I am a Los Angeles native, raised in eastern PA, and now living in State College trying to complete a PhD. Along the way, I am enjoying meeting great friends and finding lots of fun things to do. I am an avid reader and an aspiring writer. I am an atheist, a feminist, and a nerd, and I write a blog about atheism, feminism, and nerdy things.

Yes, my name is a Calvin and Hobbes reference; it has been one of my favorite pieces of literature since childhood.

I'm currently working to complete a PhD in ecology at Penn State, which is my source of employment and a large focus for my time at the moment. I am also enjoying life by hanging out with friends, pursuing hobbies, and trying to make the most of existence.

I am good at Rock Paper Scissors and making bad, crude puns. So, you know, really useful things.

Books: It's hard to come up with a definitive list of favorite books, so just a few off the top of my head:

Wheel of Times series by Robert Jordan
A Brief History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Movies:
This is Spinal Tap
Hot Fuzz
The Big Lebowski

Shows:
The Wire
True Blood (I'd say this is a guilty pleasure, except I don't feel guilty at all)
Arrested Development

Music:
Really depends on the time. Girl talk is a favorite of mine, perhaps because it goes with my frantic musical attention span. Other favorites are Beck, Daft Punk, and Neko Case.

Food:
I like lots of different foods! Two of my favorites are:
Enchiladas (a favorite from childhood)
Karipap (an excellent Thai appetizer)

Friends and family. When you get down to it, the people in your life are more important than any objects.

Some way to listen to music: I can take along an iPod with all my music on it right? I hope I don't need to choose just a bit of it.

Books. Do you mean specific books? In response, I'll start frantically grabbing as many as I can carry.

The internet. Can be substituted by a baker's dozen of cute kittens.

My camera: My interest in photography waxes and wanes, but my camera remains one of my most treasured possessions.

My guitars: I am rather unpracticed compared to my past self, but I still need them around.

I spend a lot of time thinking about biology and evolution for both thesis purposes and general interest. I like thinking about society and human behavior. Not everything is so high-minded however, as I often think about which new beer to try, or why my housemate's cat is so strange. As I'm addicted to Dan Savage's Savage Lovecast (a sex and relationship advice podcast), I suppose I spend a decent amount of time thinking about other people's relationship problems.

It varies from week to week. Sometimes it is going to happy hour or team trivia with friends, or hanging out at someone's house playing board games or talking or partying. Every few weeks I'll be performing in an improv comedy show. At least once a semester I will throwing a big party. Sometimes I'll spend a quiet Friday night reading, though I usually make Fridays a social night.

Sometimes, when I get drunk, I'll hit a point in which my 'homing beacon' goes off. I promptly drop whatever I'm doing and walk home, always able to find my way home but often leaving friends confused at my sudden disappearance.

I am bad at Hungry Hungry Hippos. Like, actively bad at it. I know, I don't know how this happens either.

I am always looking for more people with which to play board games, talk about feminism, philosophy, or other nerdy things, share books, hike and other fun things.

I love awful pick-up lines, send me those.