influenced will certainly say that we didn't influence them, but deep Jungian therapy will reveal that we did."
from five minutes with Don McGlashan
on the excellent words shift minds site.
You can also see Derek Ward making a dick of himself in this article... while fellow Glandy member Sally Hollis-Mcleod is a complete c**t...
:- )
Post your response…
You may also create an account or retrieve your password.


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Stratham, New Hampshire
|This article is a stub. Help us to expand it by contributing your knowledge. For county and town page guidelines, visit U.S. County Page Content Suggestions.
Stratham is a town in Rockingham county, New Hampshire. It was formed in 1715/16. For more information, contact the county at 10 Bunker Hill Ave., Stratham 03885. On the attached map, Stratham is shown as 28 in Rockingham.
For information about the state of New Hampshire see New Hampshire Family History Research.


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Cat Craft Sisal and Beige Fleece Scratching Post
36 inUPC: 0001827324093
Purchase Options
Durable construction. Base provides added stability. Provides your pet a more satisfying surface to scratch and claw to help keep your cat from scratching carpets or furniture. This fun cat scratching post is also equipped with an Easy Kitty Building System replaceable dangling pom-pom toy and a replaceable spring toy to keep your cat engaged while making it easy to add, extend, or replace toys at your convenience. Detachable spring and dangle toys. Hassle free replacement parts. Easy to assemble instructions.
- Overall Dimensions: 16"L x 16"W x 37.25"H
- Base Dimensions: 16"x16"


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Cal Anderson Park Alliance Mission Statement
The Cal Anderson Park Alliance will create, nurture and support a variety of activities and events that encourage safe park usage and build a vibrant neighborhood and community.
Cal Anderson Park Alliance Values Statement
The Cal Anderson Park Alliance will actively and positively support community building within and among the rich and varied cultures of Capitol Hill and the greater Seattle community by promoting creativity, innovation and inclusion.
Cal Anderson Park Alliance Board
Erin Blakeney
Rachael Brister
Erin Espinosa
Matthew Ziegler
Randy Wiger, ex officio
To learn more about CAPA,
contact us at:[email protected]
Cal Anderson
Park Alliance
CAPA is an organization convened in 2006 by Seattle Parks & Recreation which brings together citizens and Parks employees who are dedicated to generating creative, innovative activities, programs and events to activate Cal Anderson Park. Our goal is to build on and sustain healthy, safe and varied uses for the park. Welcome to our website, which will grow as our board grows. Check back often to see what events and activities are happening in the park! Click on the Calendar Link At the top of this page.
Check Our Facebook Page
See What's Happening
2017 Capitol Hill Garage Sale
See the Complete Calendar
Community Support
Donations to CAPA are fully tax deductible through our fiscal agreement with Associated Recreation Council (ARC), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Checks may be made payable to CAPA/ARC and sent to CAPA, P.O. Box 12036, Seattle, Washington 98102.
CAPA has received support from the Raynier and Espoir Foundations for which we are most appreciative.
There are many ways to contribute to CAPA! We welcome your ideas and energy as well as your donations. Contact us to learn more ways to keep Cal Anderson Park the active center of community life and the heart of the Hill.
We are members of Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks and the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.
Congratulations to Kay Rood, tireless advocate and founding member of the Cal Anderson Park Alliance, and honored recipient of the 2013 "Spirit of the Hill" Award presented by the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.
Talk to Us!
We'd love to hear from you!
Please share your ideas about the park or take a moment to take a quick park use survey.
About Cal Anderson:
Cal Anderson becomes Washington's first
openly gay legislator on November 9, 1987
Democrat Calvin B. "Cal" Anderson (1948-1995) becomes Washington state's first openly gay legislator when the King County Council appoints him to a vacant seat in the House of Representatives from Seattle's 43rd District. Anderson will go on to win election to the House from the 43rd District. In 1994, he will win election to the Washington State Senate.
Anderson was a Democratic activist and an aide to Seattle City Council Member George Benson and to Mayor Charles Royer. He was a decorated combat veteran of the U.S. Army in Vietnam and called himself, "a Democrat who happens to be gay" (The Seattle Times). In the legislature Anderson backed gay rights legislation and battled initiatives that would discriminate against gays. He also worked for campaign finance reform, easier voter registration, and open access to government documents.
Cal Anderson died on August 4, 1995, of an illness related to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). On April 19, 2003, Cal Anderson Park, on Seattle's Capitol Hill, was named and dedicated in his honor, along with the park's new structure, the Cal Anderson Shelterhouse. On September 24, 2005, the community celebrated the grand re-opening of the park.
HistoryLink.org Essay 5407


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National report identifies Texas beaches with polluted water samples
Taking a dip at the beach often raises the question of what could be lurking in the water. In some cases, it's pollution and not predatory sea life that poses a danger.
Polluted runoff can increase the activity of bacteria in beach water, sometimes prompting officials to close beaches due to safety concerns.
A recent report from the Natural Resources Defense Council looked at beaches nationwide where one particular safety measurement, the Beach Action Value developed by the EPA, is used.
The Beach Action Value, which measures the level of enterococcus bacteria in beach water, is an optional assessment that officials can use to determine whether to temporarily close a public beach.
In 2013, 62 of Texas' 169 public beaches were tested repeatedly using the Beach Action Value. The Natural Resources Defense Council reports the results:
Samples from six Texas beaches did not exceed the national safety threshold for enterococcus activity.
Thirty beaches had fewer than 10 percent of samples exceed the safety threshold.
Sixteen beaches had 10-20 percent of samples exceed the safety threshold.
Ten beaches had more than 20 percent of their samples exceed the safety threshold. Four of those are in the Houston-Galveston area.
Click through the slideshow to see data for beaches in the area that were monitored using the Beach Action Value.


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Seating Layout: Boardroom
A long rectangular table which can hold up to 18 guestsYou have 7 along each of the long sides and 2 at the top and bottom.
To book and find out more please call 01689 854 848
The next chapter begins…
We are open
In order to help us manage the flow of customers entering the restaurant, we recommend that you book ahead via our online booking system.
View our new safety measures so you know what to expect when you visit us.
We look forward to welcoming you again soon.
Chapter One at Home
Order Online for collection on Saturday's.


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CALGARY — Sure, there are lots of bad online dating stories. But there are lots of good ones, too.
Just ask Jason and Jennifer Connery. The happily married couple met on an online dating site. At the time, Jennifer was living in Singapore; Jason was in Calgary.
They emailed back and forth for about eight months and then met in person when Jennifer decided to do a master's degree at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
"I figured Edmonton was close enough if things worked out — and far enough away if it didn't," she says with a laugh.
The Connerys were lucky. They fell in love and, two years after Jennifer's international move, they got hitched.
Now they're part of a major trend — in more ways than one. According to an article last year in Maclean's magazine, about 30 to 40 million North Americans use online dating sites, and 25 per cent of Canadians have tried Internet dating.
This year, 15 years after they met, the Connerys launched Secret RSVP (srsvp.com), an online dating site — with a fresh twist.
At Secret RSVP, singles first sign up to create their online profile.
"You can then browse the people on the site, and then add someone to your secret guest list," Jennifer says.
Next, check out the list of posted events on the site.
"When you find an event that interests you, sign up for it and we'll send a secret invitation to everyone on your guest list."
Those people then have about 24 hours to accept your invitation. "And, in turn, they're then allowed to invite their own secret guest list," Jennifer says.
"Everyone knows who is invited, but no one knows who has invited them."
Complicated? Not really, the Connerys say. Secret RSVP is just a casual, fun way to meet people in a low-pressure and fun format.
No one at the event will find out who invited them, but, after the event, each singleton can request the direct contact information for anyone who has caught their attention. The Connerys will send it to them — as long as that person is also interested.
Events range from bowling (the first event) to a brewery tour, hiking and more. Upcoming possibilities include wine tastings, sport and charity events.
"Worst-case scenario, you go out and have a good time doing something interesting," Jason says. "Best-case scenario is, obviously, if you connect with someone."
Creating your online profile is free, but each person must buy a ticket to attend an event. Costs so far have ranged from about $20 to $40 per person.
Each activity is purposely kept small — eight to 10 people — to facilitate interactions.
But, says Jason, "We want the event to be the talking point. We want to get away from the awkwardness and pressure of meeting new people."
While the Connerys haven't ruled out the idea of doing larger events down the road, they say they believe small groups are important. Although a person may think they know what they're looking for in a relationship, they may change their mind when they meet the right person.
Case in point: Their own online profiles.
"We weren't even matched," Jason recalls with a chuckle.
"But human chemistry isn't something you can create with a computer."
The Secret RSVP site is in its early days, but so far the response has been fantastic, says the couple, who live in Calgary. They're already working with clients in Toronto, Vancouver, New York and Los Angeles, and they see the possibilities for Secret RSVP to expand around the world.


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Interest rate down
The Dutch long-term interest rate based on the return of the most recent ten-year public loan, averaged 1.7 percent in March 2013. The interest rate was lower than in February (1.8 percent). In January and February, the interest rate had increased marginally.
In July 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to change various interest rates. The most important ECB rate, the repo rate, was lowered by 0.25 percentage points to 0.75 percent on 11 July 2012.The deposit rate, often considered as the bottom rate of the financial market, was also reduced by 0.25 percentage points on 11 July, to 0.00 percent. Both rates had also been lowered by 0.25 percentage points in November and December 2011.
One of the main guidelines for the ECB's decision to change or refrain from changing the interest rate is the level of inflation in the eurozone. According to the ECB, eurozone prices are stable, if the inflation rate is close to 2 percent. Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, recorded an inflation rate of 1.7 percent in the eurozone in March, as against 1.8 percent in February.
Capital market interest rate (latest ten-year public loan)
For more information on economic indicators, the reader is referred to the Economic Monitor.


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Nicki Minaj Unveils Colorful Cover Art for 'Roman Reloaded' Album
Nicki Minaj has revealed the cover art for her 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded' album, which is slated for release on April 3. Surprisingly, for an LP that is supposed to be recorded mainly in the voice of Nicki's unforgiving, crazed alter ego Roman Zolanski, the cover art is bright and colorful.
It looks as if Minaj is channeling her inner Kesha, Robyn or Lady Gaga with her intricately painted face and bleach blond hair. The splattered paint effect against the stark white background also makes us think of Willow's video for 'Whip My Hair.' The text below the picture of Nicki, who is staring us down wearing her colorful makeup and mega lashes, kind of looks like something you'd see on an old-school Lisa Frank folder.
Overall, it definitely isn't what we were picturing, but it's fun and vibrant, just like Nicki herself. Also, it's worth noting that despite her hard demeanor, Minaj is known for wearing bright colors and is also a product of the '90s, so this style of artwork shouldn't be too much of a shocker.
So far, Minaj has released three confirmed tracks off of 'Roman Reloaded,' including the title track, which is a collabo with Lil Wayne, the bubbly, radio-friendly 'Starships,' and the ultimate diss track 'Stupid H–.' Stay tuned for the full confirmed track list once it's released.
What do you think of Nicki Minaj's cover art for 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'? Leave us a comment below.


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Martin Luther spent six years living in St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt. The late reformer prayed, studied, taught and was ordained here. Today, this historic site serves as a meeting place and conference venue. It is also open to anyone wishing to spend a night in the monastery's peaceful setting.
Those eager to learn more about the history of the Bible, the life of an Augustinian hermit monk or Martin Luther's time in Erfurt can visit the permanent exhibition entitled "Bible-Monastery-Luther" in the former monks' dormitory in the monastery. The Augustinian monks began construction of the church and cloister in 1276. Eighty years later, most of the other buildings in the monastic complex were complete. The closed style of the complex is impressive, and it also features an outdoor pulpit to allow services to be held outside.
On the inside, visitors' attention turns to the stained-glass windows which date back to around 1310 to 1330. The historic library holds some 60,000 volumes – making it one of the most important church book collections in Germany. The chapter house in the east wing of the conclave, which dates back to the first half of the 14th century, has an imposing look. This is also where Martin Luther was ordained.
Visitors staying in the Georgenburse pilgrim hostel, one of the city's five Luther sites, ought to feel quite close to Martin Luther as this is where he lived before joining the monastery.
Accommodation: rooms in St. Augustine's Monastery (1 accessible room), in the Woad House (a place of silence) and the Georgenburse pilgrim hostel, www.augustinerkloster.de; the Nikolai guest house, www.gaestehaus-nikolai.de
Nearest train station: Erfurt
Retreats in the Woad House
For more information on dates, visit:
שני צירופי מקשים שימושיים להגדלת/הקטנת התצוגה בדפדפן:
הגדל תצוגה: +
הקטן תצוגה: +
עזרה נוספת ניתן לקבל מספק הדפדפן, באמצעות לחיצה על הסמל:


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Brembo - Aprilia T-Drive Rotors
Product Code: BREMBO-T-DRIVE-BRAKE-ROTORS-APRILIA
- Description
- Reviews
- Customer Photos
Brembo - T-Drive Rotors
Using technology developed in Moto GP this revolution in brake rotor technology takes performance to a new level. The patented "T" drive system allows the transfer of brake torque to transition more efficiently between the contact area of the rotor and carrier when compared to the tradition button design. This assures a fully floating action in both radial and axial directions. The redisgned 8 fixing rotor is lighter in comparison to any other high performance rotors currently on the market.
- T-pin replaces floating buttons for better brake torque transfer
- Greater thermal transfer for better performance
- Full Floating- both Radial and Axial float with T pins
- 5.5mm thickness with a 33.2mm wide friction surface
- Charcoal black rotor carrier


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Former Pop Star Sherri Lewis Talks About Living With HIV
By Bonnie Goldman
Table of Contents
- The Shocking Discovery
- First Steps After HIV Diagnosis
- Singing in a Rock and Roll Band
- Trading Max's Kansas City for AIDS Counseling at Harvard
- Getting Divorced
- Medical History
- Spirtual Support
The Shocking Discovery
Let's start at the beginning. How did you find out you were HIV positive?
I found out I was HIV positive in 1987, when I went for a blood test for my marriage license in Massachusetts, where I was living at the time. I was perfectly healthy, and I wanted to get a clean bill of health.
The AIDS test had just come out. It was brand new. I knew one woman who died of AIDS, but they said she had cancer. Anyway, it scared me enough that I asked to get an AIDS test three months before I was getting married so I could get a clean bill of health, get pregnant and get on with my life.
That's how I found out. Three weeks later, my test came back positive and I was shocked.
Did you think that you weren't at risk?
I didn't think. I was hoping I wasn't at risk, because my high-risk behavior -- my unprotected sex years -- was several years behind me.
I didn't think about my fiancé's history. There wasn't any AIDS education in my brain. There wasn't any AIDS education to be had.
The only thing that was around in the '80s was gay men dying of AIDS. I didn't think it was my problem.
But when I saw my first friend die of AIDS, who happened to be a woman, it was the hard way to get that education. I got scared and I thought I should just get a clean bill of health.
My whole thing was that I wanted to get pregnant after I got married. I went for the clean stamp and I didn't get it. I was shocked. Then I was terrified because I could have infected my fiancé, and he was a single parent.
I thought, "Oh, my God, what have I done? Have I taken away this boy's father?" It was just the worst.
How did you tell your fiancé?
He knew I was getting an HIV test. We all felt pretty confident that I was fine. I was just neurotic about it.
He just said, "Just get it out of the way."
My parents said, "Stop worrying; you're fine."
Everybody felt that way.
I had friends who were also at risk, who went and got tested. They had pretty hard histories of drug abuse and all kinds of stuff, and they were coming up HIV negative.
It was Russian roulette, so that inspired me to go. Everybody around me figured, "Oh, she's fine," because I was healthy. I had no symptoms.
It was 1987.
It was '87 and you never, ever, ever heard about a woman getting HIV. My friend who died of AIDS had been my roommate a couple of years earlier, before I ended up seeing her in the hospital, wasting with dementia.
She had high fevers and these red, prickly rashes. She was severely fatigued and couldn't get out of bed. I thought she was just being lazy. I would take her to the emergency room when she had these fevers. The doctor just said she had a flu, take her home and have her drink fluids.
There was no suspicion at all that maybe these symptoms ... maybe we should check her for AIDS. That was not the thinking. It wasn't in any of our consciousnesses.
It just went that way until she died. A sign was on the door that said, "Caution: body fluids." She was in an isolated room. You had to put on a gown, a mask and gloves to go in to see her. It was pretty obvious that they thought she had an infectious, deadly disease, but nobody said, "AIDS."
Wow. Where was this?
This was in New York.
It was very early on. Her obituary said that she died of a rare cancer.
Her mother whispered to me, "We know what she had, but we're not going to talk about it. Please make donations to the cancer foundation." It was just, "Shh, don't talk about this."
It was so devastating and frightening; you didn't want to say it. You couldn't think it. When it happened, you just couldn't tolerate it -- the pain was agonizing.
Was that because it was 1987 and HIV/AIDS was almost invariably fatal?
At that time, if you got a positive test, it was a death sentence.
People got diagnosed when they were dying. They didn't get diagnosed ahead of time. There was none of this world that we live in today. They had just come out with AZT [Retrovir, zidovudine] for only a specific group of patients -- those that were wasting away, who were hopeless, they would give megadoses of AZT, because people were protesting and screaming, "Help, help! Get us something! People are dropping like flies!"
It was gay activism that got the ball rolling. Otherwise, God knows where we'd be today. It's really because of them that we have what we have today.
Were you at all active in those years?
I was living in Boston. I wasn't in New York. I wasn't on my home turf. I was active in counseling and helping others tolerate getting the results that were death sentences. I wanted to help someone else deal with the news that I was handed. I knew I could be of service that way.
So that's how my activism took place. It was almost kind of feminine of me. I wanted to be the healer, the protector. I wanted to help that way. I was very frightened.
First Steps After HIV Diagnosis
Let's go back to when you first found out you were HIV positive. What were the first things that you did?
When I found out, I found out over the telephone. The doctor told me over the phone. I basically hit my knees; I went and hit the floor, in shock and horror.
The doctor said, "Could you and your fiancé meet me at the hospital so we can talk about your HIV news and what it all means?"
I said, "Yes."
I started to pray when I got off the phone. Like, "Please, God, help me."
I couldn't believe this. Then I called my fiancé at work and said, "It's really bad news. You need to come home." And he did.
I told him, and he was shocked. He locked himself in a room, and he started to scream and cry. It was just horrifying. Then, his son came home from school and it was just too hard to even look at him.
Then we met the doctor at the hospital, like I had said I would. He met us on an AIDS ward. I knew: this is the beginning of the end.
We walked down that long corridor, sat in an empty room, looked at the bare mattress and wondered who had just died.
I thought: When will this bed be mine? Am I going to have dementia? Lose my eyesight? When is this all going to happen?
I asked the doctor those questions, and he had no answers. He stood up, shook my hand, wished me good luck and walked out of the room. I knew that was the end.
When you walked down that long corridor, what did you see?
I saw very little nursing staff there, because no one wanted to work on the floor with AIDS patients at that time. I saw people sitting up in their beds -- everybody on IVs [intravenous therapy]. It looked like death row.
You'd hear them moaning. You'd hear people calling for help, just for a bedpan. Nobody was coming in to help anybody. I don't know that anyone today realizes the horror that that was, and the shame that this government never stepped up to the plate. This is what I saw happening in the '80s and the '90s. Up till 1996, it was downhill.
It's never good news to find out that you're positive; it's always difficult. But the history is so important to know, because those days were just horrifying.
What happened after this meeting with the physician? What did you do next?
That very day, when we went to the main floor of the hospital after leaving that ward, my fiancé had to be tested.
We were terrified. We were learning about HIV the hard way. I sat next to him and thought, "Oh, my God. What have I done? He's got to get an AIDS test." But he didn't have any qualms about it. He was a real man about it. He went downstairs, had his blood drawn. Those were then the worst three weeks of my life.
I say three weeks, because that's what it took in those days, while you waited with bated breath for what your results were. Am I going to live, or am I going to die? That's what those test results meant.
Wouldn't he still have to wait another three months after his last sexual exposure?
First of all, we were engaged. Our wedding day was three months away. Wedding invitations were in the mail; the wedding gown was being made. So I went from the happiest time in my life to the worst possible scenario. It was so bad; it was a joke.
The only thing we could do together, God bless him and I, was look at each other and laugh -- not hysterically, but in shock. We were thinking, "This is so bad. This is insane."
We looked at our bedroom and both of us kind of had the same vision -- we envisioned a coffin. It was that bad. It was that bad.
Then I had to go back to New York to continue my wedding plans, all the while waiting for his results. He didn't call me for three weeks. I really thought this is it. He's going to leave me at the altar. This is over.
But you were still making your plans.
I was, with my friends' support. They were saying, "Sherri, he's just digesting it. It's tough news. Just keep moving forward."
They had me moving forward. They just wanted me to stay. I guess, when I look at it now, they were keeping me in life, keeping me in hope. If I had been abandoned, or walked out on at that time, I probably would have killed myself. It was that horrifying. To think that you could be walked out on, and abandoned, when you're going to ... you know, with all those circumstances, it would have been the end of the road.
I was 32 years old, the prime of my life, preparing to get married and have a family. So the timing, on all counts, was horrible, because I was at an age where I wanted to get pregnant, and also, this was the time I needed to get pregnant.
So AIDS wiped me out of that.
I assume your family is from New York?
What happened when you told them?
They were shocked. I think the first thing is denial. It stunned everybody. "How could that be? They made a mistake!"
These were the things they said. "They made a mistake. Look at her, she's healthy." My father was very macho: "They don't know what they're talking about! Not my daughter!"
I have an older brother. He didn't really talk about it. My nieces and my nephews were young at that time, but I eventually sat down and told them when the youngest one was in high school and the two others were in college.
They had typical denials: "Well, Aunt Sherri, you did drugs." I said, "Well, you have unprotected sex. Everybody drinks."
They were drinking. A lot of people smoke pot and drink.
Everybody wants to exclude themselves. That's why it's so important to keep talking about HIV, because everybody can get HIV.
But it sounds like you had a pretty loving and accepting family.
Yes. Everybody went on with their lives. I'm not surrounded by people who join me for an AIDS walk. Everybody went on with their lives, doing their own thing. It's 22 years later and their lives have gone on.
"I have succeeded at living with HIV, and living healthy with it. But it took a _big_ bite out of my life. Life interrupted. Career interrupted. Personal life: no children. Married and divorced."
I have support. I would say my mother has been my greatest ally. Do you remember that scene in Philadelphia, when Joanne Woodward, the mother, was talking to Tom Hanks' character, and she says, "How were your blood tests today, honey?"
That's my mother for 22 years. "How are you feeling?" "How's your liver?" Because I have hepatitis C, too.
When one person is infected, everyone who loves that person is affected. That's been my experience. It's a long road. Now my mother's 76 and I want to help her. I'm concerned with her. HIV has taken a toll.
I have succeeded at living with HIV, and living healthy with it. But it took a big bite out of my life. Life interrupted. Career interrupted. Personal life: no children. Married and divorced.
My activism had to be first and foremost. The first 10 years after my diagnosis, I thought that I was probably not going to be here very long.
Let's go back to when your fiancé was in Boston, waiting for his test results. What happened when he found out?
When he found out, he showed up at the altar, the night before the wedding. His test results came back negative.
So you continued with plans, even though he hadn't called you?
Yes. My friends were pushing me: "Don't worry. It's going to be OK. He's just digesting the news." They were supporting me.
By the way, when you told your friends, were they cool about it?
I was the first person they knew to be diagnosed with HIV. For a long time, I was the only person they knew.
They didn't stop talking to you, or anything?
No. I want to say this. I was in recovery for alcoholism and drug addiction. So my friends were my support system in a 12-step program. Those people give you unconditional support.
What they said is, "You're going to be OK, Sherri."
They kept saying, "You're going to be OK."
The doctor couldn't tell me I was going to be OK. The doctor said, "Take good care of your health," and gave me the handshake of death.
But my support system, before there was anything like a support group, or the focus on living with HIV was even an idea (because people died for so long), I had that. I had friends in that fellowship. Some of them, I don't even know their last names -- and it doesn't even matter -- they told me, "You're going to be OK, Sherri."
As a result, I never had to take a drink or a drug to escape the terror that I was in. I focused on hope, one day at a time -- sometimes it was a minute or an hour at a time in those early months when it was too terrifying to even go to sleep -- and I got through it.
They said, "Don't give up before the miracle. It's right around the corner." We really needed a miracle, whatever that is.
When was it that you got your first CD4 count and viral load?
When I got my results, I went to an internist; they didn't have an infectious disease specialist for HIV yet. I had the same internist for 12 years. My first test happened, I guess, a couple of weeks after that. I went right to the doctor and got my CD4 count, which was 750, which is why I had no symptoms. When I put it in the context of the information that we have today, I was probably undetectable, but we didn't have a viral load test back then. I was asymptomatic, so I was totally healthy.
The chances of my having an uninfected baby were probably really good, if I had played Russian roulette, which I wasn't willing to do, because we didn't know anything. I didn't want to infect my husband, either. We just didn't have anything. We had no data. We had nothing.
We were told we couldn't kiss. We were told saliva had HIV in it. I remember that. I remember telling my husband under my wedding veil, "Don't kiss me." This is the world I came out in.
Did your fiancé talk to you? When he said, "I'm going to go through with the marriage."
Yes. We had fights, crying. I begged him, "Please don't leave me now. I can't handle it. I don't know what to do." He kept saying, "This is too much for me. I don't know how I can do this." I said, "It's too much for me, too." That was our bond; it was too much for both of us. So we kind of just held hands and tried to keep going.
Thank God, we were starting a new life together. He was starting a new business. He basically built his business and worked, worked, worked. I focused on staying alive and healthy. He supported me in all ways -- financially and emotionally -- with holistic practitioners, diets, workshops with visualizations, the Louise Hay "Hay Rides," Bernie Siegel visualizations. These things gave me hope, and I was able to do all that.
I had a 15-year-old stepson at home, who I got to be a parent to for a couple of years. I knew that he was a gift from God, because I wanted to be a mother so bad, and this kid really wanted a mother so bad, that we were a marriage made in heaven. That partnership was a real blessing. I saw it that way and it worked. It was dark times, but I was looking for the light all the time and if you're looking for it, you will find it.
Because your CD4 count was so high, can we assume that you never had an opportunistic infection?
Yes. The doctor would just say, in those years, too, "Oh, you're healthy. Don't come back here for six months." Because all they ever did then was check your CD4 count.
"Suddenly, we were shot out of a cannon with a big record deal, the first videos of MTV. We were now bicoastal, living in New York and Los Angeles, California, where the record company was based, and where we did television shows, like _American Bandstand, Solid Gold_ and the _Merv Griffin Show_, and where we made our videos."
Singing in a Rock and Roll Band
Do you know how you got infected? Do you suspect who it was?
I guess I was infected by my boyfriend when I was in my 20s, which was through the '80s. When I was in my 20s, I did a variety of drugs, whatever came around. I felt invincible. I was in music. I was in rock 'n' roll. I had a boyfriend who was bisexual and I thought that was great.
This was pre-AIDS. What I did was not uncommon in 1979, 1980, 1981. We broke up in '83. He was my boyfriend and on Wednesday nights he had his night out with the guys. I would go, "That's fine. As long as you're not cheating on me with a girl." That was my head.
You said you were in the entertainment field in your 20s. Can you talk about that some more?
I was in a pop band. Zecca and I were partners. Zecca was my boyfriend. He wrote all the music. He was brilliant and talented, and still is today.
We had a band called Get Wet. My name was Sherri Beachfront to match the band. I'll tell you that in the music business at that time, there were only a few female artists -- not like today. There was Debbie Harry, from the band Blondie, and Pat Benatar.
There was no Go-Go's, or the Bangles, or Cyndi Lauper. There was Madonna, who at the time was still playing at Danceteria to a beatbox.
I had a band, and our very first gig was at a club called Max's Kansas City, which was very famous in New York, in 1979.
Lou Reed was in the audience, and he loved our band, and he asked us to open for him at his next concert at Columbia University, and we did.
The next thing I knew, we were in a recording studio doing a demo. Then record companies caught a buzz. We played at the Ritz on 11th Street, which was the rock club. It was packed. Then we had offers. We eventually signed with a man called Neil Bogart, who was quite famous in the music business, because he discovered Donna Summer, Kiss and the Village People.
He signed us up to be his pop stars for his new label called Boardwalk Entertainment. Suddenly, we were shot out of a cannon with a big record deal, the first videos of MTV. We were now bicoastal, living in New York and Los Angeles, California, where the record company was based, and where we did television shows, like American Bandstand, Solid Gold and the Merv Griffin Show, and where we made our videos. That was the sweet smell of success. It was quite an experience.
Sherri on the Merv Griffin Show in 1981.
You also said that you have hepatitis C.
Yes, I got that as a teenager. I got a non-A, non-B diagnosis at 17 years old.
Do you know what the cause of that was?
Probably IV drug use, because I had experimented. I had an older cousin who was using IV drugs. I was a little kid, impressionable and I used those drugs with her. I got sick then. But they called it non-A, non-B.
Years later -- I don't know when the hep C discovery was; I guess it was in the '90s -- they finally said, that's hepatitis C. That complicates things. We know a dual diagnosis -- hep C and HIV -- is not fun.
The reason I asked you at that moment is because I thought it might have been during the rock 'n' roll years.
No. During those rock 'n' roll years, I have to say, I was a dancer, a serious dancer.
Whenever I say I'm a dancer, people think right away -- you were a stripper. I was a real dancer. I grew up in ballet class and jazz and tap. I had aspirations, always, to be in theater, musical theater. My band, Get Wet, was much more musical theater. It was more based on David Bowie, how he would do things. It wasn't a hardcore, bad girl rock band.
So my lifestyle was very focused on my career. I went to dance class in the morning. I had a vocal coach. It was kind of clean. I was embarrassed that I wasn't more hardcore, or even like Chrissie Hynde, who was my idol. I'd look at Chrissie Hynde and go, that's fabulous.
I was much more squeaky clean than that. I was really pop. The fact that Lou Reed liked me always shocked me, because he was so tough and dark. I was wearing neon petticoats made by Betsey Johnson, with spandex bustiers and matching gloves. So I was not funky. I was bright.
So those days were not drug induced like that. They were about drinking tequila, smoking pot. It was more about sex than anything else.
Trading Max's Kansas City for AIDS Counseling at Harvard
Now that we have got a sense of your entertainment past, let's fast-forward again to Boston. While you were married, you became a volunteer at Harvard Medical School?
I got a job: pre- and post-test counseling and facilitating a support group and individual counseling. We pretty much wore all the hats. That's also when they started going out to the projects to do needle exchange. Although, I have to say, I was not feeling very safe about being in the projects with the needle exchange. So I was not signing up for that. Like I said: I liked being in counseling. I liked when they came to me. You want your test? You want to talk about the results?
I was involved with a Harvard AIDS study, on an 18-month grant. The study was pretty simple. If somebody tested positive, the question was: Will an addict seek treatment, or relapse?
In those days, seeking treatment from addiction when you're going to die of AIDS didn't really hook anybody into living.
I was trying to hook them in just by example: "Look, don't give up before the miracle. I've been living with it for five years, and I'm OK. You might be OK."
But that's one person doing jumping jacks in front of a community of drug addicts testing positive. So, that was my job.
Who were most of the people who tested positive at that time?
Men and women. Men show up more, because women are enabled. Men are out there, doing the crime, doing the drug deals. They are out there. Then they get busted, and they go to jail. If they're lucky, they can get to a rehab or facility. They do it different.
But women find another guy. If their old man gets arrested and goes to jail, they get another guy. They usually get the same type of guy, just that he's free.
We didn't see a lot of women coming in. It wasn't because they weren't infected. We always said, "They have children at home." Part of that's true. But they were also finding another relationship to be dependent on.
But given that you were still frightened of living with HIV, since you didn't know what you know now, and given that you were hoping for that miracle, how was it spending all your days with people who were finding out the most horrific news?
I used to come home from work and cry. My husband would pick me up in his BMW. I want you to have the picture: I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at this point. I'm talking to what we call "townies." These are not the rich people. Though Cambridge has a lot of rich people, because there are a lot of international students going to what are among the best schools in the world. But I'm counseling the townies.
My husband would come in, talking about a bad day at work. I'd say, "See that woman over there? Her husband's in prison, dying of AIDS. She has AIDS and she's dying. She needs to know where to place her two children. You have no problems."
I think that's something a lot of people forget. At that time, it was so important to find guardians for your children if you were HIV positive.
Guardians for your children and then your children have AIDS, and they have no treatment. I was so heartbroken that I didn't have children. I loved the children so much.
I was in my 30s. I was so primed to be a mommy. I was always dreaming. I'm a girl who grew up playing with a bassinet and a dolly. I dreamed of the day I could have a baby. When I first got my period, I thought, "Oh boy, I can get pregnant!" This was for me.
I would go to the pediatric AIDS wards. We don't have anything like what we had back then now.
At that time, people weren't picking up the babies with HIV. Of course, they found that if you picked up a baby and gave it some TLC [tender loving care] during the day, or night, it would actually gain weight and flourish maybe a little longer. The HIV medications were not child friendly. They didn't know what they were doing. It was still experimental. Babies were having diarrhea and couldn't handle the toxins. It was just a disaster.
There are not that many children that survived from those days. I know one young woman out here. She's 25 years old. She's had it for 25 years.
Getting Divorced
Tell me about your marriage at that point.
My marriage was never the one that I pictured. It didn't include sex.
You didn't know how to have safer sex?
We knew, but it was ... you know, condoms were odd. My husband was seven years older than me. He really was a child of the '60s and free. I mean, he didn't even wear underpants, let alone have condoms. Everybody was so free. We're coming out of sexual liberation, and all of a sudden, someone was saying, "Put a glove on it!"
So that wasn't a comfortable thing. But it was more uncomfortable having sex because you couldn't get that trauma out of your brain. It's a trauma. It's not like you could relax and go, well, so I have the virus ... A friend of mine once said, "Well, it's not a date maker, Sherri."
Forget a date maker. It's really hard to feel sexy. For me, it was so hard to feel anything. He was trying to be a good guy, a real guy, about coming in and wrapping himself in saran wrap and making himself cute and funny. I would say, "Just get away from me. I don't want ... " I just felt really bad. I felt like he made a very bad deal. He signed up for a happy life, with children. And it's not like we were an old couple that was entering old age, and committed to taking care of each other in old age. We were new. We only knew each other a few months, and we were young. All of a sudden, he wasn't going to have children. I was going to be a dependent, instead of flourish in a career, like I was coming in with.
When he met me, I had an agent. I was auditioning in New York to be in musical theater. I had just landed a runner up for an off-Broadway show called Beehive. Then everything fell apart. Not just my personal life, but also my career. I was like, wow, I can't do a show. I'll be getting sick onstage.
Because we didn't know. It's like you're going to drop dead any minute. You're going to get sick right away. So everything changed.
When you split up, where did you go?
I stayed in Cambridge, because my doctor was there, and my support system, with my friends, was there. I also had a new career. I had a job at Harvard. When that job ended, because the grant came to an end, I went right away to another organization, and started facilitating an HIV support group. But nobody ever showed up in these HIV support groups. If you got three people, and then one person died, then the next week, nobody came back. They were really horrible jobs. Before protease inhibitors, that's what that was.
It was so depressing, right?
So depressing. I kept coming home, saying, "I'm not having any fun!" I'm a giggly, fun person -- I was -- and I used to come home, saying, "I'm not having any fun. I hate my job."
It wasn't even about hating my job. It was hating the experience of this constant having a red ribbon on another piece of black clothing, burying another young person. I never met someone who deserved to die like this, ever. I've met some hardened criminals, some tough guys who have done some pretty tough stuff, but they were never bad enough. It was just ... it was criminal.
AIDS was a holocaust. It was a constant tsunami. It was the plane that flew through the World Trade Center every goddamned day.
People don't realize. When the horrors of 9/11 happened, I went through the emotions that I felt, back then, with HIV. It was, like, wow. Everybody rallied for this, but when I was watching this happen to all these people, nobody said anything. Except for the gay community marching in the streets, and a bunch of their friends, like myself.
Did you march in the streets, at that point?
"I had to go from pouf-pouf high-heeled slippers to combat boot mentality, because AIDS was a war."
I started doing the first AIDS Walks. I used to hear Act Up in the community center where I was counseling or waiting for people to show up in a support group.
I would hear packed rooms of screaming men -- mostly men. I'm sure there were some women in there, but I was so overwhelmed, I can't say that I saw any.
What you did see and hear were men's voices, rallying. It was a little overwhelming, to say the least. I'm not, like, a tough girl. Like I said: I was a girl who was wearing a petticoat and a bustier. I certainly got my combat boots on after a while. I had to go from pouf-pouf high-heeled slippers to combat boot mentality, because AIDS was a war.
When you separated from your husband, did you start to date?
I didn't start to date. Part of this was, I separated from my husband at the same time that my beloved father passed away. It came together because when my dad died -- and I was with him to his last breath -- I found my sea legs. I thought that if I could bear this loss, then I will have the strength to leave my unhappy marriage ... which it was.
That's when I left my marriage. He didn't leave me. He would have never left me. He would have soldiered on.
That's when I thought: This is it; this is the end of the road. I was grief stricken. I was grieving my dad and grieving the loss of my marriage, and the idea of what it never could be.
A few weeks later, I started looking around. I did meet someone. We went out on a date. It was attraction right away. I didn't have sex with him for probably a couple of weeks. I kept sending him home, which was kind of weird for two adults that were heavy petting, and going, "OK, goodnight. Bye-bye." I thought, he must think I'm a wacko.
I had to have the uncomfortable discussion of: Hey, this is the '90s. You have to use protection and have you ever had an AIDS test?
I really did that. He said, "Oh, sure. I'm all about protection."
So he acted like that's not a problem. So that was good. Then he said, "Oh, yeah. I had an AIDS test. It was negative."
Now, I always say I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what he said. And it gave me the opportunity to say, "I had an AIDS test, but I wasn't quite that lucky."
This conversation happened over the telephone. It was the best I could do. There was a dead silence that felt like an hour, but it was probably just a minute. Then he said, "I still want to be with you and get to know you." And that's exactly what happened. He became my live-in boyfriend for the next seven years.
So that was my only date. Serious. And from that moment on, everything turned in my life for the better.
I felt like I was a part of life again. Because now I was actually in a sexual relationship.
He got himself AIDS educated. I wasn't going to play mommy and teach him everything. He went and he got his own AIDS education and it was great.
My work was growing and growing and he was also a creative person, like myself. He worked in production and sound and music. I was still a singer and a speaker.
Now I was an AIDS speaker, speaking out. I'm a total AIDS activist. Now I'm speaking in classrooms. I'm speaking at the State House in Boston, with Mayor Menino.
For the 10th anniversary of my own diagnosis, and of AIDS, I wrote my one-woman show. I put it in a theater in Boston, the ICA [Institute of Contemporary Art] theater. It was a musical. I showed my films from the old days. I told my story in a comical way. I had some clients there who told their stories. We held it in the theater for three weeks, and gave some of the proceeds to local AIDS organizations. That was a great 10th anniversary. What a celebration!
Medical History
Had you already started HIV meds by the time of your 10th anniversary?
What was your CD4 count after 10 years?
"My CD4 count stayed in the 500 to 600 zone for the 10 years. I did holistic therapies, wheat grass, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, some vitamin therapy -- all on a weekly basis. I was very committed to it, like religion."
My CD4 count stayed in the 500 to 600 zone for the 10 years. I did holistic therapies, wheat grass, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, some vitamin therapy -- all on a weekly basis. I was very committed to it, like religion.
But I didn't do these things without professional help, holistic practitioners. I didn't go, "Oh, I read this," and pop that, because vitamins can be very toxic.
Now, mind you: doctors were still saying things, and clinical trials were happening, and vaccine trials, all kinds of stuff. I was always being recruited.
I always said less is more -- total program stuff, total 12-step program stuff -- less is more. If it's not broken, don't fix it. I'm not broken.
They were pushing drugs then. So I stayed off of that and stayed holistic. I had the luxury of good health, so I could do that. I think that's what has saved my immune system today.
By the time I needed medication, when my T cells finally dropped in 1997 -- they went to 230, and I felt lousy for the first time, and I also got scared again for the first time -- my prayers had been answered. Because the combination therapies were available and effective for me.
So I started therapy in 1997, and my viral load went undetectable in a matter of weeks. My T cells went back to the 700s in a matter of weeks. The symptoms that I had -- which were shingles, fatigue and a severe rash that I had seen my friend, Laurie, have years earlier -- they all disappeared.
Did you have side effects from the medications?
I did well with the medications. I didn't experience any diarrhea or headaches or neuropathy.
What I did come to notice, a few months down the road, was lipodystrophy and lipoatrophy. We didn't have those names yet. I have a pretty well-balanced body; it's kind of a gym body; I lift weights; everything's proportioned well -- and all of a sudden my arms were bony and skinny, and my breasts and my belly had just blown up. My legs had gotten thin, and I had had muscular legs.
My face -- even though I have always had high cheekbones -- it was getting really narrow, and there was no fat in my face.
I took Zerit [stavudine, d4T], Epivir [lamivudine, 3TC] and Viracept [nelfinavir]. Of course, the Zerit and Viracept were removed, never to be seen again, because they believed that that was part of the problem with the lipodystrophy and lipoatrophy. Today my body isn't suffering that way. It has returned to a much healthier balance. I still believe in diet and exercise as being extremely helpful.
I believe you have to participate in the solution, and not wait for somebody to hand you the answer in a pill, or a shot. You have to do the best you can at bringing a principle of your own work there.
And what's your CD4 count now?
It's higher than it was 22 years ago.
And you're currently living in Los Angeles?
Yes. Hollywood, actually.
I hear you're writing a book.
I am.
That's cool. Is it going to be about your experience?
Because I'm getting old and I don't meet a lot of people with my story, not women my age, my length of time living with HIV. Of course, my own experience ... everybody has their own personal experience. I have heard many wonderful stories, powerful stories.
But I need to do this. I need to do this simply because people have told me I need to do it. They told me 10 years ago.
I said, "I don't want to write a book. What's the big deal?" I just wanted to do the play. I wrote the play, instead of the book I was told to write 10 years ago.
Now I think I'll try to write the book, because it's 10 more years of experience and these 10 years have been very challenging.
These are 10 years of medications, 10 years of aging. Now, we're about aging in HIV. I've been asked to speak on panels at several health summits for those who are 50-plus years of age over the last couple of years, and I'm always the only woman on the panel, because there are not a lot of 50-somethings. There are quite a few women in their 40s now who have been living 10, 12, even 15 years with HIV.
But my peers are these guys that are left from those early Act Up days.
Spirtual Support
Before we close, I want to talk a little bit about your spiritual practice. I understand you're active in a synagogue.
I am active in a synagogue. It's called Kol Ami, in West Hollywood. The reason that I really love this synagogue is because the rabbi -- even on Yom Kippur and during the High Holy Day services -- always mentions those that are sick and suffering from AIDS. They are specific. They don't just say illness; nobody's covering this up. It embraces the gay community, which has had so much of the AIDS burden on its shoulders. They have an HIV support group there, for Jewish people who have HIV.
It's comforting to know that if I ever get sick and need to be in a hospital -- as I grow older, that will happen -- that I'm also going to have a rabbi who can honor what my journey has been with HIV. That's very important.
I started this back in Boston. I was also a member of a reform temple in Brookline, Massachusetts: Ohabei Shalom. The prerequisite for my joining was saying, "Well, if you have more awareness about HIV, I'd be happy to join your synagogue." We had an HIV education weekend. I didn't even know there was a Jewish AIDS quilt, but there was. And they brought it into the temple for the weekend.
Do you feel that going to the synagogue and having that connection with God helps you? Do you think that is a very strong part of your surviving HIV?
I feel it. Just the word "survivor" resonates, being a Jew. Because, I had said earlier in the interview: The modern Holocaust has been AIDS. As a Jewish person, my father passed that to me: "You're a survivor, Sherri."
Even though I don't directly know any family members from a concentration camp, all Jews are descendents of each other. So I am a survivor and I am a survivor of HIV.
So that plays a very big part. I do feel the power of prayer in the community of my religion. I respect the community that people go to, whether it's Agape positive thinking or something else, because that helped me tremendously. The Louise Hay approach, all that, which is so embraced now with the new marketing of it as "The Secret." All of those things are extremely helpful.
How do you make a living now? What's your full-time job?
I still speak publicly. I have a small column. I wouldn't say I make a living from it right now, but I have a column in A&U Magazine called "One Voice." In that column, I focus on the stories of women living with HIV or involved in AIDS activism. I have been a counselor up until less than a year ago for an organization called Women At Risk.
I'm no longer working with them. I'm doing my own speaking engagements and life coaching, which basically is counseling. Helping people get on with the present parts of their lives, not just the grief of HIV. Not even necessarily HIV specific, but just getting on with the business of living.
It sounds like you have a lot to offer somebody who's facing a challenge. I was wondering if you could answer one final question: What advice would you give to somebody who just found out he or she was HIV positive?
If they just found out, they should find the phone number for a local place where they can speak to a peer. There's nothing like peer counseling -- one person with HIV talking to another. If it's a woman, find a woman. If it's a man, find a man. That's a good start.
If you have prayer in your life and a belief in a God of your own understanding -- whether it be Jesus, Buddha or the positive source -- use that like your life depended on it, because it will only enhance your life. You have nothing to lose, only to gain.
I didn't give up before the miracle, and the miracle showed up. My health is my miracle. The medications that were effective for me are the miracle. That's the source of spirituality that worked through me to get to the place that I am today with this. I would suggest that to anybody.
Great advice. Thank you, Sherri, for a great interview and a very inspiring recounting of your life.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Sherri Lewis can be reached via e-mail at [firstname.lastname@example.com](mailto:email@example.com?subject=Re: Your interview in 'The Body Features: Women & HIV'). She is available for speaking engagements throughout the U.S.
This podcast is a part of the series This Positive Life. To subscribe to this series, click here.
About Sherri
Age: 54
Home: Hollywood, Calif.
Diagnosed: 1987
Sherri Lewis is available for speaking engagements throughout the U.S.
Sherri as a child on Romper Room, which was a popular children's TV show in the U.S.
Sherri as a child.
Sherri at the Ritz in 1980.
Sherri in Get Wet.


text:
28 and 30 west 46th. St. are currently being torn down. Does anyone know what will replace the plot?
another steaming pile for the west side.
Well, that fits in really well...not
I would bet $100 that the developer intentionally made the surrounding buildings look really skeezy - the chipping paint on the buildings to the left, the Subway and Chinese take-out to the right - plus the sketchy electrician / pedophile van, in order to make his steaming pile of dung look relatively not-apocalyptical.
What the hell is wrong with this city that it tolerates this crap in its very heart? Nouvel can't build the full Tour Verre, but Amanda Burden doesn't mind if cheap-o hotels are built that look like they came straight out of Baghdad ... and as if they'll fall down the next time the wind comes in strong from the Euphrates.
In the meantime we're inundated with clueless European tourists jammed into these new piles of crap.
Tourists of all stripes, although all my coworkers stay in these hotels because they're conveniently located to our office. Hell, they're conveniently located to any class B office space that hasn't been torn down for the construction of these hotels.
too bad
this will go up next to my office and right across the street from the gem tower
At least the gem tower will block it from certain angles.
Seeing crap like this makes me feel like Abner Louima.
Little Brazil, meet wrecking ball.


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UL listed for indoor or outdoor use
If one bulb burns out, the rest will stay lit
Material(s): plastic bulbs/wire
Note: This listing is for an extension set of lights. To use these lights you will need to purchase the starter set first. This extension set does not have a plug, only contains end connectors to connect into the starter set.
- White Lights