Yesterday was World AIDS Day. I’ve been working with an HIV education group for the past few months, and meant to write up a massive post about the epidemic and its importance. That kind of fell by the roadside, as work itself got out of control last week (and I won Nano, to boot!). So the short version:

One in four HIV-infected people don’t know they’re infected. That’s a huge part of how the disease is transmitted–people who don’t know they’re infected can’t protect their own health if they don’t know they need to; and they may not take important safety precautions if they don’t know they need to. So the biggest thing you (and me, and everyone) can do to stop the spread of the disease?

Get tested. An oraquick test only takes 20 minutes and is almost unerringly accurate (and, as it’s a mouth swab, painfree!). Ask your doctor next time you go, if it isn’t offered. Know your status.

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Okay, other than that, I actually have a lot of pent-up blogging energy. I’m hoping to not only eventually write about the pandemic, but I’ve also still got two more posts to do on Hannah Montana, which will hopefully also be coming someday. And with Nano done, I’m even back to updating Active Voice, hopefully regularly. All very exciting, huh?

However, I am thinking of changing the blog’s name. I haven’t decided to what yet, but a) this is a name I’ve used on a number of blogs since early college, and I kind of feel like I’ve outgrown it; and b) I have run across a couple criticisms of the world “lame” as a synonym for nerdy/something negative, and how that’s a problem for the differently-able community. It would never have occurred to me, but since it’s been pointed out–and language is very important to me (I am so in love with this post from Shakes that I’ve left it saved in my Bloglines feeds for a couple weeks now). I’d like to live up to my own ideology, so I’m brainstorming alternate titles. Suggestions are welcome!