This is my second profile. My first one is over at TheElvendude. I wanted a fresh start, to do all my essays over again, and to start my match answers over again. The other answers are several years old, and I'm interested in knowing how that changes things. =)

Despite having a fair amount of experience in writing, I seem to have trouble expressing myself in words. I tend to attempt to be concise, and I often feel that I cross the line into abrupt. I also find that I digress very, very often. As indicated by the fact that my first paragraph is only tangentially a self-summary by the time it's finished.

I was about to move or rewrite or delete the previous paragraph. Then I decided, "No, f* it. I'm leaving it how it is." If the purpose of this profile is to give you an accurate view into my personality and my head, I think that I should leave my meanderings as they are rather than editing them to within an inch of their life so that they "sound good". Because, really, wouldn't you rather see how I really write than how I think you want to see me write? Or something like that.

Anyway...So, this is a dating site. My aim here is to find a significant other. A couple things that I really ought be up front about for those who may consider me a potential love/lust interest:

1) I am bisexual, and very much so. I like men. I like women. (Two great tastes that taste great together!) That's not going to change. I'm also not going to leave you for the opposite gender. However, that brings me to number two...

2) I don't believe in monogamy. I don't think that humans are biologically built to have only one partner, and I think that the societal constructs that promote the view of one partner, forever and ever, are inherently flawed. I think that serial monogamy is a decent and oft-sought compromise in our society, but I think that some form of poly is closer to what we should strive for to balance biology and society.

3) Pursuant to 1 and 2: being a sexually active bisexual who does not believe in monogamy, it is likely (though not a guaranteed) that I will have an existing sexual partner at any give time.

4) All of that makes me sound so promiscuous! But it's just not true. I'm actually pretty selective in who I choose to spend both my time and my body with. I often go long periods of time between partners.

A little more broadly about me: most of my time is spent reading and playing games. Almost all the games I play are social, either online or face to face. (I currently play D&D off and on, Vampire when the group can get together, Grimm Fantasy should be starting soon, board games weeks when the others don't happen, and WoW to fill in the cracks.) (See, the fact that I play my games with other people makes me feel better about it!) For literary taste, please see below. =)

Oh, one other thing that I'll mention is that I'm inordinately fond of using emoticons. I would append a smiley to every other damn sentence if it didn't make me look like a jackass. Mostly, I do that because it's very difficult to convey nuances of subtle emotion in a pure text communication medium, and I find that emoticons are a convenient shorthand to convey said lacking emotional context.

When I was an innocent and adorable child, I wanted to be a dentist. This may or may not have worked out well in the long run, had I pursued it. But I didn't want to be a race-car driver, or a firefighter, or an astronaut. A dentist.

When I was a stupid and naive child, I once commented to my father that I would rather starve than go flip burgers. I have not yet had the opportunity/necessity, but I don't think I would mind it. Seems it might be kinda zen if you don't take management's inevitable complaints about you too seriously. (I'm thinking of this theme from American Beauty as I write this.)

When I was a naive teenager, I commented that I would rather shoot myself in the foot than work a nine to five job. Since, I've done one worse and worked an eight to five job with a mandatory hour long lunch. This lasted approximately three weeks. I took a very substantial cut in pay to go work at a job that would let me wander in whenever I want, wear fully casual clothes, not be shocked at my piercings, and let me dye my hair. One might be tempted to divine from this little story that I value my small personal freedoms over monetary gain.

So, money is not my goal. My chosen career in my chosen industry will never, ever make me rich. I'm much more into personal growth, doing what I enjoy, and learning. I also try to sprinkle that with being a good person and helping others in small ways.

However, I work, broadly, in the field of entertainment. Sometimes, that gives me some ethical pause. I wonder whether I ought be pursuing a "more noble calling".

I like to think that I'm good at getting along with people. I can very often see both sides of conflicting viewpoints, which allows me to sympathize with people pretty easily. I also have a very broad range of interests, which allows me to converse on many subjects. I used to say, "I know a little bit about just about everything." I'm no longer convinced that's true, but I do think that I have a pretty wide knowledge base.

I also like to think that I'm really good at reading. Now, that seems like something that one really ought not be proud of. Almost all people can do it in this society. Oh, yes. But not everyone is *good* at it. Read is easy. Read and retain is a bit harder. Read, retain, understand, analyze, make connections, extrapolate, and morph into a higher idea...that's real reading.

Those are the only things I can think of to list that I'm *really* good at. The rest of the things I think of I'm only pretty good or ok at.

Gotta be the hair. I can't imagine it's not, really. It's a rather bright primary color. Which one is kind of up in the air, but it's definitely not natural. =D

Personality wise...I'm kinda quiet at first. I don't really speak up unless I have something to say.

Books! I love books. There's something just right about curling up under the blankets on a cool evening with the printed word in one's hand. Or in a chair in the backyard in the summer shade. Or in the seat of an airplane. Or in the car while I'm waiting for something. Or...well, you get the idea!

For the most part, I read science fiction with a fair helping of fantasy. I like far-future sci-fi that deals with the social implications of technological advancement. I like near-future sci-fi that does the same. I like adventure sci-fi with good characters. I like hard sci-fi that explores possible future tech. I like military sci-fi with good characters. I like political fantasy with good characters. I like fantasy adventure that actually has a plot. I think I'm sensing a theme here. Heh. I could list authors all day, but that doesn't really give a sense of what I enjoy. And I'm always willing to try a new author.

I also love reading technology news and reviews. As well as articles and such about all the games I love to play.

Movies! I love movies that have compelling, sympathetic, flawed characters and a sad ending. I love movies that really work over your expectations and make you think about what's happening. I'm also much more likely to see a movie that I've never watched than one that I've seen and enjoyed.

Music! I have a somewhat eclectic taste. A bit punk, a bit pop-punk, a bit hard rock, a bit soft rock, a bit oldies, a bit pop, a bit emo. Mostly, I put Pandora on QuickMix and let it play whatever it wants, and then add artists that I like as they come up.

Food! I love food. You can take me anywhere, and I'll find something I like. And if you take me to sushi, I'll tell you that you shouldn't have spent that much on me and be extremely grateful (take that as you wish...it'll probably be accurate). And full of fish. *grin*

Air, nutrition, sleep... Oh, if you've read this far, you should know by now I'm not actually going to pull that. =D So, more in the spirit of the question:

Books!
Games!
The Internet
Tasty food
Dessert
Sex

Work stuff. This is not as bad as it sounds! I really love the company I work for and have an active and vested desire to make it succeed.

I spend *way* too much time thinking about optimizing my gaming characters.

Beyond that...I like to think about people and the ways that people interact. I am fascinated by interpersonal issues and shocked by the number of ways people devise to be nasty to each other in very unnecessary ways.

I also love thinking about stories and scenarios and technology and the future. I've been known to be one of those people who just stares out the window, thinking.

How about my ideal Friday night instead?

In my ideal Friday (or any other night), you and I would meet up at a restaurant near one of our homes, or possibly near the work of whoever leaves work later. We would have a very tasty dinner and dither over whether we should have dessert, then decide that we can split one without too much damage to the waistline or the pocketbook. While we are doing that, we would have a very excellent conversation on a variety of topics, primarily social (not necessarily political), but also ranging into technology, gossip, and anything else that comes into our heads.

Then we would retreat to one of our homes. We would cuddle and watch a movie or read together, telling each other the funny and interesting bits. Then, when the time felt right, the cuddles would turn into foreplay, and then into an evening of wonderful sex.

For a non-typical Friday, take the above and add more people. =D

Oh, oh! I keep sex toys in my nightstand! How's that? Revealing enough? Too predictably sexual?

Hmmm...how about...my mental junk food is vampire romance novels. Yeah, that's a pretty good one.

Should I write the cop-out response of, "If you want to?" Nah. =)

How about...if you want to get to know the quirky bi gamer sci-fi reading guy who has rambled on in the essays above with the knowledge that he's going to be assessing you as a potential mate.