Greetings, and welcome to Gentlemen Unite; a companion blog to Cincinnati Profile (THE online lifestyle magazine for professional men in Cincinnati).  This blog is meant to be a street-level tapestry, focusing on current trends and happenings on a personal level, hopefully encouraging exploration and the experience of trying new things that enhance our place in life as men.  There are so many facets to all-things-dude, and I hope to take a practical look at everything I can cover.

A year ago, when I woke up on my 30th birthday, I felt something different.  It became urgently important to me to determine what it was to be a man, or as I like to call it, a “man-in-progress.”  I wondered about what I had done and accomplished up until now that gave me the right to stand toe to toe with other men.  Let’s face it.  We live in a time when we’re called pigs or dogs and reports of chivalry being dead are rampant.  Any man can admit that there are bad apples in any sack, but surely, this reputation we’ve “earned” certainly can’t be an accurate marker of the current state of man.

I like to believe that a man lives by a code, whatever that may be.  A man stands by his beliefs for just reasons, tied in with integrity.  Maybe it’s time to show the world that the IDEA of man is much more than one-night stands, designer suits and fancy cars.

I thought about my code and took a page out of Crash Davis’ play book:

I believe in karma, good deeds, confidence, truth, loyalty, the back of a woman’s neck, the hard-breaking slider, high protein, a 14-year old (or older) scotch, that people are a little over-obsessed with Jersey Shore. I believe in ghosts … sort of. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing punting in American football and polyester ties in general. I believe in meaningful eye-contact, admiring women for everything that makes them beautiful, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve (even though I have a well-known distain for the holiday) and I believe in short, passionate, deep, soft, kisses that last for a few minutes. 

What is YOUR code?  As a man, what do you live by?  What do YOU believe in?