Hey Now! I'm a unique kind of nerd living in the rainy state of Washington. I have a bordering-on-obsessive interest in nature and I enjoy being outside in any sort of natural terrain. I love animals of all kinds, but have a great fondness for cephalopods, hymenopterids, and especially mustelids (weasels!). I am a student and teacher of Chinese martial arts, and have been training for quite a long time.
I find beauty in some strange places (well, strange to most people), like the flightpath of an arrow being released from an old fashioned wooden bow, a balanced and finely constructed blade, a trickle of water running through the sand, and a well-executed knee-wheel throw.

In general, I'm a fairly introverted and reserved person, but in the right setting I can be quite gregarious.

My two primary partners (see below) and I recently moved to Kirkland where we live with three cats and my ferret, Puck. There is still a bunch of stuff to unpack and organize, so my life is pretty hectic of late. Apologies for any missed messages or late responses.

I am quiet, intelligent, and silly.
(it's sad that OKC removed the three word description thing, but I'll stick to the old ways!)

Oh, and a couple things to mention briefly:

First, I identify as polyamorous (NSPP, yay!) and am currently in happy relationships of various levels of seriousness with some lovely ladies. MarSaosa and WA_Newbie are my two "primary" partners. Check them out; they're awesome!

Second, I don't do a whole lot of Renaissance Faire stuff (only 2 events a year), but many of the good pictures of me come from those events. I mean, come on, a place where it's socially acceptable to wear a sword on your belt and a feather in your hat? Can't beat that!

My long term goals involve owning a permaculture subsistence farm and keeping honeybees. I am generally interested in living a life closer to true sustainability and harmony with my world.
Presently, however, much of my time outside of work is taken up with practicing and teaching kung fu, and regardless of the directions my life or career take, that will always be a part of it.
With the free time I have after work and training, I like to cook, hang out with friends, play in the forest, catch up on my reading, and play games (either the computer or table-top RPG varieties).

Smelling things. I don't know why, but I have incredibly sharp olfactory sensors.

Staying calm and optimistic in almost any situation.

Identifying edible or poisonous plants and fungi.

Offending people with bad jokes.

Being a mediocre archer.

Skiing like a maniac (I'm not particularly skilled on the slopes, but when I strap on a pair of skis, I apparently lose all fear and inhibition).

Depending on my mood, most people's first impressions of me range from "smart-ass with a strange sense of humor" to "wait, there's someone standing there? I didn't even notice him".

Edit: over the past several months I've been told, in various different ways by several different people, that I have a "calm, dominant, gentle presence."
I'm not completely sure what that means, but folks seem to agree that it's an accurate statement. So, yay? I guess?

Books: Snowcrash, The Diamond Age, Ishmael, The Way of the Scout, the Ender series, Dune, Chronicles of Amber, the Vlad Taltos series, House of Leaves, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, American Gods, Tao of Jeet Kun Doe, Cryptonomicon, Childhood's End, Good Omens, Last Call, Sandman, Lucifer, Fables, Redwall, the list goes on and on...

Also in the list of things I love to read: XKCD, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Questionable Content, Penny Arcade, Girl Genius, Order of the Stick, Something Positive, Erfworld, and Sinfest

Movies: Dogma, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Star Wars, Alien, Predator, AvP, The Matrix, Ip Man, Fearless, Blade, 300, Fight Club, Gladiator, and just about any cheesy sci-fi, action, or martial arts movies.

I'll also add in a few of my favorite games. Though recently I have had very little opportunity to play, it's still a guilty pleasure I indulge every once in a while. I usually play computer games because I enjoy the plotlines and the characters' stories, so they are usually filed in the same parts of my brain as good books and movies.
Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect (yes, I'm a BioWare whore, I admit it), Thief, Diablo, Assassin's Creed, BioShock, and Half-Life.

Music: Dragonforce, Nightwish, Hammerfall, Black Majesty, Kamelot, Dark Moor, E Nomine, The Dread Crew of Oddwood, Breaking Benjamin, Metallica, Boston, Chicago, Assemblage 23, Covenant, VNV Nation, Apocalyptica, Linkin Park, Johnny Cash, Hanz Zimmer, In Flames, Flogging Molly, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Journey, Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Queen, AC/DC, The Eagles, you get the idea...

Mmmm...food...
Well, I have a great fondness for Chinese, Indian, and Italian, though I guess there isn't much that I don't like.
Oh, and I will do just about anything for good chocolate.
I am also a huge fan of mead, and I'm always looking for interesting types to sample.

Besides the obvious necessities, there isn't much I couldn't do without.
However, my life would be significantly less fun were it not for:
home cooked food
physical contact
my archery equipment
comic books
sunny days in the forest
time to practice and teach

Martial arts, biology, mental puzzles, and whatever game I've recently become engrossed in.
Also, during almost any conversation, there will be a nearly constant stream of bad puns (or AWESOME ones, depending on your point of view) running through my brain. The frequency with which I voice them depends on my mood at the time.

Nothing really counts as a "typical Friday night" for me.
Though, if nothing else presents itself, I will likely occupy myself with training/exercising, cooking, watching cheesy movies or old tv shows, and even occasionally clubbing.

There isn't much about myself that I'll keep secret. I'm a pretty open book, so if you'd like to know something, just ask.
For the sake of filling out this profile though, I'll admit I still watch cartoons sometimes. There's definitely a part of me that is just a kid at heart.

you feel like it.
I'm not going to enter a big list of the different kinds of people who should or shouldn't message me. But, I enjoy getting messages (seriously, I get all excited when I see the little mail notification from OKC), so feel free to send one my way!

P.S. I would be especially interested in hearing from the types of people that know how to tell the difference between a crow and a raven, understand the relationship between baguazhang and taijiquan, can discuss the merits or drawbacks of THAC0, or know what a "Fesnyng" is, without looking it up. Simply put: animal lovers, martial arts nerds, and gaming geeks.

...actually, ya know what, screw it, I will likely get along well with anyone who can feasibly describe themselves as being nerdy or geeky in any way at all. Passion and intelligence are very attractive to me.