But we also don’t believe difficult topics should be ignored, as you read in our three posts about “Cheating.” We offered three different perspectives coming from three different sets of experiences. A tough topic indeed, but one that invited positive dialogue and resulted in many questions submitted to us.

This is what we’re about. Creating a forum for discussion that lends itself to growth and understanding. But it doesn’t always work out that way based on the comments section in our most recent post. (We pulled it. A business decision, not an editorial one.)

Differing opinions, even when direct, harsh, strong or unadulterated are part of all of us. We don’t have to look further than Washington to witness this in  its full blown glory. If you turn on the TV or radio, or pick up a paper or magazine, you’ll see it. It’s everywhere. It’s part of us. We have opinions, strong opinions and we all want to voice them.

We stand behind our guest writers. They brought a topic to our attention that we thought might be interesting to explore, so we gave our opinion and offered space for our two guests to give their opinions. Their opinions were different than ours, but we felt it was a good thing for our readers to get a taste of varying perspectives. Isn’t it better to be in the know, than not?

The last thing we’ll say is, guys in general have been called every name in the book. Meathead, bozo, dickhead, asshole, etc. We’ve been stereotyped in every sitcom as lazy, not very good at listening and not in touch with our feelings. We laugh right along with these jokes because even though we’re guys, that’s NOT US! Somehow we always have the sense it’s the other guy they’re making fun of.

THE GUYS

Who are these mystery people?

Please check out their sites to discover their identities and read their work. But…..before you do, leave us your guess on who they might be. They are both regular “commenters” on our site.

Guest Number One

Guest Number Two

Check out the Guy’s store for more cool merchandise. Anyone that sends us a picture wearing THE GUYS will be featured on our site. Thanks.

Part three will be coming soon.

From: “One of The Guys”

Where I went to school, there were only two proms; a junior high prom (7th-9th grade) and a senior prom. Expectations were huge for both proms, but I can only speak for the guys. It was the night where we hoped inhibitions might be cast aside, at least for one special night, and maybe we’d somehow convince our date, usually our girlfriend, to go where she had never gone before.

But it wasn’t like that for me. Far from it.

In 9th grade I started dating a very nice girl probably around May. So it was a “no brainer” that I would be going with her to the Prom……Well, ah.., NO!! She had already committed to a friend of hers, not a boyfriend, and she felt that she should keep that commitment. She was a lot more mature that most of the people at the school and she probably did the right thing, but not necessarily something that most 9th graders would have done. And to me, it was a drag.

So I ended up going with a close friend of mine who also didn’t have a date and we had a good time. But it was awkward seeing my girlfriend dancing to “Stairway to Heaven” and “Freebird” with another guy. And the night, while fun, never turned into that magical night that I had dreamed about.

My junior year in high school I started dating a senior in the spring. I have no idea why she liked me because her previous boyfriend had been the captain of the football team, but she did. So we started dating.

At this point, I was still pretty green, but she wasn’t, which made the whole thing even more baffling to me. I was like a human playing with a vampire, which honestly scared the crap out of me, even though I liked it too.  We were still together in June, so she asked me to go to the senior prom. Wow! All THE GUYS thought I was THE MAN! (If they only knew.)

Once again the anticipation grew and grew. However, I wasn’t steering this ship. It was clear she was in charge, picking the color of my tux,  the restaurant we ate at and the after hour party we attended. I was like a stick adrift on a river, just merrily floating to and fro. But this is where it gets blurry for me. Somehow the night just went from bad to worse and we ended up breaking up. Seriously!! We broke up on Prom night! And looking back on it, I’m sure she was still in love with this former captain of the football team who had arrived home from college the week before. I found out later, he had been wooing her since he arrived. Who could resist, right? (Sarcasm)

But I rebounded fast  from that traumatic evening. And of course, I still had my senior prom to go to. That was going to be great!

Well the spring came around and I was single, having broken up with a girl in February. But as luck would have it, I started dating a great girl in May and now I had a date. Phew, close one!!

Ahhh….NO!!!…………Deja vu……my girlfriend had already committed to going with someone else and once again she felt she should honor that commitment. What is up with these girls!!!???

So now I had no date………Well…….. (And you’re gonna love this)

My 9th grade prom date, as I mentioned before had moved away to Texas in 10th grade. However, she kept in touch with a lot of people from our high school still, and her girlfriends told me she would be back in town during our prom. They said I should ask her because she would love to go. And since I didn’t have a date, I thought it sounded like a good idea.

I don’t need to go into details. We had fun. And I was glad I went. But really, let’s be honest. I’m pretty sure I’m the only guy on the planet that this happened to…….. TWICE!

We’d love to hear about your prom expectations and experiences!
Please share!

And take some time to browse through some of these great sites.

Adventures of Starting Over

Date Girl Diaries

Beaming Balance

I Should a Been a Stripper

Luvem or Leavem

The Lola Vibe

Kelly Seal

It’s all a matter of Perspective

Love Skeptic

LionSlinger

Naughtie Scribe

Self-Esteem Blog for Women

Symphony of Love

Self-Help Wellness

The Life of Annie

Without Dash

Advice Goddess

Chaotically Calm

The Blogess

At My Soiree

Next Post: In our third installment of this miniseries we’ll be covering…..well, it will be a surprise…..and of course we’ll be highlighting our last group of great sites.

“ONE of THE GUYS” wrote a poem in remembrance of his grandfather. Yes it’s a bit melancholy, but it’s a reminder to us all to try and enjoy every moment in our lives. Sure we have good days and bad days, but when it comes down to it, what we do is so much less important than whom we do it with. So this poem is a reminder to remember the people in our lives who are no longer with us. But also a reminder  to enjoy the people who are with us today.

Have a great turkey day!

THE GUYS

We asked a dear friend of ours to illustrate this poem for us. Her talent and generosity graces us. For more work by TJ Lubrano, please go to her site. We understand she creates unique birthday cards, holiday cards and other illustrations.

Grandpa and Holidays

Holidays are supposed to be
The finest time of year
With everyone a smiling
And singing loud and clear

Cheerful faces giggling
Best friends holding hands
Giving and receiving
All throughout the lands

But holidays are hard for me
They remind me of the past
When my Grandpa was alive
Blessing us with laughs

So when everyone is glad
Or for now at least pretending
I am feeling really blue
‘Cause my heart is still a mending

So the idea is, in accepting this award we also need to pass it on to some of our favorite bloggers. And of course they in turn will pass it on to some of their favorite bloggers. And so on!! Fifteen seems to be the number that everyone is agreeing on, so here are fifteen of our favorite blogs, in no particular order, that we’d like to bestow the Best Blogger award to.

Sugar Snow Music

Footsteps Travel

Bluzdude

Stuperhero Extraordinaire

The Madness of Me

Obscure Labyrinth

Out of context: Pieces of a Life

TJ Lubrano

Adventures of Starting Over

Superficial Gallery

Luvem or Leavem

Naughtie Scribe

Self Esteem Blog for Women

I should be napping

Date Girl Diaries

If you’ve received this award from THE GUYS, we hope you’ll link to us and pass it along!

Enjoy!!

These are in random order!!

AskCherlock  (Biting, smart, political commentary and news!)

Selfesteemblogforwomen(Insightful, sensitive, straight-forward thoughts on relationships! Always something new and different.)

Luvemorleavem (Smart advice for women AND men on dating and relationships. Hip!)

BadGal (The truth! Badgal says it like it is. Watch out!)

JenniferWrites (Just as advertised! Jennifer writes. And writes well!)

Bluz Dude (Experience the funny and wacky adventures right along with him! Good storytelling!)

Everythingbikiniblog (Sexy, cute and fun!)(Yes, we're GUYS!)

Fibromyalgiaisnotmylife.com (The story of positive thinking. Thoughts from a friend)

HeatherDugan  (The coolest travel entries and pictures. Well written!)

Abitofhappy  (This is the place to feel good!)

TJLubrano (The cutest drawings on the planet. She's talented all around.)

thinkingoutloudblog (Funny and clever! Always something new and different)

Charityjoybell (Beautiful poetry. Uplifting writing)

NaughtieScribe (Intense, passionate, erotic, well crafted. Great writing!)

Justbloggled (Funny and interesting stories on life. Because life IS baffling!)

DecaffeinatedCoffee (Hip comics from a hipster! Funny as hell!)

AristryInfaux (No other way to describe it. Cool and stylish!)

Funkkeejooce (Creative, inspirational, honest and fun!)

Sugarsnow (Intelligent writing and commentary! And funny!)

RamblingBrooke (Creative travel log from one of our free spirited friends. Interesting and informative)

Adventuresofstartingover (Newly single friend blogs about her life. Interesting and insightful opinions)

Withoutdash (Relationships explored from a woman's point of view. Very thorough and thoughtful!)

Nothingprofound (This guy makes you think. Aphorisms at their best!)

ObscureLabyrinth (This site takes you in, squeezes you and bites you on the way out. Lots of fun to read)

Madofme (Go on a wild ride!)

Stugod (Our bud from across the ocean. Welding and tools and more)

Astronomyforeveryone (Interesting and smart! Explore the universe!)

Theabsurdstranger (Philosophy that makes sense. And that's not easy to do!)

Thelifeofannie (Big city girl living in a small town world. Hot and fresh!)

Alittlegirltalk (Just like the title says. Relationships, humor, quotes and more. A great read)

Stuperheroextraordinaire (Funny and honest stream of consciousness!)

NannyGoatsinPanties (One word: FUNNY!)

TheAdventuresofFredandEthel (Small town. Big voice!)

Grammology (Our fave grandma tells it like it is!)

Superficialgallery (Celebrity pics and very funny commentary!)

Applause4aCause (The site with a good heart and good cause)

Mommyslittlecorner (All things mommy. A little bit of everything! Cool pics too!)

Dategirldiaries  (Sweet and honest thoughts about relationships from one of our fave 20 something)

Women's Wit (And yes, it's quite funny. Well worth a read!)

Victoria Hart (Some serious, some fun, some cooking….a little bit of everything. Enjoyable!)

Zpoet (Intelligent and inspiring storytelling. Great writing!)

NOTE:
If you weren't included on this list today please contact us. It's not
because we don't think your site is great. We just don't know you as
well as we'd like to. YET!!

We like to spread the love as much as possible. So comment away! We'll take notice for sure!!

THE GUYS

We're also responding in our way to the few awards we've received from friends. We're not the best at the technology aspect of things, so we'll just put links with our comments.

We will post this again next week. 

These are in random order!!

AskCherlock  (Biting, smart, political commentary and news!)

Selfesteemblogforwomen (Insightful, sensitive, straight-forward thoughts on relationships! Always something new and different.)

Luvemorleavem (Smart advice for women AND men on dating and relationships. Hip!)

BadGal (The truth! Badgal says it like it is. Watch out!)

Everythingbikiniblog (Sexy, cute and fun!)(Yes, we're GUYS!)

Fibromyalgiaisnotmylife.com (The story of positive thinking. Thoughts from a friend)

HeatherDugan  (The coolest travel entries and pictures. Well written!)

Abitofhappy  (This is the place to feel good!)

TJLubrano (The cutest drawings on the planet. She's talented all around.)

thinkingoutloudblog (Funny and clever! Always something new and different)

Charityjoybell (Beautiful poetry. Uplifting writing)

NaughtieScribe (Intense, passionate, erotic, well crafted. Great writing!)

Justbloggled (Funny and interesting stories on life. Because life IS baffling!)

DecaffeinatedCoffee (Hip comics from a hipster! Funny as hell!)

AristryInfaux (No other way to describe it. Cool and stylish!)

Funkkeejooce (Creative, inspirational, honest and fun!)

Sugarsnow (Intelligent writing and commentary! And funny!)

RamblingBrooke (Creative travel log from one of our free spirited friends. Interesting and informative)

Adventuresofstartingover (Newly single friend blogs about her life. Interesting and insightful opinions)

Withoutdash (Relationships explored from a woman's point of view. Very thorough and thoughtful!)

Nothingprofound (This guy makes you think. Aphorisms at their best!)

ObscureLabyrinth (This site takes you in, squeezes you and bites you on the way out. Lots of fun to read)

Madofme (Go on a wild ride!)

Stugod (Our bud from across the ocean. Welding and tools and more)

Astronomyforeveryone (Interesting and smart! Explore the universe!)

Theabsurdstranger (Philosophy that makes sense. And that's not easy to do!)

Thelifeofannie (Big city girl living in a small town world. Hot and fresh!)

Alittlegirltalk (Just like the title says. Relationships, humor, quotes and more. A great read)

Stuperheroextraordinaire (Funny and honest stream of consciousness!)

NannyGoatsinPanties (One word: FUNNY!)

TheAdventuresofFredandEthel (Small town. Big voice!)

Grammology (Our fave grandma tells it like it is!)

Superficialgallery (Celebrity pics and very funny commentary!)

Applause4aCause (The site with a good heart and good cause)

Mommyslittlecorner (All things mommy. A little bit of everything! Cool pics too!)

Dategirldiaries  (Sweet and honest thoughts about relationships from one of our fave 20 something)

NOTE: If you weren't included on this list today please contact us. It's not because we don't think your site is great. We just don't know you as well as we'd like to. YET!!

We like to spread the love as much as possible. So comment away! We'll take notice for sure!!

THE GUYS

Here are four more definitions of "Boyfriend" that you may not have seen. Click on the individual links to read more great posts by each guest. 

THE GUYS

BOYFRIEND DEFINED:

The term
boyfriend can have many different meanings – the common denominator
involves dating a male who you are romantically involved with to
varying degrees. Sometimes the accent may be on the word 'boy' -as in
the fact that he's not mature enough to consider for anything more
serious than fun dating. In other cases the relationship may be
monogamous and a step towards a different role (fiance, life partner,
husband. etc). Some people have lived with a guy for 25 years, have
children with them, share property ownership – and still refer to them
as their 'boyfriend'.

Posted by: www.ishouldbenapping.com

THE GUYS RESPOND: We shall always be boys at heart. But hopefully we'll grow up at some point. Or maybe not!!

Almost
every gal takes a chance with a bad guy until we realize they really
are BAD, as in not good for us, as in yes they will hurt your soul and
break your heart. But then, don't many guys like those trashy girls and
then get surprised when they cheat?

Posted by: www.askcherlock.com

THE GUYS RESPOND: Ouch! That hurts!! But so true!

boyfriend – someone I'm testing driving, but haven't decided if i want to put a down payment on for purchase.

Posted by: www.thinkingoutloudblog.com

THE GUYS RESPOND: We'll ride anywhere with you!

A Guy who is a friend first, and then is all about understanding, the need for space, privacy and equal respect.

Without these qualities there is no boyfriend, at least in the romantic sense. 

Posted by: www.selfesteemblogforwomen.blogspot.com

THE GUYS RESPOND: To actually be friends with your partner is so key. And this often stems from respect. And of course having lots of fun together!!

Welcome to our BLOG CARNIVAL, focusing on Relationship Humor!! 

THE GUYS are true believers in humor and the healing nature of laughter. It's a necessary tool to survive the complexities of the modern romance.

So we hope you'll laugh along with us today. And enjoy our guests.

Feel free to leave us a comment and let us know what you liked. And also when you visit each guest author, feel free to let them know how much you appreciate their efforts. We certainly do.

And so without further delay, enjoy!

THE GUYS

Measure of All Things (
http://ameasureofthings.blogspot.com/)

"Why Ladies go to the Bathroom in Pairs?"

Permalink: http://ameasureofthings.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-ladies-go-to-bathroom-in-pairs.html

The Ominous Comma ( http://brentdiggs.com/blog )

"Hormone Poisoning"

Permalink: http://brentdiggs.com/blog/hormone-poisoning/

Trackback: http://brentdiggs.com/blog/hormone-poisoning/trackback/

Stuff-About.com ( http://www.stuff-about.com/)

"10 signs she's JUST not into you"

Permalink:
http://www.stuff-about.com/2009/07/10-signs-shes-just-not-into-you.html

Catch Spouse Cheating:  http://www.catchspousecheating.co.uk 

"Dating Your Spouse to prevent Infidelity"

Permalink: http://www.catchspousecheating.co.uk/dating-your-spouse-to-prevent-infidelity/

Trackback: http://disability-blog.com/2009/07/senate-mulls-social-security-reform-ideas/trackback/

Madkane's Humor Blog: http://www.madkane.com/humor_blog

"Is it Safe to go Shopping with your Mate?"

Permalink: http://www.madkane.com/humor_blog/2006/12/19/is-it-safe-to-go-shopping-with-your-mate-humorous-quiz/

Trackback: http://www.madkane.com/humor_blog/2006/12/19/is-it-safe-to-go-shopping-with-your-mate-humorous-quiz/trackback/

The World's Strongest Librarian ( http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com)

"The Night I discovered Time Travel"

Permalink:
http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/3021/the-night-i-discovered-time-travel/

Trackback URL:
http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/3021/the-night-i-discovered-time-travel/trackback/

Chris Hoke Blog dot com: http://www.chrishokeblog.com/

"A Phantom Injury"

Permalink: http://www.chrishokeblog.com/2009/03/a-blanket-statement-a-phantom-injury-and-a-bedroom-scene/

Rambling Brooke: http://ramblingbrooke.com/

"A Romantic Tale of Drunken Escapades"

Permalink: http://ramblingbrooke.com/?p=989

Call Return: (Edgier Rating on this Blog)  http://callreturn.blogspot.com/

"Where did all the egg boxes go?"

Permalink: http://callreturn.blogspot.com/2009/07/where-did-all-egg-boxes-go.html

Last week we defined "Girlfriend" for you. And we asked you to submit your own definition of girlfriend and boyfriend.

Scroll down to last week's post to read our definitions.

Well today we are posting the most complete definition of boyfriend yet. Our guest today is Ethel Mae Potter, one of our friends in the blogging community. Her definition of boyfriend is so emasculating we had to post it for you. Ladies enjoy it. Men, brace yourselves. 

THE GUYS

Check out her BLOG:

http://ethelmaepotterweneverforgother.blogspot.com/