Song of the Day

Today's song is Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People.

Vineyard Vines: Who They Are

Finished!

I'm finally all moved out of my apartment, and sort of settled in to my new, temporary, residence in New Hampshire. Hopefully before too long, I'll be packing up again and moving out to be closer to a job.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Mayberry is Rascal Flatts.

It's True What They Say

You never know what you have....

until it's time to pack it all up and move out.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Lighters by Bad Meets Evil ft. Bruno Mars.

Manssentials #4: Holding the Door

"I may sound old-fashioned, but I want to think all women should be treated like I want my wife, daughters, and granddaughters to be treated. I notice today that good manners—like standing up when a woman enters the room, helping a woman with her coat, letting her enter an elevator first, taking her arm to cross the street—are sometimes considered unnecessary or a throwback. These are habits I could never break, nor would I want to. I realize today a lot more women are taking care of themselves than in the past, but no woman is offended by politeness." -Frank Sinatra

One easy way to be chivalrous, with seemingly no effort, is to hold the door open for a lady. Actually, not even just for a lady. It's common courtesy to hold the door open for anyone. Holding a door open doesn't should appear like a natural act; not something you're trying extra hard to do. I like to use what I can the 10 foot rule: if the person is more than 10 feet behind me, they should be capable of opening the door themselves. The exception to this rule is if their hands are full, or if it's a door that locks, and you know the person belongs on the other side of the door, you can save them the trouble of digging for their keys.

Most situations to open a door are pretty straight-forward. I'll focus on a few of the gray areas. For a more in-depth look at holding doors open, check out The Art of Manliness.

1. The Vestibule
This can be a little tricky because there are two sets of doors. The proper thing to do is to open the first door you come to for your lady. She will step in, and obviously, beat you to the second door. As she starts to open it, take it from her and open it further for her.

As with all door situations, don't rush past her to get to the door first. If she beats you to the door, that's fine, just politely take it from her like in the vestibule. I like to position myself on the side of the door as we start to approach it from 10-15 feet away, and then take a quick half step towards it to start reaching for it and ushering her in. Just make it look natural.

2. The Door That Swings In
The proper thing to do here, is to open the door for yourself, step in, hold the door for her, and assist her through the threshold.

3. Car Doors
If you walk past her door on the way to yours, open it for her. You should also offer your arm to help her get in, especially if you car is really low to the ground, or high off the ground, as these are extra tricky to get in and out of with a dress and/or heels on. If her door is on the opposite side that you have to be on, going around and opening it just wastes time and could start to annoy her. However, if she asks for assistance, kindly oblige. When shutting her door, make sure all of her body parts, and clothes, are safely inside the vehicle first.

In almost all scenarios, any effort, even the wrong one, is usually appreciated more than no effort. Also, always be sure to add a nice, "thank you" if someone opens or holds the door for you. If some one thanks you, the proper response is "you're welcome."

Another Update

Wow, I have been terrible lately. I guess when I have nothing to do, I really do nothing. I've spent most of my time on the futon, watching TV and movies, being really bored. After graduation, most of my friends moved back home and there aren't really many people I know left in the city and the moment. Occasionally I have an errand to run, but mostly it's just been boredom. I've started to pack some things up and am making some trips on my move back up to New Hampshire until I find a job. I'm supposed to hear from the firm in Maine on Monday, so fingers crossed there. The latest update is that there were originally three people up for consideration, and now it's down to two. I'm one of the two.

Mr. Right

Has anyone ever seen Up in the Air? There's a scene in it where Natalie Keener, played by Anna Kendrick, describes her ideal, dream guy. Here's the description:

"Sometimes it feels like, no matter how much success I have, it's not gonna matter until I find the right guy. I could have made it work, he really fit the bill, you know. White collar, 6'1, college grad, loves dogs, likes funny movies, brown hair, kind eyes, works in finance but is outdoorsy. I always imagined he'd have a single syllable name like Matt or John or Dave. In a perfect world, he drives a 4Runner and the only thing he loves more than me is his golden lab. And a nice smile."

Why do I like this description so much? Easy. She basically described me. Let's take a look, shall we?

White Collar: Architecture Degree, check.
6'1: 6'1 exactly, check.
College Grad: As of August 21, 2011, check.
Loves dogs: Big check.
Likes funny movies: check.
Brown hair: check.
Kind eyes: check.
Works in finance: not quite...
Outdoorsy: I like the beach, camping, hiking, check.
Single Syllable Name: Matt, check.
Drives a 4Runner: Well, a Grand Cherokee is really close.
Golden Lab: Golden Retriever and Yellow Lab are my favorite dog breeds, check.
Nice Smile: check.
Final Score: 11.5 out of 13. I'm giving myself a half point for the Grand Cherokee.

Song of the Day

Today's song is the Cupid Shuffle by Cupid.

Nantucket Trip

So, now I'm rewinding to Friday, August 12. This summer, Allison had an internship at the Improper Bostonian magazine. They needed someone to assemble IKEA furniture for them that day, and I got volunteered to do it. If you've ever assembled furniture from IKEA, you know what a pain it is to do. The instructions have no words, only pictures, and the different parts are not labeled at all. I put together two desks, a table, and two filing cabinets. It took about 4 hours, but at the end of the day I got paid with about $400 in local restaurant gift cards. That night, we went to one of the restaurants, Rock Bottom Brewery, for dinner.

Allison and I on Nantucket.

The next day started bright and early at 6:15. Allison and I planned to catch the 9:15 ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket. I'd been to Martha's Vineyard several times before, but never to Nantucket, and we were both pretty excited about the day trip. We got to the island at 11:30 and found a couple slices of pizza for lunch. We spent the rest of the day blindly exploring downtown Nantucket's shops, and some of the eateries. Some of the highlights of our trip included: In the Pink, Murray's Toggery Shop, Vineyard Vines, and Nantucket Brand Clothiers, where I got a nice seersucker blazer. We had dinner by the water, at a place that had some delicious fried shrimp. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it. After a full day, we caught the 5:30 ferry back to Hyannis, and docked at 7:45. We made it back to Boston a little after 9. It turned out to be a long, but great day. I am very excited about any potential future trips to Nantucket.

Update...

Okay, well, clearly I've been severely slacking on getting things posted. My family flew into town for my graduation last Wednesday night, and ever since they landed in Boston, if I was awake, I wasn't near my laptop. Some pretty exciting things have been going on since the last post, and I will get you caught up on those in more posts to come. Some of the highlights include: an interesting Friday with interesting pay, a day trip to Nantucket, graduation weekend, and the Jake n Joe's golf outing. Sorry that it's been so long since I've posted anything, but remember, I am an amateur.

Song of the Day

For all of our Southern readers, here's Sweet Southern Comfort by Buddy Jewell.

Barney Stinson: Awesome

Check out these clips of Barney Stinson from the first six seasons of How I Met Your Mother.

Reflections on College: Senior Year

My brother, sister, and me on Christmas Eve.

Well, with just two weeks of summer between the summer semester and fall semester, senior year started all too quickly. I picked up my Co-op from the spring, again working at Whitlock Architects. The job was great, and my boss was awesome, but it turned out to be a pretty rough semester. In October, my girlfriend of three years broke up with me, and had a new boyfriend 18 days later. Pretty rough stuff, right? Things would get better though.

That fall, I also spent a day volunteering at the Head of the Charles Regatta. Brooks Brothers was a fantastic sponsor, and all the volunteers walked away with a free jacket and hat. (For those of you who are avid readers, file this under the category of "foreshadowing.")

Game vs. Gordon College.

The spring semester came, and it was back to class. And, back to lacrosse. Believe it or not, my senior season was the first time in my career (including high school) that I wasn't starting a game. I ended up averaging a quarter and a half to two quarters of playing time per game. On paper, our team looked fantastic. It appeared to be the most stacked our roster had ever been. Unfortunately, that's not how the cards fell, and we finished the year with a record of 3-10. That meant that the record for my class was 21-34. Not exactly the legacy anyone wants to leave behind, but there is encouragement when you look past the numbers. When I came in as a freshman, the team was extremely unorganized: there was next to no discipline, and we basically functioned as a glorified club team. My senior year, conditioning and attendance was taken much more seriously, and the team really became an organized group. Over the summer, the athletic department hired a new head coach, and the future looks great for Wentworth lacrosse.

That spring semester, I also met a new girl. Turns out, she is a coxswain on the BU men's crew team, and was at Head of the Charles in the fall. Foreshadowing fulfilled. Amazing how meeting someone new can change your perspective on things. While the rest of life was getting serious, there was something added that was fresh and fun. A lot of those adventures can be read about in previous posts.

If you think senioritis is bad in high school, just wait until college. Especially, if you're last college semester is in the summer. It seemed like everyone had it, myself included. It's a bit strange, too, because senior year is the year that everything gets real. That year, for the first time, I moved into an off-campus apartment. I also spent a lot of time sending out resumes and searching job postings.

With graduation on Sunday, it's actually kind of hard to really reflect on my senior year. It still seems all too fresh. The summer grades haven't even been released yet, and won't be released until Thursday morning. Thursday is also the day that my family is coming in to Boston to celebrate. While the last four years of college were an absolute blast, I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life.

Hopefully that will include a job offer from the company that I interviewed at on Friday. If not, hopefully from the firm I'm interviewing at in Maine early next week. Stay tuned.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Felt Good on My Lips by Tim McGraw.

Reflections on College: Junior Year

Documenting a site for class in 2009.

Once again, I started off my junior year as an orientation leader. The second year, I did much better. I was a much more relaxed leader, and the dynamic of the group was a lot better. We actually got along with each other.

I spent a lot of the fall semester looking for a Co-op that was required for the spring semester. I did a lot of searching on Google, but in October, one of my suitemate's girlfriends recommended a firm that she had worked at over the summer, Whitlock Architects. I sent my resume and portfolio, and was called in for an interview in the next few days. To make the fall semester even worse, I went through a break up. It only ended up lasting 5 months, but it was still pretty rough.

To say that this was a small firm, was a bit of an understatement. The firm consisted of the owner, and the intern that he kept on staff. I did get offered a job, which paid $12.00/hr, that I took and worked the 35 hours/week that he needed me. This was pretty nice since it gave me time to get to lacrosse practice on time. He was also flexible to let me leave when I needed to for away games.

Game vs. Becker in 2010.

One of the exciting parts of the 2010 lacrosse season was our team getting nice, new Nike uniforms. While we looked good on paper, we finished the year with a 5-9 record, finishing one spot away from making the play-offs. Another disappointing season. This also marked the third year in a row that I started with two new attackman that hadn't started with me the previous season.

That spring I also signed up to do an Alternative Spring Break in New Orleans. I'd never been to the city, and I had a blast. During the day, our group worked to repaint a house that had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. At night, we went out to explore the city, and it was a great learning experience.

That summer, I started publishing articles for BroBible, and made a little bit of cash doing that. It also marked the first summer of full-time classes. All juniors and senior at my school have to take a full course load to make up for the semester of Co-op when we weren't taking any classes.

1,000 Views

I've hit over 1,000 views! Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to read a post or two. I hope it's something that y'all have enjoyed reading. I know I've enjoyed writing it. I also hope that a fair share of readers have come back multiple times. I know, many websites hit over 1,000 views everyday, but seeing as how this is something that I just started by myself a little over a month ago and post in my spare time, I'm proud of it. I'm sure a lot of readers saw a link on a company's Facebook page, so thanks for clicking on it and checking out the site.

On the Job Hunt

I was starting to think that after my graduation next Sunday, my degree was just going to be a piece of paper on the wall for me to stare at while I didn't have a job. Just when I was starting to give up hope on ever finding employment after my graduation, things are starting to look better. It all started Monday morning, when I received an e-mail from someone at a design company in Boston, that specializes in office interior renovations.  They called me yesterday, and we talked on the phone for about 10 minutes. They seemed pretty excited about my qualifications, and I have an interview with them at 9 AM tomorrow. I guess I will have to load up on caffeine to make myself appear like more of a morning person. Later today, while having lunch at Panera, I received an email from a full service architecture firm in Portland, Maine. My interview should be sometime early next week.

My job hunt process had been pretty frustrating so far. I was using a couple of job posting websites to look for stuff, but didn't really find anything. Most of my searching was coming from a website called Architects USA. You can search for architects by states, and city region, so I was clicking on links their and blindly sending my resume to architecture firms. I sent resumes to Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. I have easily sent out over 100 resumes. Architects USA lead me to the firm in Maine.

Strangely enough, I found the office in Boston through my school's career website. Everyone knocks on how much that website sucks, but there are still some job postings on their, and usually they have alumni connections to Wentworth, which always helps.

Needless to say, I'm now pretty excited about the upcoming opportunities.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Best Love Song by T. Pain ft. Chris Brown.

Manssentials #3: Monogamy

One of my favorite TV shows ever is CBS's How I Met Your Mother. The storyline of the show is Ted Mosby, in the year 2030, is telling his kids about how he met their mother, which is happening in the current day. While sitcom revolves a lot around Ted's dating life, one theme is always the same: he's a good guy.

I'm sure the female readers will particularly agree with me that they can't seem to find many good guys to date anymore. Many guys say that they're different, but how many times is that really true? Guys just seem to crave the attention of other girls, leaving their partners, or potential partners, feeling insecure, and not good enough.

Guys, while the thrill of the chase is certainly exhilarating and fun, what about the thrill of a growing relationship with someone? Sure, it may be fun, and temporarily make you feel good about yourself, to be flirtatious with a different girl every once in a while, but at the end of the day, what does it all mean? If it's not with the right, same girl, it means nothing.

Being a player, dating and sleeping around, may impress your buddy's, but even that is short-lived. After high school, or maybe even a year or two into college, it's time to grow up. If you want to be in a relationship, commit to it. If you don't want to be in one, that's fine, but any girl that you try to woo should be aware of that going in. A girl shouldn't have to wonder where she stands with you. Especially if she's your girlfriend. If it's a text message, a phone call, Facebook post, etc., that you wouldn't want her to read while you're typing it, or reading what another girl has said to you, it's time to make a change.

If I may quote Wilson from Home Improvement, "a great lover doesn't romance a different woman every night; a great lover romances the same woman every night." I'm not sure who he was quoting, but that Wilson was one wise neighbor.

The important thing is to make an honest, genuine effort in any relationship. Like we learned in Couples Retreat, you don't want to end up at Applebee's alone.

Reflections on College: Sophomore Year

Yes, I made an igloo at age 21. Abby was concerned.

As sophomore year started, I was once again back on campus for orientation, but this time it was as an orientation leader. The first year trying to run an orientation group was pretty rough, to say the least. I did learn from it though, and did much better the next year.

Sophomore year was the first year we actually had studio space to work in. At first, it was really cool. Being able to stay in studio and work on a project was fun and exciting. However, the excitement quickly faded. After I flew home for Thanksgiving break that year, I had a lot of work to catch up on. I ended up being in studio from 9 AM-2AM everyday the week after Thanksgiving to get my project done on time. That was the most I ever had to be in studio at one time for so long to get work done. In later years, I learned not to stay at home so long over break. And, to borrow an AutoCAD license so I could do some computer work off campus.

As the school work picked up, so did the relationship. We had some fights, I think that year we may've even taken a break and gotten back together.

My 21st birthday was that September. Believe it or not, I didn't drink. Not only that, but I went to a NASCAR race and didn't drink. At that time, I never drank. That didn't happen until my senior year.

Game vs. Mass-Maritime in 2009.

That spring, I was really excited when lacrosse started back up. After losing in the first round of the play-offs, I was really anxious to get back at it. On paper we looked pretty good, and i really wanted to qualify for the ECAC tournament. We ended up losing to Roger Williams in the first round of the play-offs for a second straight year, narrowly missing the ECAC's. A bit of a disappointing season.

That summer I returned home. I never did get a job that summer, so it was pretty lazy. I did volunteer to be a counselor at my church's youth camp like the previous summer, which was always an amazing experience. I also worked for a week at Notre Dame's lacrosse camp. Too bad on the first day I got a blistering sunburn and was in a lot of pain all week. I also visited my girlfriend on the Cape that summer. My summer visit to the Cape, and first trip to Martha's Vineyard. Other than those three events, it was a pretty boring summer. Once again, I was looking forward to getting back to Boston.

Product Review: Costa Del Mar Caballito

Picture from Costa's website.

Manufacturer: Costa Del Mar (www.costadelmar.com)

Retail Price: Starting at $129.00

For months, I'd been hearing about how great Costa Del Mar sunglasses are. I saved up some money, and finally bought a pair for myself. Let me tell you, they certainly lived up to the hype. Costa teamed up with Kenny Chesney, promoting his 2011 Goin' Coastal Tour, by manufacturing limited edition Kenny sunglasses. Since he is my favorite singer, I got a pair of the limited edition in this model, which was a little pricier.

The clarity of these sunglasses is amazing. I've used them for just bopping around town, driving, and to the beach. Even when facing the sun, there is no glare (and I got the cheapest lenses), and the color quality is amazing. At first I thought it was funny that when looking at my iPhone's screen, there was a hint of the color spectrum on the screen, but a buddy of mine later explained to me that this happened with any pair of polarized sunglasses. So, yeah, this is the first pair of polarized glasses I've owned.

These sunglasses were designed with fishermen in mind, and I think they have satisfied their primary clientele. When wearing these, the water was easier to see in, and it kept the usual glare off sun off the water, out of my eyes. I wasn't fishing when I had these on, but many consumers report being able to see fish in the water that their peers can't. My experience would certainly lead me to believe that they were right.

I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a pair of quality sunglasses. They were a huge step up from Oakley and Ray-Ban, which I had been wearing before.

Side note, they're also great in that they are shaped in away that allows you to wear croakies and a backwards hat comfortably.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Black Betty by Ram Jam.

Reflections on College: Freshman Year

Well, all that I have left to do in my college career is turn in a sketch portfolio by noon tomorrow. It's crazy. The past four years flew by, yet arriving on campus for orientation in the fall of 2007 seems like so long ago. In order to properly reflect on each year, I will do a post for each grade level to try to keep the posts a reasonable length.

My first Red Sox game as a freshman.

I played junior hockey for year after my high school graduation in 2006, so when I arrived to Wentworth's campus in August 2007, I was less than a month from turning 20, which made me 18-24 months older than most of my classmates. Everything during orientation was so carefree and easy. Everybody was interested in making friends with everybody. I made two good friends, Dani and Renee, during my orientation. We bonded over an upcoming pizza delivery order while on a group scavenger hunt around the city. I also had strep throat pretty bad during orientation, so I wasn't super talkative or active, but pizza sounded good that night. Dani, Renee, and I became good friends and we do still talk today.

Time goes on, and work picks up a little bit. It's funny to me now, that as freshman in architecture we complained about the amount of work we had, when really it was only one hand drawing and one physical model to make in a week. By senior year, we could bang out that much work in a few hours.

In one of those classic college stories, I met a girl early on (actually, our first date was lunch for my 20th birthday), and we dated. After a month, we were one of this official couples, but everything was light, carefree, and fun. Just like the rest of college.

Our game vs. Salve Regina my freshman year.

I also remember vividly the day of my first lacrosse game in March 2008. I was pretty nervous, so it's a good thing we had an away game, which gave me time on a bus to help kill part of the day. Not only was it my first college game ever, but the first game I'd played in nearly two years. I was in the starting line-up that day and pretty excited. We lost to nationally ranked Endicott College 22-5, but I did score two goals. The next day we boarded a plane for Florida, and our team's spring break trip. That was the only year we took a trip, but it was a blast. It will always rank as one of the most fun weeks of my life. Playing lacrosse definitely forged some long-lasting friendships. As I'm about to graduate, most of the people I talk to on a regular basis are also my teammates. I'm pretty confident in saying that the guys that will be my groomsmen when I get married (in several years), will be the guys who wore the same uniform as me from 2008-2011.

That summer I returned home to northern Indiana. It was amazing how many people I had fallen out of contact with back home after spending my last two falls, springs, and winters in New England. I got a job at Aeropostale (miserable), and at the Notre Dame ice rink (also miserable), and made a little money. Mostly, I was eager to return to Boston, see my friends, and take on another year of architecture.

Phillips-Andover Rap

Well, this isn't really what I think of when I have of the Phillips-Andover Academy. Their seniors made a good-bye rap video about the school....of course, they remembered to include the token black guy.

Song of the Day

Sorry I missed out on Friday. Today's song is Deliverance by Bubba Sparxxx.

Something to Think About

I'm assuming that most of the readers are conservatives. I'm not trying to get into a political debate, but here's an interesting article about liberal viewpoints (written by a conservative). I know I'm borrowing from TFM a lot today, but I saw this article on Friday and I really liked it. Here's a link to Sterling Cooper's article: Sterling Cooper and the Pyramids.

Prep Essentials: Seersucker

Seersucker. The prep summer uniform. It comes in everything from shorts and pants, skirts and dresses, to suits. Non-preppies may wonder why so many preps walk around in "those thin white and blue striped stuff," but preps know. While the traditional colors of seersucker are white and blue, and its also comes in other colors: green and white, pink and white, grey and white.

The actual seersucker season start is a little debated. In the South, Easter marks the start of seersucker season. In the North, it's usually still a little chilly for seersucker at Easter, so I'd say waiting until Memorial Day Weekend is your safest bet. It's pretty well agreed upon that Labor Day marks the end of seersucker season.

Seersucker, originally from the Hindustani "shir o shekar" (milk and sugar), is a thin, all-cotton fabric, which makes it breathable and perfect for summer weather. The seersucker weaving process causes threads to bunch together, which gives the garment its wrinkled appearance.

It is a common staple of the Southern gentleman because the fabric is held away from the skin, which allows for heat dissipation and air circulation. The light fabric is great for the heat and humidity of the South in the summer. Just think how bad it would've been before air conditioning came along.

Today, seersucker is seen as a clothing article worn by the wealthy and well-to-do, but that's not how it originated. In the 1920's, the material was worn by poor citizens, but undergrad students starting rocking seersucker as a form of "reverse snobbery."

Seersucker fun fact: In June, the US Senate holds a Seersucker Thursday, in which participants dress in traditional Southern garb.

This About Sums It Up...

Someone posted this image on TFM. I completely agree.

Song of the Day

Seeing as how I'm close to a deadline for studio, I thought I'd post this. It's a bit of a tradition for someone to blare this song late at night in studio when a deadline is within an hour. The Final Countdown by Europe.

See Ya Next Week

I have to apologize again for the lack of posting. My final architecture project is due at 1 tomorrow and I've been meticulously slaving away in studio all week. Any of you that have friends in architecture should have a little bit of an idea of what it's like. It doesn't help that my professor changed/added a whole bunch of stuff to my project yesterday afternoon. After tomorrow evening, the semester will be over and I'll be able to breathe a little bit, and I have some great posts coming your way next week.

It looks like the guys who do the Brooks Brothers blog read my blog though. Check out their post on the Navy Blue Blazer.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Just Can't Get Enough by the Black Eyed Peas.

Manssentials #2: The Handshake

The handshake is an important part of the formal greeting. In the professional world, chances are you will shake hands with up to 90% of the people you meet. Maybe more, maybe less. I'm just guessing. But I know it's a lot. It's important to have a good one. Below are five guidelines for having a proper handshake that will make a lasting, positive, impression with the person you're shaking hands with.

#1. The Grip: Your grip should be firm, your counterpart should know that they're shaking hands with someone. However, you're not trying to break their hand, either. It's possible to be firm without a death grip. No one should be in pain after a handshake. It is also important to keep your wrist firm, not limp. Show confidence in yourself by being firm. When shaking hands with a woman, you should loosen your grip accordingly, but keep your wrist locked.

#2. Eye Contact: When shaking hands, it's important to look the other person in the eye. Looking away makes you appear uninterested, looking down makes you appear timid, and looking up makes you look weird or crazy. Looking the other person in the eye shows respect and also confidence in yourself.

#3. Speaking: Speak up, and speak firm. No handshake is complete without some sort of verbal acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you," "Glad to be hear," "Pleasure doing business with you," or "See you later," are all appropriate responses when shaking hands, depending on the situation. Be sure to enunciate, but as the old mantra goes, "say it, don't spray it."

#4. Grooming: When you shake hands with someone, they will look at your hand. Following that, they will judge you based on the condition of your hand. I'm not saying to get a manicure (actually, I'm saying if you're a man, DON'T get a manicure), but its important to have a clean hand. Nails should be clean and trimmed, and your hands should've been washed sometime fairly recently.

#5. Posture: People have been teaching us proper posture since grade school. The lessons should continue for the handshake, which is really a gesture of the entire body. Don't be hunchbacked or slouched when shaking hands. It's important to make your presence known. Having hunched shoulders will make you appear timid, weak, or small. Stand strong, stand proud.

Song of the Day

Today's song is Barefoot Blue Jean Night by Jake Owen.

Nicest Rejection Letter Ever

After writing my post on Tucker Blair a couple of weeks ago, I got to thinking. I ended up sending my resume to Taylor Llewellyn, owner and founder of Tucker Blair. Unfortunately, they weren't hiring, but the e-mail he sent back was by far the nicest I've received. I've sent my resume to over 100 companies this summer, only ten or so have even bothered to reply telling me "no." This just further proves to me that Tucker Blair is a quality company that has integrity. If you get a chance, they are definitely worth giving business too. Here's a copy of the e-mail Mr. Llewellyn sent me:

Matthew,

Thanks a lot for your thoughtful note.  You look like a great candidate with a lot to offer.  Right now we’re not adding any bodies to our team.  I would suggest looking at www.bonobos.com and let me know if you’d like an intro there.  They’re expanding their team a lot and might have an opening.

I’ll let you know if anything opens up at TB.

Stay in touch!

Taylor

It's Only Half Past Twelve

This song really describes my mood right now...It's 5 O'clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson Ft. Jimmy Buffet...

Baltimore Crabs Video Highlights

Here's a highlight reel of the Baltimore Crabs' U15 summer team. Yeah...they're good.