I'm an independent, basically happy person who doesn't mind spending time alone. I own a successful business with a couple of other people (we have minions, too, which is always fun), and I think I'm fairly well respected among my professional peers. I suppose I could be wrong about that, but if I am and you know it, will you please respect my fragile self-esteem and not tell me? K thx.

I read fiction, science fiction, history, philosophy, science and just about anything else that hits my eye. I turn up the music really loud when I'm alone in my car and sing. I swear I sound just like Chrissy Hynde or Alison Krause until someone hears me. Then I devolve into Loretta Lynn. Ugh. (I'd appreciate if you'd keep quiet about that little fault of mine, too. Telling me isn't going to make me realize it any more acutely than I already do.)

I like to write with dip pens and bottled ink, even though I make a mess. My assistant always groans when I yell for the paper towels.

For keeps, I'd rather have a great guy who laughs a lot and has at least two brain cells to rub together. If he has four, that's even better. His having read a book in the last month or so will increase his desirability immensely, as will his superior grilling talents. Looks aren't an issue. Even if he looks like Brad Pitt, lack of intelligent conversation is going to make me flush him fast. I can't help it - truly smart guys are just plain sexy!

He must tolerate cats. He must be pleasant to my son, who is in college in New Orleans and doesn't make it home to spend time with his mom very often. (He comes home regularly to see his girlfriend, however.) He may not smoke, ever (I'm allergic, and self-consciously unattractive when my eyes and nose run and I wheeze). He must observe good dental hygiene. He must not fear being interrupted (or interrupting someone else), because that's how my family communicates, and when my family gets together we have a lot of fun.

I am shy, irreverent, and articulate. I'm a freethinker.

Expanding my business, dreaming about the places I'd like to travel (St. Petersburg in Russia, Petra in Jordan, and Istanbul come to mind immediately), planning my home's landscape, expanding my iTunes library, and hanging out with my favorite kid while he'll still let me.

Readin' and 'ritin'. 'Rithmatic? Not so much. I'm a champ at procrastinatin', too.

I play a mean game of backgammon.

I've got a couple of green thumbs and I wish I had more quality time for the garden. Someday I want to take the Master Gardener course offered through the county extension service.

...is how short I am, the gap between my two front teeth, the fact that I weigh more than I ought to, and the gray "highlights" in my hair.

Actually, I have no idea what people notice first about me - these things are just what I am most self-conscious about. You'll have to tell me when you meet me what it is you notice so I can come back here and fill this out properly.

I have a ton of favorite books, and my very most favorite is either The Princess Bride, The Alchemist, or whatever book I've just finished reading. I can also quote passages from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and The Once And Future King.

I don't watch TV very often. True crime, documentaries, and movies hold my interest. My favorite movie of all time is Rustler's Rhapsody (I love campy stories) followed pretty closely by anything starring John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda. Then again, Monty Python is a definite fixture in my movie world, too, as I appreciate Trojan Rabbits and Holy Hand Grenades. I just can't decide whether to join the People's Front of Judea or the Judean People's Front.

I listen to alternative and classic rock, jazz, and "world" music.

My favorite food is what someone else fixes, so long as it's not too spicy-hot. And salmon. I love salmon.

Books
My laptop (and Internet connection)
My glasses (or contacts)
A comfortable bed with lots of quilts, smooth sheets, and fat pillows
Friends I might not see for a long time, but when I do, we pick right back up where we left off
Laughter

Life, the Universe, and Everything; dead parrots and migrating coconuts; work; how I'm going to put my kid through college, and whether I can sneak back into an 18 year old body and go to New Orleans with him.

writing short stories, working on a novel, sewing, surfing the net, or wishing I had a date, or at least the nerve to ask someone out.

I am really, really, really, really shy. But I'll do my best, and sometimes I can fake it to an extent. And once I'm comfortable with you, you'll express amazement that I get so tongue-tied in social situations. I don't mean to, but it happens and I'm too much of a nerd to fix it.

you have ever laughed at an inappropriate time (and still laugh just thinking about it); you know the significance of the number 42; you've ever completed the New York Times crossword without help; the words "wicked" or "diabolical" are regularly used to describe your laugh or your sense of humor; you've read more than two books in the past month; you can make up limericks about Nantucket and buckets without using naughty words; you have figured out how to eat a pomegranate despite the seeds; you know how to map a network drive; you know the difference between "its" and "it's;" or if you have Words with Friends on your iPhone and need someone to play Scrabble with you.

Or, if none of those things apply, message me if you just find me moderately interesting and think we might have something in common.