well, i didn’t take on anything as auspicious as Elisabeth this Thanksgiving holiday. no turkey prep for me! no, my major contribution was grocery shopping and queso preparation. gotta have chips and queso during football games and the long wait for the big bird.

it was a holiday worth mentioning. my wife invited her sister and sister’s boyfriend to spend the day with us. The sisters haven’t spoken or seen each other for more than two years.

the way i see it, my sister-in-law had believed some misinformation about my wife which led to resentment. i’m convinced the step-mother played a role in the misinformation. a wedge was driven between them that neither completely understood. their mother grieved for several years because she could never spend a holiday or any day together with her two daughters. she spoke her heart to both daughters, planting seeds of restoration in their hearts.

and just recently, it seems the seeds had sprouted. my mother-in-law heard from both daughters within a few weeks that each desired to be restored to the other. i don’t know why my sister-in-law suddenly wanted to know her sister. maybe she just had to go out into the world and see how irresponsible people and false friends live before she realized that my wife was worth knowing. i don’t know.

to make a long story short, i had the pleasure of watching two sisters literally drink up each other’s presence as though they were dying of thirst. i don’t know what has been happening in their hearts over the years, but they both seem ready and willing to slowly take on the task of reestablishing relationship. it is a delicate task. the hurts built up over a lifetime between siblings and family are not easily removed.

i was touched. it was the best Thanksgiving Day in a long time for me. i witnessed two sisters excited with eyes sparkling relief and joy. i can’t really put it into words. i respect the moment they shared.

my conclusion is this: if enemies can look into each other’s eyes and hope to be restored, then anything is possible. for this truth, i give thanks.

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This hip Dallas web design and SEO firm is providing internet banking solutions corporation AudioTel with new website, SEO, and a suite of web design templates for AudioTel customers.

VIZION Interactive announced today that it will design a new website for AudioTel Corporation. The updates will extend AudioTel’s brand to more banking organizations nationwide through search engine optimization, interactive press releases, and SEO friendly website architecture, design, and web development.

AudioTel Corporation was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Addison, Texas. AudioTel provides hundreds of banks throughout the United States with automated customer service products and front end designs for their websites. AudioTel’s affordable cutting edge products help independent banks compete with larger institutions by providing their customers with big bank benefits like online banking, online bill pay, and web hosting.

VIZION Interactive will design AudioTel’s website from the ground up, utilizing VIZION’s SEO friendly content management system. VIZION’s website design and web development will add a fresh new look and expanded capabilities. The creative staff will develop a suite of website design templates for AudioTel banking clients to choose from. Interactive press releases and optimized written content will improve their organic rankings among the major search engines.

“This is a good situation for both companies,” said Scott Doores, President of AudioTel Corporation. “The founders of VIZION Interactive have a strong reputation for delivering what they promise. They are client-centric, and we know they will work with us to create the best solutions to AudioTel’s needs. We anticipate a much stronger presence on the Web as a result of VIZION Interactive’s web design and SEO services.”

“It’s great to work with a company like AudioTel. They are a company you have to respect and have won many awards for providing tremendous customer service,” said Mark Jackson, CEO and Founder of VIZION Interactive. “They help smaller banks compete with the publicly traded banks. It strengthens our economy to help independents compete in the marketplace. We at VIZION Interactive get to participate by optimizing AudioTel’s online presence. The goal is to make the AudioTel website more accessible and easier to navigate. AudioTel’s website will become an even stronger sales and marketing tool that grows their business through lead generation.”

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the leaves are falling once again
disquieted spirits on the road again
we’ve sullied our sunday best again
the preacher says only believe again

i cannot return to the pain again
the sorrows they’ve begun to stain again
our wishes were baskets of hope again
and sunday’s our only reprieve again

they said we could never repair again
but they’ve only just noticed despair again
my shoulders, they ache from the weight again
yet the stars seem to call out my name again

there’s only one chance at hello again
but my back turns the color of fear again
we may never recover to blame again
but it’s starting to sound quite the same again

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my curiosity got the better of me. what the hell is a metrosexual? who came up with this term and why? is it the sum of effeminate qualities and undisclosed orientation?

i have several friends (men) who buy and wear women’s jeans because they like the cut and fit better. they buy bath products from Victoria Secret or Bath and Body Works. They occasionally wear eye liner when they go downtown for concerts and clubs. They own too many bottles of fragrance (not all for men either). They spend more time in front of mirrors than i spend eating meals each day.

i don’t know how, but i have an idea of what “metrosexual” means. i don’t know where it came from. but i’ve looked into it, and here’s what i’ve got. i just had to satisfy my curiosity.

“metrosexual” is a term coined in 1994 by British journalist Mark Simpson, who used it to refer to an urban male of any sexual orientation who has a strong aesthetic sense and spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle. the term comes from the combination of two words: metropolitan heterosexual. it refers to a young man concerned with self-image, self-indulgence, and money

he is the fasion-conscious target audience of men’s magazines.

metrosexuality was promoted primarily by magazines such as GQ, The Face, Esquire, Arena, and FHM. they filled their magazines with images of narcissistic young men sporting fashionable clothes and accessories. and they persuaded other young men to study them with a mixture of envy and desire.

outside Britain, metrosexual has congealed into something more digestible: a heterosexual male who is in touch with his feminine side - he color coordinates, cares deeply about exfoliation, and has perhaps “manscaped.”

in major urban areas such as San Francisco, Boston, NYC, Seattle, and Dallas, the metrosexual may be seen as a modern day fop or dandy. Like Victorian-era gentlemen, metrosexuals are sometimes considered especially masculine in the sense that they can relate to and empathize with women in an attempt to foster a relationship (or a sexual tryst) with them.

Mark Simpson’s own definition of 2002 is “The typical metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis — because that’s where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modelling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they’re pretty much everywhere.”

David Beckham, international soccer superstar, is the metrosexual icon. hes athletic and capable. he’s very good looking. he spends unimaginable amounts of time and money on his appearance. he’s worshipped and adored by millions of young men and women.

strangely enough, the term is used as a sort of parisian, upper class sophisticate/cool compliment at times, but was coined as a satirical criticism of the impact of consumerism and vanity upon traditional masculinity through media such as glossy men’s magazines.
a metrosexual is vain. vanity is required. a retrosexual is someone who rejects being finicky about physical appearance. he would be the opposite of the metrosexual.

the retrosexual lifestyle is most popular and societally accepted among men aged 18-24. however, the term is rarely used as in self-description by those men. they prefer terms such as “real man”, “old school”, or “masculine”. They reject the term “retrosexual” because the very use of it implies the normality of metrosexuality and the need of a similar term to describe its opposite.

A retrosexual may also be known as a man who rejects casual sex as mindless and immoral.

** most information on this post was found on Wikipedia.

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i crush my cigarette in the ash tray one last time
one last time i feel the sweet heavy burden on my chest
we weren’t meant to live forever, i heard someone say
steel resolve pulses through my veins
i may not live forever…

…but i won’t leave her to face it all alone

it’s all for you, i cry with silent tears
to meet your needs and ease your fears
a child inside breaks
the strain of too much reality
i never asked to be born, he whispers painfully
i did not ask for this…

…i stand silently and awkwardly
allowing the moment of weakness to pass
before changing the subject to ease the tension

it’s not that truth is so bad… no… not really
it’s that lies are so much more comfortable
it’s that life is hard enough when you’re keeping track of lies
even without adding the burden of truth

in the background, a child’s cry can still be heard
softly now, rhythmic like a rocking chair
gently caressing and soothing itself with misery

it’s all for you, i heard her say
i’m waiting, softly waiting,
hoping you will make it to me
hoping for what could and will be

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It was the fall of 2001. 9/11 was on the horizon. I was studying in Denmark for a semester and enjoying the early autumn light. My fellow students and I were given tours of several attractions and museums early in the semester. I was introduced to Anselm Kiefer’s work at the Louisiana Museum.

I was captivated instantly when I saw Kiefer’s paintings. They had an industrial quality to them that spoke to me of the sadness and despair of the modern era. Factories, concrete, fascism, and war are themes that jump out to me. There was something lost to the civilized world during that period.I’m not exactly advocating tree hugging, but a sadness crept into the world with the loss of natural beauty and the introduction of smog, grinding metallic sounds, and cold steel.

Gone are the days of warm tones and gentle breezes, peaceful meadows and openhearted human interaction. Kiefer depicted this change with such power. Swirling greys and blacks, smokestacks and the loss of color.I do not recommend his work to anyone looking for a cheerful, uplifting scene. However, the emotional realism conveyed in his work reminds us what we’ve forsaken, and causes the human heart to appreciate the cost of “forward progress” by experiencing a sharp sense of loss. I am told that not all of Kiefer’s work is so grey. I am told that some of it is even quite elegant and beautiful.

For some reason, I am surprised. How does a man find it within himself to evoke both the depths and the heights of existence from his soul and pour them out onto canvas?

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i saw horrible things, my dear
horribly wasted innocent babies
your stomach would turn
eyes would bleed
and hearts would swell

we live in a beautiful world
choose your glances carefully
shrivelled grass and skin
blow in the wind like torn pages

life is but a dream, they say
tortured by bandits & penniless drifters
neon markets and cannibals’ songs
whispers carried softly upon stale breath

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i saw horrible things, my dear horribly wasted innocent babies

your stomach would turn eyes would bleed and hearts would swell

we live in a beautiful world choose your glances carefully

shrivelled grass and skin blow in the wind like torn pages

life is but a dream, they say tortured by bandits & penniless drifters

neon markets and cannibals’ songs whispers carried softly upon stale breath Â

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If I was a goose, would I start out as the ugly duckling? Probably. Why is it that people always pretend to have a good life to save face? Is it really so bad to be one of the billions who lives a life of stress, loneliness, insecurity, and fear? Why hide it? What’s the worst that could happen if everyone were honest? Advertisement and Marketing spending might plummet because no one would pay for BS. But then again, people would finally be able to look perfect strangers in the eye and say hello. That’s a worthwhile tradeoff.

There’s not a lot to think about when you’ve been sitting in the same room for hours and your eyes ache from staring at the stupid screen. I used to think I was full of deep thoughts. Then I got married and worked a real job and paid bills. Suddenly, deep thoughts became luxuries that I only experience late at night when I write in my journal.

I used to argue with my friends because I didn’t think they used their minds enough to consider the “important things in life.” Of course, those friends were married and had children and real jobs while I was a college student living for free.

don’t take any of this too super seriously.

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Popularity: 2% [?]