Whatever I write here will be only part of the story. Like everyone, I have different faces, different facets, different ways of being. I'm telling you now as warning - I may not appear exactly as I write here when we first meet. It depends, I guess, on how the stars are aligned.

In any case, what do I tell you to pique your interest, trigger your fascination? I won't even try. I'm too old now than to give you anything but the unvarnished truth - my version of it anyway. I'd rather you see the warts now and move right along than to trick you otherwise.

I've spent most of my adult life being agressively competitive and ambitious. It was great fun. When I wasn't doing that I would take off somewhere with a pack on my back. I'd grow a beard, sleep in strange beds, stare dazedly at people as they spoke in a lingo I couldn't hope to understand, and otherwise dive in head first wherever I was.

Back at home I was social. I'd go to the footy, to the pub, to the bars I knew so well, to the restaurants I loved to eat at, to my friends. Occasionally I'd find myself in a relationship, sometimes serious, more often diversionary. In truth I was never ready - too many things to do, and besides, like any good bloke, I loved to keep my options open. Still and all I had a very fruitful relationship with the opposite sex, even if a tad buccaneering: I'd run up the jolly Roger and prepare to board.

The good news is that I've now arrived at a different place in my life. I still carouse occasionally, but like in a lot of things I've dialled things down from the occasional 11 to about 3 or 4. I still travel, and still love it, but tend to do it in much more style than I did before: my bones are getting older. I'm still competitive, I still like to race and feel the wind in my hair, but I've shifted my focus to other things. Hell, I'm now an entrepreneur.

Which brings me to relationships. The day I stop feeling roused is the day I doubt gravity, but truth of it is I want something way different to ever before. That's what comes of living a life of freedom, independence and only marginal responsibility. One day you feel it in your heart, the yearning for the things you always put to one side.

I have a lot, inside and out, I want to share. I want to be humble. I want to build the things I've never bothered with. I believe in a lot, always have, and want to make it so, and with someone who moves me.

I'm not the perfect catch. I tall, but I'm not super tall - a smidge over 6 foot. I'm reasonably fit, but I'm not about to run a marathon. I look ok, but I'm not George Clooney. My claim to fame, if anything, is that I'm smart. And maybe that I'm sensitive. And I think I have some upside.

There's been a fair bit of drama in the last couple of years, and consequently the answer to this has changed. Used to be whatever I damn well want. Nowadays I'm more conscious of making things count. I've set off in different directions, diversifying my interests and my income, and looking to be as engaged, intellectually and emotionally, as I can possibly be.

Mmm, that sounds a little new age. Ok, I still go to the pub every so often.

Travelling solo. Writing. Being difficult. Cooking. Sleeping. Going my own way. And a whole heap of other things I'm too modest to list.

My wooden leg. Then possibly the parrot on my shoulder. Or is it a macaw?
Or getting past my Treasure Island fixation I don't really know. I'm tallish? Have big feet? Mmm, probably not. Maybe that I'm confident and self-assured. You tell me...

Can't say. My appetite for all these things is voracious. I'm a glutton when it comes to the written word and generally have 2-3 books on the go, ranging from a bestseller from 2 years back (just to see what the big deal was about), to high-brow lit, history and so on.
Love movies too, pretty well all sorts, even romantic comedies if they're not too wet, or twee.
Like everyone else I have my ipod/iphone fetish and spend ridiculous amounts of time on itunes sourcing music and creating clever playlists that I never actually play. Or hardly ever. Music is like air.
And food? Well, food is like food to me. Once upon a time before I had need to shave I considered becoming a chef. I went corporate instead (and somewhere along the line discovered the tedious need to shave), but I love eating despite a seafood allergy, and cook well enough to be a show-off.

Good food, good books, a variety of music, intelligent conversation, good sex, and vegemite. And travel.

Cheese. Also wondering about things - I'm very curious, dammit.

Planning to have a quiet night but somehow ending up drinking with friends somewhere, again.

I once memorised pi to 155 decimal places.

You feel a stirring.