I like to sail across Lake Chelan, climb its rock walls barefoot, and leap off into all that skin-tingling lake water.

I like to find cabins along the 101, where I like to make enchiladas, work through a stack of books, pour a scotch, play some pente, and simply lapse into being beside the fire.

I'm kind of a sandwich of a girl: a flirtatious layer of adventurous action, a gooey middle of thoughtful seriousness, and a final layer of optimistic kindness and hope. I use my body and my mind, my passport and my library card with equal abandon.

As for you, I don't care if you're bald or Cousin It's cousin, if you're short as Peter Dinklage or tall as Yao Ming. But if you can: make me laugh like Ben Stiller does, are as charismatic as Ben Foster, prod me to think as much as Jared Diamond or Jeffrey Sachs, have a mind like Tesla's, want to climb like Josune Bereziartu, be outrageous like Jack White, be soulful as Sean Hayes, explore like Jon Krakauer, or just have a heart for humans and this world we live in, then write me already -- what do you think will happen? I'll bite you? (Only if you ask nice.)

*Translating science
*Writing novels
*Climbing boulders (V6s next!)
*Strapping on snow shoes
*Trying to graduate my PhD program
*Trying to master Twitter
*Baking really tasty scones
*Reading, always reading
*People-watching
*Playing with a camera
*Wondering if maintaining a blog is a good idea
*Angling toward working with international science policy
*Saving up for a new trip
*Finding a new scotch (Laphroig wins so far)
*Enjoying the road and the views

-Listening
-Finding connections
-Wondering about theories and patterns
-Taking delight in the unexpected
-Being a good friend

Best thing a friend once said about me: "I'd describe her as a capable-looking gypsy." I'll take it.

Books: A River Runs Through It. Under the Volcano. Justine. 1491. Moby Dick. Other books that tackle big ideas in beautiful ways and let me glimpse the wheels and cogs in someone else's mind, both fiction and non-fiction.

Movies: Dead Man, Titus, City of God, The Legend of 1900, stuff by Herzog, Greenaway, Lynch, Egoyan, Coen Bros. Great bloody epics, mysterious moody stuff, whatever startles me and shows me something oddly compelling or has a dry, weird sense of humor.

Music: the little fiddle circle all the way up to a huge music festival. Americana, alt folk, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, iiO, southern gothic, Jay Munly, old blues, electronic. Music for staring at the wall deep in a good ponder, and music for blues-grinding in a sweaty Southern crowd.

Food. I like to make it, like to order it, love to find it at farmers' markets and holes-in-the-wall and fancy places. I can't say no to good sushi or dim-sum, and I do like it hot and spicy. I try to be conscious about my food choices.

Six? Silly arbitrary number. Ignoring that and moving on,

How old wood and rocks smell: smoky and aged.

How the corners of guys' eyes crinkle when they smile.

A fireside, a pair of chairs, two scotches, and two great books we page through while occasionally smiling at one another.

How the muscles in my back feel all after a long bouldering problem.

Friends at my back (even if they're laughing at me).

The next adventure.

Really excellent bread pudding.

Ideas, challenges (frustrations, even), bruises, scars, and always chances to learn more.

Respect.

the moment.

exploratory

I'm here to find real people with real passions who really want to make this strange, fascinating old world of ours better. And I'm only ticklish in one place.

You are direct and open -- you have confidence and wonder both; you're both sharp and rough-and-tumble, and you're also wondering how to balance all your interests... if you're engaged in your world. If you're kind. If you know how to share, how to wander, and how to be disciplined and thoughtful. You know great adventures sometimes start with care.

I will respond to all thoughtful messages (not so much the ones that just say 'hi' or some other brief mundane greeting.) I'd like the same courtesy from you -- if I message you and you're not interested, I'd appreciate a brief, polite 'no thanks' to indicate you got the message. I'll do the same for you. Reaching out to some other stranger on the Internet can be scary, so let's not ignore each other!