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9:43 p.m. - August 13, 2006 I�m a fan of campaigns modeled after The Seven Effective Habits of Perfect People, The Surefire Way to A Better Life, and From Housebound to Party Animal. The latest endeavor is an attempt to be more social and is neatly divided into two functions: Interactions with people and Interactions with the community. Goal? To get myself out of the house more often, to talk to people about something other than work more often, to � I�m not sure what. But a conscious attempt at something has got to be better than endless ruminations on what is the sorry fact of my third decade on earth: I am even more removed from others than I ever have been before, a reverse trajectory that is headed nowhere good. So tomorrow I�m doing something new, I think: I�m donating blood. And that, as my one reader may know, presents a problem since guys who sleep with other guys are barred from donating on the grounds that doing so may taint the nation�s blood supply. Never mind the fact that there are (surely) more straight nasty people donating and their blood is welcomed � even begged for. I was asked to donate by someone I work with who sees me as squeaky clean and I said yes before I thought about it. But here�s a confession: I�ve never given blood. I don�t know my blood type. And � I�ve never had an HIV test. I suppose part of my reticence was that I�m-not-like-them attitude and beyond that, a combination of fear and removal from venues where testing is routine. Maybe I�ll make getting an HIV test my next event. I�m going ahead with the appointment tomorrow with the Red Cross. Do they go into detail when asking about your sexual history? What is my sexual history? 1. Brittany, 15-16 I feel pretty nasty now. Just remembered Kevin, from the weekend I went to the gay Christian conference. Damn it � now it�s 60-40, in favor of men. In two weeks my travels begin again � I don�t feel ready but hiding out and avoiding things is generally ineffective beyond the first week or two. Some of the places I�m going to this fall: Washington, DC (twice) When oh when will the folks in places like Alaska or Hawaii book me??!! Have a good day!
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