I was perplexed when my 4 & 7-year old old nephews handed me a 35th birthday gift worth a few thousand dollars (sadly, they are both unemployed). They were actually a "front" for the true purchasers - six NY summer camp buddies I've known for 25+ years. Folks can't believe that we're still so close, but I just have a knack for keeping people together and anticipating their needs (that might explain my success as a marketer). It began with vacations in Miami, encouraging my parents to turn a blind eye when Grandma cheated at Scrabble & dumped restaurant rolls into her bag. With friends, I became tour guide, leading a group of 24 down to Arrial d’ Ajuda for Carnaval, where we danced & drank Caipirinhas in front of 120,000 screaming Brazilians. I've saved friends from angry bouncers in Florence, Italy ("Sia calmo!"), danced tango in Buenos Aires, and driven a 20-person hippie mini-bus in Uruguay - from Punta del Este to Jose Ignacio Beach. In relationships, I make the plans for Saturday night and just say, “I’ll pick you up at 8; wear that little black dress I like.” When your mom calls, we chat for 10 minutes about tennis before I hand you the phone. And when you have a rough day at work, you don't see a guy who thinks he has to “fix everything right now & make it all better.” I’ve grown to understand that drawing a hot bath for your girlfriend and just being there to listen to her vent about her day is sometimes all she needs.

You:

*believe that the day after Halloween should be declared a national holiday.
*know who wrote the book Ender's Game.
*treat busboys with the same respect as your CEO.
*have a lot of guy friends, primarily because you can’t deal with cattiness.
*have one of the following three movies in your top ten list: ONCE, Run Lola Run, and/or Harold & Maude.
*walk into an unfamiliar party with a confidence that says, “I am the most intriguing woman in the room," and people agree wholeheartedly.

Running an integrated marketing agency that efficiently leverages social media and mobile applications to promote organizations and individuals.

I am also the master of the Froot Loop Cream Cheese Omelet.

Coming to the rescue.

My buddy, Michael, and his band landed a last-minute gig in Lake City, Florida, just as he was struggling with a case of laryngitis. Knowing how much the show meant to Michael and his family (the compensation was significant), I hopped on a plane, drove two hours, learned ten new songs and sang lead for the band during the entire 4-hour concert...all in the space of 24 hours.

Granted, we had the wildest new club experience ever (we were glad to make it out alive), but that is a story for another time...

I can be an Alpha dog without being a gorilla.

I can be a gentleman without being a pushover.

If I ask a woman out, you'll never hear me say, "What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?"

Apparently, I’m the one guy in LA that actually makes reservations when planning a date.

I treat women like women should be treated. I don't care whether we are going to a restaurant, Sydney, Australia or Burning Man; I take care of the arrangements, pick up the check, open doors, etc.

If you like "pushing people's buttons," however, kindly move along. It doesn't affect me. I do not permit bad behavior, nor do I punish it. I just don't acknowledge it.

Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
The Fountainhead - Rand
Foundation - Asimov
Blink - Gladwell
Catch-22 - Heller
Homeland - Salvatore
On the Road - Kerouac
A Whole New Mind - Dan Pink
The 4-Hour Workweek - Ferriss

Run Lola Run
Bananas (Woody Allen)
ONCE
Being John Malkovich
Harold & Maude

Elvis Costello
Bill Withers
Blues Traveler
Wilson Pickett
Quincy Coleman
The Beatles
Los Pinguos
Janis Joplin
Pancho's Lament

Favorite Restaurants:

Daniel
Shopsin's
French Laundry
Sushi Zen
Antiquarius
Ludo Bites
Slanted Door
Gjelina
Corner Bistro
Marin Joe's
Sakura

Oxygen
Water
Food
Sleep
Lodging

and the DirecTV Premier Package

[Lame questions deserve smart-ass responses.]

-Countries to which I've yet to travel.
-The mysterious disappearance of individual socks.
-How to spoil my nephews.
-Whether they'll ever do a real third season of Chappelle's Show.
-Why more people don't get the fact that conventional wisdom is completely ass-backward.

In a podunk town in West Texas, under the bright lights, trying to coach my Dillon Panther football team into the Texas state playoffs and...

...oh wait, that's not me; that's a TV show on NBC.

Never mind.

The first concert I ever saw was Juice Newton at the Garden State Arts Center. Granted, she was opening for Neil Young, but the fact remains that Juice was the first performer I ever saw live.

You are intrigued by left-handed people (we're never dull).

*I'm told that most folks are a few yrs. older than listed - for search purposes. Makes sense. In real life, who dates in multiples of 5 & 10? I've never said, "I'll talk to that gorgeous woman at the bar - ONLY if she is between 28 and 38." It's just not realistic. In that vein, I figured I'd be expected to drop my age by a couple of years. While I was not yet born when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, or when the Miracle Mets won the World Series; let's just say I popped out soon after to congratulate them.