Please bear with me, I'm rather awful at explaining myself without sounding like a complete douche.

How on earth do I do this? Do I quote some obscure song lyrics? Some deep poetry? A line from a cult movie? Will that make me sound hip?

My name is Andy. I'm 24, born and bred on the north side of the most beautiful city in all of the world, Chicago. I'm one of those rare people that gets along with everyone. People have said I'm really easy to talk to, and I guess that's a good thing.

I wear makeup from time to time. What can I say? I am (or at least tried to be) a Nancy Boy. Glam is great. To a point, at least. Not sure if I could really pull it off these days.

I'm pretty damned liberal. Go me.

I've been a musician most of my life, and because of a very musical upbringing, I tend to listen to everything under the sun. Seriously, from Bjork to Tool to Placebo to N.W.A. to the Smashing Pumpkins to Ravel's Bolero, it just doesn't matter.

I smoke. It's a sad habit, but probably one I won't break for a good long while.

When it comes to faith, I'm rather on the fence. I don't adhere to any one organized religion. I know that there has to be some sort of deity (or deities) that made this universe, because from a scientific viewpoint, everything has to come from something. I try not to think too hard about it though. I just try to live a good life and be the best person I can be, so I can hedge my bets. I don't want to see a giant Toaster God when I die, saying, "Hey, Andy? You know that baby you punched? Well, you're fucked now."

I'm a big science fiction fan. Anime is another great thing in my book.

There's probably more that I'm going to add later, when I think of it.

So there you go. I'm pretty much the greatest human being to ever live, ever.

Editors

• lovelyandsweet

Scraping by on wit and charm. Training myself to be a cubicle-prisoner for the rest of my life. Well, that is, if acting or music doesn't launch into U2-style stratospheric fame. Chortle, titter, guffaw.

Making people think I'm intelligent. It's a lucky knack.

I'm also pretty good at guitar. 17 years of playing it will do that.

I act. Hoping to at least earn some money doing it.

I write a lot. Short stories, essays, songs, bad poetry, stuff like that.

People have said my voice is good. I'll take their word for it.

Books? Well, anything by Tolkien. Arthur C. Clarke is a god. And yes, I admit, J. K. Rowling is incredibly good. There, I said it. I regret nothing.

Movies? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Almost Famous, Moulin Rouge, Amelie, High Fidelity. Those are my top six of all time, no particular order. (Yes, I count LOTR as one big movie.) I also love anything by Hayao Miyazaki or Akira Kurosawa. They're both just on a level that almost nobody else can achieve.

Music? Hoo boy, here we go. Let it be known that I actually actively listen to all of these bands and artist on a REGULAR BASIS, and the list is in no particular order... Nirvana, Bjork, Tool, Placebo, Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Queen, Smashing Pumpkins, Television, Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, Jane's Addiction, The Hold Steady, Pearl Jam, Primus, The Smoking Popes, R.E.M., Rufus Wainwright, Muse, Avenged Sevenfold, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Dismemberment Plan, The Beatles, Richard Thompson, Cephalic Carnage, Arch Enemy, They Might Be Giants, Frank Zappa, Veruca Salt, The Ramones, The Aquabats, 311, Pantera, Megadeth, Kate Bush, System of a Down, Type O Negative, Killswitch Engage, Pink Floyd, Cream, Between The Buried And Me, Franz Ferdinand, HORSE The Band, The Deftones, Nick Lowe, The Faceless, Coheed and Cambria, Alkaline Trio, Mastodon, and many others.

I really hate lists like those, because they're never complete. And my music lists ALWAYS get waaaaaay too long.

My guitar, cigarettes, and a roof over my head are all I need.

What could go wrong, and what could go right.

Doing one of many things. Living in the greatest city in the world contributes to a socially hectic life.

Doesn't that sound pompous? Oh well, I guess that in some odd way that's not my problem. Pffffffft.

I secretly adore just about every song Neil Diamond has ever recorded.

I also very recently -and drunkenly, of course- mistook Dicky Betts (formerly of the Allman Brothers Band) with Geddy Lee of Rush fame (bleah, I say) during a conversation about the latter band. My shame is endless.

You'd like to talk, make music, or just have an venti iced chai latte at Millennium Park while people-watching and eating some sort of sammich.

Cute, but lame. But cute.