It didn't take long for me to find Health Initiative for Men, or "HiM" http://checkhimout.ca/, a non-profit organization that, in their words; "We’re a community-based organization dedicated to strengthening the health and well-being of gay men. Our approach includes physical, sexual, social and mental health." A big part of the mandate is HIV prevention, and part of this strategy is the distribution of free condoms and lube into the "gay-bourhood" (hee hee,, I like that).
So every couple of Mondays, a group of volunteers get together in the evening, to package up two condoms, two packages of lube into a little box (that has safe sex info printed on it), times that by a couple of thousand, which is then distributed to the bars, restaurants, health clubs or where ever else gay men are going to be, I guess.
Tonight, there was over twenty people, crammed into HiM's boardroom from 6 to 10pm, as we packed up about 12,000 condoms. Yes, 12,000!!!! Tonight I took at few pics of exactly what "packing 12,000 condoms & lube into little boxes" looks like.
There seems to be an endless pile of condoms and lube on the table for hours,,,
Someone has to pre-fold the little boxes, so it's easier to fold them closed.
Once folded, the boxes look pretty cool. The photography on the box is designed to attract a specific age group and demographic, the guys that are most likely to have unprotected sex. The models on the all the HiM info (these boxes, literature, website) are all regular local guys that volunteer as well.
there's lots of info on safe sex, and info on HiM all over, and in the box
and as a job well done, we all get a great meal. It's donated from local restaurants, after packaging 12,000 condoms, trust me, you're pretty hungry. As a little surprise, one of the volunteers had this great message on the inside of her pizza box from Hell Pizza http://hellpizza.com/ca/
The night is always a lot of fun, with great conversation, meeting new people for every walk of life. it's not just gay guys, but girls show up too (maybe they are lesbians,, who knows?) and I suspect there are some straight guy their too. But for the most part, it's just gay guys, hanging out, talking about TV, music, movies and what ever. There is lots of international flair, with someone from Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand, New York, and lots more, even The Manitoulin Island.
I like it because everything that bugs me all day long, whether it's work or something at home,,, it all just drifts away as I sink into 4 hours of chatting with basically a group of strangers.
Props go out to Daniel who organizes the evening. He works at HiM part time, and attends school full time.
Also, I'm helping HiM develop their accounting procedures manual. I've been working with the executive director since December on this project, and it's coming along.
BTW - I ran 7K on Sunday,, and it felt great. :-)
As an English teacher, I have to ask, What are the consecutive commas (,,,) supposed to indicate? And then you will use two (,,) at different times. It's very confusing to people used to standardized grammar, I must say. Is it a pause in the action? A stuck comma key? Something more mysterious? Some kind of gay code? Inquiring minds want to know!
ReplyDeleteSincerey,
English Teacher
Ah yes, the extra commas. I was wondering how long you would hold out before needing greater understanding of this unusual writing technique. Though it would be much easier to blame it on a sticky keyboard, or the mysterious gay code, you were right in saying it a break in the action. It’s the moment in a conversation that you really do “take a break” in speaking. Perhaps you have to look around to see if anyone is in earshot before continuing your racist joke, or you’ve decided that the story you are telling needs you to roll your eyes, or it could be just a gasp or exaggerated breath. Whatever the break that’s needed, it’s difficult to show with just a single comma. Hmmm now that I’ve put this down in words, I guess it is kind of a gay thing.
DeleteOkay, now that I know your reason, I can commit fully to condemning it. Now here this: a pause in narrative action is never denoted by repeated commas. Typically, you should just end the sentence and start a new one (for slight pause/change of something). For greater pauses, there's the new paragraph. I think what you're remembering is the ellipsis (...), which calls for a slight pause in speech or any other form of text, but it is incorrect to use ellipses solely to indicate a pause in speech. So what's a poor boy to do?
ReplyDeleteHere's what I'd do with this: (not that there's anything wrong with that,,, it's just "their choice",, and not for me).
New Version: (not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just "their choice," and not for me). One comma denotes the pause my brother. Other than that, you're writing is getting much better.
Yah,,, yer righting is gooder than before,, i think may be bestest ,,,i EVA seen eva in my lifes. Keep"on righting awe,,,some literachure,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
ReplyDeleteInglish fale-yer stewdent
great pics eric. great you are doing this. sounds fun. ease up on the commas though, for sure.
ReplyDelete