Letters from the Inside, Michael Swango, #34

Dear KK---

Well, as someone who I know must be a "Saturday Night Live" fan, you will understand when I say that the "Al Franken Decade" has finally begun! Today the MN Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Franken's election to the U.S. Senate, and Coleman conceded. Talk about an improbable path to the Senate.

Have not received one of your scintillating letters for some time. Among the possible reasons:

>You have run out of questions!!! [Probability near zero.]
>You are super-busy with work & your whirling social calendar :)
[Probability 50%.]
>OR- You are currently on the well-deserved Alaskan summer cruise. [Probability 50%-you definitely need it!]

This will probably be a relatively brief letter. Certainly hope to hear from you soon--or when you return from Alaska.

So much of macabre & bizarre interest has happened this past week: The sudden but not unexpected death of Michael Jackson; the expected but tragic death of Farrah Fawcett; and the truly strange but riveting story of Governor Mark Sanford of SC. I actually believe that Maria in Argentina was or is a "true love". What that means when I say it, you and I have not yet discussed. Hopefully we will < see my previous letter>

Sadly, in still another bizarro interview Sanford buried himself even deeper in contradictions & "Harlequin romance-speak". That was today.

Obviously want your comments on the above.

***

Allow me to stand on my mini-soapbox reading HIV/AIDS for just a moment:

If you ask the average non-gay, non-infected American what they know about the AIDs pandemic in the U.S., two periods stand out. First was when HIV/AIDS was first known in the early 80s-the days of fear & prejudice, Rock Hudson, etc.

And then sometime in the late 90s they found the "cure", and that's that. That entire 10-15 year period from the early 80s to the mid-90s when the horror & wrath of an incurable, disfiguring, wasting, deadly, virtually always fatal disease laid waste to an entire generation of most but not all gay men is still, to this day, almost never discussed in mainstream media. It was carefully hidden away in the death wards of San Francisco General & LA County/USC Medical Center and multiple New York hospitals... and those thousands upon thousands who died-do so one at a time, in the night, often alone...

If you & I get teh chance--I would very much like to read the book by Randy Stilts: And the Band Played On with you. We could do so slowly-I know how much you have going on. But I would really like to tap your brain & your thoughts on this...

By the way, I am well aware, and have empathy for the fact that born in 1970-you "came of age" sexually at the height of the HIV/AIDS hysteria & fear in the mid-80s. I want to know what that was like, KK.

My reaction & adjustment was obviously different. And will discuss that as well, if you are curious [which is like saying if a woodpecker pecks!]

***

Much movie news & views although nothing that screams out for KK to see now. So will save that for my next letter. The big summer A-list movie seems to be "PUBLIC ENEMY" with Johnny Depp & Christian Bale, opening tomorrow. Are either of them dreamy? You are so cute!

Saw "Friends with Money" on TV. I am one of those who think Jennifer Anniston is a fine actress.

Just in case you have been cruising the coast of Alaska--two articles from the Times: One sent by my medical correspondent/the other by a lesbian activist!

>James Frey's new project
>The return of the contraceptive sponge made famous by "Seinfeld." Personal note: I had a girlfriend who absolutely swore by the sponge. Details upon request.

Sorry for the pencil--and my not writing for longer than usual. The reason are both financial, something you and I have not discussed. Will do so in a future letter.

Again, hope to hear from you soon. Thinking of you -- all in a good way, I assure you!!

Take care and stay safe.

Yours,

Michael