What It's Like Getting Tested

I've been trying to be regular about getting tested, since I'm a sexually active adult. You should get tested every 3 months. It just so happens I'm not as regular as I'd like in that sense.

Today, I went with a friend to get tested. The last time I was tested was in late January. After that I was dating one person. I haven't been super sexually active since my last visit, but I still wanted to be safe since I did engage in somewhat risky behavior.

The SF City Clinic is my location of choice. It's kinda like a DMV experience but with nicer people, colorful murals and they touch your balls. They also had The Wiz playing for our enjoyment today. I usually bring a book and observe the interesting crowd that visits the clinic.

In terms of clinicians, they're usually volunteers. (RN's, students at UCSF, etc.) Today I had this somewhat less-friendly Russian or some other Eastern European country of descent woman. She was a bit cold but also this was the first time they used a computer to track information vs. on paper.

I usually like the older grey curly haired woman. She's awesome. I haven't had her in a while though.

The Experience:

1. Go In.
2. They Give You A Number and you wait in the DMV style waiting room.
3. They call your number and ask why you're visiting. They register you and you make a $10 if you can afford to do so.
4. You Wait. Watch The Wiz and people watch for like 30-45 minutes. Bring a book or mag if you choose.
5. They call your number.
6. The volunteer clinician brings you to a room and asks you about your sexual activity for the last year but concentrating on the last 3 months. Think "Do you have sex with men or women or both?" "Have you had sex with people who take drugs?" "Have You Had Unprotected Sex?" "Are you strictly top or bottom?" "Have you paid for sex?" "Have you had sex with people you've met online?" "Have you traveled in the last month and had sex abroad?"
7. The volunteer clinician asks you to drop your pants. They will then administer tests based on your activity.
8. The volunteer clinician tells you what tests they will perform and then he/she asks you to pee in a cup in the bathroom.
9. You wait in the waiting room.
10. They call your number, they administer blood tests and your give your urine sample to the volunteer. If you get a rapid HIV test (done on a sexually risky behavior basis) you wait for another 20 minutes. This test is based on antibodies and isn't super accurate based on activity in the past couple of months. They also draw blood for an RNA test, for which you will also get the results a few weeks from now.
11. You leave the blood test room.
12. They give you goodies (condoms, lube) if you like.
13. You leave. They may make an appointment for you in a few weeks to give you results if you need to come back in. Otherwise you can check your results online.

Expect the experience to be around 2 hours or more since it's low cost and done on a small budget. Easy Breezy.

Now you can ease on down the road to getting tested...

Posted via email from sunset to SUNRISE

Giving It A Shot

I'm trying a new(ish) blogging platform, which also marks my return to blogging. I'm de-emphasizing social networking in favor of reflecting.

I'm starting to use Posterous. It's a nice blend of ease, access and community. A former co-worker's boyfriend is one of the co-founders. So I know it's legit and got a lot of soul in it. :) On top of that, there are tons of cool features explained in their FAQ.

Best of all, if you're sentimental, you can import your old blog (Livejournal, Blogger, Ning, Tumblr, Xanga, Typepad, Wordpress, etc.) as well. This is pretty much what sold me. Cool stuff. They have a "switch" campaign that lets you know why you should make the move to posterous.

Want to follow me? willk.posterous.com

SFIAAFF 2010 - Raspberry Magic

This is my second year of going to films in the San Francisco International Asian American Film Fest. Last year was awesome and I saw about 5 films. This year, I'm bumping up my game! I'm going to see 11 films in about 10 days. I saw my first film last night at the Clay Theatre in Pac Heights. It was called Raspberry Magic. It was super cute. The cast stayed around for a Q+A after the film, too. Splendid. The cool thing too is that it was shot mostly locally in the East Bay. I recognized the parts filmed in Oakland. It was in my friend Mark's hood of Montclair. :)

Review: 4/5

Trailer:

Incredible Hulk

Let's just say I'm happy I took the risk in actually making sure my feelings were known about a boy. I dig him. Really.

I gave him an Incredible Hulk valentine. He gave me a Spongebob Squarepants valentine. Adorbs.

Career 2.0

It's been quite some time since I've blogged. Not too much has changed in my life.

Here goes it... I'm not gonna lie, I got pretty bored at work my last 6 or so months (well, maybe year). Not because my job wasn't challenging (heavy workload, multiple tasks, learning a new product, working on a startup team), but because I wasn't being challenged (no new skills, not using and developing the skills I'm good at). I had to start to differentiate that in my head when looking at my career. I'm not a fresh-out-of-college member of the workforce anymore. Motivation is a bit harder to come by. Those starry eyes aren't quite as glimmering.

So I decided to re-evaluate my career (and working at Google for that matter) very seriously. I've worked for the GOOG for 4 years - in various advertising/sales/operations functions. Over the past 3 years, I've done a lot of HR work on the side for fun. I've interviewed close to 60 potential employees and participated in our BOLD mentoring program for 2 summers. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, well, minus some of the logistical/process work. However, I realized, at the core HR work is exactly where my strengths lie. It's meant for "people persons", "networkers", etc. It's also meant for people who are a bit shy, but shine when meeting new people.

I learned I'm not motivated by the following:

• Money
• Scaling/Huge Impact

So being primarily in sales/operations functions didn't quite make sense. I'm actually motivated by the following:

• People
• 1:1 Interactions

People are what drive me. Conversations, connections, insight, etc. People are dynamic, always changing to keep things fresh. That's how I'm motivated. I like to see others succeed and given new opportunities. Given that, I intended to get myself into a people management position early on in my career. I also tried elements such as training and quality control (mentoring) to help get me there. People management didn't quite pan out, so I've decided to put my feelers out for new roles in new departments.

A few months ago, I heard about a potential need for a new HR person at YouTube. I didn't know what the need was nor did I really know what they did on a daily basis. I talked to my current manager and asked him to inquire. Nothing was posted on our internal job board so I had no idea if such a job existed.

A month or so later, My manager came back to me and said there may be something opening up and had me meet with Jeff, who is in HR. We felt each other out and I learned about a potential role as a recruiter for non-eng positions at YouTube because hiring could potentially go up. It was a super casual convo. He then had me meet with the Sales Recruiting Manager, out of our European Office. She happened to be in town that week and was working at our headquarters in Mountain View. I met with her for a half hour and got a fantastic vibe. I thought things went well. This was early December. Then it was mid December. I hadn't heard back. I got discouraged. I followed up with her again. Still no response. It was the end of December and the holidays were now over. Then it was early January. I took a little mini vacay to Canada and came back refreshed. I was still discouraged that I didn't hear back from HR about the role. The least they could do was get back to me.

I finally got an email from the European Sales Recruiting Manager. She said she apologized for the delay but was still finalizing the potential headcount for the role. She'd get back to me in a week and let me know what the final decision was. I finally heard back. The news was good. They were able to get headcount and suddenly I was going to be a recruiter for YouTube. A RECRUITER. Fawk. It's actually sort of a prestigious role, especially in the Bay Area. I don't know how that happened. Especially since most recruiting jobs are actually temporary/contract work. Recruiting is sorta like a sales job (taking out the attachment to revenue/money) and a matchmaking service all in one. It should be interesting and lead to some new skills being developed.

There are some risks with getting into recruiting/HR. It's very cyclical. It's usually the first department to go (with marketing next in line). I understand that risk, but the potential payout to do something I love and gain new skills is really what made me take the leap. The YouTube HR team is also super super supportive and seems to think I can be a rockstar recruiter. We'll see how it goes, at the very least.

I now had to negotiate the transition timeline with my current manager, who'd been supportive throughout the process. We worked out my first technical day as a recruiter would be February 16th, the day after President's Day -- but that I could go to trainings before I officially started.

So here I am. In 2010. New decade. New career. It all happened because, well, i threw myself out there. I voiced my concerns. I wanted a change.

I've finally decided to change everything that I'm unhappy about in my life.

Next up: Apartment, Boys, Hobbies.

Let's do this!

I'm 26

And I don't know what the heck I want. Work, Life, Love.

Sadness.

I mean, I have ideas. But I get distracted, side-tracked.

I want to see what my 2010 life will look like.

Mind, Body and...

Soul/Spirit are usually what follows that phrase.

It's Thanksgiving evening and I'm at home in Los Angeles, CA. I can't help but contemplate here. It's pretty much all I did while I lived and grew up here.

I got to thinking that I spent age 1 to 23 focusing on building my mind. I studied and focused on academics. I spent age 23 to the present focusing on my body. I've lacked building my soul, though. I feel a bit incomplete there. I try to surround myself by people who inspire soul-building, though.

I'm going to focus age 26+ not only improving my mind and body, but my soul. I'm thankful I have wonderful friends and family that inspire me to grow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting Tired of It

With all of the folks leaving my workplace after many years of working there for one reason or another (going back to school to wanting different work experience), I'm starting to really think hard of what I want career-wise. It's getting close to an un-official 4 years at the GOOG/YouTube. I love the company and the co-workers, but something is really off.

Today was an exhausting day. I haven't had this bad of a work week ever really in my near 4 years of working at GOOG. Drama is sky high. People aren't being professional. I'm getting called out all while dollars are at stake. The pressure is high and I'm not really digging it. In fact, I'm over it. I'm doing work that started out as a favor and is now taking a significant portion of my time. I can't focus and am pulled in a billion different directions. I'm dealing with customers of all segments (GMS, DCS, Torso and Long Tail) and people don't seem to seem to understand how difficult it is to juggle processes for all of these types of customers.

I know bad work weeks shouldn't get the best of me. It's sorta like when personal drama shouldn't affect work life. The weeks don't seem to be getting better, though. And people leaving left and right don't seem to have a positive effect on morale.

I'm thankful my manager seems to want me to be happy. He's always had my back, which I really appreciate. In fact, he basically let me bitch at him for an hour today while we got coffee. He sensed my frustration (well, I'm not good at hiding things) and just chatted about job happiness. Now I have to think long and hard of what I want and solutions to get me there.

Missing the Midwest

This time of year always has me missing the Midwest. The Fall, my favorite season, is when I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2007. I loved the simplicity of life. Don't get me wrong, I took many trips to Chicago, Detroit and Toronto to inject some city in me, but I loved the leaves, weather, people and mid-size town living of A2. There is nothing like slowing down, noticing the small things and absorbing it all in. You also realize what life's really all about...

Here's to Ann Arbor and the midwest... <3 you.

The Phone Call

It's really hard for me to go to sleep tonight. I had another relatively bad day. The bad days seem to be stacking up and compounding on each other.

Today, it was all about a phone call. It was him. He made me smile. He made me giddy. Then it seemed to end so quickly out of the blue. What could have been was very promising. His reasoning made it seem as if nothing was personal. I guess that's a good thing.

I keep on hearing from friends, 'You're a great guy. Great catch. Anyone would be lucky to have you. You're smart, funny, attractive and very accomplished.'

I think I can hear that a million times and never absorb it. I guess maybe I feel friends aren't lovers, so it can go in one ear and out the other.

Part of it has to do with me taking compliments. I'm not used to it. It's a relatively new phenomena for me to deal with... maybe in the past 2 or so years. I guess absorbing and accepting compliments is a downfall of mine. It's most definitely related to my past of being a heavier guy.

I'm trying to tell myself it's not me, but it's starting to get very hard to believe.

From North Beach to SoMa; A case of the Ex(s)

Friday was quite the interesting evening. I went to Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach with my friend Greg. I love hanging out with him because he's so real, genuine and willing to open up. We both share each other's perspectives on subjects and never really have a dead conversation.

The wait wasn't too bad, maybe a half an hour when we arrived around 6:30pm. We walked around North Beach while we waited for our table. We ordered two pizza's... the daily limited edition Margherita (They Make a Max of 73 per day) and the 'Cal Italia.' I think the Margherita Pizza would have had potential to be delicious had they not actually sliced the pizza (leaving the juice to soak into the crust.) That's not how the serve pizza in Italy. Instead, the don't cut it and you can fold it over. :)

However, the Cal Italia, holy hell. That shit was like an orgasm in my mouth. Total foodgasm. I'm going back again to get that again. It must have crack in it. It has Asiagio, Mozzarella, Imported Italian Gorgonzola, Sweet Fig Preserve from Croatia, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano and Balsamic Reduction.

After dinner, I chatted more with Greg at his place. I eventually left for the Castro to hang out with Harrison. I met Harrison at The Cafe, but it was a bit awkward of a crowd... blame it on tourists and Folsom Weekend.

I then headed to Dragon @ Eight in SoMa to celebrate with Charles for his 21st Bday bash. The night was going well. I ran into many friends, co-workers, etc. But there was a moment when my mood took a swing downward. I saw my recent ex, dancing on stage, grinding in some dude's dick. Classy. It's so ironic how he gave me shit for going out (when I don't even really drink) and then has the nerve to go out and act super trashy. I saw him again upstairs and decided to leave after saying hello to my friends and wishing Charles a happy 21st.

Just when I was going to leave with a frown on my face, I was greeted with a hug by a sweaty shirtless guy. I didn't see his face. So I pulled back and looked down to see who it was. My jaw dropped. My frown turned upside down into a smile. It was my oldest ex. My first real (and longest) relationship. He was 34, I was 24. Now I'm 26 and he's 36. He's here for Folsom Weekend. One of the main reasons we broke up was due to distance. But I was really close with him connection wise. He always lived in San Diego. I always lived in Nor Cal (and at a point, Michigan). So it didn't really work out for that alone. But it's nice to see him considering we haven't really interacted since 2007 or so.

I dunno, I'd never rekindle an old flame, but I would catch up. Coffee. Tea. Something. I guess it's the curious side of me. We'll see what happens...

Jon Made Me Smile. Or Maybe IRDLOLFR.

Looking back at 25, Looking ahead at 26

So I've been thinking about turning 26 for the past few days but tried not to spend too much time dwelling on it. I think I'm relatively positive about turning a year older. Yes, it's over the 'hump,' one year closer to 30, and my next quarter-century of life. Does that mean I'm over a quarter-life crisis? Meeebbbeee.

25 is a pretty cool age. It was one of the first years I've felt like a true adult. I'd been living on my own, post-college, for a few years, and had been in my career life for 6 or so years.

Looking back at 25

• It was the first time I was surprised on my birthday. In a work conference room at dinner, no less. Thanks Ty, Nai, and the rest of you who were in on it.
• I traveled to NYC with Ty and Paul and learned a lot from them in the process.
• I switched jobs at work, moving from Google in Mountain View to YouTube in San Bruno. I had to get used to working in a small office with the size of a team I could count on one hand. I also was part of a product launch team.
• I moved to San Francisco (with the moving help of Nai), after kicking and screaming about doing so for years. It was a good move, but there are elements of the Silicon Valley that I miss.
• I bought my first Mac. It was a 15" MacBook Pro, in case you were wondering. After years of being a PC guy, I decided to make the switch. I'm relatively happy with it.
• I worked at MacWorld, representing Google's Picasa for Mac.
• I got rejected from a love interest, who later became one of my best friends. I couldn't ask for a better Bestie.
• I kept 120 lbs off, for the 2nd year in a row.
• I fought hard at opposing Prop 8 passing in California. I traveled to many demonstrations in the Bay Area and Sacramento to protest.
• I saw Madonna for the first time in concert. Just my fate to get a flat tire on the way there. I'm thankful for BART.
• I saw New Kids on the Block in concert. It was my favorite concert last year.
• I donated 8 bags of my fat clothes to good will.
• It was the first year I participated in SF's Dine About Town (Universal Cafe, Choquets, Ruth's Chris).
• I went to Folsom Street Fair for the first time with my besties from UC Riverside.
• I went with Ty to spontaneously get his ear pierced.
• I traveled for the first time outside North America. I went to Europe (London, Rome, Venice, Berlin, Paris).
• It was the first time I held dinner parties at my apartment.
• I volunteered at Edna Brewer Middle School to help restore a mural.
• I participated for the 3rd year in Google's SF Pride contingent and getting a page on SFist.com.
• I met the B-52's Fred Schneider at the Mix during Pride Weekend. I had the balls to go up to him. We hung out for a little bit.
• I was a mentor for Google's BOLD (Building Opportunity Through Leadership) Internship Program.
• It was the first year I started to take photography as a hobby seriously.
• It was the first year I invested in the stock market. I've learned a lot.
• I learned that I had a passion for running outside. I've been running on the Embarcadero ever since.
• Living in SF had a positive impact on my dating life. I dated a few people, all of whom I could see with myself long term in one way or another.

Of course this list isn't comprehensive.

Looking Ahead at 26

I'm a pretty excited for what's ahead. I have a lot of goals and unanswered questions.

• Where will I travel next?
• What's the next step in my career?
• Will I continue my formal education?
• Which passions will I foster?
• Which passions did I not know I have?
• Who will I make an impact on?
• Who will make an impact on me?
• Will I be in a Long Term Relationship?

Only time will tell. The mystery is what's intriguing...

Inspiration over Google Chat: The Best Straightie Awards

I was talking with Jon Jon over IM and I was discussing "My Best Straightie." This is in reference to my best straight male friend (not that I need to make a distinction between the gay v. straight friends but I tend to.)

Then we randomly got sidetracked and discussing how we can create an award show for them. You know, those straight people in the lives of gays that deserve to be honored for just being awesome. Sticking by our side. Having the talks about romance even when they can't relate. You know the type. They're just awesome and we love them for it.

I totally think we should wrangle together a bunch of straight folks and surprise them. Honor them... for being them. Now I need to wrangle the gays to get on board.

Jon Jon: "Aaaaand, the Best Straightie for 2009 goes to.........."

Me: You know what would be cool. if we ACTUALLY did that and we had a ceremony

Jon Jon: totally. it could be so fabulous... like the emmy's and stuff

and then there'd be the whole best/worst dressed gossip after the ceremony

"Best Dressed Nominee John Doe should have just handed back his nomination for his awful awful combination of plaid and polkadots. Clearly the queen who nominated him didnt have a fashion bone in her body"

"....and back to you at the Red Carpet, Will..."

Me: yea. you've totally mapped this out in your head already. we'd make it fabulous. the straigties never get nods.

Why Do I Blog?

I often think about why I blog. I think a lot of people blog for many different reasons. I started and still blog for it to be my 'online diary' to share thoughts, opinions, etc. It's more of a memory tool rather than to self-promote myself. It's also a creative outlet. I like to write -- whether or not I have correct grammar or punctuation. It's a form of self-expression. And in my case, anyone can read it. I don't censor who can and can't read what I have to say. I mean, what's the point? Sure, there will also be some creepy stalker who probably shouldn't be seeing what I have to say. But that shouldn't prevent me from writing what I feel. And if you're a creepy stalker, might as well say 'Hi!'

I've been blogging in some form since the 90's. That dates me a bit. Before RSS. Before Ajax. Before CSS. I had a website with journal entries, then an LJ, then a Xanga, then a Blogger.

I prefer to type over physically write. I always have. Even as a kid, I never would write down my thoughts on paper, rather, I'd go directly to the typewritter and start writing. I like how I can correct myself in a matter of a few key strokes. I also like the sense of something not being permanent. There are instances where I write down on paper, like during my recent trip to Europe.

There are many cases in the past and present in which something I've wrote that can be seen publicly has gotten me in trouble with people. In most cases, people understand it's a form of expression. You move on. It's an opinion. Some people prefer to be private. I usually do, but I'm starting to really not care what people think of or about me. I know who I am and those close to me do as well.

Some people have preferred communication methods. Some prefer to have an in person conversation over writing an email. Some prefer the phone over an IM. Some people chose to deal with important subjects over an email when it should be talked about in person. Thus the blog. You can write and it floats out in space. Someone can read it or not. Maybe it will stroke an in person conversation.

In any case, I write for me and no one else.