'Spencer's Premiere'

I hope you like the latest installment in the 'Four Minute Booking' series. This is especially good if you're a fan of 'The Office'. I've been made fun of for doing a tw0-handed handshake in the video, but that just goes to show how much the other agents wish they would have had an action shot, rather than just delivering lines.

Iman 'Obama' Crossan passes 9,000,000 views

Iman Crosson, America's leading Obama impersonator, has just crossed 9,000,000 views for his 'All The Single Ladies' parody on YouTube.


My favorite is still the Superbowl call, but, hey, we'll take it!

Jason Jennings visit

Jason Jennings was kind enough to come by the new office for a talk about his new book 'Hit The Ground Running'. As a way to welcome him, all of the agents decided to wear blue shirts, apparently. We're not a creatively dressed bunch. In addition to being a talented writer, Jason has got a great radio voice, and he loves to use it to tell fascinating tales. I kept expecting him to end one with "...and now you know...the rest of the story."

Surviving and Thriving at Thanksgiving

My wife is a champ. We had 25 people over at our house for Thanksgiving, and 13 people who stayed the weekend. My daughter Brooklyn was nice enough to congratulate me after finishing the annual Habitrot 5K that many of the family run every Thanksgiving morning. We then went to Krispy Kreme to offset anything positive gained by running the 5K. My 90 year-old grandmother/jazz pianist entertained us by playing 'It Had To Be You' at an impromptu concert at our house that weekend with our neighbors. It turns out that was the only song known by both a 90 year-old-Virginian and some 30 something New Yorkers who met up with some Hoosiers in Tennessee.

The Slow Fat Triathlete

One of the fun parts of this job is getting to know some of the speakers out there. Jayne Williams wrote the book 'The Slow Fat Triathlete', which actually was a big help for me in getting ready for my first triathlon. I took the point home that you really don't have to care what you look like in sports clothes. My 'Clydesdale' days are hopefully gone forever (Clydesdale is a category guys over 200 lbs can enter), but I think everyone can have those worries about their appearance. Its also great that she challenges people to do things they haven't done, or think they couldn't ever do. She's as funny on the phone as she is in her book and speaking, and is just motivating from what she's personally accomplished and overcome.

The Forgotten Birthday

So my dad calls me up a few weeks ago, and asks if the weeked of the 17th is a good time to come down. I called up my wife to check the family schedule, and she asked, 'Why would he want to come down that weekend? Brooklyn's birthday is the weekend after that.' 'Um...that weekend is my birthday,' I replied. 'Oh, yeah,' she said.

My babe, Terry Bowden

So I 'm sitting here responding to an email from a client when my phone rings. I saw it was my wife's number on caller ID, so I clicked the button on my headset and said, 'Hey, Babe.' My wife is from California, and insisted on 'babe' being our preferred term of endearment when we were dating. I really didn't want to, but she's gorgeous , so I've made it work. After uttering 'Hey, Babe', this man's voice answers back, 'Uh, I'm calling for Brian Lord. This is Terry Bowden.' I looked down in shock to see that my wife's line was still blinking as 'ringing', and that Terry must have called in just as I was clicking my headset. I gave a little laugh, explained the situation, and got a good laugh in return. Away from the phone I hear, 'A guy just called me 'babe'. Then back to me, 'I'm sitting here with my wife, I just had to tell her that.' I'm sure all those Alabama fans out there are saying I deserve to feel silly, what with working with a former Auburn Tiger head coach turned college football analyst and all. Luckily he's a nice guy, and was nice enough to get back with me on some event questions while his assistant was out sick. My wife got a good laugh when I told her, too.