My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker profile picture

My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker

MY PET VIRUS: The True Story of a Rebel WIthout A Cure

About Me

Every year I walk with Team Supersnack in the AIDS Walk NY. Would love your sponsorship! (To do so, click on the picture of me and Gwenn from 2006. You'll also get to see what hair color I sported last year.) Now, for the introduction... Hello, I'm Shawn Decker, author of the cult classic memoir, My Pet Virus. If you haven't read my book, consider picking up a copy. It details my experiences growing up with hemophilia, HIV, and an interesting and loving family that got more than they bargained for when I was born. My life is not a pity party, and the book is a humorous look at some of the situations I've encountered along the way.Here's what some folks have said about My Pet Virus... Augusten Burroughs says: "Shawn is the King of the Thinblood Hotties! If I had Shawn's resilience and talent maybe I wouldn't be such a mess."John Berendt says: "Shawn takes on a deadly topic with asonishing grace. Enlightening, compassionate, hilarious."USA Today says: "Decker has a gift for blue-collar humor: crude and rude but big-hearted and unbiased." There's a peculiar lingo in My Pet Virus that I utilize on my blog. Here's a crash course on some of the terms and conditions you'll come across... Thinblood: (n) a person living with hemophilia.Positoid: (n) a person living with HIV/AIDS.RDS (Restless Dick Syndrome): Affects 98.8% of all males. My Pet Virus isn't an HIV/AIDS book at all, it's just a vehicle to raise awareness about this debilitating condition. If you've read the book, post Comment and let me know what you think. I've also been speaking at college campuses with my wife partner, Gwenn, if you'd like us to come to your school, just drop me a line! Positively Yours,
ShawnPS... Check out my music with Synthetic Division on MySpace...
A video of me and Gwenn speaking.
COOL QUOTES ABOUT MY BOOK, MY PET VIRUS.

CLICK TO ORDER BOOK!

WHAT AIDS IS SAYING ABOUT MY PET VIRUS...
"Thanks for putting up with me for so long, I know I can be a bit of a pain in the ass at times."- AIDS
Check out the MySpace page of AIDS. If we get the epidemic to waste more time on here, maybe less people will die. Let's put the epidemic in a box!

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My Interests

HIV/AIDS education, music, dork-tastic gaming, poker, pool, pageants, pro wrestling. Guru of My Pet Virus called my love of pro wrestling and pageants proof that I'm a modern day Renaissance Man.

I'd like to meet:

Not sure, I've kind of had my celebrity-meetings fix, some of which I detailed in My Pet Virus. (A Make-A-Wish Foundation meeting with Depeche Mode at age 14, and a childhood encounter with Ric Flair.) Also, most of folks I really want to meet are gone... such as Pedro Zamora, John Lennon and Ryan White. Death will eventually unite us all, won't it? HOW TO JOIN THE MY PET VIRUS Book Club:
1. Take a picture of you (or your pet) with My Pet Virus
2. Post it on the Comments sectionPERKS:
1. Extra screening measures at the airport

Music:

..Synthetic Division now available on iTunes!I met Depeche Mode as my dying wish. You can hear the influence in my own music, which I perform under the name Synthetic Division. Here's a music video I made for a Synthetic Division I co-wrote with Kyle Wiggins:Synthetic-Division.com . You can also add us on MySpace .
To hear more and get our new CD, Get with the Programs, visit our site!
If you like the music add us !CHECK 'EM OUT, NOW: Bella Morte , Engine Down , The Sane , Lauren Hoffman , Marci Geller , The Brides , In Tenebris , Valv (really cool Brazilian band)
YOU'VE HEARD OF, PROBABLY MAYBE: Depeche Mode, The Cure, Nirvana, The Smiths, Nitzer Ebb, The Doors, Sebadoh, The Go-Go's, Recoil, Camouflage, New Order, The White Stripes, The Cars, No Doubt

Bella Morte are an incredible band, and great friends. If you read my book, you read about them! They rock my world. You can watch me die in their "Earth Angel" video, one of the greatest covers of all time.

Movies:

I review movies as one-half of the Hemo2Homo Connection, along with the brilliant and also-living-with-AIDS Steve Schalchlin. Subscribe to my blog to follow the once-again active Ebert & Ropert of AIDS! Recent reviews: Sweeney Todd , There Will Be Blood (reviewed especially for Shawn's fellow thinbloods, 21 (that card movie). To see Shawn and Steve's review of The Hours, pick up a copy of My Pet Virus. EXCITING NEWS: My Pet Virus is being turned into a screenplay! Who will play Shawn in the movie? Post a Comment and let him know.

Television:

Check out the program on PBS, A Closer Walk . It features one of my pals, Ethan Zohn, founder of Grassroot Soccer.
Ethan also won Survivor: Africa... but only because I didn't compete.Early in 2005 I launched BMTV: Bella Morte Television. The award-winning .. series, "BMTV News", features revealing clips on everyones' favorite band, Bella Morte. Check out BMTV!
Check out a BBC program that Gwenn and I appeared on in December 2005, called Living Positive .

Books:

I wrote a book. Get it. Read it. Feel it.

Heroes:


Darren Roth of CAMPUSPEAK

My Blog

East Carolina University

Immediately after flying back to Virginia from L.A., Gwenn and I got in our car and headed down to East Carolina University... well, not exactly immediately. The flight landed at 9 at night, but when ...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:34:00 PST

Bowling for Obama

The trip to Los Angeles was incredible, but since I'm sitting in a hotel trying to get everything together, I thought I'd wait till I could upload a few pics to tell the story. In the meantime, I hav...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:49:00 PST

Synthetic Division LIVE in L.A. tonight!

Last night I finally worked up the courage to open the box, having checked the neon Synthetic Division sign with the airlines. (UPS did a fine job packing it, the sign was safe and sound.) And tonight...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:06:00 PST

Bill Pullman

I think I saw him at lunch today... While I was eating. Positively Yours, Shawn ".... Check, please?"...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:20:00 PST

In L.A. this Saturday

It's true, Synthetic Division is heading to L.A. My longtime pal, Josh, whom I wrote about in My Pet Virus, is filling in for Marshall, the keyman for Synthetic Division. Today I was being pretentiou...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:50:00 PST

High School Confidential

Is anyone else watching this show on WE? Gwenn and I have been- it's a documentary about teens in Kansas, producers followed 12 girls for 4 years of high school. I'm not sure if the show is getting a...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:07:00 PST

AIDS Walk NY 2008: This Time It’s Personal

For two years I’ve walked/hobbled the AIDS Walk NY with Team Supersnack, a ragtag band of do-gooders from all across the United States. Every year, it’s been a fun experience. But this ye...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:27:00 PST

Hemo2Homo Connection: The 21 Review

  The Hemo2Homo Connection Movie Review Homo: I know we decided to see this movie because it’s the 21st anniversary of your pet virus, but I didn’t spend my hours counting cards. I ...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:28:00 PST

Bean Me Up, Hottie

On April Fools’ Day, the only joke that came through was from Steve of the Hemo2Homo Connection. If you missed his Comment, check this out: "Shawn, I’m your psychiatrist and I have to inf...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:30:00 PST

A Positoids Guide to April Fools' Day

Today is April Fools’ Day. A day in which the inner-prankster in all of us is awakened and universally accepted. But, if you have a friend with HIV, you really have to be careful with just how f...
Posted by My Pet Virus: The True MySpace of Shawn Decker on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:52:00 PST