So, where should I begin? I suppose right at the beginning...

A brief chronological overview of my life up to this point:

1978 - Born in Los Angeles, CA
1979 - Presumably spent most of my time staring at ceiling fans, being burped
1980 - Moved to Denver, CO
1981 - Idolized Big Bird, the number "7" and letter "C"
1982 - Survived the now-legendary "Christmas Eve Blizzard."
1983 - First watched "The Price Is Right;" realized the dire need to spay and/or neuter anything that moves
1984 - Declared intentions to be either a fireman or fire truck
1985 - Spent summer bored out of my mind playing deep, DEEP right field in junior t-ball
1986 - Watched "Top Gun" eleventy-thousand times; wondered why that whole shirtless volleyball scene went on for so long
1987 - Moved to San Francisco. Wildly disappointed to learn that "Full House" was actually filmed in Los Angeles
1988 - Wondered why Vanilli couldn't be more like Milli
1989 - Moved back to Denver; made concerted effort to join Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation"
1990 - Randomly met Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on a beach in Hawaii. Surprise! He was drunk.
1991 - First experienced the emotional damage inflicted by "Hypercolor" t-shirts and their exaggerated pit stain technology
1992 - Realized that my earlier intentions to become a fire truck were more difficult to realize than first thought
1993 - Tried Crystal Pepsi. Not much happened '93.
1994 - Traveled to Europe for the first time. Was facinated by the percentage of the German population wearing leather pants
1995 - Feared Suge Knight
1996 - Graduated high school. Not much of an accomplishment looking back on it.
1997 - Celebrated the triumphant return of the "McRib"
1998 - Finished third behind Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in home runs
1999 - Suffered the effects of the Y2K crash one year early
2000 - Struggled mightily to spell the word "millennium" correctly
2001 - Graduated from college (CU Boulder - Go Buffs!). Immediately realized the gravity of this mistake
2002 - Made a concerted effort to compete in the Salt Lake Winter Olympics. Failed to medal. Probably because they thought my luge style was "too real"
2003 - Wondered aloud whatever happened to "Limp Bizkit?"
2004 - Gleamed the cube
2005 - Once again confused the meanings of immigrant, emigrant and Amy Grant
2006 - Attempted to navigate the DirecTV automated bill pay system in Spanish. The end result? No me gusta
2007 - Mistakenly believed it's not butter
2008 - Realized that a backwards robe works just as well as a Snuggie; saved myself $19.99
2009 - Watched the first episode of "Jersey Shore" in stunned silence
2010 - Served as a groomsman in no less than 7 weddings over the course of one summer. Sweet Mother of God.
2011 - Wrote this rambling self-summary on OKCupid.com
2012 - Belonged first to the 99%, then the 47%, then the 100% of the electorate who just wanted the election over!

About you:
If I could describe my perfect date, she'd be quick to laugh and able to laugh at herself. She'd enjoy watching "The Big Lebowski," wouldn't mind tailgating with me and my group of friends before a game up in Boulder on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon in autumn, and would be happy to listen to NPR's "This American Life" on a road trip to God-knows-where. She'd be kind and friendly. And maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to teach me the "Thriller" dance from start to finish.

So, how does that catch you? If it sounds good, I hope that you'd drop me a line. If not, then go back and read it again!

Here's looking forward to talking with you soon.

Cheers,
-Pete

Happily, I'm a copywriter. That means I get to write and dream up ads, not questioning the legality of the fine print. While the hours can be very long and the work itself quite stressful, it still feels like I'm working in the toy department. Beyond that, I've written three screenplays, and am hoping to someday successfully pitch and produce my own film.

Away from work, I'm busy restoring my 1908 bungalow; saving up for my next big trip overseas; keeping my bulldog, Moose, out of trouble; and finding added reason each day to not take myself so seriously.

being modest and humble. Oh...wait. Crap.

My remarkable ability to stand squarely on my two hind legs. That, and my ever-changing facial hair.

Books:
"Catcher In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger; "Guns, Germs & Steel" by Jared Diamond; "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell; and "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Movies:
I suppose it all comes down to John Hughes and the Coen Brothers, really. If "Ferris Bueller's Day Off;" "O, Brother Where Art Thou?;" "Raising Arizona;" or my all-time favorite, "The Big Lebowski," is on TV, it doesn't take much for me to sit down and re-watch the film all the way through.

Music (in no particular order):
The Drive-By Truckers. AC/DC. Explosions In The Sky. Miles Davis. Bloc Party. Rilo Kiley. Blur. Bon Iver. Broken Social Scene. Zero 7. Whiskeytown. The Weakerthans. Glossary. Calexico. Chris Thile and Nickel Creek. D'Angelo. Black Keys. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie Wonder. Hum. James Brown. Al Green. Tool. Sufjan Stevens. Soulive. The National. Nada Surf. Mofro. Matt Pond PA. Massive Attack.

Food:
Udon noodles from Bones (7th and Grant), pho from Parallel 17 (17th and Franklin), Z9 rolls at Sushi Zanmai (Spruce and 13th St. in Boulder) Porterhouse steak from the Chop House (Wynkoop and 19th), cheeseburger from the Cherry Cricket (2nd and Clayton), and deep dish pizza from Geno's East (N. Wells in Chicago).

1. My family
2. My friends
3. My bulldog
4. "Kind Of Blue" by Miles Davis
5. My outdoor grill
6. The memories of long, warm summer nights on my back porch talking with - or about - any of the above.

whether or not God has feet.

walking my bulldog around Wash Park, trying out a new restaurant and then going out for a night cap with some good friends. Not a bad way to kick off a weekend, if you ask me.

The fall of Soviet Russia, the global economic collapse of 2008 and the human train wreck that is Charlie Sheen? All my fault.

you've gotten this far and I brought a smile to your face even just once.