Mark at Zeitzeuge is one of the sweetest men I have ever had the
pleasure to not meet. He simply has the biggest heart. I know I'm not alone in
my opinion and many, many people feel the same way. Blogging only for eight
month, he has cultivated a large following who read about his adventures in
Dallas with his close circle of friends, stories about his past and his down
home charm. He is quite a remarkable guy.

BRIAN: I actually had to look up what zeitzeuge meant. Why did you
name your blog this?

MARK: A good friend of mine in Germany helped name my site actually. Zeitzeuge,
pronounced Tsite-Tsoyga, means "a contemporary witness to a specific time, place or era in
History.

B: What about the name appealed to you?

M: It was so different. Unlike any blog name that i had seen before. I wanted something
eye-catching and something that would cause people to ask questions.

B: That is does. Tell me what prompted you to start blogging.

M: I began reading weblogs about two years ago. My friend Gary and I started talking and realized that we both were reading many of the same people. One thing lead to another and he asked if we should start one ourselves.
We were up and running a few weeks later.

B: How long have you been blogging?

M: I started September 17, 2003. Just a few days before my birthday actually.

B: One thing I noticed immediately about your site is you seemed to never run out of things to post.
Where does that come from?

M: I've actually stopped and asked myself the same question. I've been lucky to have experienced so many things in my life, dated many kinds of people, come from a wonderful yet bizarre family. Things just pop into head from nowhere quite often.

B: Does your family read your site?

M: No, not at all. I decided in the beginning, for me to be very open, honest and blunt, that I didn't want to ever have family, lovers and some friends hinder me from writing about what I want.

B: You are very open and honest on your blog. Has it ever gotten you in trouble?

M: So far it hasn't. I've always been a very open and honest person in general. I wanted my blog to reflect exactly who
I was as a person also. I don't hide my emotions or what I think. I find that most people respect me for being this way. But you never know, my day of upsetting someone is bound to happen.

B: So you've never posted something and later regretted it?

M: There have been a few times when I write about HIV that I've wanted to delete the entry. I never want to come across as
"Pity me. I'm HIV." or "Please feel sorry for me." due to what I've gone through.
Sometimes I reread those entries and cringe. Other than that, I've been pretty happy with all that I've posted about.

B: Personally, I think it's important that you do post about having HIV.
For one, it's a part of who you are. For another, I think it gives insight into the life of someone who has
HIV for someone out there in the ether who may not know anyone who has HIV.

M: That's exactly how I feel also. I've already had a few people send me personal emails asking for advice and to tell me their story. That means more to
me than people realize. I, at times, felt that I became positive for a reason and maybe helping someone else go through it is reason enough.

B: So I know you've already met one blogger in person and are going to
meet a slew of them in
New York next month. What do you think about this whole network of friends you've made solely through blogging?

M: It's absolutely amazing. Something that I never dreamed would happen. I just wanted a little site to tell silly stories about my past and my current life. I never thought I would be meeting so many people that I can actually call my friends. I don't take making friends lightly. They mean the world to me as do many bloggers already.

B: I like the post when you were sick and a blogger had food sent to your
house.

M: That's when I realized that I had met "real" people who would be lifelong friends. For someone who's only read my entries and chatted on the phone possibly twice, to send me enough food for an army, was one of the sweetest things.

B: That is pretty cool. So who all are you going to meet at the NYC Bloggerpalooza?

M: I will be in New York from May 21 to 24 and I think the last count was close to
ten bloggers or more. I'll be staying with Matt from
'Til the Cows Come Home. I'll be meeting
Ruggerjohnnyd, Crash,
Patch, Bobzyeruncle,
Watersea, Homer's
World, Addaboy hopefully, Rob Byrnes and of course my favorite,
Zenchick. I know there's a few others that have mentioned coming up for the weekend also.
If I've forgotten anyone, they'll kill me.

B: Zenchick is one of my faves too. I feel incredibly lucky to have "met" her. I suppose I have you to thank for that, since I stumbled onto her blog from yours.

M: I'm glad you've had the chance to get to know her also. I sometimes swear we were separated at birth. I look to her like a sister almost. I know I'll probably get all teary eyed when I see her for the first time.
She's one of those "friends for life" bloggers.

B: It is so cool that you are going to meet that many bloggers over your weekend. It really
will be a "Palooza".

M: Oh, I know! It started off as just a small weekend getaway to see New
York for the first time and meet a few people. It kind of grew from there.

B: So let's switch gears here. Tell me about your life as an artist. I find your glasswork and drawings so incredible and powerful.

M: Well, being an artist for me started at a very young age. My mother tells me that when
I was probably four or five years old, I refused to use coloring books and colors. I wanted a blank pad and a pencil. I had to make my own drawings. I took every art class
I could when I was in junior and senior high. It was from the encouragement of my parents to
pursue art and to drop my accounting major. Yes, the truth is out. Drawing to me is the most pure way for me to express myself.I couldn't see my life without the ability to draw.Most of my work people have regarded as 'difficult to look at'. I find my work quite humorous for the most part, but yes, it deals with very serious subjects.

B: I think some of the best art is difficult to look at. Art
isn't always about seeing pretty or soothing images. It is suppose to challenge us and take us to places we might not always want to go.

M: Exactly. I want people to look at my work and see many things. My glass professor saw the only
"HIV" related drawing I ever did. It was a picture of me with a pistol sticking out of my unbuttoned jeans with a flower stuck in the
barrel of the gun. I had the words "my dick can kill" tattooed on my stomach. He still has the drawing, but it resides in his closet.

B: Wow! That is very provocative. Do you see blogging as an extension of your artistic side or is it something altogether different?

M: I'm still trying to figure that out. I've had a few people tell me that I'm a good writer or that I should attempt writing a book. I don't see myself as a writer and probably never will. I'll leave that up to the professionals. I just felt like I had something to say and hopefully someone would like to hear about it.
I would like to use my blog for showcasing more of my artwork. That's my main goal.

B: Tell me about the drawing you use for your banner.

M: I was asked to enter a drawing competition a few years back. I was battling coming out of the closet and dealing with my religious upbringing. I felt like there was this constant battle to do what was right or what I've always been told.
I felt like there was this internal battle between good versus evil or right
versus wrong going on. The entire drawing, which you can't see on my site, has an angel tattoo on one side and a cloaked demonic figure on the other, showing the battle I think we all face on a daily basis. The tattoo of the cross on my arm showed how so many people 'wear" their religion on their sleeve. Showing it off.
I've never been able to understand why I have a smirk on my face.

B: I think it's part of your devilish charm.

M: Ah, thanks. Despite the serious subject, I always try to see the lighter side of things.
I have too. Life would be too difficult.

B: You recently posted about your experience with angels. (See Parts One,
Two and Three.)
What kind of reaction did you get from your readers about it? Any skeptics?

M: That had to be three of the most difficult entries to write about. I was basically scared shitless. I was more worried about what people would think. Then a wise blogger reminded me that I blog for myself first and foremost. So
I told the stories. Even a few bloggers who I knew would be very skeptical, thanked me for telling the story and had to admit they believed in angels themselves.
I just didn't want to come across as some religious nut.

B: Are you religious?

M: I would call myself spiritual. I was raised a very strict Pentecostal
until I was 25 years old. We were in church four times a week. My grandfather was a traveling evangelist. My mother and her sisters were the founders of our church back home. I realized later on in life that I didn't need an organized religion to tell me how to lead my life. I like to say I follow a more spiritual path. It's easy to take the boy out of the church, but taking the church out of the boy is a little more difficult.

B: Now comes the last part of the interview, the Final Four. Are you ready?

M: Ready as I'll ever be.

B: Whom do you admire most? In what way does that person inspire you?

M: I would have to say my father who passed away ten years ago. He worked so hard to make the lives of his family the best it could be.
He never complained but just kept on going until the day he died. He was such a fighter. I hope to be more like him all the time.

B: If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?

M: The ability to heal.
B: For what in life do you feel most grateful?

M: I feel most grateful for the time I've been given so far to meet so many incredible people and experience so many things up until now.

B: If you were guaranteed honest responses to any three questions, who would you question and what would you ask?

M: Oh wow. This goes back to my father. I would ask him what heaven is like, who's up there with him and if he's proud of me.

B: Thanks for doing this Mark. I appreciate it.

M: Oh no problem Honey. I was excited to do it.