Withered roots
The AIDS Industry. Michael Yoder on the creeping professioinalism that has altered the AIDS service delivery landscape. For better or for worse? “The more you have The more you have to protect...”...
View ArticleLives past and present
Michael Yoder: “like the Ghost of Christmas Past, we can show the world the shadows of the people who have been, and paint our own portraits as well.” “I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.” “Long Past?”...
View ArticleThere’s a pill for that
Michael Yoder: “The human condition of HIV hasn’t changed one iota since the virus was discovered” But, says Michael, the professionalized HIV industry is constructing increasingly complex solutions...
View ArticleMirror, mirror . .
Michael Yoder with a powerful post on the impact of lipoatrophy, aka facial wasting, on one’s psyche. “Inner beauty is important: but not nearly as important as outer beauty.” Ellen Degeneres,...
View ArticleRoses are red…
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, Michael Yoder ponders what gay men look for in love sex and relationships and if intimacy is really the goal. “What’s love got to do with it?” Tina Turner Last year I...
View ArticleThe pinkness of things
Michael Yoder on bullying. Its not just at school. “We live in a society that values “strength” over “weakness” – winners are those people who climb to the top over the flailing bodies of those they...
View ArticleIrrelevant voices
Have we lost our political momentum? Michael Yoder and the sad state of dissent in the HIV community. “We’re more comfortable posting our rants on Facebook than we at rattling cages” he says “All...
View ArticleTick, tick, tick…
Michael Yoder says “now, the medications are marvellous and we live a lot longer, but the timer is ticking away. But let’s not focus on it.” "You are old, Father William," the young man said, "And...
View ArticleI want it NOW!
Michael Yoder says “We all live in a world that has become increasingly used to immediate gratification.” And that won’t work when building (HIV) community. “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Proverb “Ten...
View ArticleTerms and conditions
Michael Yoder says “we all develop our own terms and conditions, our personal little contract, as we wander through life – HIV-positive or not. And those terms change as we get older and experience...
View ArticleBeast of burden
Michael Yoder asks is treatment as prevention the latest thing, a flash in the pan, which targets people living with HIV rather than stupidity? “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape...
View ArticleClik here to view.
There’s no place like home
Michael Yoder on being part of a community vs, being in a crowd, and how living with HIV can be both, albeit hidden sometimes. “Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on a bus.”...
View ArticleTrucks, tracks and texting
Michael Yoder says smartphones and hookup sites have made it easier for gay guys to have more sex and have perhaps also increased HIV transmission risk “You tell two friends, and they’ll tell two...
View ArticleWe are family
Michael Yoder on the case for having local groups for people living with HIV “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” David Ogden Stiers A close friend was recently asked whether there’s...
View ArticleEeny, meeny, miney, mo…
Michael Yoder on why the prospect of serosorting – poz guys for poz guys – is becoming a more attractive option than trying to educate neg guys “…Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barney’s Guide to Training Humans: an owner’s manual for cats
Michael Yoder with an excerpt from his new book about cats’ view of their human owners and how a cat should care for them Introduction We’ve tolerated humans for thousands of years and will likely...
View ArticleA single life
Many people with HIV, whether by choice or circumstance, live by themselves. Michael Yoder says living alone has benefits, but it’s not his first choice. “You gotta have friends…” Bette Midler I’ve...
View ArticleIn praise of the unconventional life
Michael Yoder says “The AIDS world (or industry) is bereft of non-conformists. We have ceased to be unconventional and that saddens me.” “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to...
View ArticleThe most wonderful time of the year…
Michael Yoder: This is supposed to be a time of year when we celebrate the return of longer days, the love of family and friends and the joy of the season. And yet, I can’t help being cynical this...
View ArticleOut with the old
Michael Yoder on next steps. " And so I put together a brief resume and cover letter and sent it to a local speakers’ bureau. I fully expected to be turned down, but I was surprised . .” “Life is a...
View Article