I try. I make mistakes. I think about what happened. I try again.

Once upon a time there was a me. This me was smart and a bit of a workaholic. This resulted in a fairly successful and comfortable life by most measures. However, this was a very boring life. There was no bad - but there was also no great happiness either. Every day was just, well, pleasant in an average sort of way. I lived just outside Manhattan, didn't own a car (they are terrible burdens in the city), and rarely had cause to go more than 2 miles away from home.

One day I decided I wanted more. First, I moved to Texas. Instead of living in a cramped NYC area apartment, I bought a house out in the 'burbs. Instead of never going far away from home, I bought a silly little red convertible and have been known to drive a couple hundred miles on a weekend just roaring through the roads of the Hill Country.

This was an improvement, but I was still looking for something more.

Then, one day a friend mentioned he was going to visit a mutual friend that had moved to India. I said I've been meaning to travel more. He said I should come with him, so I did. I didn't even really know what we were going to do or anything. All I knew is that we'd be staying with a friend (that I honestly didn't know that well), so off I went. I'm down for whatever.

Well, I got a lot more than I bargained for. It wasn't so much India that was amazing. It was more that my friend there is such a social butterfly, world traveler, and awesome person. I expected to do random touristy stuff. While she did take us to a few touristy places, she also took us out to bars, techno clubs, poor rural villages. It was SO much new and exciting variety to take in.

One night we took a road trip and stayed in a 5 star hotel. We woke up early in the morning and went to the Taj Mahal to watch the sunrise from there. After that we drove a few hours into the middle of nowhere and met our driver's family. This was a poor farming village with no running water and full of people who rarely saw foreigners. The contrast from being in a 5 star hotel was amazing. The villagers literally lined the road to see us. When we went into a house, there were crowds of kids outside all pushing and shoving to stick their head in the window for a minute to see the Americans. They made us lunch and one of the few guys there who spoke any English asked me what kind of animals there are where I live. I tried to explain that we have cows, but that our cows live in fenced fields and not in the streets like they do around his house.

A day later I was at a house party and I talked to one guy and asked him what he does, and oh he's an airline CEO. I talked to a girl and she works at the Austrian embassy. The next guy was a DJ... Expats = interesting people.

My mind was blown from the sudden influx of experiences, culture, parties, people, etc...

YES! THIS! MORE PLEASE!

The trip woke me up. Since then, I have been on a mission of awesomeness. In the past year and a half I've been to Memphis, Miami, San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Austin Electronic Music Festival, SXSW, FunFunFunFest, Ultra Music Festival, various music shows, comedy shows, movies, etc... I try to drag my friends out with me as much as possible, but they're kind of homebodies. I need more friends to do stuff with. I need an awesome girl to do stuff with. I need to do more living.

MORE PLEASE!

Turning the music up to 11, driving fast, music festivals, travel, computers...

Interesting events I've gone to in the past year: SXSW, ACL, FunFunFunFest, Ultra (Miami), Bonnaroo (Tennessee), Cinematic Titanic show in Chicago (from the makers of MST3k), a wedding in Las Vegas, Voodoo fest (New Orleans), 10 days in Japan...

I'm pretty good at my job. I'm lucky to have stumbled into something that I love, I'm good at, and that is in demand. This makes for an excellent combination. I can talk forever about how the Internet works, but somehow I doubt you came here to discuss the Internet.

I am highly skilled at wearing silly t-shirts.

I've always been good at long term thinking and planning. Short term things that worry other people don't bother me. Prepare ahead of time, remain flexible despite the aforementioned plans, and regularly evaluate and correct your responses. Don't panic.

Favorite things:

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - old, but greatest TV show ever
Alamo Drafthouse - especially Master Pancake Theater
Texas Hill country
Rudy's BBQ
Chuy's
Dr Pepper - my unhealthy vice
Fast cars
Computers/technology

Recent good reads:

The Economist
Eat, Pray, Love
Memoirs of a Geisha
Prozac Nation
Born on a Blue Day
Kite Runner
Swimming to Antarctica
Old Man's War

Currently rereading The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, which I originally read like 10 years ago. I find this book really interesting not for the plot, but for the imaginative world it portrays.

Music: Infected Mushroom, The Hood Internet, Daft Punk, Beastie Boys, Astral Projection, Orbital, Prodigy, 1200 Micrograms, Coldcut, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, FSOL, Busta Rhymes, MGMT, Benny Benassi, Justice, Crystal Method, Simian Mobile Disco, Riot in Belgium, Girl Talk, Rodrigo y Gabriela...

A challenge/goal to funnel my drive towards
Laughter/happiness/smiles/comedy
Travel
Kids
Technology
Someone who cares/someone to care about

I am a thinker. I spend a lot of time thinking about everything. The number of hours I have spent thinking about this profile alone is mind-boggling.

Goals. How am I doing? If things haven't worked out the way I wanted, why? What adjustments should I make?

Not drunk. Not making it rain up in the club. Not shaking what my momma gave me.

Eating a steak. Watching a movie with a friend. Clicking on the Internet.

I typod my username, but there was no going back after answering a thousand questions.

Last night I was driving home from New Orleans when I caught myself singing along to "Party in the USA". Oh dear. A few minutes later I was on the side of the road putting on the spare tire after driving over a curb and destroying my tire.

I used to list what I was looking for here. I'm really just looking to increase my odds. I'm certainly not going to meet anyone at work. I have no idea if this will work, but if it increases my chances by a few percentage points then I guess that's all I can ask for. So far, online dating seems to mostly just result in me embarrassing myself. :)

I don't know if I'm what you're looking for. However, I can say that I have my shit together, and I'm a non-creepy and genuine guy. If there's no "magic", then oh well, not much really lost is there?

So, message me if you want to. In the meantime, I'll be quietly working on my world domination skills.