11/01/2008, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

I am still in Washington, DC, and have been able to spend some really lovely time with my chums here in the District, including one of my favorite couples ever (top-five of all time), Minh Le and Aimee Oberndorfer. They’re engaged and they shared margaritas with me at La Lomita Dos on the Hill.

The last couple days have been great. I have spent some time away from work with Colombian visitors, Kike and Libia, friends of Clau and Frank. Some drinks last night and then brunch, the market, dinner, and then the night out on the town. You can watch it all via Twitter, with all the details, from the start to the end. I have to go to sleep now because tomorrow is another breakfast together. And then who knows what else. Also, I apparently know how to speak Spanish. Who knew!

Lucky us. Anthony Citrano detoured into the Bethesda Jaleo on his way south and then west to LA.

He had never met Monique even though we three all attend Renaissance Weekend.

So, two beautiful minds and I broke bread, laughed, sipped sangria, supped on Spanish tapas, and got to know each other.

For the first time in one case and got to know each other better in the other.

And I got to finally meet Anthony’s pretty pretty Audi S4 rocketship.

The valet was moved by the car when he drove up, nary a comment when he rolled up in my sexy “dad sedan.”

I see collaboration in the future.

We three are surely birds of a feather.

What a great diversion.

“High efficiency can’t economically offset the steep sticker price.” It shows for once and for all that environmentalists have way too much disposable income.

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Thanks to Scott for forwarding me that mockup for Whipped Magazine, via Spiralbound.

The Washington Post has a four-page article on the Wingman. Only one wingman? Amateurs! In high school and college, I was a member of wingteams. Via Wonkette, Gawker, and the Washington Post.

I had a wingteam in high school. We would go out in teams of three or five. Three to five guys together looks less desperate than two guys lurking.

Let’s say there are only two cute girls. The three guys move in and engage, making one another look funny and cool. One guy is predestined to disappear into the night after things gel. In a team of three or five, there is a simple system of “dibs” sometimes used, although most often the most senior, the most cool, or the most alpha come first while the newest, youngest, or lamest is predestined to break off.

Calling dibs is a serious business when men go out — very serious — and breaking dibs is a serious offense that may result in getting drummed out of the team, also known as “being excommunicated.” Dibs last as long as the the dibsholder likes. We men are never catty and rarely fight over women to say nothing of backstabbing or stealing someone elses dib (of course, it is open season outside of the team).

A single wingman? How pathetic. When I was in high school and college, going out was an orchestrated mission with strategy, with tactics, and with easily-definable goals with success and failure metrics and defined exit strategies.

Women didn’t have a chance.

“In the bitingly funny, razor-sharp I Love You, Nice to Meet You, platonic friends Kevin Bleyer (“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart???) and Lori Gottlieb give the no-holds-barred low-down on coupling up from the both the male and female points of view. Or as they like to put it, “Twice the perspective, half the insight??? (after all, what do they know – they’re still single).”

“Like romance anthropologists, Lori and Kevin deconstruct every key moment in the lifecycle of a relationship, from what the fake purse-grab really means when the check comes (how hard is it to find your wallet in a purse the size of doughnut?) to fighting etiquette (Is all fair when love is war?) to who gets “home couch advantage??? in couples therapy. Based on stories from their own dating experiences (funny for you, mortifying for them), I Love You, Nice to Meet You is a hilarious and eye-opening collection of “anecdates??? from a guy and a girl who just want to find the one but – lucky for you – haven’t.”

What People are Saying about I Love You, Nice to Meet You : A Guy and a Girl Give the Lowdown on Coupling Up

“The best new funny book about dating on planet Earth, perhaps in the entire universe, and certainly in the Milky Way. Even Tolstoy and God together couldn’t write something as funny and cool and weird and wonderful as this.”
—Molly Jong-Fast, author of Normal Girl and The Sex Doctors in the Basement

“I Love You, Nice to Meet You is funny, affecting, blunt and useful. Kevin and Lori are generous to old flames (well, most of them) and unsparing on themselves. This book may or may not help you find true happiness. But it will give you good, sound advice about what not to talk about over that first cup of coffee, or what items that are best not displayed in your medicine cabinet. Their alternating interpretations make us laugh at the gaffes we have all committed in hope of love. But they still hold out hope for love.”
—Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday

“For lonely urban singles, here–finally–is a warm, witty companion to crawl into bed at night with. The bad news is it’s a book. The good news is, “I Love You, Nice to Meet You” is very funny, only costs a low one-time fee, and won’t call you regularly at 1 a.m. ‘just to say hi’ (I forget in which chapter, but it’s covered). Shake up a cosmo for one and enjoy.”
—Sandra Tsing Loh, author of A Year in Van Nuys“The funniest book about dating to date. Gottlieb and Bleyer guide us through the twists and turning points in every relationship, providing insight, fresh perspectives, personal anecdotes and hearty laughs along the way. Read it in one big gulp, or savor slowly, bite by bite.”
—Valerie Frankel, author of Hex and the Single Girl and The Girlfriend Curse

“It’s amazing that this is a funny book because this is one exhaustingly detailed compendium of everything that could ever go wrong in every stage a love relationship. At long last, you, the book buying public, will never again have to actually participate in this barbaric uncivilized ritual to become the grizzled cynical veteran of bad love you were destined to be. For this we all owe Kevin Bleyer and Lori Gottlieb a debt of gratitude.”
—Merrill Markoe, original head writer of The Late Show with David Letterman and author of It’s My F—ing Birthday: A Novel.

“Sure, chivalry died. But it got replaced by something much funnier–and luckily Lori Gottlieb and Kevin Bleyer are here to describe it. In dueling essays, the authors spar, match wits, and reveal startling truths about contemporary relationships.Whether you’re searching for the soulmate you have yet to meet, or getting increasingly irritated at the one you found already, this book provides the antidote: pure laughter.”
—Jenny Lyn Bader, co-author He Meant, She Meant: The Definitive Male-Female Dictionary

Reviews of I Love You, Nice to Meet You : A Guy and a Girl Give the Lowdown on Coupling Up

“Knowing that bad dates make good stories, Gottlieb (Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self) and Bleyer, a writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, share a collection of “anecdates” in this he-said she-said guide to “coupling up” that has not infrequent flashes of true hilarity—a rarity among the ever swelling ranks of humorous dating guides. The authors, good friends who have never been an item (“not now, not then”), provide individual interpretations on the standard fare of relationship topics, but cleverly; chapter titles include “Venue Ask Her Out – Is ‘location, location, location’ the key to getting a second date?” and “I’ll Show You Mine, If You Show Me How – Is there any civilized way to get naked with a new lover?” Insights such as “If you cry about anything less than the death of a mother…you’re doomed,” “Oprah is pornography for women” and “a week of uninterrupted physical presence isn’t a sign of love. It’s a stakeout,” make Gottlieb and Bleyer’s stiff shots of wisdom go down more like a fizzy summertime cocktail, helping to make the dating game, if not always fun, at least fun to read about.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The BBC has posted an online interface into catalog of 946,614 BBC radio & TV programmes, dating back 75 years.” Via Boing Boing and the BBC

Thanks to the SCI FI Channel I now have access to the updated BBC version of the sci-fi television classic, Dr. Who.

I am a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica and (as Corrie knows) of Farscape, and so I am pretty blissed out that Sci-Fi continues to bring super-cool science fiction series to my TV.

Like Howard Mortman, Michael Savage was a guilty pleasure of mine until Mr. Savage left American Right on XM Radio. Luckily, I have just discovered from Extreme Mortman that you can grab the Michael Savage show on WTNT AM 570 from 6PM-10PM. Every night.

Flex n Zephyr is an irreverent, badass, animated short about two metrosexual Miami cops who are all about crime fighting, guns, blowing away baddy, and of course personal hygiene in the form of manscaping.

Think Miami Vice’s Crockett and Tubs meet Queer Eye for the Straight Guy meet Scarface.

NMS surveyed over 27 million blogs, website, message boards and online communities, including over a hundred of the most influential marketing and advertising sites live-blogging the event. NMS found that while the ads generated record levels of conversation, consumers generally regarded them as ‘a snooze fest,’ and several reviewers live-blogging the ads actually gave up mid-game ‘out of boredom.’, via NMS & Market Wire.

Super Bowl Live-Blogging Up 10X Over 2005 Levels

ARLINGTON, VA — (MARKET WIRE) — 02/06/2006 — New Media Strategies, the industry pioneer and market leader in Online Market Intelligence, Brand Promotion and Brand Protection services, today shared the results of monitoring online discussion of last night’s Super Bowl ads. NMS found that despite record conversation levels, this year’s Madison Avenue showcase generally left consumers cold.

NMS surveyed over 27 million blogs, website, message boards and online communities, including over a hundred of the most influential marketing and advertising sites live-blogging the event. NMS found that while the ads generated record levels of conversation, consumers generally regarded them as “a snooze fest,” and several reviewers live-blogging the ads actually gave up mid-game “out of boredom.”

Despite disappointed reactions on the whole, there were some clear favorites of the evening — chiefly, Bud Light’s “Magic Fridge” spot and Sprint’s “Crime Deterrent.” Just as clear were some of the evening’s duds, including most of the evening’s auto spots.

“Even with the Motor City playing Super Bowl host, like the industry itself, the automotive ads just couldn’t get out of reverse,” said NMS CEO Pete Snyder.

The evening’s most talked-about ad was Crispin Porter’s “Whopperettes” spot for Burger King, to which consumers had almost universally strong reactions.

“As in politics, the country is sharply divided when it comes to this over the top burger ad,” said Snyder. “Have it your way, you either loved it or hated it. Say what you want, but no matter, what Crispin Porter’s work gets people talking.”

Gillette Fusion earned the distinction of the evening’s most ridiculed ad, with consumers posting their own homemade parody photos during the game of a Fusion-like razor with nine blades.

“Gillette won the ‘First Annual User-Generated Spoof’ award for creating an ad that generated nearly instantaneous online snarks and Photoshopping,” said Snyder.

While the game itself may have fallen short of expectations, and the majority of online consumers regarded the advertising as lame, Super Bowl XL produced oversized online buzz. New Media Strategies found a tenfold increase over 2005 in live-blogging ads reviews, and nearly five times the online discussion about the ads over last year.

“To most Americans it seems insane that companies spend $2.4 million for an ad that only lasts 30 seconds,” said Snyder. “But savvy brands know the good and the bad can live on and on forever on the Internet.”

About New Media Strategies

New Media Strategies pioneered the Online Brand Promotion and Online Brand Protection industry. An Online Market Intelligence and Word of Mouth marketing firm, NMS uses the power of the Internet to give clients and their brands a competitive advantage online, while safeguarding their products and services from the effects of negative perceptions and attacks. Working closely with many of the world’s leading corporations, NMS serves as the “eyes, ears, and voice” online for some of the biggest and best known brands. Leading companies and organizations such as American Airlines, Dreamworks, HBO, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NBC and USA Network all use NMS to add value to their brands and guard their bottom lines. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, NMS was founded by former pollster Pete Snyder, who also serves as CEO. NMS has been featured in the two most recent editions of Washingtonian Magazine’s “50 Great Places to Work,” and for the past two years, NMS has also been named one of the “Fastest Growing Companies in America” by Inc Magazine. To learn more, visit www.newmediastrategies.net.

———-

Contact Information:
Sarah Nicholson
202-298-7600 x201
Email Contact

SOURCE: New Media Strategies

MySpace is in the news.

Why? Because kids are short-sighted morons who do exactly what I will tell you not to do in by upcoming blogging workshops: leave your diary in your nightstand, offline.

Come visit my MySpace space: http://www.myspace.com/chrisabraham and my MySpace blog, http://blog.myspace.com/chrisabraham.

I joined forever ago but I have really done nothing with it and have no plans to reveal my innermost innermost, except for fun and out of a sense of mischeviousness.

Although I got a late start, I enjoyed visiting The Writer’s Center Open House last Saturday from 12-3 as an instructor.

Since I am a new instructor, I got to wear the official name tag.

People walked up and asked me questions. The name tag is awesome because you know how shy I am. A conversation starter.

There was wine and a table full of snacks. Also lots of writing course instructors, all of whom I don’t know and didn’t have the opportunity to meet; although, when I perused the list of instructors, I was very impressed…

I am really looking forward to my series of one-day workshops on blogging and the blogosphere:

Schedule of Classes for Blogging Workshops

A Blog of Your Own: How to Write Your World
Start Date: 2/28/2006
Meeting Day: Tuesday
Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Instructor: CHRISTOPHER J ABRAHAM
Level: Intermediate
Venue: Arlington Arts Center
Description: Okay, you have a blog and consider yourself a blogger. The next step is how to build your prestige, your readership, and your reputation. This class will demystify process of taking your humble personal blog and developing it into a respected voice, an influential opinion leader, and a popular resource. Being brilliant, funny, insightful, and inspired is just the beginning, learn how to help your hungry audience find you.…more

Blogs, Blogging, and the Blogosphere: Influence World Culture from the Comfort of Your Writing Room
Start Date: 4/11/2006
Meeting Day: Tuesday
Time: 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM
Instructor: CHRISTOPHER J ABRAHAM
Level: All Levels
Venue: Arlington Arts Center
Description: Blogs are no longer just online personal diaries. Blogs and bloggers have become powerful influences in world culture. Blogs have uniquely been able to jump the rails into traditional media and bloggers are now routinely being quoted in the news and on television. This one-day class will explain why blogs have changed the balance of media power and how you can cheaply, easily, and powerfully take advantage of it. There has never been a time when it is so easy and possible to become part of a global conversation.…more

Starting a Blog of One’s Own
Start Date: 2/21/2006
Meeting Day: Tuesday
Time: 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Instructor: CHRISTOPHER J ABRAHAM
Level: Beginner
Venue: Arlington Arts Center
Description: Writing for online consumption is much different from writing for the page. Learn how to write for the Internet and the blogosphere in this one-day class focused on the unique and powerful way the blogosphere communicated and how you can best leverage your own personal passion, your own personal artistic voice, and your unique perception of the world into an online organ that very well could change the world.…more

“Lionel Richie is so concerned over his scary skinny daughter Nicole’s health that he has hired her an eating coach, reports the new issue of In Touch Weekly.” Via OH NO!

Enjoy my complete coverage with The Nicole Richie Diet, Nicole Richie is Wasting Away Beautifully, Nicole Richie’s Diet Regimen, Who Knows Nicole Richie’s Diet Regimen, LEAVE NICOLE RICHIE ALONE !!!!, I Love Nicole I Want to Look Like Her, Any Suggestions?, and Nicole Richie is Just Not Eating. Enjoy!

Nicole Richie Coverage: Nicole Richie’s Workout, Nicole Richie’s Diet, Comprehensive Nicole Richie Diet Coverage, To the Richies: What the Hell is an Eating Coach?, The Nicole Richie Diet

Most Popular Articles on ChrisAbraham.com, Nicole Richie is Wasting Away Beautifully, The Only Reason I Blog: The Continuing Nicole Richie Saga, Nicole Richie’s Diet Regimen, Who Knows Nicole Richie’s Diet Regimen, LEAVE NICOLE RICHIE ALONE !!!!, Nicole Richie is Just Not Eating is Most Commented Article, I Love Nicole I Want to Look Like Her, Any Suggestions?, Nicole Richie is Just Not Eating

I was just mentioned on Slate.

For what? For my insight into the marketing and PR? Non. For my take on blogs, blogging, and the blogosphere? Nyet. For being a paleoconservative? Of course not. Why then?

Well… “Chris Abraham questions how Jolie went from slim and trim in recent photos to appearing obviously pregnant in short order. ‘If I were a more paranoid, savvy, man, I might start believing that the Paparazzi is in cahoots with the publicity machine — but of course, that can’t be the case – those paparazzi are rugged, independent, and fierce.’”

I am so classy!

According to News.com, “The New Oxford American Dictionary of English has declared podcast the word of the year.” I just got some podcasting software and a geeky headset in order to see what kind of trouble I can get myself into. Via New Media Sense

From a lovely and helpful reader of this blog, Bree, in the comments section of Who Knows Nicole Richie’s Diet Regimen, “OK here it is all those looking for Nicole’s Diet, I havent tried it yet but Im definitly going to!!! hope this helps….” Thanks Bree!

Nicole appears to be shrinking before our eyes. The 23-year-old has hit the gym with a vengeance (2+ hours a day) and now weighs an astonishing 91 stone.

The Diet
Breakfast: 2 Egg Whites; 1 Scoop of Protein Powder mixed with Water.
Lunch: 4oz. Chicken, Mixed Greens, 1c. Orange Juice
Dinner: 4oz. Fish, Steamed Veggies
Dessert: Fruit

The Workout
1 Hour Weight training
90 Minutes of High Impact Cardio
…….although they say……..
Her recent transformation is a prime example of how drastically a balanced diet and increased physical activity can change a person’s appearance. Nicole exercises four times a week and does something different during each session. Besides integral training (cardio and weight work combined) the newly svelte starlet likes to use the indo board for balance and leg work. Furthermore, according to her trainer Adam Estner, “Richie now eats more food than before, but she eats the right kind.???