I just came home from dinner at my parents house and it was great. My aunt and uncle were there and we got to catch up on all that’s going on in our lives. We talked about the recent stock market crash(among others) and politics. While none of could agree on everything we could agree to respect and honor each others opinion. For this I am truly grateful.

The funny is that this is but one thing that I am grateful for. I am also grateful for my loving wife and two wonderful, healthy kids. I am grateful for the air we breath and the water we drink. I am grateful for the roof over my head and the schools that teach my children.

I could dwell on the negative given the preponderance of it, but where would that get me?

I’ll let that sink in and ask you one question: What are you grateful for?

Before I call it a night I wanted to give you one more nice thing that was said about my book Crack the Guy Code: Unlock the 8 Hidden Secrets No Guy Wants You to Know-and EVERY Guy Secretly Wishes You Did!

This endorsement comes frombest selling author and the country’s leading romance expert Michael Webb.

“You should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for your effort in helping women to understand men, and bringing lots more peace and understanding to relationships.  Cracking the Guy Code is brilliantly executed and explained.”

Michael Webb, Founder, TheRomantic.com and author of 12 best-selling relationship books.Michael’s website, www.TheRomantic.com  is one of the top romance/relationships websites with over 20 million annual visitors.

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There was a news story from Cambodia, http://erickacourtney.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/estranged-couple-split-house-in-divorce-literally/,  today about a guy who cut his house in half after he and his wife divorced. Unlike a magician who can magically make a woman disappear, this poor fellow couldn’t make his ex-wife go away, so he divorced her and sawed his house in half!

A friend asked why a man would resort to this and boy do I have answers:

• He couldn’t sell in the current horrible housing market so he decided to take his half of nothing and enjoy it!
• His Cambodian 401K isn’t what it used to be.
• Everybody else is doing it so why not jump on the bandwagon?

You may be saying to yourself, Al, those first two are believable, but I just don’t know about that last one!

Well think again! My Crack Team has uncovered a disturbing trend in house cutting. Whatever the reason, men are turning their chainsaws on their houses. If you don’t believe me, check out this link below from September, 2005:

http://www.wastednews.com/?attachment_id=493

Or how about this from last month:

http://www.wlwt.com/news/14230786/detail.html

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When I sent out advance copies of my book, Crack the Guy Code: Unlock the 8 Hidden Secrets No Guy Wants You to Know-and EVERY Guy Secretly Wishes You Did!, I had no idea the kind of positive response I would get. Some of the sharpest minds in dating, love and marriage have weighed in with some amazing responses. Today’s endorsement comes from Paul Dobransky, MD. Dr. Dobransky is a national expert on helping women get all the happiness they deserve. With that being said I would like to say that I am truly grateful for what Dr. Dobransky has to say about me.

“Crack the Guy Code is a tour de force coverage of the insider’s, fly-on-the-wall view (no pun intended) of why guys do what they do in their love lives. More importantly, he takes you by the hand – no holds barred – at what YOU need to do in return. Highly recommended.” 

Paul Dobransky, M.D. CEO, womenshappiness.com, Author, The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love (Penguin/Plume, 2007) and The Power of Female Friendship (Penguin/Plume, 2008)

Dr. Dobransky delivers seminars on dating and relationships to men and women in the Chicago area, and corporate seminars using Mind OS (his own brand of psychology which emphasizes the importance of self-esteem) to instruct on stress, conflict, client services, HR decision-making and team-building, as well as gender communication. He has appeared on TV programs including The Bachelor.

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OK, no joke, my book, Crack the Guy Code, will be published in November! As November get’s closer, I will do my best to keep you informed of the exact date and time. The process of writing, editing and collaborating is in some ways it’s own sweet reward. There are few things in life more rewarding than putting pen to paper and seeing what comes out!

I could go on and on about what I like about the book, but I figured you’d want to hear from those working in the trenches helping men and women improve their love lives, one improved relationship at a time. I am truly honored by what the experts have said about me and Crack the Guy Code: Unlock the 8 Hidden Secrets No Guy Wants You to Know-and EVERY Guy Secretly Wishes You Did!
and wanted to share their comments with you. For the rest of the week, I’ll be sharing with you what they had to say.

The first endorsement comes from Pamela Hogan, PhD. I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing her for my upcoming relationship series and was elated by the kind words she had to say about my work. With that being said, here’s what she had to say:

“Alan Bentley opens the doors wide open to women who want to get the best out of men and out of love. In his direct guy approach, he gives simple yet powerful tools to make a relationship thrive instead of falter. Instead of giving up on men, Alan lights the way to actually being happy with a man…what a concept!”

Dr. Pamela Hogan
Keep Your Relationship, Keep Yourself

Pamela Hogan, Ph.D. was formerly the Associate Clinical Director for Dr. David Viscott. An expert in Men’s Studies, she graduated from The Union Graduate Institute with a doctorate in counseling psychology. She wrote her dissertation on Successful Men. Dr. Hogan has a private practice in Santa Monica, California, where she specializes in short-term intensive counseling.

Dr. Hogan’s work has been featured on CBS, ABC, BBC, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily News, London Daily Mail, Mademoiselle, Vogue, Der Speigel of Germany, Fitness Magazine, and Mirabella. Hogan appeared in a videocassette rated one of the top 10 How-to videos by The Los Angeles Times, called Meeting the Right Person. She has also given seminars and weekend retreats for over twenty years.

You can find out more about Dr. Hogan at her website: http://www.pamelahogan.com.

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This weekend I uncharacteristically wrote about CNBC and it’s now shaky relationship with it’s audience. I did this not to pick on poor CNBC, but to simply point out a simple axiom that we should all live by: respect your audience. With respect comes understanding and with understanding comes respect. It’s all pretty simple.

CNBC and it’s commentators like Maria Bartiromo, failed to follow this, and were ripped in an editorial in the Chicago Tribune. I took my shot at them on Saturday because I was appalled at their indignation at all us “ignorant” folks in the heartland. If we’re so ignorant and they’re so smart why are CNBC’s advertisers and buddy’s about to not only lose their jobs but help the rest of us do the same?

I realize CNBC is far too smart for the room, but I’m going to offer them my Three Point Plan to help save everyone at CNBC from career suicide:

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
2. RESPECT YOUR AUDIENCE
3. ASK THEM WHAT AND HOW THEY THINK AND FEEL

Is that too much to ask?

Can their relationship be saved?

Only time will tell. In the mean time, if you want to improve your relationship with your man, I suggest you get on my early notification list to be one of the first to get my new book, Crack the Guy Code: Unlock the 8 Hidden Secrets No Guy Wants You to Know-and EVERY Guy Secretly Wishes You Did!

To get on the list go to: http://cracktheguycode.com

In it I go into far more detail on hot to get to know your most important audience: YOUR MAN.

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I got a kick out of watching CNBC this week on multiple fronts. The first happened right after famed CNBC “Money Bunny”, Maria Bartiromo went ballistic seemingly yelling at CNBC viewers when she found out that Congress had not passed the bailout.

She seemed to take it personally that voters were calling in to bad mouth the so called wall street fat cats. No doubt Ms. Bartiromo has made many wall street friendships as her celebrity has risen among the wall street elite and now downtrodden. Given this closeness, I suppose she sees these titans of greed as something more than what they really are.

I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more going on inside her head. Maybe she saw herself losing her job like so many at Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers did. If the smartest guys in the room outside of Enron could go down then nobody was safe she might have thought. Maybe she saw herself on camera walking home with a cardboard box after being laid off. Maybe she wondered if her significant other would love her less when she came home?

I hope that Ms. Bartiromo has a warm and loving place to come home to that’s full of love and understanding. Unfortunately for many others this will not be the case. Many men after losing their job or fortune will come home and not know how to communicate their pain and frustration with their spouse or girlfriend. Many wives will not know what to do for their men in tough situations like layoffs, demotions and other financial calamities.

What’s more, their marriages may have already been empty shells before a financial hardship hit them. If a man and a woman weren’t communicating before a financial crisis, they most likely wouldn’t be ready to improve it afterwords.

What would you do?

Tomorrow, I’ll be giving my Three Point Plan to help save the lost relationship between Maria, CNBC and their woebegone audience. So stay tuned!

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