By Marcy Clark, with additional reporting by Lauren Garroni

Can you think of the last time you did something romantic for the one you loved? That long huh? In the age of Facebook, Skype, texting, and Match.com it has never been easier to have a relationship, but with all these digital interventions something has been lost in translation. A virtual teddy bear gifted via Facebook doesn’t hold the same romantic weight as its analogue counterpart. Scott Gralnick, author of How to Get a Girl in a 1995 Corolla, has taken note of culture’s shifting romantic priorities. When Gralnick wrote the book How to Get a Girl…, a reference to his ability to pick up women despite his lackluster vehicle, two years ago he was single and on the prowl. He parlayed his talent with the fairer sex into a guidebook that taught men how to meet women in a tactful yet creative way. But today Gralnick is a changed man, he’s found what we’re all searching for – Love. There is one caveat, because of his charm book past she isn’t sure if she should date him…that and she lives across the country. What is a determined boy in love to do? Walk across the country to prove his love – of course. This is Dating Outside The Box.

Women’s Mafia: What qualities does this woman have that she has bewitched you soo that you are going to walk across the country to win her?
Scott Gralnick: Her compassion for the human race and wanting to help others. The love for her family. She has taken a step back from life and has learned a lot and keeps learning. She has a smile that can bring peace to anyone. Truth is her ally. She drives me to be a better person. I can get lost in her eyes. After I talk to her I have a feeling of fullness, but the fullness I feel is the essence she is. (I could go on for ever)

WM: Where did you get the idea for your trans-continental marathon stroll? Do you know of anyone who has attempted this mission and lived to tell the tale?

SG: My idea lies deep within my soul. I may not be the wealthiest man, but I am the most resourceful you’ll meet! If I cant fly there, id drive, if I cant drive Id bus, but i think most or any man can take those transportation to one they dream of. I want to show that We can over come anything, I am willing to put my soul and mind and all I am to get to her. The idea came to me with conviction and I knew I had to do it, wether or not I win her over I have to get the “WHAT IF” out of my head.. SEIZE THE DAY, well, this is my day and soon ours, I hope!  At the same time I want to show everyone who will joint DOTB.tv that some times no matter what you have to take that leep and not fear.. Dating outside the box, Living outside the box and most of all live with passion outside the box!

I don’t know anyone who has done what I am going to do. But I look forward to bring out the hopeless romantics in the world and showing them not to be afraid.

WM: “Dating Outside the Box” is a mission, a slogan and a way of life for you, are you hoping to inspire others with your quest to go all out for love?

SG: Outside The Box is a world of its own, and yes, if this action brings about a whirl of love and thought of loving actions for good, then Dating Outside The Box has done good. I am merely a man, a man who is filled with much compassion, which I need to let out. And for the first time someone has hit a deep inner core with me and in that moment I knew I had to walk and share with the world, DATING OUTSIDE THE BOX and what we stand for.

WM: How can adventurous people, without your impressive stamina and free schedule, break out of normal, boring dating box? Will your new business plan help them in a meaningful way? What’s different about DOTB.TV?

SG: DOTB.TV will bring about world peace one date at a time. People who hate the initial time if investment into online dating will love our site and mobile app. We bring online dating offline for real human interaction. I don’t want to get into all the boring tech talk but through us you’ll get a date quick and have tons of fun doing it.

WM: How can the Women’s Mafia help you on your mission? How can we find hopeful romantics like you?!!

SG: First I have to say I think there are a lot more hopeful romantics all around we just hide because we think of the realist side and have a fear to break out and take that chance. Women’s Mafia can help by letting men and women know its ok to be romantic if it works or not. Better to try and fail then never try!

WM: You mentioned you were trained by the Israeli Military, and that you know how to take care of yourself on the road, but still, aren’t you a LITTLE scared?!? How will you stay safe and healthy on your journey?

SG: So to clarify this, I trained in America in hand to hand combat, Krav Maga and Hagana before I went to Israel to join the military. I ended up studying in Israel and traveling instead of joining the military. (I did not want to harm anyone against my will, I believe we are all humans and I don’t want to cause pain to anyone!) I had foolish goals as a young man in fighting, but I learned that to fight in other ways.. (LOVE, COMPASSION, KINDNESS!) is much more powerful. I am to positive to fear the journey, for fearing is not knowing, I know only good can come. What will be, will be! Healthy, well that’s another situation… I hope I can get a health drink sponsor and vitamins sponsor so I can stay healthy. Without my health, how can I enjoy the compassion and love of others?

WM: What sponsorships, partnerships and help do you need to make your journey happen and leave this month (August!)?

SG: Well I hope to leave ASAP but, sponsors that would make it doable are in no particular order …some type of SOLAR power to charge my computer and phone… Hotel chains or groups, like Hilton, Motel 6, DoubleTree, Best Western, so that I can rest up properly a few nights a week and stay strong on the road. AT&T to get me internet access while I will be in the middle of no where. VIBRAM for walking shoes, I love FIVE FINGERS, I would not walk in anything else. Some type of sporting good store, like REI, Paragon or Eastern Mountain Sports for a tent, shoes, a sleeping bag and the right weather gear. HBO, YES HBO because I’ll be on the “GO” and they have HBO GO… I’ll still need some type of movies to watch and Curb Your Enthusiasm during my down time… It’s a long trek! :)  I would love a health food sponsor so I can stay strong in mind body and spirit.  If any of those brands I mentioned, or another company that likes my story, would like to be my monetary sponsor then I will be able to give them credit on DOTB.TV podcasts during the whole trip. I think that covers the bases to go right now…

WM: Do you think that you plan will work? Will you win her hand?
SG: If that chance was not there I would not be doing… (Well, I still might because you never know?) A man can only hope… Hope can keep you alive and strong… So I’ll be eating, drinking, sleeping and thinking on HOPE the whole walk. There is no reason why I cant win her over, there is nothing I would not do for her…. The future seems bright…  :)

Our good friend and fellow Public Relations pro Karen Amster-Young has teamed up with educator Pam Godwin on an exciting journey leaving their comfort zones and exploring new things, facing fears and trying to get unstuck. They are also exploring new sides of the city they have known and lived in for so long.

Their fun experiences are recounted on their blog, The 52 Weeks. Keeping their audience entertained with witty, amusing and sometimes just genuine stories, the concept behind the blog is the importance of switching things up and putting yourself in new situations as a way of growth and learning, or simply to keep that “spark” alive in your life, the type of rush you get by trying interesting, recreational and sometimes ridiculous activities. Sometimes they just face fears or try to take even a baby step toward a bigger goal. They do this by setting weekly goals for themselves for one year; the goals being things they have never tried before or that are unusual, and they range from test driving sports cars to simply nurturing their relationships by taking a carriage ride in Central Park, for example.

WM: What’s the story behind the concept of the site?

KAY: Pam and I were out having drinks one night and talking about feeling a bit “stuck”.  We wanted to shake things up a bit and do new things, rediscover childhood passions or face fears.  So the52weeks.com was conceived that night. In fact, our tag line is three drinks, two friends, one year!
WM: What has been the most challenging experience so far in the list of The 52 Weeks activities?

KAY: It is not so much what we are doing but rather sticking to our promise to ourselves and each other to take even a little step each week towards one of our goals or things on our respective lists.   I have done everything from trying boxing, cleaning up my local park, taking a nude drawing class and committing to eating blueberries more often!  
WM: What plans do you have for the future of The 52 Weeks as a growing project?

KAY: The feedback from our readers and even the media has been encouraging and it seems like we are resonating with a lot of people — particularly women. Everyone has a “list” of things they want to do or change and we are inspiring and motivating people to get moving again and hopefully helping them to get a bit “unstuck”.   There is a book in progress, speaking engagements and hopefully a lot of inspiration to help others face their fears, learn new things and just get going again.

WM: Can your readers make suggestions of things to try out?
KAY: Absolutely!  They can e-mail us via the blog.

WM: Any exclusive sneak peek about future adventures for Women’s Mafia readers?

KAY: We knew this was going to be challenging but we had no idea how challenging!  Life gets in the way sometimes of our weekly plans but we are forging ahead and are about half-way through our journey.  I think the most exciting thing for Women’s Mafia readers are our dreams about the possibilities including currently developing the concept for a 52weeks app for iPhones so that users can find local deals and ideas to try new things in their own city.  In terms of our own adventures? Who knows what to tell you! It’s just really about always trying and keeping our promise to ourselves and each other!

What is Twitter? To different people, it’s different things. When I asked friends around New York City to describe Twitter in one sentence, the answers I got were “I have no idea” or “I use it to update my status like I do on Facebook” or “It’s legalized stalking.” According to an article on Mashable, 69% of adults don’t know.

I decided it was time to embark on the journey into Twitter and learn. After using it, this is the best way for me to describe it. Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that enables people to create, discover and exchange ideas with others about anything.

For 30 days I have been “tweeting” about topics ranging from Michael Jackson to industry news about Social Media. I’ve used my “tweets” for topics of interest to me and have developed a following of 160 people already. I’ve enjoyed following people like @aplusk (Ashton Kutcher), @AndersonCooper and various technology posters like @mashable and @techcrunch.

With the explosion of Social Media in recent years with MySpace, Facebook and now Twitter, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s coming next. The best thing about Twitter is that you can make it anything you want it to be. You control who you follow and what posts show up in your feed and believe me, there is plenty to pick from. Twitter recently launched a search feature on their homepage so you can find anything you want quickly.

Twitter is not that difficult to learn and I have included a list of common terms to help you get started. Enjoy Twitter and feel free to follow me @ElishaNYC!

Twitter Lingo
Following
To receive messages on Twitter, you follow other people and companies you’re interested in—which means you get their messages as they post and conversely, people follow you and get your posts.

Tweet
A message, post or update consisting of up to 140 characters including spaces and also referred to as “tweeting” or “twittering.”

@Username
When writing to someone directly simply start a message with @username of the person you want to reach and the message will appear directly in their feed if they are following you or in their mentions feed if not. An example would look like this: @ElishaNYC Thanks for posting about Twitter!

DM or Direct Messages
DMs are private messages that are sent between people that are following each and do not appear in either person’s public timeline.

RT or ReTweet
When cool messages or ideas appear in your feed from someone you are following, you can ReTweet it to share with your followers (AKA your Tweeps) and look like this “RT @Username: original message content and link”

Trending Topic
On the right side of the Twitter interface there is a list of trending topics. Everyday newsworthy stories get posted and the top topics are listed for quick linking to view all of the posts for a particular topic.

Hashtag (#)
A hashtag is used to add a post to a trending topic so all users looking for information or news on that topic can read all tweets going around Twitterverse about it. For example, if I want to post some interesting information about iPhones for all to read, it would look like this: “#Apple announces launch of new #iPhone today!” This would drop my tweet into the Apple thread and the iPhone thread.

Shortened URLs
140 characters per post is a lot easier to go through than you think. What do you do if you have a long link to share to a great story? You shorten it! There are loads of services out there that shorten URLs such as TinyURL!, bit.ly, and TweetBurner