Michael Writes

The first time I did a detox was physically draining, emotionally charged and ultimately a life-transforming experience.  That time it was 100% raw food for 3 weeks and by the end I felt amazing.  So amazing that I did a detox at least twice a year following that first time.  Then life happened.

In the interest of full disclosure it has been 3 years since I did a detox of any sort and somehow I forgot how hellish the first few days of any detox program can be.  For that reason I want you to understand that I am in no way speaking ill of the product at this point, I just want to relay some information about the processes that are happening in my body and how that is making me feel.

This program consists of four pills, each with a job to do.  You take a packet of pills with each meal (three times a day) for 14 days.  The four pills are listed in the documentation as:

• Michael’s Fat Metabolism Factors™
  Ingredients:  B6, Potassium (for fluid balance), Guggul Gum, White Ash Bark (for fat elimination)
• Michael’s Hepatic Factors™
  Ingredients:  Choline, Inositol (for fat burning and processing), Lecithin (fat emulsifier), Milk Thistle Seed (liver support)
• Michael’s Blood Detoxification Factors™
  Ingredients:  Burdock & Yellow Dock Root (liver support), Iron (hemoglobin), Zinc, Manganese, Molybdenum (for detoxing enzymes), Red Clover Flower (liver support), Gotu Kola (Oxygen transport)
• Michael’s Intestinal Tract Factors™
  Ingredients:  Apple Pectin, Psyllium (soluble fiber), Flax, Marshmallow, Slippery Elm (mucilaginous), Rice Bran, Peach Bark, Butternut Root Barks (insoluble fiber), Montmorillonite Clay (absorption)

Okay, now on to what it is doing to me.

I didn’t notice much difference whatsoever on Day 1.  If anything I went to the bathroom less than normal, but it was fairly close.  Then there was Day 2.  Wow. What a difference a day makes.  This quickly (about 36 hours into the first pills) my body is throwing toxins into my bloodstream that have given me a kickass migraine.  A couple of hours later came those wonderful flu-like symptoms we all love so much including a low-grade temperature that has given me chills on a day that hit at least 93 degrees. 

This is a good reminder for me, believe it or not.  I am always suggesting some form of detox to people as a way to clear impurities from their bodies and start with a clean slate and I even tell them ‘yeah, it’s gonna make you feel like crap for a couple of days’.  I know that if this had been my first experience with a detox, the symptoms would have made me want to stop. 

Thankfully I know better, so there will be a Day 3  I hope it isn’t as physically taxing as today has been but if it is then I’m just paying the price for the hell I have put my body through over the past few years.  Case in point:  I smoked my last cigarette 27 weeks, 5 days ago and have yet to do a detox to remove all of that crap from my system.  That reason alone is all the explanation I need for these symptoms.

Stay tuned, kids.  I may be doing this for my benefit but I’m writing about it for yours.

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Today I began a 14 day cleanse and detox product called Ultimate Detox & Cleanse by Michael’s Naturopathic Programs (no relation).  I don’t have a great deal to report about it yet, given I have been on the program for less than 24 hours but I will be doing a full review of the product at the conclusion of the 2-week detox period, so stay tuned for that.

This is far from my first experience with body detoxification and each one has been drastically different from the others so I am sure this one will be no exception.

My first detox was actually done with raw foods through the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach and was thus far the most profound of my experiences with body detoxification, but I will write more about that at another time.

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In fact, if you heard the news today about Proposition 8 being upheld in California and you aren’t offended by that, then I don’t really give a damn what you think about much of anything if I’m being truthful.  I am a gay man and i am sick and tired of the second class mindset that has pervaded my GLBT community. 

I’m sick to my stomach that I have to give a second thought to whether or not it is appropriate for me to reach over and hold my lover’s hand in public because of who it might offend.

I’m sick and tired of people in positions of sanctimonious authority playing multiple choice with the United States Constitution and picking and choosing which of the tax-paying citizens and law-abiding “We the People” it was meant to protect.

In this country we can award Will & Grace 16 Emmys and award a dozen Emmys to Ellen DeGeneres – the woman whose prime time sitcom was banned in many parts of the country because of her coming out episode, but in this country it is still not federally recognized for me to marry my partner if I so choose.

In the state of California there are now approximately 18,000 same sex couples –several of whom are my dear friends – who remain legally married after Prop 8 was upheld, as though the California Supreme Court somehow thought that would be a nice consolation prize that would shut those loudmouth fags and dykes up.

I AM NOT GOING TO SHUT UP.  I AM NOT A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN.  I WILL NOT STAND IDLY BY AND LET YOU LEGISLATE HATE.

This generation has not been blessed with a Harvey Milk to speak up on our behalf and to rally us together and for that I am even more deeply saddened.  Too many in the GLBT community today are too busy tweezing, plucking, tweaking, cruising and generally being self-absorbed to realize that we are on the brink of a major breakthrough that could change things for all of us.  It is time to get off your ass and scream.  BE ENRAGED.  THESE ARE YOUR RIGHTS THEY ARE TAKING AWAY.

Don’t give me your bullshit about “tolerance” either.  As my dear friend Shannon said to me a few moments ago, "I "tolerate" a yapping dog down the street. I "tolerate" smokers. I don’t want your "tolerance." Keep it.   If you see me as anything less than equal to you, then you need to take one more step because you’re awfully close to falling off that teetering pedestal you built for yourself and if you aren’t careful, an army of pinko commie fags are going to  knock it out from under you.

I refuse to be treated as anything other than an equal citizen.  If you have a problem with that then go to hell because you are not worth my time.

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I had planned on keeping this entirely to myself until it actually happens but I just can’t help myself.

After a seven year hiatus from the airwaves, I will be making my triumphant return with a brand new 2 hour Internet-based radio show in the very near future.  Beyond that I am not going to reveal much other than the fact that if you were a listener to my show back in the day you can expect more of the same as far as some of the best independent and unsigned musicians on the planet.

That said, the new show is not just going to be about music, oh no… there is a lot more in the works than just that!

Like I said, I’m not going to give too much away too early but here are a few tidbits:

  ->  This will be a live ‘net radio show airing weekly

  ->  Shows will be archived and made available in podcast form

  ->  Music, Interviews, Social Commentary and more…

So, are you tantalized yet?

Ready to tune in?

Great, because I am so excited about the new show I can’t begin to tell you!

Stay tuned… this is about to get really  fun.

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Someone sent me a copy of this recently.  It is an editorial that I wrote for the New York Gay City News in the summer of 2002.

Wow, I was quite the bitchy so-and-so, wasn’t I?

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