Jeff Cutler™ – columns, essays and opinions

It’s not a surprise to anyone that social media professionals are supportive, intelligent and fun people. What might cause you pause is the secret bromances that flourish in this space on a regular basis.

What’s a bromance? It’s the unabashed admiration one man has for another. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve harbored one or two or five bromantic dalliances over the course of my social media career. Here’s a quick look at the who and why of my particular bromances. I’m sure you have your own – please share in the comments.

Oh. If you find yourself on my list don’t be alarmed. My bromances are purely platonic and intellectual. But I wouldn’t mind if you listed me on your broamance list if you felt so inclined.

Chris Brogan – On my list because he’s genuine in his dealings with every human. He’s intuitive and quick-thinking. He also has talent and charm. He also inspires me to write more. Thanks Chris.

Gradon Tripp – While he might be considered by some to be a design geek who should have won the recent makeover contest on Newbury Street, he’s actually a bleeding-heart liberal who does so much for social causes regionally it makes me a little sick. But he’s also a smart, fun and dependable friend. (BTW – Tweetsgiving is coming up – SIGN UP NOW!)

Aaron Strout – He wins on so many counts as a top bromance of mine. He’s a Boston transplant to Austin, TX who still remembers his friends back home. Beyond that, he remembers and even honors those of us who were just peripheral friends a year or so ago. Aaron has always been welcoming and entertaining. He’s a fabulous host who treats everyone as a friend. What a great way to be. I admire and commend that attitude.

CC Chapman – Smart, driven, compassionate and insightful. I was listening to one of his podcasts before I met him and was thrilled at the way in which he connected with listeners and shared his life with us. He’s honest in his opinions and dealings and empathetic to an extreme. He’s also a Miami Dolphins fan which probably would have put him on the bromance list even if he were a complete dink.

General Etiquette:
How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

Mike Schneider – Who is this guy? He’s someone I met within the last year. He’s a freakish human who would give the shirt off his back to ANYONE who needed it. He’s compassionate to a fault, a hard-working beer genius who also knows a bit about human nature and marketing. He’s currently spearheading our Movember efforts and rallying people to come together to fight cancer. He’s just a great guy who was unlucky enough to make my bromance list.

Mike Langford – Founder of Tweetworks, the lesser-known co-host of NomX3 and a sarcastic, fun and brilliant friend. I tease him about how his two boys will grow up to have more hair and probably get more points on Foursquare. But this coffee fiend is dependable, well-spoken, generally cheerful and a pretty good drunken roommate. I’m glad I met him and that we have become friends.

What’s funny to me is that none of these relationships were based on IRL experiences. They were founded and then fostered using tools like Twitter and Plurk and Seesmic and podcasting and unconferences and even an occasional tweetup and lunch. I’ve grinned the whole time while writing this because I really like the people I’m writing about and I love that there will be people who read this that are uncomfortable that a man can genuinely like another man.

Grow up people. I’m not stalking these guys. I just think they epitomize what’s right with our tiny little fishbowl. Real people who offer real opinions and real support to others. If you have people like this in any part of your life, hang onto them. They’re more valuable than a simple blog post can illustrate.

In this season of giving thanks, I give thanks for bromances. What about you?

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Not in the election, because by the time most of you read this you’ll have voted. No, words are piling up nicely in my quest to complete NaNoWriMo.

Look over in the right sidebar and see the wordcount widget. It shows you where I stand after four days of participating in the 2008 NaNoWriMo event.

Unfortunately, my novel writing is interfering significantly with my other writing. I’ve let this blog and the others languish a little in the name of creating my first novel.

Yes, I’m already a published non-fiction author, but fiction is different. I’ve create a universe in my head (like that’s any different from how I go through life) and I’m moving the characters around on digital paper.

Unlike reporting on events or interviewing people, fiction taxes your mind because you’re compelled to transport yourself into different shoes with each sentence and piece of dialogue. So far I’ve been a set of parents, an 11-year-old boy (not too hard for me), teenage women, an old lady with a found kitten and a number of other characters. And that’s just four days in. At this rate I’ll compile the experiences of the world by the time they’re done counting the votes in Ohio.

If you’ve got a novel-writing story to share…or a tip on keeping the motivation going for other writing projects while staring down the barrel of something as big as NaNoWriMo…please put it in the comments.

Chat to you sort of soon. Tonight I’m Twittering the election at WBUR Radio in Boston. It’s light writing, but I’m gonna count it as some type of participation.

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About eight years ago I bought some really nice hiking boots. I don’t hike, but bought them to shovel snow at home and to do trail maintenance at mountain-bike destinations around Massachusetts. The boots were a size 9.5.

I should say the boots ARE a size 9.5 because I’m still using them and they have remarkably minimal wear for shoes that are this old. I have used them for hiking (once) and have also used them for trail maintenance (about 20 times or more) and now I’m using them as my scooter boots.

Please understand that I have size 10.5 or 11 feet and these boots have never fit correctly. So why do I keep wearing them?

Mostly because I’m hungry for attention and I’m cheap.

These boots, with GORE-TEX and made in Bulgaria, were only about $65. I bought them at the local EMS around the time my book came out. One reason was to generate good-will from the management of the store who had the option to carry my book in the store or let it languish with my publisher. And the second reason was because I was flush with cash from my advance.

By purchasing these boots I got the attention of the staff, got even more attention during my book signings, and got a great deal.

But I guess that doesn’t explain why these too-small boots are still regularly on my feet. That’s because I bought a scooter. Please keep up, there are no remedial reading lessons here at JeffCutler.com.

In purchasing a scooter I needed to have gear for riding. This gear consists of long pants, gloves, a helmet, an armored jacket and boots. Since I already owned perfectly good boots I didn’t rush out and buy motorcycle or scooter-specific boots. And now my feet are paying for it.

Where I used to wear these tiny boots about three times a season, now I’m wearing them at least five days a week. My hobbit feet bump the ends of the boots and are very happy when I take them off. It’s akin to taking off ski boots or peeling yourself out of wet jeans after you’ve been pushed into a vat of Jello at the local men’s club.

But I’m still puzzled. Am I so caught up in the need to appear young and have the same size 9.5 feet as I did in high school, or am I baring the Puritan values of my community and region by keeping pair of perfectly good shoes?

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind there floats the notion that these are bad boots. They hurt me, they don’t work as well as proper shoes would, and I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth out of them.

So I ask myself, “Are you so silly that you’re going to hang onto these stupid little boots? Or are you going to wake up and donate them to someone with a smaller foot and budget?”

Know how I respond?

“If the shoe fits…”

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