That's one happy couple.

Today's Happy Couple is brought to you by the number 8.

Kyle and Joanna are engaged!



Another Great Evening - FEEDBACK FROM HAPPY CLIENTS!

"Another great evening with fun attractive people! My third event and really enjoyable! Actually, I had a date with someone from the first dinner, a date with someone from the second dinner - no great sparks or romance yet but we had a good time, and I may see one or both of them again. And I fully expect to go out w...ith someone from this third dinner party! So 8-at-8 is fully meeting my expectations which is to be introduced to and meet intelligent, attractive women! Thanks!!!"

Inside the Odd Minds of Men

While flipping channels the other night, I came across a movie that I've seen a couple of times and found it to be farily amusing. The movie is High Fidelity, the John Cusack comedy from 2000 about an unlucky-in-love pushing-40 record store clerk in Chicago. I gave it a longer look this time because Justin, our communications guy, assures me it is one of the more accurate depictions of the male psyche ever captured on film (at least as it pertains to dating and relationships).

I must say, I think he's on to something. (For those of you who haven't seen it, stop reading now). Here are some of the nuggets of reality that one can find in the movie.

1) When Cusack's girlfriend leaves him to move in with another man, one of his first questions is if the sex is better with the new guy or him. Cusack's heart is broken, but his ego may have suffered the most damage.

2) When his lovelorn angst begins to overwhelm him, our hero seeks out a new conquest, a hipster bar singer (Lisa Bonet, as in Cosby Show Lisa Bonet!). Cusack has a great time with her, even spends the night, but the moment he bolts for the door, he immediately turns his attention back to the girlfriend who burned him. Guys, it seems, aren't always thinking about sex. Sex is a distraction!

3) Cusack is lying in bed, having sweat-filled nightmares about his ex and her new lover. In his brain, she is like a porn star with an insatiable sexual appetite. She was driven into the arms of another man because he couldn't meet her requirements as a partner. Now, it is pretty clear throughout the rest of the movie that his ex is a pretty normal woman who, up until the start of the film, had accepted Cusack for who he was. It seems unlikely that after years together she would cut and leave on sex alone. But, in the male mind, its perfectly reasonable!

So High Fidelity is a pretty accurate summation of that part of the male internal monologue we so rarely get to hear. It is a funny film, even touching in some instances, but what really stands out in my mind is how the male protagonist is a wounded, scared little boy when it comes to love. He's frightened and unsure of himself and absolutely dependent on his girlfriend for reassurance and comfort. Maybe some of us ladies should take a few notes and realize the male psyche is more fragile than we might think.

Fly on the wall for a Blind Date

Blind dates are awkward enough, but can you imagine having a photographer follow you and your running commentary printed for thousands to see? The Washington Post publishes their always funny Date Lab, where they set up singles for dates and then allow them to come clean about their evening out to the reading public. Think: the Blind Date tv show without the fake breasts and hot tubs).

The results, in this case, were not so great. Sample quote: "you guys sucks at matchmaking." Guess the Post should just leave it to the pros, huh?

Where are all of the single people?

We get this question a lot. "Where are all of the attractive single men?" or "Why can't I find any good singles in [insert city here]?" We frequently see studies (such as this on from Forbes) that tell you which cities are the best to be single that are based on a multitude of factors ranging from median income, education level, health statistics, etc.

But where can one find the greatest concentration of singles, regardless of the criteria. I'm talking that mainstay of Male Dating Logic: the RATIO! The Interactive Singles Map provides us with some answers. At the top of the map is a sliding scale that you can manipulate to determine which cities have the most favorible guy:girl ratio. As you will soon see, the numbers are astonishing.

For instance, the #1 city to be single in America, according to Forbes, is Atlanta. I ran the numbers for ages 25-44 for this city and found that there are, on average, 7 more single men per 1000 people than women. That's not statistically significant. However, the numbers begin to skew more as move through the Forbes' Top 10. Here are some surprising ones:

Dallas: 34 more men than women per 1000 people.

Los Angeles: 41 more men

Seattle: 41 more men

Orlando: 38 more men

Madison, Wisconsin: 51 more men!

So, the numbers show that the ladies have, by and large, better odds than men. Which cities form the flipside of the coin, displaying a significantly higher female:male ratio? Only a few: Fayeteville, NC; Kileen, TX; and Brownsville, TX.

The news, clearly, is not good for men. It gets worse, though. Take the right side of the slider at the top of the map and push it to the right. Note how all of the those blue bubbles begin to shrink and then large portions of the country show pink bubbles in places that once had none. It's like time-lapse photography of a plant budding! This map, then, is a double-whammy for men. Not only are you odds worse than your female counterparts, but you are also reminded of you eminent mortality. Hey, guys: you're not just single, you're close to death!

Ladies: see how the other half lives...

It came as a surprise to many of us in the office when we purused a few copies of Men's Health magazine. Expecting wall-to-wall workout posters and ads for protein powder (which were indeed there), we found a remakable amount of Cosmo-like content. For instance, there was no shortage of articles about meeting/seeking/dating/bedding members of the opposite sex. How to rev her engine, how to date a co-worker, how to dress for a first-date: they were all there. What's really interesting is just how eerily reversible these male/female roles are.

Both sexes, it would seem, are concerned with their bedroom performance, making the right impression, or what the proper etiquette is when a few dates reveal no real chemistry. Despite all the outward differences, men and women are really all fighting the same battle of juggling family, friends, careers, and love lives. Sure, the dress code and the perception might be a bit different, but, deep down, everyone is looking for the same thing. Companionship, feeling comfortable with someone, avoiding awkwardness--these all seem to be universals in the dating world.

So, for your amusement, we've included a twelve-question quiz from the Men's Health website to demonstrate just how much in common their bathroom reading has with that of women. Guys: take the quiz and see how you do. Women readers should give it a shot as well, just to see what the other side of the dating game looks and feels like. Go ahead, waste a little company time!

The Men's Health "Master the First Date" Quiz

Eight at Eight ups the ante with its newest venture, One-on-One Matchmaking

Eight at Eight Dinner Club has been a remarkable success over the past 10 years, beginning in Atlanta and now having expanded to six cities nationwide. Now the matchmakers from Eight at Eight are launching their newest venture, One-on-One Matchmaking!

One-on-One departs from our group dating concept to provide an unprecedented level of individualized attention. You tell us the type of person you're looking for and we track he or she down and set you up. Looking for an outdoors-y movie buff who has an advanced degree and enjoys travel? No problem. Seeking a tall tennis fanatic who is anything but an attorney? We can handle it.

One-on-One provides the type of face-time that other dating services cannot match. Anybody can set you up, but One-on-One coaches you up. We can coordinate wardrobe overhauls and personal style consultations. We can even provide you with a personal trainer to help you carry out those New Year's Resolutions. We do more than just help find your ideal partner, we help you find the ideal You!

We announced ourselves with an ultra-exclusive singles-only party. Check out our Flckr album for the photos from the kickoff of One-on-One Matchmaking.

There is no such thing as a free lunch

We're a dating service, so we're up-to-speed on the various ways singles meet other singles. We know about blind dates, online matchmakers, speed dating, the bar scene, the singles cruises, etc. We are also aware of the dating wasteland known as Craig's List.

We at Eight at Eight are supicious of online dating in general. It is far too easy to manipulate profiles and pictures to make one appear something other than s/he is. It's the classic bait-and-switch. Craig's List compounds this inherent weakness by being available for free. I know, it sounds harsh, but hear me out on this one. Hold the thought on Craig's List and allow me to illustrate my point.

I recently went to Washington, D.C. for an Eight at Eight event. While there, I decided to do a little sight-seeing. I visited the Holocaust museum (free of charge) and was overwhelmed by the swarm of mostly apathetic pre-teens milling about. They're idly texting, sitting on the floor, doing that odd adolescent mating ritual where they tap one another and giggle. But, overwhelmingly, what they are doing is getting in my way.

After about 45 minutes of mind-numbing annoyance, I left the Holocaust museum without having seen even a modest portion of the exhibits. I walked over to the NEWSeum, the recently-opened museum of American journalism. NEWSeum charges a $20 fee for entry. The result: the place is practically kid-free. No throngs of disinterested juveniles, no busloads of hormonal timebombs. No zit creme, no bubble gum, no teenage games of grab-ass. What I got was a more enjoyable experience. The $20, which at first glance seems a rip-off when so many other museums offer free entry, was a blessing in disguise.

The point I'm getting at is that a sufficient fee keeps the riff-raff out. Sounds painfully elitist, I know. Yet, at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Let's return to Craig's List, that egalitarian no-frills bulletin board. Who seeks love here? Oh, charming men seeking anonymous lunch hour sex, gold-digging pariahs, World of Warcraft fetishists, and guys like this. I think its safe to say that if CL charged a minuscule fee of, say, $5 a month, the number of posts would drop by half. That's because people aren't there for love, they are there to play. With no barrier of entry into the sandbox, everyone enters at once. The result is an impossible-to-navigate, cliche-filled wasteland of indecipherable abbreviations (DD-Free, NSA, HWP??) and artificiality. Your time and effort to sort through this monotony is worth more than your saving by going the free route.

Eight at Eight costs money. We've been in busy for ten years and we have expanded into 6 markets over that time. We've managed to do so because our service offers value. Your grandfather likely told you "there's no such thing as a free lunch," but he was wrong. There are free lunches, but who would want to eat it?

New Year's (Pe)Eve!

Every holiday or major event comes with its share of annoyances. New Year's Eve is no different. Why is it that we all seem to suffer from collective amnesia when it comes to NYE? Thinking back, most of my nights out on December 31st were nightmares, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Why do we always claim to have a wonderful time on NYE when, in fact, its generally a major pain? Is it the booze? The overwhelming hopefulness of the coming year? Am I just a grump? You tell me: here are some of my most aggravating experiences during New Year's Eve nights out.

1) The bathroom line.

You know this has happened to you: It's 40 minutes until the New Year, so you rush to the bathroom to beat the lines and be back in time for Dick Clark to count down that giant ball. Like you, everyone in the building is operating according to the same strategy. Just as you approach the stall, the chant begins... 10, 9, 8... Another new year celebrated amid a stack of seat covers!

2) Party favors.

Confetti. Annoying horns. Silly Hats. Beads. 'Nuff said.

3) Too Many People.

You drop $150 for the most happening party in town. You get to the door and its stacked 50 deep at the bar. The door guy approaches you and offers V.I.P. treatment for an additional $50, which takes you upstairs to a bar that is merely 40 people deep! And don't be fooled by the 2 AM breakfast buffet--it's bad...

4) Vomit.

Someone, without fail, will throw up in proximity to you. It's a fact of life.

5) Taxis.

4-leaf clovers are easier to come by than a cab on New Year's Eve. By 3 AM, you'd give the deed to house for a guy pulling a rickshaw and a bottled water.

6) Where'd my friend go?

You're at a party in the ballroom of a hotel and there are 6000 people amid disco lights and smoke. You're going to get separated from your group. You will not find them. Why? Because they are in the bathroom line (see #1).

I must admit, though, that the best NYE celebrations have always been at a friend's house, away from the sound and the fury, the hustle and the bustle. Do yourself a favor: avoid the throng of people. Invite your nearest and dearest over. Buy a few bottles of bubbly (grape juice or champagne, whichever floats your boat), and then make a resolution to do it more often. You'll thank us. Here's wishing you a happy, healthy 2009!