I find it amusing that right after I joined this site (yesterday) a guy asked me to come over and hang out in his basement at 11 PM. Hmmm.....not really a basement kind of girl. But maybe, just maybe, he had an awesome basement and I just lost my chance at paradise on earth.

I love books. I fantasize about being trapped in a library for months and reading all the books on my wish list, and all the books I'd love to experience again, and all the books I didn't really like if only to give them the second chance they deserve (sorry Moby Dick).

I am deeply affected by beauty--even something as small as the way light makes shapes on a dusty floor. Colors, fabrics, fashion, buildings, birds, all attract and hold my eye. I can't help but assign meaning, which probably isn't there, to the smallest visual details.

Other little things about me...

I haven't owned a TV for 15 years. And it has made all the difference.

I love to dance (free style and partner dancing).

The city excites me.

I think iPhone emoticons are really cute, especially when men use them.

Just started a sewing class and hope to be the next Coco Chanel.

I'm teaching English to 11th and 12th graders at a small private high school. American and AP Literature. I love it. Truly. But it's a VERY demanding job. There's no time for day dreaming which I adore.

charging an empty dance floor and making a fool of myself.

As much as I hate to admit it (because my dad primed me for this at a young age), I'm pretty good at sports and board games (especially ones dealing in wordplay). Though I don't do much of either one any more.

I'm not sure. My energy? I tend to look people directly in the eyes. Men sometimes find this intimidating and sometimes love it. I really like to take in a person's face, and listen intently to what a person says. I can be intense I guess. If you ask me what color someone's eyes are, I always know.

Books: White Noise, Madame Bovary; Beloved; Gilead; The History of Love; The English Patient; Jude the Obscure; Leaves of Grass; The Executioner's Song; Wind-up Bird Chronicles (anything by Murakami); Sophie's Choice; Enduring Love; Ovid's Metamorphoses

Movies: Annie Hall; You Can Count on Me; High Fidelity; No Country for Old Men; 2046; The Lives of Others; The Fog of War; Breaking the Waves; Man on Wire; Amadeus; The Wrestler

Music: Elliot Smith; Joanna Newsome; Radiohead; Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Metric, Suzanne Vega, Azure Ray, Rufus Wainright, Beirut, Yo Yo Ma, Nina Simone, Daniel Johnston, Eisley; Regina Spektor; Postal Service; Yeah Yeah Yeahs; Sinead O'Connor

Food: making a salad with fresh farmer's market produce on Sundays; the meatball at Cucina Urbana; mini reese peanut butter cups; kalamata olives; arugula salad with shaved parmesan and olive oil and honey; home made caprese; oatmeal with blueberries; thai food; hamburgers medium rare with avocado and swiss cheese; prosecco in warm weather, Red Zin or Pinot in cold weather; Rabbit 18 bars at peets, scharfenburger milk chocolate bars; bread pudding; peanut butter cookies, gingerbread, carrot cake. I really really like food. Mostly I care if it's fresh and made with natural ingredients.

1. lipstick
2. sense of humor
3. coffee
4. memories
5. beauty of the natural world
6. stories

great literature

the finality of death

the stories I hear on NPR

why my Meyers-Briggs personality type changes every time I take the test

why everything changes and why that causes pain and/or relief

why people are against Obama's healthcare plan

why people in San Diego are such bad drivers

why I can listen to some songs over and over and never get tired of them and others lose their luster quickly

why we fall in love when we don't want to and why we don't fall in love when we wish we would

why Annie Hall always makes me laugh and cry and why it always feels like the truest statement about romance

reading The Vagina Monologues