Editor's Note: Hello, readers! Those of you who read my interview with Jack Mackenroth may recall that I mentioned a recent conversation with an HIV positive friend. Said friend told me that he admires Mackenroth's bravery in telling the world he's HIV positive.

Though he's not personally ready to reveal his identity, my chum agreed to a taped conversation, which I've since transcribed, edited and posted after the jump. As a little context, my friend's moving from Los Angeles back to his parents' home.

Read the conversation, think about it and consider how you can avoid finding yourself in a similar situation, ie: use condoms and don't shoot drugs - or at least use a clean needle!

Also, I've included a few HIV/AIDS awareness commercials from all over the world. The one you see above comes to us from Estonia circa 1990 or so. It's queer.

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Jack Mackenroth needs no introduction, we're sure.

We all know the designer from Project Runway. We all know he left the Bravo reality show after developing a antibiotic resistant staph infection, but bounced back like a champ. And, of course, we all know he looks good naked.

We bet there's plenty you don't know about handsome Mackenroth. For example, do you know how many siblings he has? Do you know what went down when he found out he's HIV positive? Why doesn't he talk to his father? What's his next step? These questions and many more will be answered in this installment of The Home Issue!

(PS: Mackenroth appeared on NBC Nightly News last night to talk about MRSA. The video's after the jump - on page three, to be exact.)

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New York City's an ever-changing organism. And queer architect Charles Renfro's keeping it healthy.

With his colleagues at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which he joined in 1997, Renfro has worked or continues to work on some of fair city's most exciting projects the Brooklyn Academy of Music Cultural District, Lincoln Center and the High Line: a once-abandoned train track known for eye-popping interaction between industry and nature.

Our editor recently sit down with Renfro in his firm's 11th Avenue office. Read what Renfro has to say about New York's fluid cultural identity, eco living and how he uses gentrification for good - after the jump, of course.

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Minnesota "manorexic" Jeremy Gillitzer won't be celebrating the holidays with his family. The former model - who we first met last October - has found himself forcibly committed to Minneapolis' Eating Disorder Institute.

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The winter months can be tough, readers. We know you don't have the energy or inclination to trudge to the gym. That's why we asked Billy Polson for his advice. The RealJock.com Strong and Lean 12-Week Workout program and the founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body personal training gym, which was voted the best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006 and 2007.

A competitive swimmer and triathlete in his own right, Polson has over 15 years of experience working as a coach and trainer, and was named by Men's Journal as one of the Top 100 Trainers in America in 2005. In 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle named him one of the Top 10 Trainers in the Bay Area. So, basically, Polson knows his shit.

Before we get into the groove, you should read what Polson had to say to our muscular editor (pictured)*.

Psych!

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New York residents Evan and Addison (left and right) recently became domestic partners. Our editor sat down with them to talk about growing up gay in Texas, Devo and how things get slippery…

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Jeremy Hall never in a million years would have imagined himself a porn star. In fact, the Canadian national started his adulthood as a construction worker, a lifestyle that proved too restrictive. Eager to show off and explore his burgeoning sexuality, Hall embarked on a career in flesh flicks. Hall wanted more, however, and soon launched his eponymous website, where he regularly recruits and penetrates college jocks.

How did this reformed closet case find his way from Vancouver into your home? He tells our editor, after the jump…

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Los Angeles-based musician Linda Strawberry spent nearly seven years on the road. She ran away from home at eighteen. She has toured with the Smashing Pumpkins as a sound engineer and appeared on Billy Corgan's solo album. Her Mormon family fears for her soul and her brother's a missionary in Indonesia. Think this 26-year old doesn't have anything to say about home? Well, you're wrong, because she's got plenty to share.

Our editor and Strawberry spent two weeks trying to get in touch, but technical difficulties and swollen throats prevented a conversation until this weekend. Read what transpired, after the jump. Oh, and we've also included Strawberry's track, "Fuck You, I'm Beautiful".

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Our previous installments of The Home Issue have revolved around design, interior and aesthetic.

We're shifting focus today with an interview between our editor and travel writer Mike Luongo. Luongo's longed to travel since childhood and has traveled around the globe documenting life in Afghanistan, Iraq and Argentina, among many, many others.

The New York-based journalist just edited and released Gay Travels In The Muslim World: an anthology of anecdotes and impressions from and of the Middle East. Though he and Belonsky definitely discuss the book, their conversation veers into religion, the parameters of democratization and the ever-troublesome "other".

Check it out, after the jump.

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Artist John Mahoney may never had turned his art into wallpaper had it not been for Dennis Shah.

Bombay born, New York-based Shah currently presides over Studio Printworks: a creative collective that wants nothing more than to beautify your walls. We recently sat down with Shah to get a closer look at his business, artistic vision and bedroom…

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Wallpaper's got a bad rap. Long the home decor choice for overzealous grannies and tacky rich people, floor-to-ceiling paper products have nearly become a thing of the past: a throwback to the days of yore.

Luckily there's a new breed of wallpaper creators intent on bringing interior coverings back to the forefront. New York City's Studio Printworks specializes in fine accoutrement, offering the consumer dozens of unique creations.

John Mahoney's just one of the Studio's army of artists, but he's also one of the best. We caught up with Mahoney recently to chat about his definition of home, kimonos, Frank Miller, the Quakers, art and, of course, wallpaper.

See what he has to say for himself - after the jump…

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Welcome to The Home Issue, reader!

We're going to be spending the next few weeks nestling in for the cold winter months. In addition to busting up inside some local abodes, we'll be spending some time looking at design, art, games, books and ideas to keep you occupied until things start heating up.

Brooklyn-based interior designer Chad McPhail starts things off on a hospitable note: he and his boyfriend, Grizzly Bear guitarist Ed Droste, opened their door to our vagabond editor and photographer. See what transpired, after the jump.

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