I have been told I'm smart, witty and a coffee snob, and while I have no reason to deny either of the first two accusations, I must say that my coffee preferences are not snobbery, but rather basic good taste. Besides, I don't drink coffee, I drink espresso.

I have travelled a fair bit in my life, and have lived overseas (though not in recent years). I have wide-ranging tastes in terms of the types of food I like to eat and the sort of people I like to meet. I may be slightly more boring on the literary front, though.

My politics are unashamedly liberal. I think the term "progressive", while accurate, is another example of allowing the right to shape the terms of discourse by turning our own labels against us. I am, in fact, a card-carrying member of the ACLU. Dukakis was a wimp. (To be totally honest, I suspect my ACLU membership may have lapsed; but I do give to the ACLU Foundation every month).

I consider myself a Buddhist, but I am as unlikely to believe any new age dogma as I am to believe anything more traditional. I became a Buddhist after I started attending Episcopal services for a few years to be supportive of my ex, and in the course of reciting the credo, I realized that I did not actually believe any of the things I was saying I believed. This began a search which led me to Zen Buddhism, and that's the path I've followed since. It's like atheism, only without the absolutism, or true agnosticism... "Only don't know", as Seung Sahn would say.

"Courteous", "kind" and "forgiving" are a Steve Martin reference (see his web site here). I briefly went with "obsequious", "purple" and "clairvoyant" for the same reason, but then I decided that might be a bit too obscure.

I also wanted "kind" as one of my three adjectives because last summer when I was in China, everyone kept remarking about how kind I was. Nobody ever does that here, so I'm not sure whether it's just a cultural difference, but I like to think of myself as kind, so I decided to go with that.

And in case you're wondering who Mr. Bumpy is, you can find out here.

I am Courteous, Kind, and Forgiving

I've just ended a 20-year marriage, and am in the process of rediscovering who I am when I'm just myself. One thing I've already realized is that I've been limiting my social life in many ways to accomodate my ex's personality. I like to meet new people and interact socially, and it's time for me to start doing that again.

I'm doing the co-parenting thing, enjoying my nights as a dad and my nights off when I'm not working.

Cooking, eating, discussing food, writing about food.

Parallel parking.

Finding the humor in tough situations.

Anything relating to computers, as long as it doesn't involve HTML. I've worked for small companies and large, in product development and in research, and have always done well. As I mature, I've found myself becoming more interested in the human factors relating to my work, and less interested in the purely technical aspects. Many would still call me an �bergeek, though, if they use such words at all.

I shave my head and I laugh a lot. I have trouble keeping my mouth shut, and I can rarely resist a good straight line.

Books:

* The Man Who Never Missed by Steve Perry. * Dropping Ashes on the Buddha by Seung Sahn. * The Long Run by Daniel Keys Moran * Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman * Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams * Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton * Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson * To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Movies:

* Blazing Saddles * Fong Sai Yuk * Galaxy Quest * The Killer * Zorro, the Gay Blade * Royal Tramp * The Fifth Element * Kung Fu Hustle * The Seven Samurai * The Incredibles * Grosse Pointe Blank

Music:

* Boys Want Sex in the Morning by Uncle Bonsai * Fast Car by Tracy Chapman * Missundaztood by Pink * Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morisette * 1000 Years of Popular Music by Richard Thompson

Foods:

A simple bruschetta made from salt, good olive oil, and nice rustic bread, rubbed with fresh garlic.

Maine lobster, boiled before it knows it's left the sea and served with enough butter to harden the arteries of every man, woman, and child in Kennebunkport. Plus maybe a twist of lemon.

Jujeh kebab served with zereshk polo, taftoon bread, and a nice plate of sabzi. Extra cheese with the sabzi.

Esspresso from Vivace!, the Mecca of all true coffee aficionados.

A proper �clair. One filled with vanilla pastry cream. Not Bavarian Cream (do �clairs come from Bavaria? I didn't think so), not chantilly cream (an �clair is not just a cream puff that's shaped like a hot dog!), not pudding, not whipped cream, not chocolate mousse, and not some kind of coffee or chocolate-flavored variant on pastry cream, either. Seulement la cr�me p�tissi�re de vanille v�ritable, s'il vous plait.

Oh, and it should have a nice thick line of ganache on the top, though I'm a bit more flexible on the exact nature of the topping... I think I need to send out an open letter to the pastry chefs of Greater Seattle. Or maybe campaign for some kind of local ordnance or something... I know, I'll start a web site! And here it is: www.RampagingGourmet.com

Air, water, food, people I care about, sex, and espresso, in approximately that order.

Politics, work, my children, and life. I try to spend less time thinking than being, though, with mixed success.

At home, recuperating from the week. I am most active during the weekend.

I am something of a hedonist (not really a great match for Buddhism, I admit), and have pursued (and enjoyed) a variety of unconventional pursuits in the past, and may do so again in the future.

Ramsey Kerr, the Rampaging Gourmet, is my fictitious evil identical cousin (the name is based on Gordon Ramsay and Graham Kerr). Be careful, though. If you send him mail, he'll respond in character.

You'd like to talk, and won't be terribly offended if I don't reply. I've met someone through OKCupid, and it's going remarkably well. I still try to reply to messages now and then, though...