Memory, Meaning, Identity, Icons, and Transformation

"How can you
expand time by infusing it with a sense of meaning?
How can you replace chronological time (chronos) with spiritual time (kairos)?
How can you celebrate your life, your identity?
What personal Icons or symbols can serve as touchstones?
How can this illness become your key to transformation?

Remember the example of Viktor Frankl
who said that even the horrors of a concentration camp could not rob him of his wife's love."

view my film for free now!

Electric City ~ far from Normal from Dennis Neal Vaughn on Vimeo.

Dennis Neal Vaughn’s autobiographical short film, “Electric City ~ Far From Normal," tells his personal life story of a man's journey from rural Central Illinois and a town named Normal to begin a new life in San Francisco. The short film deals with his coming to terms with his AIDS diagnosis and how he must adapt to changes and grow from the experience. The film is based on Mr. Vaughn’s short story, “The City Was Electric.”

Timeline and History

July 2003 - diagnosed HIV+

April 2004 - partner of 19 years dies from 3rd heart attack

May 2005 - Sold everything and bought a one way plane ticket for San Francisco.

July 2006 - diagnosed co-infected with HEPC, began taking ATRIPLA for HIV

August 2006 - had toxic allergic reaction to the Sustiva in the Atripla - liver goes into toxic shock

September 2006 - taken off all meds, liver biopsy done. Begin DILIN medical study

November 2006 - start new HIV drug regimen of Truvada and Kaletra (5 pills/day)

December 2006 - became undetectable for HIV.
Write short story "The City Was Electric."
Begin pre-qualify for experimental medical treatment for HEPC

January 18, 2007 - meet Mark Petty

February 14, 2007 - move in with Mark

April 4, 2007 - start 48 weeks of experimental medical treatment for HEPC. 100cc injection/week of Interferon plus 1200mg/daily of Ribavarin

May 2007 - become undetectable for HEPC.

August 2007 - return to Illinois for first time, begin filming for "Electric City"

March 2008 - end experimental treatment for HEPC, remain undetectable

May 2008 - CA Supreme Court overturns ban on same sex marriage.
Return to Illinois and film in Chicago and Central Illinois.

August 30, 2008 - Mark and I get married.

November 4, 2008 - Barak Obama elected first African american for president, PROP H8TE in CA passes.

December 1 , 2008 - WORLD AIDS DAY - "Electric City - Far From Normal" premieres at the Normal Theatre in Normal Illinois.

Updates & Latest News!

New! Press release - see below

New film production stills - to view or download, click on film still above.

Please note that all money raised from the film will be given to AIDS/HIV service organizations and education which includes:

Advocacy Council for Human Rights
Bloomington, IL

McLean County AIDS Task Force
Bloomington IL
http://www.mcatf.org/

Triangle Association
Illinois State University
Normal, IL

Shanti/L.I.F.E.
San Francisco
http://www.shanti.org/

“ELECTRIC CITY” – FAR FROM NORMAL

Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“ELECTRIC CITY”FAR FROM NORMAL,
A slice of life from the Heartland to San Francisco.
Film to premiere on World Aids Day, 2008.

NORMAL, IL, & SAN FRANCISCO, CA, AUGUST 3, 2008 –

What: Dennis Neal Vaughn’s autobiographical short film, “Electric City” – Far From Normal, tells his personal life story of a man's journey from rural Central Illinois and a town named Normal to begin a new life in San Francisco. The short film deals with his coming to terms with his AIDS diagnosis and how he must adapt to changes and grow from the experience. The film is based on Mr. Vaughn’s short story, “The City Was Electric.”

When and Where: The film will screen on the 26th anniversary of World Aids Day, December 1, 2008 at the Normal Theatre in Normal, Illinois funded in part by a Town of Normal Harmon Arts Grant made possible with the Human Rights Advocacy Council, the McLean County Aids Task Force of Illinois, and the Triangle Association of Illinois State University.

Who: Dennis Neal Vaughn, from an outside perspective, would be considered, well, normal. Normal also just so happened to be the name of the Central Illinois town where he attended college. He grew up just a few miles West of Normal, Illinois on a small country farm approximately two hours south of Chicago, Illinois.

However, his life would not follow any easy or “normal” path. Despite his Heartland roots and a traditional Midwestern upbringing, Mr. Vaughn would find himself coming out as a gay man living with HIV. He would also learn that he was co-infected with HepC, as are 1 out of every 3 people diagnosed with HIV.

Why: Artist turned filmmaker, Dennis Neal Vaughn was diagnosed HIV+ in July 2003. Many from his home area who also are HIV+ are still to this day stigmatized and isolated from this disease by their family, friends, and community.

Mr. Vaughn’s film gives a vision and a voice to many like him who must learn to cope with the disease. For Mr. Vaughn, it is the discovery that the simple things of life bring him the most meaning.

Currently Mr. Vaughn is a member of The San Francisco Film Society as well as Frameline (The LGBT Film Association) in San Francisco, CA where he now resides. Mr. Vaughn is a past vice-president of the Independent Feature Project/Midwest's board of directors in Chicago, Illinois, part of the largest national not-for-profit independent film arts organization.

Mr. Vaughn's film work includes the short films "Autumn Blues" and "Techno Lamp" which aired on MTV and MTV.com. Mr. Vaughn also wrote and directed the feature film "Mama Medea" which screened at the Chicago Alt.film Fest, as well as the short film "an enigma." He holds a Master of Arts degree in photography and drawing. He has a Bachelor of Arts with honors in theatre, both degrees from Illinois State University.

###

"ELECTRIC CITY" FILMS IN SAN FRANCISCO AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS, awarded a Harmon Arts Grant

Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE FILM:

AXIS MUNDI FILMS and BULLMAZE PRODUCTIONS are filming the short film "ELECTRIC CITY" based on the true life short story, "The City Was Electric" by the former central Illinois native DENNIS NEAL VAUGHN. Filming in Chicago and Normal, Illinois as well as rural central Illinois is slated for production May 21 – May 28, 2008. Filming in San Francisco and the Castro neighborhood will continue through the end of July, 2008.

"Electric City" tells the true life story of a man's journey from rural Central Illinois to begin a new life in San Francisco. The short film deals with his coming to terms with his AIDS diagnosis and how he must adapt to changes and grow from the experience.

He discovers that the simple things of life bring him the most meaning. Even the simple act of smiling at a stranger whom he passes on the street takes on an all new meaning and impact upon his life.

The film will screen on World Aids Day, December 1, 2008 at the Normal Theatre in Normal, Illinois funded in part by a Harmon Arts Grant provided through The Human Rights Advocacy Council and the McLean County Aids Task Force of Illinois.

THE DIRECTOR/WRITER:

Artist turned filmmaker, Dennis Neal Vaughn was diagnosed HIV+ in July 2003. Mr. Vaughn's film work includes the short films "Autumn Blues" and "Techno Lamp" which aired on MTV and MTV.com.

Currently Mr. Vaughn is a member of The Film Arts Foundation and Frameline in San Francisco, CA where he now resides. Mr. Vaughn is a past vice-president of the Independent Feature Project/Midwest's board of directors in Chicago, Illinois, part of the largest national not-for-profit independent film arts organization. The 19th Annual CableACE Awards invited Mr. Vaughn to serve as a finalist juror for cinematography in a movie or mini-series.

Mr. Vaughn also wrote and directed the feature film "Mama Medea" which screened at the Chicago Alt.film Fest, as well as the short film "an enigma." He holds a Master of Arts degree in photography and drawing. He has a Bachelor of Arts with honors in theatre, both degrees from Illinois State University.

###

Contact:

Axis Mundi Films and Bullmaze Productions

bullmaze@gmail.com

"THE CITY WAS ELECTRIC" short story by Dennis Neal Vaughn ©

There were many ways that I could have begun. There were many points along the way that would have worked.

I chose to begin with a blank page, as fresh a start as I could possibly make. My own proverbial clean slate as they say.

So, I sorted through and packed up my meager belongings into 5 bags.

I had sold everything off or gave away all that which did not fit into one of my five assorted cases. None of the luggage matched at all which was ironically appropriate for my circumstances and me.

The bus groaned to a stop in the small mid-western college town, which was a good twenty miles from the very tiny farm where I had grown up. It was a dark and chilly start to this early May morning. Each breath that I exhaled billowed forth in a shivering plume as I waited on the stark wooden bench for the buses arrival. The creaky worn bus was the only means of transport I could afford to get me to the airport just south of Chicago. However, at that moment it was of greater concern to me that it meant that I had twenty dollars less in my pocket. I boarded the nearly empty charter bus with each of my clumsy bags in tow and settled down as best I could next to a window.

The sun’s first rays began to spill over the vast prairie’s horizon and split the night in half as the bus lumbered North on the tarnished silver colored cement highway. Dawn began to mark a new day. It was the hour of the pearl as Steinbeck described it in “Cannery Row” where time stops and examines itself. It was my favorite time of all. I often would awake at this very hour and I enjoyed it more than any other time of day. There was a certain hush, a stillness to it, which had a calming effect upon me despite what else was happening all over the world or to me in my life. It was the only time of day that I truly enjoyed a cup of hot coffee with sweet vanilla cream.

I felt one with the world and the world was one with me in return. The world was all mine to myself despite the havoc and the chaos and the destruction and the emotional turmoil. My life was a mess. Truly and utterly it was a mess. A beautiful mess that was all mine. I embraced it. I claimed it. I rejoiced in it. I loved it. It was the only life I had. It was either I get on that bus and then on that plane in order to live or my life as I knew of it would drain into the deep bowels of the black prairie soil that my father had tilled as a farmer all those many, many years.

I had decided to leave behind all that I knew and move to the edge of the earth, where East meets West, where land meets water and the sun kisses the sky. To be able to tell where one realm of the world began and the other ended was often indistinguishable. The money I had been able to literally scrape together had bought me a one-way plane ticket for San Francisco. I knew no one who actually lived there. San Francisco was a mythical and mystical Siren. It called to me without ever uttering a word. It echoed to me it was home, so I went.

Hours later the plane touched down and I began to feel it at that very moment. The city was electric. The unique street cars, from cities all around the world, each gave off sparks from the wires overhead that propelled them as they marched up and down Market Street through the very heart of San Francisco. Their steel wheels polished the steel rails they rode on and both blazed brightly as the sun and sparks glinted off them.

I have come to realize that this was neither a beginning nor an ending. Instead it was simply one great unforgettable moment in time and place in my life. Familiar, yet, it was a total stranger to me. It was old and new in the very same instant. San Francisco was both an old world European city as well as technologically futuristic as any city in the world ever hoped it could, would, and should be.

A year and a half would quickly pass after my arrival. Then I would come to face it.

Twenty-five years of AIDS in America. December 1, 2006, World AIDS Day.

I was but one of many, and many were but one.

The five precious bags I had moved with were now replaced with five precious pills a day to keep me alive, at least for now.

I had decided soon after beginning to take meds that my voice needed words, so I wrote. My hands needed action so I began to draw. Together with my voice and my hands my eyes began to unveil the energized mysteries that had both surrounded me and eluded me in the many cracks and crevices of my brain.

I needed to speak up, to speak out, to stop hiding and end my shame and embarrassment. No, I must let my one voice become many, and many one. To hear a voice is not to listen, but to be heard is invaluable.

Who would hear me? All it took was one. One was enough to start with. So I started with myself. I listened to myself. I quieted myself and listened to the voice of my soul from deep within me. I heard the old cries. I heard the distant pangs of pain. More importantly and overwhelmingly, I heard the joy and the laughter and the resounding bells that love had given me. Love that no one could ever take away from me or diminish for me. It was a love that I needed to learn to share and spread. Be it even so small as a smile when I passed a stranger on the street.

Once more I thought of what was said to me by Anthony, my beloved partner of nineteen years who had died from heart failure a year before I had moved to San Francisco. Anthony’s voice rang forth deep within me, “pennies make dollars.” It was the little things that mattered most. The most meager of sums that made the greatest differences in ways that I had only begun to embrace and believe in.

“Pennies make dollars.”

Literally and figuratively, this simple phrase kept echoing and building and growing within me. It had always been there and secretly rewarded me time and again.

It was time I be good to myself.

This was my time to be alive, even if it were only for a moment.

I found myself at the center of the universe. I smiled at the strangers on the street as I passed.

They smiled back.

The city was electric.

©

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

MILK