While it may seem a bit too early to start thinking about right now, soon enough the specter of marriage is going to be an ever-present institution in your lives. Sure, maybe you’re not going to be the first to get married right out of college, but some of your friends are. Your next five years are going to be spent attending weddings of every stripe and kind, sometimes across the country, sometimes right down the block. EVERYONE is going to be using their 20s in order to get married and, soon enough, you’ll feel the pressure of being one of the only people you know without a wedding ring. And so you’ll start thinking that maybe it’s for you, and maybe it’s time to settle down and call it a life.

The joys of matrimony

Don’t.

While saying that no one should get married is a bit extreme (there are plenty of couples who work fine married) what has to be understood is that it’s not for everyone. That, even if everyone else is getting hitched around you, if you rush into the proceedings it’s just going to cause all sorts of pain and anguish later down the road. Which is why today we’re highlighting this article from AskMen.com that goes through the 10 reasons not to get married. For instance:

No.5 Marriage is constant compromise

Life is meant to be lived — to experience everything before the long dirt nap. Hard to accomplish everything when you spend half the time doing the things she wants to do. Well, you did get to pick the activity last week. You wanted to go to go white water rafting and now she wants to catch a Nicholas Sparks marathon on Lifetime and needs you around to watch her cry and restock her tissue supply. Compromise isn’t just associated with small decisions. You’re going to have to come to an agreement on where you live, where your money goes and a million other choices you make just to make her happy.

If that wasn’t enough to scare you, another 5 await for your click-over in the link above. Run, don’t walk, to it!

It’s taken us awhile, but we finally did it: A few weeks ago, we broke down and got our first ever smartphone. And man, what a difference the whole thing has made. We’re now … well, it would be kind of pointless to tell you all exactly what we’re doing with the smartphone seeing as just about EVERYONE, EVER has been using them for years now. But, suffice it to say, our mind is blown and we are in a gadget frame of mind. So when we stumbled onto this article over at Men’s Health about the various amazing gadgets on display at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, well, we just had to share it.

Padfone

Of the bunch that has us most excited has to be this two-in-one tablet thing:

Asus Padfone

Here’s a problem I bet you didn’t know you had: You have a tablet, you have a smartphone—what’s on one is never really on the other, right? Asus’ novel solution is to make a tablet with a dock for the phone, so you just plug in and start tableting! It’s like a screen-embiggener! It eliminates the need for multiple downloading of apps, disparate content between them, and a host of other problems that come with our increasing reliance on multiple devices.

Ask us if we were interested in this a few weeks ago, and we would have ignored you, said it wasn’t really an issue for us, and then got back to typing out a text message on our crappy phone to someone who sent a photo message, alerting them to the fact that they’d have to email it instead. But now! I didn’t even know this was a problem you could have, having TOO MANY screens. And now I do, and I want that problem to be solved.

There’s another 30 or so great gadgets on display at the link above, so if you’re interested, click on over.

So you met her at a house party, got her name, know who she’s friends with, but didn’t get her number or trade any vital information. Meaning you have to head over to the virtual private detective for things like this: Facebook.

Don't let her think you're a dog

The problem is, once you find her, what do you do? You can Be Her Friend, sure. That’s the easy part. All it is is a simple click, and if she refuses you then it’s pretty easy to get the hint. But when she does accept you as a Friend and puts you in her large grouping of people, what’s the next step? Asking her for a date on Facebook could be taken one of two ways: (1) She was waiting for you to do so and will be super excited that you did; (2) She’ll be super-creeped out because your profile is terrible and full of proof of your sketchiness.

Which is why today we’re highlighting this article over at AskMen.com that goes through the various things on your Facebook profile that you need to “clean up” before taking that step of using the social networking website as a place to find your dates. For example:

Clean Up Your Photos

Clean up any incriminating photos (or at least hide them). Sure you may have been joking around with your friends when you were motorboating that stripper, but you don’t need to post a pic of it for all the world to see. I once had a friend of a friend try to ask me out on Facebook. He looked cute from his profile pic, but upon further examination, I realized he was a sex fiend. Or at least he presented himself as such on Facebook. Every other photo was a shirtless shot taken in front of the mirror or a photo of a half-naked female ass. He thought he was an art photographer; I thought he was a perv. Helmut Newton he was not. Keep the drunk pics, the one of you at the porn convention and any mirror self-portraits hidden. They definitely are not going to endear you to a woman.

Who knew? Head over to the above link for a bunch more valuable tips such as these. Never freak out a girl accidentally on Facebook again!

The old saying goes that the first impression you make is always the most important one. And there’s no further indication of that then when you experience a really, truly terrible handshake. Think about it for a second. When’s the last time you remember meeting someone that had a terrible fish-laden handshake? Think about how receiving that opening introduction to them made you formulate their opinion about them? Did it make you more or less likely to, let’s say, give them a job?

Shake those hands

Because that’s what you soon-to-be-in-the-real-world college students have to consider next: How to get a job? Especially in this economy you don’t want to start off on the wrong, weak-handshake foot. Instead, you want to make sure the first hand-impression you make is the right one. Which is why today we’re highlighting this article from AskMen.com that goes through the various roles that a handshake plays, and what certain handshakes mean. For instance, the dreaded weak handshake:

What a weak shake means

A weak handshake screams a frail inner core. The firmness of your grasp helps someone determine your inner circuitry — your character, or lack thereof. During an interview, the employer will use many tactics to decide if you are fit for work, and the handshake is often a litmus test right at the beginning. Considering the investment employers make in someone, it is obvious that none would want “weak” in their future.

Head over to the link to find out more tips. And then make sure to make a good impression. There’s no reason to leave something as important as a first impression up to chance.

Keeping your resolution

So, it’s been two days and you’re staying strong. Your New Years Resolution (to go to the gym more often, lose that weight, talk to more girls, get laid more often, get better with money, go to all of your classes, etc., etc., and what-not, forever and ever) is holding strong. You have yet to go back on it. But you will. Just like every other year, you’ll get by for a few weeks before ultimately back-sliding, feeling terribly about yourself, and that will be that.

But it doesn’t have to be that way this year. There’s plenty hanging around on the Internet about what to do to avoid this back-sliding of your New Years Resolution (it’s what the kids call “bait-link”), but the best one we uncovered, one actually worth reading, is over at Men’s Health today. Over there, they actually go through the science behind actually sticking to your New Years Resolution. For example:

The more, the merrier. Having someone to hold you accountable to a resolution is one of the best ways to keep you on track, says Koenig. For instance, if you’re looking to start a more consistent gym routine in 2012, having a partner to train with can keep you motivated. “But the key thing to keep in mind is you cannot depend on people who have the same struggle as you,” says Koenig. ”You have to pair up with someone who is going to reprimand you when slack off, not comfort you when you fail.”

Head over to the link for some more tips. And then stick to it!

Get in the Best Shape of Your Life with Insanity!

How many times have you started up your gym membership again only to go full throttle for a few weeks then fall back in to the same rut you were stuck in before?  It happens to all of us. We buy the new gym membership, and then get to the gym with no plan of action. Before we know it we are wasting time and money as well as getting frustrated because we are not seeing the six pack abs we thought we were going to have.  I am sure you have seen a handful of these home workout DVD’s that are on all the infomercials. One that has stood out is the insanity workout by Shaun T.  This is a 60 day workout and if you can get through it the you will see results!

60 days is all you need to see a huge change in your overall body and health. Believe me I have done it and the results are fantastic. The first 30 days you are thrown into the workouts, but you are shown how to do all the moves and you can go at your own pace. Remember there is a pause button and you are encouraged to use it in the beginning.  After the first 30 days you will feel like a different person.

The next 30 days you will be doing the MAX workouts which are  a bit more intense, but don’t worry you will be ready for them.  The great thing about the insanity workouts is that they only take about 40-50 minutes depending on which workout you are doing. So you don’t have to waste 30minutes or however long it takes you to get to and from the gym.  You do the workouts right in your own home and you don’t need much room you can do them right in your living room, garage, etc….

The truth is most people have no clue what to do at the gym. They wonder aimlessly moving waits and walking on a treadmill. With Insanity you are giving the road map and all you have to do is follow it!

You can read a more in-depth review here http://www.gettingstrongnow.com/insanity-workout-review/

Don't be a schmuck

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Hooray for Kwanzaa, and whatever other Winter Solstice-like holidays you’re celebrating this week. No doubt your week is going to be a hodge-podge of eating hearty meals with your family and/or getting together with friends at nice restaurants (or, not so nice place) and/or pulling some kind of end-of-year meals and parties with your co-workers and possibly your boss. In other words, this week you’re going to eating a whole hell of a lot. And it’s important that during these meals you don’t fuck it up by doing something terribly.

Which is why we’re pointing you towards this compelling article over at AskMen.com all about the most offensive things that someone can do at a restaurant. While a lot of these may seem like obvious faux pas, there are also a handful of offensive moves we didn’t even think were that offensive. Or, there are some that are so offensive it doesn’t even make sense that someone would think to do it. For example, this:

Live-blog your meal
You’ve heard the expression “Everyone’s a critic,” right? That isn’t just an empty slogan; it’s a set of instructions on how to live a fulfilled existence. That means if you didn’t have a good experience at a restaurant, it’s your sworn duty as an officer of the internet to get the word out. No slightly-less-than-stupendous dining experience should ever go unpunished. It’s the same idea behind holding your camera phone in the air the entire time you’re at a concert. If you don’t broadcast it to your social network, did it ever really happen?

Oh, man. If we ever see someone pulling that maneuver, don’t be surprised if you have trouble eating over the next few months with your jaw wired shut after us punching you hard, repeatedly, right in it. For more dinner no-nos, head over to the above link. And then take notes. Because we’re just WAITING to start punching people!

(Oh, happy holidays, once again, everyone.)

Holiday break ups are the worst

The holidays are where relationships go to die. If they’re going great, sure, most of the time will be happy. But you will still have to deal with the inevitable pains and logistical concerns that go with the territory of going back home, going to each others’ places, and all of that nonsense. The worst, though, is when you’re stuck in a relationship you know is terrible and yet you still make justifications about just making it through the holidays and THEN breaking up afterwards. You don’t want to break her heart now, while emotions are at their peak, do you? And isn’t it pleasant to have someone to share the holidays with anyway?

Wrong answer.

As this eye-opening column over at AskMen.com breaks down, holiday break-ups are terrible… but they have to happen. If you don’t go through with it, all you’re doing is putting off the inevitable.

If you’re sitting in a relationship right now that you’re not happy with, break it off. Why celebrate the holidays together? Why bear the moments of having to look in each other’s eyes on Christmas and New Year’s and force yourself to tell her loving words? Why buy her a gift that you don’t really want to give her? Why make her feel like maybe the relationship has a chance to survive, especially if the relationship hasn’t been good?

Here’s how you break up during the holidays: You do it the same way you break up the rest of the year. You’re honest with her. You’re honest about what you want and why it’s not working out.

Precisely. So, if you’re stuck in a terrible relationship, get out of it now before the mess of the holidays. You may think you’re doing her a favor by sticking around through the cold winter, but that’s more a lie everyone tells themselves. There’s no right time to break-up with someone, just as there’s no wrong time.

Don't disappoint her

It is, without a doubt, one of the more tricky situations you’re going to encounter. You’ve just started dating this new girl in late-October, early-November, things are getting past the “hooking up” stage and blossoming into an actual relationship … and you’re suddenly thrown into the annual wringer that is the holiday season. What do you get her? Have you guys been dating long enough to justify an expensive gift? What does she expect? What is she getting you?

All horrific questions, and all of them have to be answered quickly. Luckily, there’s rules for such things. And they are currently over at AskMen.com with an article talking about all of these gift rules you have to be aware of. For example:

New Romance

If you’ve only been dating a few weeks, I strongly suggest you get something fun. That means you get something that pertains to the moments you’ve spent together. Maybe you listened to a song you both enjoyed or maybe you went and saw a concert together. Maybe you went to this really cool store together and she really liked this little trinket, maybe a tiny teddy bear, whatever. But if you’ve only been dating a few weeks, I strongly suggest that the present you give be more of a gimmicky, fun, easygoing type of present.

If you’re in a different type of relationship, head over to the above link and make sure you don’t fuck it up this year.

De-douche!

With Movember no longer upon us, many guys out there who have chosen to grow a mustache to fight prostate cancer are deciding to shave it off and let their upper lip skin see the light of the sun once again. But there’s also, no doubt, a contingency out there who will kind of like this new look and decide to keep it. However, they’ll quickly see that the whole mustache lifestyle is not as easy as it looks. One needs to spend time trimming and toning the mustache (and other facial hair) in order to keep it from making them look terrible. There is, now, a per-conceived notion of hipsterdom that comes with younger gents wearing facial hair, so you need to be extra careful when cultivating it. Luckily, AskMen.com have put together a little handy guide for how to take care of a variety of mustache styles.

Here, for example, is the Mustache With Goatee, aka, the Franco:

If you’ve already grown a thick moustache and you’d like to build on your facial hair style, then consider adding a goatee. This look has recently been sported by James Franco, Johnny Depp and Manny Pacquiao, and represents a viable option for guys who can grow upper lip and chin hair but have difficulty sprouting hair on their cheeks. Begin by thinning out your moustache using barber’s scissors or an electric trimmer specifically designed to tackle facial hair. Over the next four weeks, as the hair on your chin becomes thicker, you can progressively reduce the amount of trimming you do on your upper lip. Do continue, however, to use a sharp wet razor to keep your cheeks and neck fuzz free.

Wise words. For more, check out the link above.