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One of Craig Newmark's endearing habits is his continual reference to "the girlfriend." But at last night's Wired Rave Awards, Craig Newmark broke form and said "my girlfriend." When I ribbed him about it, he pointed out this recent story from the London Times:

Newmark calls his girlfriend the Girlfriend, as if he's never had one before. ("I got the Girlfriend tickets for that show, which gave the Boyfriend good Boyfriend points," he confides.) Eileen Whelpley, aka the Girlfriend, is a technical designer for Gap and a talented flamenco dancer. She hates being called the Girlfriend and is unafraid to tell Newmark so - or me. She insists her correct name is used in this piece.

By the way, Craig's proud of Eileen's flamenco skills — he hasn't seriously danced ever since ballet lessons landed him in the hospital.

Falling for super-geek [London Times]
Photo: SXSW 2006 Sunday [Laughing Squid on Flickr]