In my spare time, I like to go backpacking in the woods (spent four days in the White Mountains with my brothers last summer) or snowboarding (before moving here last year, I lived in Salt Lake City, where I had a season pass and went boarding twice a week for three years). Also, one of the first things I did when I moved to Boston was to take sailing lessons on the Boston Harbor. Very very cool.

I don't like poetry. I don't like opera. I don't play video games. And I'd rather hang out alone than with people I don't like. I listen to NPR a lot, and I never miss an episode of Science Friday or the Daily Show.

I spend a lot of my spare time reading. I like wild, unbelievable nonfiction almost as much as pointless, mundane fiction, and my book collection is one of my most prized possessions.

I also love to draw and paint. You can see some of my stuff at http://benjismith.net/gallery.php

Some things I've done that I thought were fun: took a long-distance hitchhiking trip with a friend, lived in London for 2 months during college, drove to Maine to get a look at Stephen King's house, got a nose piercing and a tattoo.

Some stuff I want to do, but haven't done yet: attend a Red Sox or Patriots game, have dinner at a revolving restaurant, buy something at a live auction, eat chocolate-covered ants, go skydiving or hang-gliding, hike the Machu Picchu trail, see the northern lights.

Anyhow, I'm looking for a girl who digs those sorts of things. Someone interested in art, music, math, literature, science, camping, politics, etc, etc, etc. Someone with an interesting career and who enjoys a good bottle of wine. Or just a fun person with tons of self-confidence and lots of intellectual curiosity. (The self-confidence is not optional ;)

Professionally, I'm an artificial intelligence researcher (specializing in statistical machine learning). I explain it to my friends by telling them that it's like solving an enormous Sudoku puzzle. But with more math!!

In college, I studied theatre (playwriting, theatre history, contemporary dramatic literature), and I'm still very into the arts (drawing & painting) even though my career has taken me in such a science-y direction. I'm actually very proud of being a professional scientist and an amateur artist. I like that right/left-brain combination.

I can make an excellent loaf of French bread, from scratch, without a recipe.

Probably my nose ring? Or maybe my wry, sarcastic sense of humor?

Fiction: The Gone Away World (Nick Harkaway), A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Dave Eggers), The Time Treveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger), The Stranger (Albert Camus), A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess), Ham on Rye (Charles Bukowski), Paddy Carke Ha Ha ha (Roddy Doyle), The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman), The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco), The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck), The Unconsoled (Kazuo Ishiguru), House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski), Life of Pi (Yann Martel), Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris), A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

Nonfiction: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirsig), The Language Instinct (Steven Pinker), The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (Paul Hoffman), Bonk (Mary Roach),
Freakonomics (Steven D. Levitt), The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Oliver Sacks), Surely You're Joking, My. Feynman (Richard P. Feynman)

Music: Elbow, Fugazi, Helmet, Sufjan Stevens, Spinnerette, John Coltrane, Regina Spektor, The Sneaker Pimps, Blonde Redhead, Imogen Heap, Paul Oakenfold, Madonna, Miles Davis, The Crystal Method, Delerium, The Beastie Boys, The Dave Brubek Quartet, Led Zeppelin, Maurice Ravel, Bad Religion, Samiam, 311, The Cranes, The Balanescu Quartet, Janis Joplin, Nine Inch Nails, Sting, R. E. M., Suzanne Vega

(My Last.FM username is "benjismith". Check it out here: http://last.fm/user/benjismith )

Movies: The Godfather, Man Bites Dog, Adaptation, Galaxy Quest, Little Miss Sunshine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Moulin Rouge, Annie Hall, Being There, Unbreakable, Twelve Monkeys, Memento, Groundhog Day, Being John Malkovich, Gates of Heaven, The Emperor's New Groove, Toy Story 2, Something Wicked This Way Comes

TV: LOST, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Sopronos, Flight of the Conchords, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Dexter, 30 Rock, Arrested Development

Food: sushi, curry, pesto, salad, falafel, salmon, ribs, stinky cheeses, shiraz, Spaten Optimator, Beck's Dark

1) living in a city, within walking distance of art museums and concert venues.

2) a huge shelf full of books I haven't read yet

3) some really groovy danceable music

4) somebody to dance with

5) a bottle of wine, and a plate of great food

6) a pair of shitty old jeans

News, politics, music, literature, art, statistics, poker, my career, cooking, wine, hiking, snowboarding, dancing...

Hanging out with a few friends, eating takeout food and drinking beer. Or maybe rummaging around the shelves at a book store (I can do this for HOURS). Sometimes just staying at home and working on a painting (or some other art project). Occasionally, out dancing at a club with some friends.

I got married really young, and then got divorced about six years ago. The ex-wife lives on the west coast, with the kids. We all get along really well and are good friends.

In fact, the whole thing turned out so well, I tell all my friends they should get divorced at least once ;-)

You want to spend an hour or two bullshitting with me over a cup of coffee or a beer. Or if you like art or books or movies or music. Or if you want to go hiking or sailing or snowboarding.