You can call me Nick; I'm a skeptic and a nerd. I've been living here in CA since I graduated high school ('08!) and plan to stay in Cali for good. Before this, I grew up for 15 years in Northern Alabama after living my first 3 in Southern California.

I'm not an 8th level super-nerd; rather, more of a bookish, 1-time-Comic-Con and twice-Comikaze Expo attending, interested in everything but sports, Monty Python- and Internet-loving type of nerd. But I'm not a D&D dweeb (though I may like to get into that) nor a WOWaholic.

I am interested in a career you've never considered (designing genetically engineered lifeforms) in a field with which you're likely unfamiliar (Biological Systems Engineering). It's like inventing with living things.

On the side, I enjoy performing informally in activities called urban pranks. I "lead" a group doing this in San Gabriel Valley. I also founded, led, and eventually lost hope on a club at my college called the Synthetic Biology Club.

I have experience with reptiles that you wouldn't find from your average online form filler. One of these lizards is being kept by my chess-playing brother and I; ask me about her.

Friends: 4thepunchline, astroguy0, Nermal42, DroidVinyl, rhythhymn, elimindedra, KAThompson, JemimaLo, JoeTheGhost, Juniormint2010, Grade-A-Human, venconmigle, and Ishnai

In short: I am multi-talented, nonsense-loving, and intelligent.

Learning Python, browsing Reddit, and looking for a full time job. I'm living with my grandpa, uncle, and little brother in a nice house with a pool. Currently I make money through freelance computer repair. I'm planning to expand my income through designing and selling humorous shirts including ones that advertise a nonexistent company named "Culty Meals."

In 2011 I was accepted to UC Davis to get a degree in that major you may not take seriously at first for that fall, but I've had to postpone that. Why? I've been classified as nonresident. As such, without *huge* loans I'll be only able to afford one quarter at UC Davis. After trying in vain to be considered financially independent so I can be reclassified before I turn 24, it turns out that not paying rent on family owned property has ruined that for me. As such, I won't be attending UC Davis until 2014. *sigh* For the past 4 years I've been attending the nearest community college, Mt SAC, but no longer! I'll be getting my AA in Natural Sciences shortly. Most likely I'll get some dead-end tech job until the Fall of 2014 comes around.

I trade CDs, books, movies, and IMs in my free time, but the enormity of my extra-curricular activities is hardly fit to be captured in a sentence. For example, I might have profiles on more websites than I can recall in one sitting. I love web apps (web-based applications).

However, I truly love the outdoors, but I don't get enough chances to explore it. I'd happily go on a hike and/or share a tent with anyone who is interested.

assuming this is meant for a list hobbies rather than only activities I'm an expert at doing.
I'm great at repairing/upgrading/networking computers (it's my job), playing badminton, Scrabble, and Jews harp, engineering (Calculus and many aspects of robot design and construction), cooking (especially fluffy scrambled eggs), using Photoshop and Illustrator, finding neat things to show my Physics professor, and being fluent in languages which I've never heard (JK).
To a certain extent, I'm good at shopping online, dancing in public, acting, and designing printed tshirts.

I have a deviantArt account at http://homicidusinfirmorum.deviantart.com/ that has some photo manipulations, vector illustrations, poems, and prose. Art isn't something I spend large amounts of time on anymore.

I'm not sure if I'm good at it, but I quite enjoy camping, especially in National Parks. I did that a bunch the summer before last. It was so Fun!

are my broad shoulders, aged fedora, slim 30-inch waist, and a small speech impediment that is offset by how out going I can be.

My hats and t-shirts are other things that make me stand out. I have some ridiculous, awesome t-shirts from ThinkGeek.com and xkcd.com. I often jauntily place my business card into the rim of my fedora for easy access. Some other things may be a few of the things on my List o' 6 (below).

You can see my recent watching/reading list here.

Books and Authors
Authors: Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, Carl Sagan, Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett, Daniel H. Wilson, Ray Bradbury, E. A. Poe, Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, John Hodgman, Cornelia Funke, Michael Chabon, Not Ayn Rand (that sociopath behind the Tea-Baggers and so many crazy republicans. You know she worshiped a brutal serial killer, right?)

Favorite Series: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Harry Potter, Discworld, Ender's Game, Remnants, Animorphs, Inkheart, Artemis Fowl, Red Dwarf, The Chronicles of Prydain, Bunnicula

Classics: Heart Of Darkness, All Things Great and Small, 1984, A Separate Peace, The Stranger, Mark Twain's works (and several of his quotations), and the short story "Flowers for Algernon"

Others: Robopocalypse, Machine of Death, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, HPMOR by Less Wrong, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, The Radioactive Boyscout, The Portable Atheist, The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Mr. Blue, Have Space Suit, Will Travel by Heinlein, Sphere by Michael Crichton, Watchmen, The Yiddish Policemen's Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Webcomics
Not Dead Yet: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, xkcd, Savage Chickens, Bearmageddon, Dinosaur Comics, The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, El Goonish Shive, Edmund Finney's Quest to Find the Meaning of Life, Scenes From A Multiverse, Subnormality, Sinfest, Garfield Minus Garfield, The Oatmeal, Opplopolis, Wondermark, Nedroid, Bad Machinery, Banished!

On hiatus/Dead: Goats (especially after I met the creator at Comic Con), Nic Buxom, Bohemian Drive, Cectic, The Perry Bible Fellowship, Speak with Monsters, Bad Gods, Pell Mell, No Room for Magic, Concerned: the Hλlf-life and death of Gordon Frohman, The Loneliest Astronauts

TV (Past and Present)
Anything with Conan O'Brien, Anything by Joss Whedon or Matt Nix, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel, Batman Beyond, British comedies, Burn Notice, Castle, The Colony, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Cowboy Bebop, The Daily Show with John Stewart, Dead Like Me, Doctor Who/Dr. Who, Duck Dodgers, Eureka!, Evil Con Carne, Fawlty Towers, Firefly, Fooly Cooly, Futurama, The Simpsons, The Good Guys, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, House, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Invader Zim, Junkyard Wars, Lexx, Look Around You!, Making Fiends, Malcolm in the Middle, Man Vs. Wild, Megas XLR, Misfits(!!!1111one11), Monk, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Muppet Show, MythBusters, The Office, Powerpuff Girls, Prototype This, Psych, Pushing Daisies, Robot Chicken, Samurai Jack, Science Channel, Scrubs, Sealab 2021, Sherlock, South Park, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Terriers, Tin Man, Tremors, Trigger Happy TV, Unchained Reaction, Ugly Americans, Upright Citizens Brigade, Venture Brothers, The Walking Dead, The Whitest Kids U' Know, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Worst Case Scenario with Bear Grylls

Movies
Literary/British Comedies: Apocalypse Now, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Withnail and I, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and Life of Brian, Not the First 4 HP Films, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Sweeney Todd

Science Fiction: Aeon Flux, Avatar, Back to the Future (trilogy), Men in Black, MIB II, Time Bandits, V for Vendetta, Ironman, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Flubber, The Wizard of Oz (kinda corny, I know), The Bourne Ultimatum, Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, The Dark Crystal, Blade 2, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Matrix (trilogy), Pan's Labyrinth, The Phantom Tollbooth, Serenity, Super 8, Tron Legacy (not the first one), Stardust, Bridge to Terabithia, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight series, I Am Legend, Jumper, John Carter, Most if not all of the Spider Man movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zombieland, Moon!

Comedies: Accepted, both Ace Ventura movies, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, All About Steve, Be Kind Rewind (I love this one so much), Office Space, Hebrew Hammer, The Gods Must Be Crazy, A Fish Called Wanda, Get Shorty, Be Cool, The Mask, Son of the Mask, The Hangover, Superbad, Yes Man, Mel Brooks films, The Muppet Movie, Mystery Team

Generally more serious stuff: A Few Good Men, Casino Royale, The Italian Job, Wasabi, Knight and Day, Life Aquatic, The Aviator, L4yer Cake, Guys and Dolls, Orange County, π, Green Hornet, Green Mile, Schindler's List, Good Night and Good Luck, Forrest Gump

Animated: Shrek series, Hoodwinked, Monsters, Inc., Wall-e, Kung Fu Panda, Up, Most other Pixar films

Documentaries: The Yes Men, Religulous, Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns, Food, Inc., The Corporation, Supersize Me, (Not quite a documentary) The Men who Stare at Goats, H. H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer

Not Epic Movie, Not Juno, Not Ice Age 3, Not most horror

Music
Least popular and most desired: They Might Be Giants, Lemon Demon, Logan Whitehurst and the Jr. Science Club

Others: The Aquabats, Arcade Fire, Beck, Blue Man Group, CAKE, Cut Copy, Daft Punk, The Dandy Warhols, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Devo, Fiest, Fiona Apple, Flight of the Conchords, Fol Chen, Franz Ferdinand, fun., Gorillaz, Greydon Square, Harvey Danger, Holy Fuck, Hot Chip, John Flansburg, John Linnel, Jonathan Coultan, Kate Nash, Kimya Dawson, Laura Veirs, Magnetic Fields, Math the Band, Metric, Mono Puff, OK Go, Ookla the Mok, Owl City, People Are Wrong, The Pillows, Polysics, The Postal Service, The Presidents of the United States of America, Smash Mouth, The Sparks, Tool, Van She, Wax Tailor, Weird Al, White Stripes, and my own twangings of the Jews harp. For other Others, check out http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/user/artifexcrastinus and http://www.last.fm/user/Mr_Latin_Dude

Games
Lately: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Fall Out: New Vegas.
Amanita point-and-click games, Arkham City, Bioshock 1 and 2, Braid, Ratchet & Clank and Jack and Daxter series, all the Half-Life games, Portal and Portal 2, Scrabble (especially on facebook), Okami, Crystal Quest, Twisted Metal, God of War, Advanced Wars, Settlers of Catan, Super Mario Brothers, PIQ, improv games, hangman, logic puzzles, Frisbee, and badminton. I'd like to try a tabletop RPG.

Food
Very varied, so where to begin? Some basic things I suppose: croissant, crueler, elephant ear, pumpkin pie, peanutbutter], horchata, Tea(!!!), Salsaritas (salsa-flavored chips), blueberry and all other berries, kiwi fruit, hiziki, et cetera. Favorite juice: grapefruit.
I prefer eating chicken to beef and pork. I love Thai, Japanese, and Greek food. I absolutely hate Antarctic food and I dislike jawbreakers. I no longer chew gum (it's none-biodegradable, you know). I like most foods though.

YouTube
My Drunk Kitchen, Foamy the Squirrel, H+: The Digital Series(!!!), Songs To Wear Pants To, StarTalk Live

Question: Do you think I should include my favorite podcasts too?

Books/webcomics,
My laptop named Fluffy Towel,
My new Droid named Holly,
At least one joke to tell,
My black laptop backpack which usually holds my Hitchhiking sign and camelback, and
Variety because it's the spice of life.

But, of course, most of these things should be disregarded because I'm an avid camper. Think Bear Grylls. lol

• Which Monty Python sketch best matches my situation.
  
• How to survive in a robot uprising and/or zombie apocalypse (like any sane person without mental myopia).
  
• How to design a biological vehicle.
• 
  
• What possibilities does a colony of engineered bacteria have?

• How horrible pseudoscience is.
• 
  
  "All tribal myths are true, for a given value of true." -The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
  "Caltraps didn't kill anybody, they just slowed them down a bit. One or two of them in the sole of the foot induced extreme slowness and caution in all except the terminally enthusiastic." -Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
  
  "Always be prepared." -Boy Scout Motto
  
  "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." -Animal Farm by George Orwell
  
  "If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm." -Marcus Aurelius
  
  "My business is done!" -Invader Zim

I'm likely to be found listening to a new podcast, reading books and webcomics, or on reddit.

I've only been clubbing once and I very infrequently attend parties (I don't get many invitations). I'm interested in attending a rave now and see how it compared to my clubbing experience.

I have a big, Latin-enhanced vocabulary that I'm not afraid to use.

My front two teeth are synthetic. Go ahead, ask me why I'm a cyborg.

I have a weakness for steampunk.

I suffer from Gonadic Hyperrealism: my gonads aren't just real, they're very real.

My greatest annoyance with this site seems to actually be an annoyance with Americans in general: the most neglected list of favorite media is that of books. If you've written a list of favorite shows and music, why can't you make one of books? Or at least mention them at all?

You are open to skepticism on supernatural subjects and/or have an insatiable curiosity for science.
If you get off on Harry Potter pick-up lines, have a steampunk costume, or think you can cause me to experience tumescence. ;)

(The following "or"s apply to the Activity Partners bit.)
Or if you want to play badminton with me.
Or if you want someone with which to see a movie or rock concert.
OR, if you like the idea of pulling inoffensive pranks on the general public in San Gabriel Valley.
OR know a great website for selling t-shirts on and have reasons to back it.
Cigarette smokers need not apply.