I'm a swell guy. I'm a writer. I'm a helper. I'm a goof. I do the best I can with the tools I have available, and enjoy finding creative solutions to ridiculous problems. I like playing games with cards, with dice, and with words, but never emotions. I'm gregarious. I'm logical. I clean up well. I've got enough stability to be safely adventurous. I'm a student of history. I'm far, far more likely to get bemused than angry. I know what I want. I'm not in a hurry.

I'm unconventional. I'm okay with that.

(Also, got a haircut. Pictures may come around at some point when I can manage one that doesn't involve a mirror.)

I'm a shift manager at a hardware store to pay the bills, and because it's fun to help people fix their stuff. My main focus is working on my novel, and the job leaves me the time and energy to do that. Writing was the easy part; revising, now, that's the struggle.

Analyzing things until I've found the inner bit of silliness inside. Learning new skills that may come in handy. Steering a directionless group--I can be sort of accidentally ambitious. I'm good at boiling a bit of history down to the most awesome elements, so other people can understand how awesome it is. I'm good at the MLA essay format, which turns out to be totally useless after graduation (who knew?). I'm handy around the house, and like fixing my own things.

Not sure; I've never been other people before. It probably depends on the person and the context. Am I overthinking this one?

I've been told I have a great smile, though.

My tastes tend to favor the epic and sprawling. I like stories of strong people rising to play a part in major events, where real people (read: well-developed characters) turn the wheels of history.

On the movie front, I also like ridiculously, unintentionally bad films. The sorts of fare Mystery Science Theater 3000 worked with. A spectacular failure is far more entertaining than an adequate success.

Some honorable mentions that I don't feel like gushing about or that don't need explaining: Brazil, Clue, The Dark Knight, Adam West's Batman, Disney's Hunchback, Blazing Saddles, Willow, Airplane!, Stranger than Fiction, Adaptation.

Les Miserables--both the book and the musical. Massive yet intimate, and even translated, the quality of the writing itself is astonishing..
Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series--very well plotted, very self aware, many shocking but thoroughly set-up twists, the rare well-done female lead-- just superb.
Battle Cry of Freedom--takes one of the most fascinating periods in US history and makes it an epic. The Civil War has been called "America's Illiad" for good reason; this actualizes that analogy.
Wall*E--Just makes any day better. I recently put it in, watched it through, then just let it play again.
Amelie--Also makes the day better. Dig the soundtrack, too.
Troll 2--It is very difficult to describe how uproariously inept this movie is. It's honestly captivating.
To Kill a Mockingbird--Do I really need to explain why the book and the movie both are just excellent? A time period perfectly captured, a coming of age story and a civil rights/courtroom drama. I dread the inevitable day they remake this.
Casablanca--I'm seriously not going to bother explaining this one.
Bablyon 5--Not to fly my nerd flag too high, but this is the first example of my favorite television genre: the telenovel. The entire story was written beforehand, and the series ended when the story was fully, satisfyingly, concluded. Sure, it's scifi. It also has Strong themes and strong, gradually developed characters, civil wars, fights against extinction, prophecy, betrayal... this show doesn't get the credit that it should.
Pushing Daisies--This was the cutest, most colorful, downright sweetest show I have ever seen--but without being cloying or saccharine. It's something of a romantic mystery show with a faerie tale twinge. I still haven't forgiven television (as an industry) for cancelling this one; Pushing Daisies is my Firefly.
Avatar: the Last Airbender--Don't let the terrible movie poison you; this show is shockingly, shockingly well done. It (deservedly) won a Peabody for it's accurate portrayal of the consequences of warfare. Heady stuff, for a family show! Another telenovel, like Babylon 5 above, and arguably better realized.
Doctor Who--might be getting a little too nerdy here, but this show is just too epic and silly and awesome.

Music--Classic rock for me, mostly. Queen, Kansas, Styx and the like. Jazz or swing are fun for background listening, and I have quite a few epic-sounding soundtracks I'll have in the background as I write. I've been kicking to the Homestuck soundtrack a lot recently. And if you even know what that is, I've been totally geeking out about it of late, but nobody knows what I'm talking about.

In no particular order:
1. Books
2. Sufficient Sleep
3. The occasional 'never leave the bed' lazy day.
4. Irony and sarcasm.
5. People that appreciate #4
6. Wait, was #4 really a cheaty way of putting two answers?
7. Crap!

Also, kitties.

Fascinating, fascinating nonsense. Like:

-How quickly the economy would collapse if shipping pallets disappeared.
-The red tint of a lunar eclipse is the reflected light of every sunrise and sunset on Earth. Why is something so poetic not more well known?
-France's military history gets a bad wrap. The twentieth century was just a bad season.
-Some rules and regulations encourage the very thing they were supposed to fight. For example, the cursing in the otherwise squeaky-clean movie ET, inserted just to avoid a family-friendly G rating. This amuses me.
-Flying cars are a logistical nightmare.
-Technology has probably already reached the point where it's 'indistinguishable from magic.' I mean, do you actually fully understand how cellular phones do everything they do? Could you build one?
-If everyone, everywhere got together and agreed to take next Wednesday off, we totally all could.
-Andrew Jackson would be furious to have his face on paper reserve notes. He'd probably shoot somebody. Though to be fair, he'd probably do that anyway.

Playing games and goofing off with my friends.

I was replaced by a robot when I was eleven. This helped me save half the galaxy from Space Napoleon and his Velociraptor army. Turns out, raptors don't take orders well.

...you've read this far down without hitting 'back.' I mean, why not? Girls can do the contacting too, these days.

...you'd like to join in on some of the group dance lessons I've started taking. It'd be good to have someone to go and embarrass myself with for a change.

...you're curious who my favorite historical figure is, or wish to discuss your own.

...you're at all interested in giving my story a read. The old tale of a young man, caught up by prophecy, destined to save a world he barely knew existed. You've read it before-or at least seen the movie version. The difference this time is, so has the young man-and so have the bad guys. A bit Hitchhiker's Guide, a bit Battlestar: Galactica, with some magic thrown in for spice.

...you're not a sneaky, sneaky Space Raptor. If so, then I'm already on to you.