Ahoy! It's Michael, or Mike, and quite seldom: Mikey...

This is who I am: caring, weird, nerdy,
adventuresome, focused (yet sometimes perplexed), intelligent, sarcastic, pensive, thoughtful,
extroverted, introverted, passionate, driven,
carefree, empathetic, renaissance man...

I currently work full-time at a ceramics studio with the some of most uniquely awesome, and talented, individuals I have had the pleasure to collaborate with. My free time recently has mostly been allocated to absorbing as much as I can about web design and development, as I'm striving towards the goal of making my startup my only job. I find that I'm filling the rest of the time cooking, reading, and spending time with friends. I'd love to squeeze in some of my other passions too, but I still have yet to figure out how to balance everything optimally. On a tangent: the desire to hike and camp has now almost become unbearable, but I don't have a car, nor have I ever had a license (though I am highly proficient at driving all sort of vehicles large and small, so long as they don't have a stick shift, from working on my aunt and uncle's farm). So I have come to the resolution that I'm going to have to figure out how to bike to trail heads, or find someone who wants to go with me. I don't much mind that it is cold out, I'd go in a heartbeat to satisfy my cravings. So if you have a automobile, or want to give biking there a go, I'm most assuredly game!

- Being myself
- Giving a warm smile
- Making a remark about how delicious fresh cool air is
- Marveling: How things are how they are (e.g. bridges?)
- Ceramics
- Computer graphics
- Making fire pits and hearths in my backyard, on a whim
- Figuring things out
- Reading, listening to music, watching movies, sailing, hiking, camping, woodwork, biking, walking around, going out for food at tasty places, gaming, drinking, stop-motion animation, appreciating the small things in life, being dumbfounded by the complexity of nature, humans, and this earth.
- Everything else...

That I'm grinning at them and laughing inside

Exception: People that haven't seen me in a while generally notice that I've lost a heap of weight due to a healthy diet change and proper exercise. So if you haven't seen me in a bit, that's why.

So many I don't even want to pick any specifically....
So I'll stick to this:
- Most recent enthralling Books: There Will Come Soft Rain by Ray Bradbury, Siddhartha, John O'Hara short stories
- Most recent thrilling Movies (watched or re-watched): Moon (2009), OSS 117 (both of them are exceptional) Mary and Max, Amalie, The Artist (fucking love it!) and Delicatessen
- Most recent enjoyable Shows: Peep Show (terribly ridiculous and hilarious, and awkward), Dexter, Firefly, Spaced, Arrested Development, The Walking Dead, and Jeeves and Wooster
- Most recent entertaining music: Amadou & Mariam, Breakbot, Etta James, and Nat King Cole
- Most recent delectable food: Soups and Merlot...

I could do without these in extreme circumstances, but they're important to me:
- Family
- Friends (can also be family, nod at the sister)
- Learning and growing
- Creativity and thoughtful thinking
- The outdoors
- Books and a lot of other stuff...
- LOTR
I know that's seven, but I don't play by the rules!

Everything...

Doing nothing typical

I'm not authorized to divulge that information

You're awesomely awesome and you'd like to go on some adventures. Or if you want to go for a run, or a date, or hike, or a play, etc. I'm up for pretty much anything.