Here’s something I’ve wanted to address for a while:

I’m working from home today, sitting on my lanai and halfway through the last blog post when I suddenly realize I’m being watched. Not just watched, though, I’m being yelled at, whistled at, chirped at.

The units in my building that face away from the street also happen to face another hotel with balconies. The two buildings are so close that I could probably talk without yelling to someone on the balcony directly opposite me, or toss a tennis ball to them without exerting myself.

On some days, this can be frustrating (having to close your blinds all the time when it’s hot out), entertaining (watching people lose their towels they hang out to dry on the railings) or infuriating (listening to teenagers scream out their phone numbers at 3 a.m. from the lanais at our building to guys on the lanais at the hotel — yes, this has actually happened).

Today, though, it’s just downright annoying. A small handful of guys (I can tell they are guys) are standing on one of the balconies of the hotel catcalling down at me. I know they can’t see my face because I’m sitting with my back turned to them, so they’re yelling at the back of my head as I type away at my computer. They are probably about five balconies down and four balconies up away from me.

“Hey girl! You so sexy! Woooooooo!”

I never knew men found the back of my head so attractive.

So, I grab my camera, turn around, smile, and take their picture.

I think the turning around is what they wanted. The picture is not. They go inside almost immediately, perhaps because they are uneasy, but probably more so because they got me to turn around and are now bored with the situation.

Catcalling. It’s one of the ugliest things a guy can do. I don’t know the correlation between the number of catcalls a woman receives and her attractiveness level, as guys have made kissy noises at me when I’m walking home from the gym with my hair is a greasy pony tail, wearing an oversize t-shirt and knee-length athletic shorts. And when I get fed up, whirl around and confront the perpetrators, they usually clam up or looked shocked or just walk away. So, I know they’re not actually trying to strike up a conversation.

I’ve got nice guy friends, and I’ve never known any of them to catcall at a woman. As a female, it’s baffling to me. Is it an ego thing? A dominance thing? A machismo thing? And why does being in a group of men somehow seem to encourage this kind of juvenile behavior? Does riling a random female or getting her to give you the finger really elevate you that much in the eyes of your boys?

I’m also often faced with a difficult choice when catcalls happen, since I can’t always dispel them with a camera, and I’m not always dealing with them from the safety of my balcony. Although my first instinct is to rage at the group of men, I also remind myself that it’s not always a good idea, especially if I’m outnumbered or walking by myself late at night.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry about this “Diary of a Catcall Hater,” written by the Washington City Paper’s Kimberly Klinger.

Klinger, who lives in D.C., writes: “It’s crazy, unbelievable, utter crap to think that a good chunk of my time out in the world is spent dodging unwanted comments … if all the women in this city wrote their own diaries of harassment, we’d run out of paper to print them.”

At least she’s managed to turn something annoying into a mildly entertaining post that millions of women everywhere can relate to. I’m not sure what those silly boys on the balcony wanted from me, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t expect their picture to be posted on the internet an as illustration of truly pathetic behavior.

Joey and Chandler. Matt and Ben. Bill Clinton and…Al Gore?

The Seattle Times on Monday explored the “bromance” — “the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males,” as defined by urbandictionary.com.

More than one woman I know has had momentary suspicions — even if only fleeting — of her boyfriend’s closeness with his roommate, teammate or co-worker.

The “bromance” assures women that men — tada! — can be close and still straight!

Wait. Is this news? Isn’t this article not so much about an amazing new social phenomenon as about a new word coined to describe, well, men who are FRIENDS?

The article says one of the reasons behind the  popularity of the “bromance” is that the average man is getting married later, at an average age of 27, according to a 2007 report by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. The average marrying age in 1960 was 23. The study also found that men with more education were tying the knot even later, in their 30s.

All of this apparently is rolled up in the dreaded “quarterlife crisis”:

Experts say the prevalence of these friendships can in part be explained by the delay in major life milestones. Fifty years ago, a man could graduate from college, get a job and get married all within a couple of months. But today’s men are drifting, as opposed to jumping, into the traditional notion of adulthood.

“The transition to adulthood is now taking about a decade longer than it used to,” said Michael Kimmel, a sociology professor at Stony Brook University in New York whose upcoming book is called “Guy Land: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men.” One set of men Kimmel interviewed for the book were fraternity brothers at Dartmouth College. Following graduation, seven of them squeezed into a two-bedroom apartment in Boston.

The article also links the “bromance” trend to changing perceptions of homosexuality in America:

According to Peter Nardi, a sociologist at Pitzer College who specializes in male friendships, all these phrases are safer than they used to be because men are less afraid of being perceived as gay. It has become more acceptable for them to show some emotion. Al Gore and Bill Clinton hugged when they won the 1992 election and sports figures cry on camera when they’re busted for steroids, Nardi pointed out.

Finally! So, straight men are relieved of the burden of worrying about others thinking they are gay, and can just admit that they like other men and show some emotion!

Women: I hope this doesn’t create confusion about who wears the pants in the relationship.

photo: www.nbc.com/scrubs