Ok, I will get the confessions out of the way first to scare some people off:

•I'm a science geek, I did 4 years of a PhD before I gave up when I realised it was causing me more pain than decimal places were worth.
•My most defining characteristic, believe, is that I care, which is why I really want to find a job I care about (any suggestions gratefully received).
•I do lack confidence at first but make up for it with a quirky sense of humour.
•I believe in honesty, and I have resolved that next time I play Monopoly I will decline the £200 bank error in my favour, as it's an ERROR!
•If someone gets in touch with me I will respond, partly because I believe in courtesy, but mainly as a guy who is not that handsome, I don't expect to be inundated with responses, I don't think that is an onerous challenge.
•I firmly believe that spelling and grammar are important, unless you notice mistakes in my writing, in which case I was in a hurry so it doesn't matter.

Hopefully I haven't got rid of everyone and someone's still reading. If so, thank you and welcome, you're looking nice today, I like what you've done with your hair :-)

Please enjoy the rest of my profile...

I have been working as an accountant for the past 5 years, however I am now looking for a change in career. I would like a job that I care about and is fundamentally more rewarding. At present I am considering teaching. I like the idea of travelling, but have never got round to it, but this is something I intend to rectify in the coming years. High on my list are Peru, New Zealand, Canada, Iceland and more of Scandanavia (I loved visiting Norway and Denmark, so Sweden and Finland are next). Oh, and if I ever get the chance I really want to see Antarctica.

I have an ongoing challenge with a friend to get a novel published. At present she is winning, but I am sure the only winner will be our readers. I am concerned that we chose the romantic fiction genre, but then again we all have to start somewhere.

...listening. I like to think that I am always there for my friends.

...baking. Sometimes I struggle to think of a reason to bake a cake, so a common excuse is it's the weekend.

I am shy around new people, so people, probably, first notice that I am quiet. However as people get to know me, I think it is my sense of humour and fun that people most notice about me. That and that I don't have very much hair!

I love books but I've not been reading as much as I used to, but assuming I haven't changed completely I imagine I still have a soft spot for Thomas Hardy and rate Jude the Obscure as one of my favourite books. I adored The Time Traveler's Wife, and The Book Thief, I have a fondness for The Shadow of the Wind. For me a book I love will have to either make me care about the characters, or just be so insistent in the plot that I need to know what will happen. So I will also mention The Crow Road, Nineteen Eight-Four and Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow. Oh, and I should never forget Sophie's World.

Favourite films include Gattaca, The Big Sleep, Brief Encounter, Groundhog Day, Imagine Me & You, Amelie (of course), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Princess Bride, Flash Gordon (not ironically!). If I had to declare an ultimate favourite then Stranger than Fiction would stand a strong chance.

TV would have to include The West Wing, Doctor Who, Pushing Daisies, Murder One, Buffy et al, The Big Bang Theory, Wonderfalls to name a handful. Special mention should go for any geology show by Iain Stewart, which also act as a aide-mémoire of places to visit.

Music-wise, I would say that my tastes are singer-songwriter through to indie with an occasional pit stop in classic rock and Americana. In name terms that would be Tom McRae, Fiona Apple, Idlewild, Marillion and The Jayhawks. Then there's Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Hello Saferide (http://youtu.be/ojE7J6O1D6A - the sweetest and creepiest video and song), Counting Crows, Neko Case, Thea Gilmore, The Cardigans, Gemma Hayes, The Decemberists, Carissa's Wierd (Songs About Leaving is one of the finest albums I've ever hears) and Crowded House. But with my wall of CDs at home, that's definitely just a starting point.

I love baking cakes, and have a bizarre fondness for making giant versions of chocolates, my 2kg Ferrero Rocher is the stuff of legends with my friends. I do like cooking as well, though I prefer cooking for people rather than just myself.

A tough call to limit to just six, but if I had to, I would say:

1 Friends and family
2 Music
3 Garlic or chocolate... or cheese... definitely one of them
4 Cognitive brain functions
5 My phone
6 Hugs

...what I said, will say and should have said.

...what I am thinking about (seriously, I spend too long analysing my own thoughts).

...what I want in life.

...the eternal angst that is weltschmerz.

...ridiculous plotlines for stories that I want to write, like this one about this girl who goes on a cruise to get over... well, it's a silly story, but you can ask me about it if you want :-)

I'm not really a regular plan kind of person, but an ideal Friday night would involve meeting friends for a drink and some nice food. Putting the world to rights, arguing over pointless facts and planning awesome things to do that have a fifty-fifty chance of happening.

I have a, not so secret, fondness for eighties music and instigated a trend amongst my friends of doing the Kate Bush "Wuthering Heights" dance at parties solely to freak other people out... and have fun of course :-)

...you like the sound of me and would like to get to know me better.

...want to try one of my awesome chocolate cake recipes.

...you're quirky and fun, and don't mind shy people.