Like most humans, I've got a spectrum of roles and personality traits that comprise me. I'm extraordinarily turned off by the whole 'hipster' trend in people my age -- and people not my age, for that matter -- but I can admit to being a stubborn, pretentious bastard on occasion. I blame the time I've spent amongst the literati echelon.

For as much as I try to deny it, I'm a writer, but I don't care to associate myself with the stereotypes therein. I could babble on for hours about the state of modern fiction or comparing/contrasting elements of classic pulp fiction to social trends and cultural narrative.

The thing that most of the girls I've dated have said that my worst trait is my need for some solitude every now and again. I like to think that there's a way for everyone to "win" in life -- or even in any situation -- despite the fact that I know it's usually impossible, but it's a good thing to aspire to.

I tend to date women older than me more than younger than me, which a lot of people find strange for some reason. Of course, that's a general tendency, not some rule I adhere to.

My friends would probably categorize me as the "funny guy" insofar as I'm generally the one that can find humor in any given situation. Just because something is terribly dire and serious doesn't mean you can't lighten it up a little bit.

I'm prone to nerdy things like comic books, but it suits me just fine. I almost always root for the underdog. I tend to being surprisingly cautious, but hide it pretty well. I very seldom laugh out loud, but relish every second I do. People are usually surprised to find out that I have tattoos. Also, I'm a dirty smoker. Sorry if that's a turnoff.

Robots, pirates, dinosaurs, and other relics of childhood fancy tend to make me smile. I like talking to adults like they're children and children like they're adults.

I can think of no better day than one spent outside on a nice day with a book and/or some good company.

I'm also stuck in that twentysomething limbo where I'm fruitlessly try and determine which direction I'd like to push my life in -- Sisyphus-esque -- and if whatever I decide is plausible with the shit state of the economy.

A variety of things both useful and arbitrary.

Reading, writing, playing, smiling, being exhausted, researching, criticizing art, bullshitting, text messaging, mocking political correctness, reluctantly being hopeful for humanity, smoking, making faces, listening, observing, hypothesizing, and a bunch of other silly gerunds.

Who knows? A lot of people comment on my eyes, and apparently I make a lot of facial expressions.

As for books, The Stranger by Camus, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon -- really, I like so many classic and contemporary novels, not to mention all those in between, that no list I give will do them justice, but the ones above are a good sampling. Don't even get me started on comic books and old pulp fiction.

Movies vary quite a bit, but I'll generally give anything at least a partial watch. Mainstays are Shaun of the Dead, Knocked Up, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Ghostbusters, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

Music, everything from the Roots to the Murder City Devils to Merle Haggard to Slayer. Mostly, I don't like the really pop-punk stuff -- old habits die hard -- or any of the self-loathing nu metal. There's also a special place in Hell for the studio-gangsta rappers. About anything else is fair game.

Food, there's a mood for about everything.

Books, glasses, cigarettes, my phone (unfortunately), and entertainment. The sixth spot is fluid for my interest du jour.

Living.

Also, trying to find a middle ground between my rigid values and those of a world that's ambivalent to my presence.

I've spent a lot of time lately trying to reconcile the ideas of popular fiction and literary fiction, or at least siphon off the best elements of each and combine them into some marvelous concoction. While I tend to lean toward the literary side of that dichotomy, I can enjoy a bit of escapism now and again.

The typical answer: hanging out with friends, watching a movie, holding up on a couch with a book. Something to relax and wind down from the week prior.

I'm typically a pretty open person, at least outside of the Internet, so I'll answer if you ask.

If you think we might click, if you're tired of the monotonous student routine, if you think watching a movie with some friends and good conversations are a great way to spend an evening, if you can enjoy life, then I think we can get along. I'm sure there are other criteria, but they're fluid.