I am a hopeless romantic, trained massage therapist, untrained artist, all-purpose geek, Martha Stewart wannabe, athlete, Scrabbler, vegan, sports fan, interior design buff, computer weenie, and more. I contain multitudes. I am obsessive about real estate and like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, as long as it's not too cold. I am a volunteeraholic.

I grew up in Brooklyn, went to school in Rhode Island, lived in California for a bit, and then came here, where my life largely revolves around Davis Square. Along the way, I've visited over a dozen countries around the world and driven across this one once, but I've never been to Chicago.

I have my share of faults, but I'm sure enough of myself that I don't need to believe I'm better than you or perfect in order to be happy, and I'd like the same in a partner. It's nice in friends as well. I am interested in, and, given a bit of practice, can do (or at least make a fair effort at doing), just about anything. You may not share all of my interests, but that's okay, since it means we can learn from each other. Don't try to pin me down to any one thing, unless we're in bed.

The hardest thing there is to do in this world: living.

A lot of my energy goes into community theater. I'm fairly new to the front of the stage, but once I got started with it, I found I really enjoyed getting into character for performance, possibly since being anyone other than myself in real life is anathema to me. This summer, I will be trying something new and directing a play for the first time. It's just a short one-act, so it's a fairly gentle introduction, and I'm quite familiar with this particular fest having acted in it three times and been Festival Director once. Still, I am looking forward to the new experience and nervous about upcoming auditions.

Another favorite hobby is boardgames, and I frequently have people over for things like Catan, Boggle, Carcassonne, Dominion, and whatever else is of interest this week. Scrabble is a particular favorite, and I enjoy playing somewhat competitively (clocked) though I don't actually study or memorize word lists, so not THAT competitively. I loved Word Freak, but I don't have the dedication to go that far myself.

I love making things. In high school, I used to make little mushroom necklaces out of polymer clay that I sold at Dead shows to pay for my ticket and food, and more recently to give away at Burning Man and related events. In college, I played with circuit boards. For the past few years, I've been working in stained glass, although not as often as I'd like. I also make my own soymilk and tofu (so much yummier than store-bought!), veggie burgers, beer and other potent potables, pizza, pesto, matzah, and whatever else inspires me, especially if it involves my farm share.

Now that warmth has returned (I've never been a big fan of coolth), I get to start doing some of my favorite things, such as turning dirt into food (aka gardening), cooking with fresh, local produce, baseball, taking to the water in my (inflatable) kayak, and biking most places I need to go. I'm not actually a big fan of cycling per se, but I'm impatient and it's faster than walking. When it's hot enough to swim outside, I'll be even happier, and periodically consider that perhaps I should live someplace where that is possibly all or at least most of the year.

The thing y'all probably notice is that I'm not very good at summing myself up briefly.

I keep asking my friends what the answer is here, but I haven't received useful feedback. Apparently whatever the first thing is isn't sufficiently memorable for anyone to think of once they've known me longer.

The boring true answer is probably my bright red glasses.

community, the environment, politics, and other hippie crap like that.

wondering if people are really expected to be doing pretty much the same thing every Friday night. Although if you can accept "early evening" as a substitute, I'm probably on my beer & wine tasting loop with my roommate and/or friends.

you can work some of the constant tension out of my neck. No, wait, that's why you should mAssage me. Moving on... [Full disclosure: I totally stole that joke.]

You should message me if you're awesome, you at least kind of know it, and you have something real to say to me. You are strong enough to be confident in what you do know without being ashamed of what you don't. You strive to act with grace both verbally and physically. You like to stay fit and
spend time outside. You are creative and imaginative, and have one or more outlets for that energy. You love romance, music, art, books, and theater. You are well-educated, but you haven't forgotten that life is a never-ending learning process. You know when to use "fewer" as opposed to "less". Also, just to be clear that it's not only about what's inside: you're a hottie.

Well, maybe you aren't all of those things, but you'd honestly like to be and work in that direction. I know I do.

Or hey, if that doesn't work: you want to take me to a Red Sox game. I'm easy that way.