Welcome to the Fading Maelstrom. I will be your host and guide this evening. Please accompany me and mind your step...you never know when the paths will...shift.

I drift from day-to-day, dreaming in swirls of burnt azure. Why must I float on the endless waves, searching for a strip of land? Where is that patch of emerald so sweet 'neath my toes? And why is my head filled with bursting sable flares?

I've pretty much put college on hold for this semester, other than contributing to the Gay-Straight Alliance I helped create at my school. I'm attempting to focus my energy on getting a full-time job to bolster my bank account to the point where I can move away from home and get on with my life.

Honestly, I think that job specialization is boring and has forced people to become one-task drones...thanks Henry Ford! I don't understand why so many people epitomize the archetype of the Uomo Universale and then don't make an attempt to be that person. I'd like to think that I'm easily as skilled and intuitive as a Leibniz, Jefferson, or Goethe. I intend to be able to live up to that claim. You're welcome to accompany me.

I'm very quiet...except when I'm being very loud...and sometimes I actually communicate at a normal level, though this is very rare.

Looking through my music...the list runs high towards musical comedy, movie soundtracks, jazz, latin dance/pop, hard rock, and classical.

I'm rather notorious for listening to an hour-long recording of a thunderstorm over and again while driving in my car.

I've come to realize that, though I've never been to a strip club, almost any song about being at one is a good song in my book.
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Musical Theatre--Wicked, Spelling Bee, Phantom of the Opera, Spring Awakening, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Avenue Q
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I don't watch television except at friends' houses or some such, as I have no channel service of any sort, and I can think of thousands of things better to do than sit on the couch and be the average TV drone. If I were ever to get actual TV service, I'd only need three channels: Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, and Comedy Central. I suppose the radio station channels would be nice as well.
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My all-time favorite movie thus far has to be Pan's Labyrinth. I love reimaginings of classic stories such as Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. I recently saw the 2011 version of The Three Musketeers and liked it. I have a soft spot for Steampunk and I've decided it needs to be explored more as a genre.

Stranger than Fiction is the only Will Ferrell-centric movie I actually like, and perhaps "love" would be a better term.

I love watching darker thriller/action/fantasy movies such as Constantine and the Underworld series. To me, the imagination and gritty passion underlying the plot makes for some of the best cinematic experiences possible.

Action/comedies(it's interesting how often those genres combine) are almost always entertaining; some of my favorites include Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The A-Team, War Inc., and Hudson Hawk.

Making a movie kid-friendly does not make it inappropriate for adults...anyone who can't find enjoyment watching a PG movie has no business talking to me. I know the words to almost all the Disney movies. How to Train Your Dragon is one of the best movies of the past decade...same with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Basil of Baker Street is my hero.
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I'm starting to get tired of reading, something I didn't realize was possible. I've been a book nerd for pretty much my entire life, and it is starting to get a little repetitive. That and the fact that every time I buy a new book I'm done with it by the next day. So...I might have to concentrate on something else for a while.

I'm a sucker for high fantasy and urban "horror"/fantasy. The Sword of Truth series and Wheel of Time series are two of the fundamental building blocks of my personal collection, along with everything by Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, and Jim Butcher. I have never been as upset while reading a book series in my life as much as I am continuously during the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.

One of my favorite fiction topics is modern interaction with the classical gods. American Gods, of course, is high on the list. I personally recommend the works of James Lovegrove, however.

Jasper Fforde and Christopher Moore are master wordsmiths on a level unparalleled by any in this age, except perhaps Patrick Rothfuss and Matthew Reilly. While writing in entirely different genres/styles, these guys have all managed to put perfection into book form.
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Now that I've got semi-reliable Internet access, I've started to get into reading some fantastic webcomics. Some of my favorites include: Girl Genius, El Goonish Shive, Questionable Content, xkcd, A Girl and her Fed, Scandinavia and the World
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I LOVE bread. If it were feasible health-wise, bread would be all I ever ate. Bread is the best. I have a tendency to lean heavily towards Mexican, Italian, and Chinese foods, but would love the chance to get out and sample other types of cuisine.

1. Athletic activity of some sort--preferably soccer or volleyball in a casual form, also bowling or kayaking. I don't watch sports, but I love playing them and being physically active.

2. Autumn weather...I'm wary of moving anywhere in the future where I'd lose thunderstorms and wind patterns. Perpetually calm weather is no fun.

3. Variety. Be it good or bad, a sudden change in the pattern of life is how I roll. My life usually doesn't even have a common system...it just jumps from one crazy event to the next.

4. My Piramide del Sol blanket. I bought a really cool woven blanket while I was in Mexico and, since that trip remains the most enjoyable part of my life to date, I keep my treasured keepsake close.

5. I've never had a friend I could say understood me or could even keep up with me, but social interaction makes me happy and keeps me sane.

6. Challenges for my intelligence and creativity...I thrive under pressure and I'm an adrenaline junkie. Basically I want to live in an adventure non-stop.

Recently, I've been wondering whether I have about five different personality disorders and they negate each other enough to not show specific symptoms...hmmm.

How much I'd rather be in Firenze, Roma, Puebla, Barcelona, or Villahermosa.
How much I'd like to experience Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Machu Picchu, and Athens.

The fact that I just hit the five-year date since I went on my Mexico trip and haven't done anything I consider worthwhile since then...

Ideally, I never do the same thing two Fridays in a row, though financial restraints have kept me held back in recent times. When I get bored of something, I have no trouble leaving it behind and I quickly need a new adventure to go upon. Adventuring is what I live for, and Fridays are as good as any other day of the week to fulfill that need.

I honestly believe that life is not worth living if you are fat, and I'm doing everything I can to reshape my body image to something I can be proud of...unfortunately, work and school restrain me from doing much, and I'm currently stuck in an environment destructive to most health (and life) plans.

Up until now, I've basically just been taking personality tests and answering questions. Now the algorithm knows so much about me that my match results could actually be accurate, so I'm browsing profiles.

Truth be told, I have no idea what or whom I'm looking for on this site, other than verification that there are sane, self-aware people who aren't like everyone else somewhere in the world...I need some assurance of that fact after my rural Midwest experiences.