by Mark S. King | Feb 17, 2015 | Family and Friends, Gay Life, My Fabulous Disease, Prevention and Policy
My fear of all things anal began when I was an early teen. My older brother David took great delight in bursting into our bathroom to startle me, especially if I was on the john. And, since I was a pubescent redhead, his sudden visits included a lot of laughing and...
by Mark S. King | Jan 28, 2015 | Book Review, Family and Friends, Gay Life, Living with HIV/AIDS, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease, Prevention and Policy
Before my interview with activist Sean Strub, author of Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival, let me share a revealing story. It was late 2011 and my life was in shambles. The breakup of a long term relationship had sent me into a spiral,...
by Mark S. King | Oct 16, 2014 | Family and Friends, Gay Life, My Fabulous Disease
My friend Carlton is a chain smoker, even if all his cigarettes are imaginary. His standard pose consists of one hand resting on his hip — elbow jutting out as if in the midst of a runway strut — while the other arm is forever in motion, his hand swiveling...
by Mark S. King | May 27, 2014 | Family and Friends, Gay Life, My Fabulous Disease
We’re on a dirt road in the cotton fields, sitting in the back of his Plymouth. It had been my idea to stop and look at the sky, and it doesn’t come off like a sneaky move now, because the moon is full and bright and gorgeous. I’ve been playing along...
by Mark S. King | Feb 17, 2014 | Family and Friends, Gay Life, Living with HIV/AIDS, My Fabulous Disease
“Remember when Billy Perry gave you a black eye?” David asked me. He stood on a ladder with a screwdriver in his hand. I was holding up Mom’s new light fixture while David attached it to the ceiling. We took on the project during a visit I made back...