Vaughn Ripley's Blog, page 6
August 27, 2012
How I Self Published
Since my book, Survivor, has come out, I have been asked a plethora of times what the process was, how long it took, and how I did it. So, I decided to create a blog article to detail what made me decide to self publish, the steps I went through, the pitfalls, my struggles, cost, [...]
August 24, 2012
Chiseled Abs
It seems that the whole world argues about whether big muscular men are attractive. Some believe that a sinuous (almost skinny) body of a runner looks best. While others look at the swimmer's build and wish to replicate it for themselves. And, yet another group looks at the massive bodybuilder physique and find that appealing. [...]
August 23, 2012
Stress Kills
The title is a bit ominous, but I honestly believe it's true! And, I'm not the only one. There are literally thousands of studies that show (and prove) that stress damages and deteriorates the immune system. Stress and related issues is such an important topic to me that I've previously posted about it ( Stress [...]
August 14, 2012
Sheepdog in Sheep’s Clothing
I am a warrior. And, I have warrior's blood flowing in my veins. My father fought in the Vietnam War and was awarded the Bronze Star for acts of bravery. That said, the joke is on me … I was born in the body of a hemophiliac. And, on top of that, I contracted HIV [...]
August 9, 2012
A Son’s Eulogy for Julien Kim Ripley
My dad, Julien Kim Ripley, died on December 4th, 2011 at 1:12 a.m. It has been almost a year and not a day goes by that I do not think about him. In tribute, I decided to blog a eulogy. Often when you see a headstone in a graveyard, it has the person's name and [...]
July 7, 2012
My Dream is a World Without AIDS
My claim to fame is being one of the longest surviving HIV+ people in the universe. This isn't exactly the coolest title to have, but I am proud of the fact that I've made it so far. I attribute much of my success and survivability to my family, friends, positive attitude, extreme fitness, medication, self-help [...]
June 27, 2012
P90X Redux
Many moons ago (actually two years ago) I bought and started the P90X® training routine. It was crazy tough and time consuming ... I only made it two weeks before giving in to time constraints. However, I never forgot how exhilarating the DVD set was. Now move forward in time with me to two weeks [...]
June 6, 2012
Social Media is Here to Stay
I occasionally hear some old school folks put social media down and I've even heard some say it is a passing fad. To that I say, "Bunkum!" Social media is not simply a passing fad. What you may find is that some of the social media SITES are passing fads. They come and go so [...]
May 28, 2012
Mountains of Misery 2012
I have a mighty tale of intrigue, adventure, and excruciating pain. A few months ago my good buddy, Keith, sent me an email calmly asking if I'd like to join him on a century. For the uninitiated, a "century" is a 100-mile long bicycle ride. As you can imagine, 100-mile on a bike is a [...]
