by Eric Payne If you could house a bunch of apps the likes of the Weather Channel, Moviefone, Citysearch, The Find, Gas Stations and The Yellow Pages under the roof of one application, Poynt is it. It is a free, clean and simple GPS enabled app available for iPhone, Blackberry, Android and the new Windows Phone users. What differentiates this local search service … [Read more...]
Bring Your A-Game, For You
by Eric Payne I recently hosted a gathering at my home. During the festivities, I overheard two newly divorced women discussing life after marriage. Woman Number 1: "Everything became final in November." Woman Number 2: "Mine was finalized in May. Doesn't it feel good to be able to say that?" Woman Number 1: "Yeah, girl. I feel so free now. He saw me and was like, … [Read more...]
More Than A Man With A Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Eric Payne The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 "“ 1968) in many ways has been distilled and diluted down to his "I Have A Dream Speech." Between the pre-holiday commercials, cursory textbook coverage of the civil rights movement and the endless empty statements by aspiring beauty pageant queens, you'd think that all this civil rights visionary and leader … [Read more...]
The Man You Fell In Love With
by Eric Payne Recently my wife told me I'm not the man she fell in love with. I don't believe there's a man I know, happily married, divorced or otherwise who has lived with a woman for more than a few years and hasn't heard these words. This particular set of words can cut like a knife and may not bode well for the near and/or long-term future of a relationship. In spite … [Read more...]
Get Your “Good Morning†On!
by Eric Payne It's a new year and time to start things off on the right foot. And as a year is made up of 365 days the goal should be to have as many good days as possible. One of the easiest ways to start each day off on the "good foot" is to say "Good Morning" to your spouse. If you're a morning person like myself, it is downright insulting to awaken into a new day with … [Read more...]
Love Irresponsibly
by Eric Payne Since entering adulthood I've found myself being nostalgic at the end of every year. I contemplate what I've done, what I didn't do and what I possibly could've done more. Since getting married this year-end self-analysis has only intensified. I think back to the time when I loved irresponsibly. By irresponsible I don't mean promiscuous. I mean loving for … [Read more...]
Keep The Holiday Blues Off Your Shoulders
by Eric Payne Christmas is only days away and the New Year is just around the corner. Everywhere on television and the Internet someone is promoting the holidays for the sake of making a sale. The expectation in the air is peace, joy and love for all. This expectation switches on a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and kicks into high gear on Black Friday. There are many who … [Read more...]
3 Things A Woman Never Wants To Hear When She Finds Out She's Pregnant
by Eric Payne For many of us in the married lane, children, whether discussed at length or barely mentioned, are a foregone conclusion. After all we all got here somehow, right? Well for most men, the difference between the thought/strategy of having a child and finding out you actually are going to have one may as well be the distance between Earth and the Sun. God bless … [Read more...]
Why Can’t We Get Along?
by Eric Payne The subject of marriage, relationships or some combination of both has come up quite frequently in recent weeks and months. Both in the national media and in the blogosphere. There is the ever circulating story of the shortage of available "good" black men; there is the No Wedding No Womb movement; there was the recent USA Today Poll stating that nearly 40% of … [Read more...]
Do When I Say Vs. Do What I Say
by Eric Payne Most men in the married lane understand the following statement when it is spoken by their wives: "If you loved me, you'd do what I asked..." What leaves many men bewildered, dazed and often angered is the same statement with the unspoken directive (in parentheses below) attached to it: "If you loved me you'd do what I asked (when I asked)." Through my very … [Read more...]
What Makes a Man?
by Eric Payne Is a man determined by... His swagger? The clothes he wears? The way he answers (or doesn't answer) questions? The shoes he wears? The car(s) he drives? The fact that he doesn't care about his shoes or car(s)? The fact that he does? How much money he makes? How much money he doesn't? The house he owns or the crib he rents? The … [Read more...]
Wives on Wives: A Wife Is A Woman Who…
by Eric Payne Last week on my blog and on its accompanying Facebook Fan page I asked married, female readers to finish the following sentence: "A wife is a woman who _____________." The response was strong and varied, ranging from the deeply spiritual to the comical and without a doubt some comments leaned toward the negative. The following is a list of ten comments from … [Read more...]
Romantic Sex Vs Unromantic Sex: Does It Matter?
by Eric Payne A recent Washington Post article on sex and relationships written by Ellen McCarthy argues that those who wait to have sex love longer and stronger. The article showcases a study who's findings indicate that those couples who begin their relationships based purely on the physical (nonromantic) may not be so thrilled about that special someone over the long haul … [Read more...]
Understanding The Tough Guy
By Eric Payne Last week I wrote about Making Enemies Out of Friends With Your Words. The intent of this article was to warn and/or remind people to be careful of how they speak while venting in anger/emotional distress and who they speak to. I asserted that in speaking negatively of the one you love you may inadvertently turn a friend into an enemy of your relationship. To … [Read more...]
Making Enemies Out Of Friends With Your Words
by E. Payne Soon after my second child was born I had a falling out with my best friend over a nasty falling out he had with the woman who would eventually become my wife. The why, the when and the where are irrelevant at this point. I wasn't even around when it happened. What actually did matter was that my friend assumed he could speak to me about her as negatively as he … [Read more...]