I'm a flower-childy kitchen witch who tends to think too much. My kids have always been older than I am, though I am still the most responsible. I threw a bad marriage on the funeral pyre over three years ago and am told I need to quit making excuses and just get on with my life before I forget there even is such a thing as two-person sex. One traumatic step at a time--I figure an email flirtation might be less intimidating than trying to pick up someone in the produce section at Whole Foods.

This is my do-over. Twenty-some years of a bad marriage "for the sake of the kids" (who now tell me it would have been less damaging to have simply dumped the arse. . .) and I'm determined to recapture my misspent youth. Only problems are 1) I still have emotional baggage (i.e. self confidence issues) and 2) I telecommute a graveyard shift and don't meet people at all. Perfect formula if you're an agoraphobic, but I'm not. Besides working FT, I'm also floundering around to complete an online degree to move into a better-paying job--with "normal" hours. And people. And, hopefully, a move to a part of the country that might actually feel like home. (FL was never my choice and I somehow got it as part of the divorce settlement.) Sadly, most of my life lately seems to involve a bad routine: Work. Sleep. Rinse. Repeat. On weekends, I break free and hit the supermarket. Sad end for someone who was once such an anarchist.

I'm the original Earth Mother and Jill of All Trades. In past lives, I have done everything from scratch, but now that my youngest has flown the nest, I'm trying to become more indulgent and selfish. This might mean anything from a packaged meal to eventually hiring someone to re-side the house FOR me (cheapness is so far winning that last battle until the entropy drives me mad). Given time, I cook, garden, sew, paint, sculpt, remodel, read, and write. Big warning: I don't need to talk incessantly, but as I jockey a keyboard for a living and routinely type about 250 wpm, it's way too easy to ramble in written form.

I honestly couldn't say what people actually notice first. Outside, I'm quiet and thoughtful, sometimes crusty. Inside, I've a marshmallow center. The insecure part of me (working on it) figures weight is the first impression because we all notice most what we're most sensitive about, right? I'm 5'10" and a size 18-20, so that's my problem. Hate to harp on the marriage (which I really don't dwell on), but emotional abuse that long meant I had to build up a defense system somehow, and physical armor was it. It's coming off the same way it went on--slowly--but it's coming off.

Love Robert Anton Wilson, Alan Watts, Firesign Theatre, Zappa, Rush, Aphex, Boards of Canada, and Tool. IOW, I may be firmly rooted in the '60s, but I've kept pace with my kids. Warning: Big on bagpipes. I'm predominantly a beaner--not hard-core vegan or raw foodist, but it wouldn't be a difficult change. Family in-jokes typically involve quotes from Big Lebowski, Fear & Loathing, Monty Python, FST, and anything with Bill Murray. I love Tolkein, but also giggled all the way through BASEketball.

My iPod, Mac, kids/pets (same thing, so count as one), and. . . maybe it's a good sign of flexibility that I can't think of other must-haves off the top of my head. I've sacrificed everything to be a SAHM for 20 years, and that kind of martyrdom takes some time to get over.

Philosophy (that "why are we here" BS), conspiracy theory (must stop reading Naomi Wolf and William Cooper), and probably a lot of things most people would find too much work, if not downright flaky. I have an overdeveloped sense of morality, and am told I'm probably the most liberal person anyone knows.

Going to the supermarket at 3 am. I work graveyard--if I mess up my sleep schedule, it screws up the whole next work week. Caveat: This would undoubtedly become less important if I actually had something better to do.

I've already bared my soul. I can do that on the interwebs. It's just harder IRL.

You're at least six feet tall (yeah, I'm only kind of kidding there--I got stuck with a shorter guy and won't do that again). I made the mistake of letting myself be bullied into taking the eHarmony self assessment and the end result was that a grand 1% of men out there fit me, so if you're unusual, you might be a winner.

I don't do religion, NASCAR, or smokers, but would probably be fine with some brainy, burly (bonus for kilted), radical activist-type pagan who's good with his hands. (I think that means you have a proper trade or are a serious geek and don't drag Jesus and Dale Earnhardt into everything.) You most definitely do not vote Republican (I lost them back at "flower childy" anyway, didn't I?) and most likely have a colorful past that involves mind expansion and other divergent thinking. Hell, you can even be a carnivore if you don't mind that I'm not. I come from a family of gnarly Scots who like to kill their food, so I'm used to it. You should probably be more gregarious so we can keep a conversation going, and most importantly, you're kind-hearted and have a great sense of humor.