Disclosure: I chose my OK Cupid name not long after moving to New York and so didn't realize the full emotional resonances of the neighborhood in question. By non-realtor standards I think I'm actually in Bushwick. Closest neighbor is a veal factory.

I'm a reader, a biker. I like to do things I haven't done before.
NYC <- LA <- Seoul <- Oakland <- Brief New Orleans <- San Francisco <- Salt Lake City <- Lincoln, Ne.
I'm pretty funny in bigger groups but tend to be more serious one-on-one. Is that how everybody is?
Claims to fame: snuck into the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, hitchhiked in Iowa and California, dumpster-dived the Amish, did a police ride-along to a meth house as a small town reporter, hopped freight (short-distances), took Liberian refugees to the circus, had a job taking blood at the Red Cross, spent a week in Cincinnati volunteering on the John Kerry campaign which was hosted inside of an ex-urine-testing facility. I have also force-fed orphaned baby seals and sea lions (not a joke). I recently worked to (successfully) unionize my workplace, which was honestly one of the oddest, most terrifying and exciting experience I've ever had.

Teaching, writing, editing — more or less in that order.

starting largely non-awkward conversations with strangers
fixing broken cassette tapes, clearly a valuable skill
getting a laugh out of people: coworkers, roommates
maintaining long-term friendships
being more likable in person than on the internet

"That guy's down jacket keeps leaking feathers."

Books: David Foster Wallace, George Orwell's non-fiction,
Recent reads: Dana Spiotta, belatedly The Corrections, John Haskell, "The Red Parts" by Maggie Nelson (!!!!!), Jim Krusoe, Stacey Levine's "Frances Johnson", Mary Gaitskill and Thomas DeQuincey's "Confessions of an English Opium Eater."
Is it just me or does every single sentence in Lolita have either a pair of rhyming words or a ton of alliteration? It's bizarre.
James Franco agrees: the 33 1/3 book about Celine Dion is fantastic. I don't usually read poetry but Ben Lerner is totally bringing his A-game. That guy is up to something great.

Music: To me, live shows are almost always great. Take me to one. RE: recorded music -- Marnie Stern's second album with the very long title is great. She makes guitar rock interesting again. I hope she will become super-famous. Doseone/Subtle/Themselves (yes!) and some of the other Anticon stuff. Lately, Stravinsky, Brian Eno's "True Wheel" and Shirley Ellis's "The Clapping Song" are on heavy repeat. At different times I've been pretty into El-P's "Fantastic Damage", Matmos "A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure", Yo La Tengo "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out," DJ/Rupture's "Minesweeper Suite" John Zorn, Tom Waits (Blue Valentines-era to Bone Machine), Aphex Twin's "Richard D. James" album and Lifter Puller.

Food: I'm a good but essentially functional cook. My roommates and a share a weekly meal together and that's nice. Foodie-ness is kind of a turn-off for me. I have been vegetarian since birth, but I'm not evangelical about it and tend to date carnivores. I notice I instinctively trust people who eat spicy food even though I know that's ridiculous.

- New York without shoes would be pretty terrible.
- self-respect
- black Uniball pens
- bicycle
- I know that backpacks are not really in keeping with New York fashion sensibilities and have caused me some degree of scoliosis over the years but I remain a fan.
- my TMJ mouth guard

How the earliest uses of written language were for accounting. The expansion of the wealth gap. Ways time shifts are conveyed in fiction. Meta-narratives about Africa, phonetics and when to hyphenate compound adjectives.

working on creative projects, meeting up with friends.

A friend jokes that she'd like to start an internet dating website called "Guess What's Wrong With Me?" where people try to hide their defects in their profile and you try to guess what they are. In my case, my photos hide the gap between my two front teeth.

I gravitate toward strong personalities. A belief in public service coupled with a willingness to engage in the partially immoral is a turn-on to me. Verbal quickness and humor go a long way. Kindness is less important in the short-term, more so in the long.

Dates I'm particularly interested in doing: drinks + dancing, donating blood, academic lectures, music.