I am single, creative, artistic, impulsive, amateur chef & baker, and I'm active and fill my time with home projects, reading and volunteering. My home is in Northern California. I have 4 rescued cats. I moved here 7 yrs ago from the congestion and traffic of the SF Bay Area to look for a little house and to enjoy some peace and quiet. I am just over a hill from Clear Lake- a gorgeous Northern California natural lake. I grew up in Phoenix AZ. I am treasurer of the Lake County Stonewall Democratic Club. I bought a new mountain bike April 1st and am happy to be riding again.

 
    In 1987, I read Time magazine's Faces of AIDS issue, and I first found out that someone had died of AIDS that I'd had sex with. I tested poz in 1990, and I believe I might have been infected about 1983. My test results showed CD4's at 600- I handled it well because I had 3 years to prepare . I was prescribed AZT, but only took them for a few weeks. I was very healthy, 200 lbs and was riding my bike 35-60 miles on my days off. I was in denial- I have avoidance issues. In 1995 my friends referred me to their HIV doctor when I started getting colitis and diarrhea. My CD4 count had dropped to 200, and I left work in 1996. My mother moved in with me and I ended up caring for her until her death in 2001. I had road trips, and a few flights to Arizona, Florida, and Germany. My circle of friends got smaller, I walked and lifted weights at the gym, but my life was limited by access to bathrooms, and my social life declined because of diarrhea, depression, and fatigue. My viral load never exceeded 20K, but by 2007 I had only had >5 CD4s and weighed 140 lbs. I had been on everything- progressive monotherapy, combinations, protease inhibitors, fuzeon injections, Neupogen and Epogen injections, but nothing stopped the diarrhea- I was very sick but never hospitalized. The drugs were only keeping the virus suppressed while I wasted away. In 2007 I started Prezista, Intellence, and Isentress, along with the Trizivir, Norvir, and Dapsone I was already taking. Within one month my diarrhea stopped, my viral load became undetectable, and my CD4's began rising. Now I'm still undetectable with CD4 count at 200, which may rise further. I'm on Epzicom instead of Trizivir and am almost off all antibiotics. I also take Acyclovir for herpes, Wellbutrin and Luvox for depression, and Ambien and Ativan for sleeplessness and anxiety. For over 2 1/2 years now, my health and life are remarkably improved.

      Interests include friends, cooking (esp. gas grill), baking cookies and cakes, landscaping, gardening, carpentry, home improvement, volunteering community betterment, liberal populist politics (go National Health Care Reform!).
      My music: acoustic rock/bluegrass/guitar, light jazz, classical piano/violin/quartets/trios,  '20's jazz, pop standards and love songs (Ella, Frank, Rosemary, Judy, Tony, 30's, '40's, '50's, '60's, '70's, '80's, '90's), new generation pop/jazz singers Matt Belsante, Harry Connick Jr, Peter Cincotti, Diana Krall, Tony DeSare, Matt Dusk.
     Other interests not in order include: Lake County Stonewall Democratic Club treasurer, GLBTQ and human rights, cats, Jango, Pandora, MySpace, Facebook, Poz Personals, NY Times online,  cars (1 Mercury Mystique) and trucks (1 Ford Ranger 4x4), changing my own oil, photography, exercise and weightlifting (not lately- housepainting), mountain and road biking, hiking, news, information, education, history books and war novels, health, science, ships, planes, beaches, forests, mountains, deserts... this is Clear Lake, where I live...