High functioning academic (as in, I can wipe the drool from my chin; not claiming brilliance). Will discuss philosophy or politics upon command. Or unbidden, actually. My speech will be interspersed with cat noises (miaow!). I may also turn things you say into sexual innuendos or otherwise make stupid puns at a near-constant rate.

So many puns.

I like provocative, satiric, blunt, and self-effacing people, and I do my utmost to be one myself. I'll start by admitting that the only thing that mitigates my arrogance is that I really am awesome. The dogs bollocks. And I remind myself of this regularly whilst looking in the mirror and flexing my muscles. Sometimes I growl too. Miaow. Although I'm likely to blush crimson immediately upon doing so...

I sing folk music a lot, and can sometimes be induced to play the flute or the guitar (badly). I am very interested in fitness and nutrition, and I have a small academic background in these subjects. I relieve stress and find self-empowerment by lifting heavy things, and sometimes people. I am utterly addicted to coffee, and I have actually given my espresso machine a name ('Svetlana').

A note on 'religion':

I wish that I could indicate 'Humanism, and very serious about it', as I don't believe atheism is a religion and I do believe that my commitment to a humanist valueset can be reasonably called 'religious.' If you find this horribly contentious, let's have a nice long argument about it!

I'm a PhD student. I read and write a lot. Mostly on war, power, and the philosophy/methodology of science as it relates to my field.

Here are some words that relate to my life (ie my research): contentious politics, insurgency and counter-insurgency, critical realism, American pragmatism, Weber and Wittgenstein, emergence and reduction.

Sometimes I can be quite Searley, but usually I'm pretty Dewey-eyed in my take on truth, reference, and reality. This should become Laudan' clear once you engage me in discussion, but I do approach discourse with enough Hume-ility as to be changeable by it. Or at least, there is a robust correlation between the two.

I'm good at thinking. I'm good at finding something worthwhile to contribute in a wide range of conversations. I'm good at learning, too. I'm good at poking people to think and learn more, I like to think.

Conjecture: that I'm blonde, blue-eyed, not very tall, and fairly muscular. Unless they're blind or not looking at me, in which case they'd notice that I have an unplacable accent to my speech, and that I like to overanalyse and intellectualise everything. Oh and puns. Oh my Science, do I make puns! Sometimes they're even good...

If it weren't for the cat noises and general extreme dorkiness, I'd probably conform to most behavioral norms of masculinity. In case that matters to you.

In terms of non-fiction, my 'favourites' change constantly as I encounter new ideas and begin new projects. For someone of my relatively junior academic level (for a doctoral programme), I have the luxury of reading broadly as well as deeply. If you're quite curious, ask me for the current list of things that excite and engage me!

Fiction-wise, I think I'll merely mention that Terry Pratchett writes good books, and I really liked His Dark Materials. William Gibson writes stuff that amuses and provokes me in engaging ways.

Music: I could hardly list everything, but some important ones are Steeleye Span, Sandy Denny, Johnny Clegg, Garmarna, Jim Moray, Bert Jansch, and Alisdair Roberts.

Food: all the food. Ethiopian food, sushi, and a few assorted Chinese and Indian dishes especially.

In no particular order: coffee, my singing voice, the internet, laughter, discourse, and something to study.

Miaow!

quite possibly doing some combination of: attending a public lecture, giving a public lecture, eating sushi with friends, playing 'Mindtarp' with friends, cooking an interesting meal and snuggling up to watch some kind of interesting tv miniseries, writing an article, reading something.

I've had several Marxists call me an 'apologist for state terrorism and US hegemony' recently. I find this an odd thing to accuse me of, but I suspect it's one of those 'you're either with us or with the terrorists' kind of things.

If anything I say here leads you to think that you'd want to speak with me, get to know me, or otherwise interact with me, then send me a message. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, as do I.