AFriendlyFace

Lookin' snazzy! Were you off to a formal event?

Or so Jewel said in her single Hands I believe it personally. In the end there's not much else really. Kindness is simple. Kindness is honest. Kindness trumps all else. Kindness is more important than being right, more important than being better, more important than agreeing, more important even than love. What is love without kindness? Nothing I'd want to see. Really I think kindness is love, and forgiveness, and mercy, and humility all rolled into one. Kindness is comforting someone who betrayed you. Kindness is making sacrifices for someone you don't even know. Kindness is giving someone another chance. Kindness is letting someone go. Kindness is giving yourself permission to feel, to hurt, to love, to cry, to trust, to hope. Kindness is not saying I told you so. Kindness is both lying and telling the truth. Kindness comes from the heart, not the mind. Kindness heals. Kindness heals without expectations, or desire, or need, or any other condition. Kindness is irrational. True kindness isn't something one offers only to friends, but to strangers and enemies alike. Anyone can be kind to a friend or a lover, it is being kind to someone who has wronged us that shows true purity of heart. Kindness is not condescending. Kindness is not found in pride or bribery or religion. Kindness does not make us better people; kindness makes us people. In the end only kindness matters.

Oh no, how terrible. I'm so sorry. Please keep us posted. -Kevin

Welcome to the site, George! It's great to have you -Kevin

Awwww, sweet!

Awwww Very adorable indeed

Wasn't it in a thread last year about a new gay and lesbian culture/history degree that was being offered? Eh, I may be wrong, but I know I've seen it on here before. Great clip, I really like it!

I was wondering what had become of him myself! I do hope he's okay.

Hey Tim Thanks...actually though it didn't really have to do with finding a guy at all. I was more or less just talking about my platonic relationships. Also, it's definitely not that I don't want to stay in them, just that I'm not sure I want to stay in a physical/geographical sense in the first place. If you're looking to get settled in though I hope you are somewhere where you'll be happy for a long time to come then

An imaginary friendship is good enough. Kevin, these lines from Yeats's "The Municipal Gallery Revisited" may be of interest: "Think where man's glory most begins and ends, And say my glory was I had such friends." Oh Corvus! I love those lines and hadn't thought of them in years! Thanks so much for posting them!

Thanks Drew

Tim, I've sold both Life and Health, and my experiences were mixed. I won't tell you it's horrible, nor will I tell you it's fantastic. It depends heavily on YOU, but unfortunately it doesn't depend on you so much in the positive ways that they mention. It's always marketed to new agents as coming down to their drive, hard-working attitude, and desire to help people. Yeah, not so much. What it more often comes down to is your ability to be very pushy without quite alienating people. It very often means knowingly talking someone into buying something they can only barely afford and won't need for a long time. It means having to 'up-sell' more than they really need to get a better commission/better numbers, and then having to convince yourself "well, now they're extra covered," or some other nonsense. Everything Mark and Vic said is true based on my experiences. It's also not really a good option if you're looking for a career. Most of the promises are based on staying with a company ten or more years and being 'vested'. Yeah, that is great if you can do it, but in all honesty in the two years I worked in the industry (a year in health, a year in life, give or take a few months) I met hundreds of agents, and only about ten or twelve who had actually been doing it for ten years or longer. With only about two or three exceptions they no longer in the field at that point but were working in various administrative capacities. Even if you're good at it and do well there's no guarantee you'll like it. I did 'well' for the most part, and a lot about it suited me very nicely. Nevertheless, I grew to more or less hate it. I knew someone else who was doing phenomenally and really was on track to be knocking back the kind of money they promise. She still only lasted about 4 years before she got completely burned out and abruptly quit (and she was still at the peak of her success). Of course that's if you want to be an actual selling insurance agent. If you're considering a non-sales related position in the insurance industry then that might be fine. On the other hand, I also have a friend who's been doing that for the last three years or so, and while it's very stable he assures me that it's also extremely boring and tedious. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I just really want to discourage you from going into it under the assumption that you'll get ahead based on hard work while helping people and building a long-term career. That really isn't at all accurate based on my experiences and those of the people I met. Better reasons to go into selling insurance would be a desire for a flexible, dynamic work environment in which you get to meet all types of people, and want to do something fast-paced for a short period of time. I really don't regret my experiences overall, indeed in many ways it suited me very well. It was definitely not a career type job. It's also not the sort of thing I'd have wanted to be doing if I weren't young and single. good luck and take care, Kevin

Wow Dion! That is some excellent advice! Over the past few days I have tried to do just that. Thanks

Happy Birthday

You're right, otherwise we might all get prostate cancer

Good find, Drew I'm all for interracial dating. I have an initially positive reaction to seeing an interracial couple (in other words all things being equal they get 'extra points' just for being interracial). I personally have dated people of all the major races, but primarily I've tended to go for Asians or Caucasians. I've had some very positive experiences with blacks and Hispanics, too though. I was also completely taken with an adorable Indian guy I ran into at the grocery store last night. -Kevin

I have some thoughts on this. Let me preface them by saying that I have a great deal of positive regard for Asians. I've dated several Asians, and I really like Asian people. Indeed, I'm slightly positively biased toward them. Anyway, I think this is completely blown out of proportion. What everyone needs to remember is that Miley is just a teenager. As such, she and her friends probably thought that was funny. It was in bad taste, and hopefully in the next several years she'll develop a greater sensitivity to such things, but isn't it the prerogative of youth to be indiscreet and flippant? What everyone ought to do is roll their eyes, shake their heads, and generally dismiss the whole nonsense. Actually though, I do agree with the "Get over it" response. I think anyone and everyone - regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. - has that reaction coming when they go out of their way to be offended by something. Mind you, while I think they have that reaction coming, that isn't the reaction I generally give to offended people. That usually only escalates the situation (case in point). It's generally more productive to be conciliatory and soothing. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the world would be a much better place if everyone went out of their way to avoid doing anything that might be construed as offensive while everyone else went out of their way to avoid being offended. The people involved did neither. Instead Miley and her crew acted in a way which can be perceived as offensive (even though I don't think it was meant to be and don't think it should be construed as such) and everyone else got all up in arms. In this case two wrongs certainly don't make a right. Now responding by blaming other ethnicities are calling groups of people racist most certainly is offensive, and definitely dirty pool. Anyway interesting thread, and I hope everyone who is offended gets over it feels better soon -Kevin

Welcome back

Hmm, I tend to be rather direct when it comes to sex. I usually call it: Sex F...... If I'm trying to be discrete/modest: Messing around hooking up If I'm trying to be romantic: Making love I might be specific about the activity involved ("topping", "bottoming", "flipping", "Blowing" etc.) I might be more euphemistic when describing a desire for sex (assuming I'm in a fairly vulgar setting): "I'd tap/nail/screw/do him" I did have a shy, semi-boyfriend awhile back. For him I would reference it as "getting together": "Do you want to get together later?" -Kevin

Well, I think there's one thing we can all agree on; receiving an annual PSA and being vigilant and proactive about your health is a great idea!

Amusing indeed I think it might be better suited to the humour forum though, so I'm going to shift it over there

Yes, I think it would fall to Eric to make the first move. Really, that's how it ought to be IMO. After all, Eric, not Jansen, is the one who identifies straight (at least presumably), thus it seems to me that it would be a bit disrespectful for Jansen to make the first move. I was always correctly assuming the thingy that physically makes the door open. John is the oldest, if I recall correctly. It is Eric who is the middle child and Chase who is the youngest. This would also sort of fit with the current theory that with each son a woman has her odds go up that the next one will be gay. That's a clever and plausible thought! It hadn't occurred to me, but it seems like it would be a good twist! Great chapter! -Kevin

Woo HOOO!! Way to go you guys! I'm so glad I asked! Reading about these events put me in a lovely mood in which to go to sleep

Aww thanks, Tob! That means a lot to me considering that you were one of the first people who ever read and commented on my blog. LOL, if you haven't gotten sick of it by now maybe they're not so terrible after all