[UPDATE: I'm going to be in Sydney, Australia from December 9 through 24 working with the Google Wave team. Not looking for long-distance love, but would be up for having a drink / walk / swing dance with an Aussie.]

[UPDATE: Intrigued by my profile but too busy / shy / lazy to send me a note? Feel free to give me 4 or 5 stars with the handy star-rating thing up above, and if the interest is mutual, OKCupid will let us know.]

Hmm... me in a concise yet (hopefully) engaging nutshell.

- DANCE: I love lindy hop (swing dancing)! The music, the people, and the lessons I've gotten in confidence, listening, posture, and more... all awesome!

- MUSIC: I am a longtime albeit somewhat-lapsed musician... a pianist and composer. At a friend's urging, I finally posted on YouTube some recent clips of me piano'ing.

- TRAVEL: I am grateful to have been able to travel a ton these last few years, and have now visited over 30 countries and taken thousands of photos.

- DEMEANOR: I smile a lot. And I seem extroverted; I enjoy conversation and generally love people. But deep down, I'm at least a good bit of an introvert... liking small dinner get-togethers far more than big crowded parties, and content to quite often curl up with a magazine.

- CURIOSITY: I am never bored, and in fact, cannot honestly ever remember being bored in my life. There's always too much going on in my head... ideas, dance steps, musical phrases, dreams, and a never-ending to-do list.

- FOOD: I love food! I mean, I seriously get excited thinking about different flavors and textures. In this way I'm like Remi in Ratatouille (but alas without the same culinary talents).

Living it!

Okay, more specifically...

- Serving as the one and only Search Evangelist for Google.
- Kickboxing, yoga'ing and more at the gym in the afternoon 2-3 days a week
- Dancing at a lindy hop event 1-2 nights a week.
- Reading stuff (online and offline) many evenings.
- Hanging out with friends and catching up on sleep on the weekend.
- Traveling to different countries to meet with colleagues, groups of webmasters, and friends.

Keeping track of things and people, packing strategically, making friends when traveling, playing piano, listening to people and music, remaining optimistic even when times are crappy, and cheering people up.

I'm taller than they thought I'd be. I'm shorter than they thought I'd be. I'm easily distracted yet focused. I walk fast.

I spend more time reading magazines (culture, health, technology) than books nowadays, a fact I'm neither terribly proud of nor ashamed of.

I am not a big movie buff, but I did join Netflix and I'm enjoying that. I like sci-fi movies without lots of car chases. Let me know if you come across one -- they're a rarity, because apparently the American attention span is smaller than George Bush's brain matter (translation for the clueless: that means VERY SMALL).

[UPDATE: I found a non-car-chase sci-fi movie: Primer. Very cool film, but ow, my over-time-line'd head!]

I love music and tend to have quirky tastes. I typically disdain most popular groups not because I think it's trendy to be independent, but because so many modern singers and music composers really suck. I'm particularly fond of schlocky 80's pop (which at least had no pretenses of being meaningful art), funny and complex and soulful a cappella, intricate musicals, and lots more.

Foodwise... oh wow, what DON'T I love! And not just the food itself, but the whole (natural) "process" of sharing food with others; one of my favorite things in the whole world is sitting down to a really really long meal with a group of friends, including fine wine, desserts, coffee, and lots of conversation!

With the understanding that people are not things...
A music keyboard. Chocolate. Bodies of water (I love lakes and streams!) Tea. The human touch. Dancing.

how I can quiet my mind and not think about things for a bit.

Twenty-four hours past Thursday night.

Something I really shouldn't.

- You have passions (no, working / drinking / watching TV aren't sufficient).
- We have at least some interests in common.
- You are generally a positive person.
- You are creative and active (athletic, energetic, etc.).
- You don't care that I dislike beer.
- You aren't put off by the fact that I have no interest in having kids or dating someone with kids. Don't get me wrong... I think kids are (often) cute and I enjoy spending time with them on occasion (and they seem to like me, too). But I also think it's wonderful that I can visit them and then retreat to a quiet home or go to Australia at last minute without worrying about the lil' ones.