It’s a new year and time to update my profile. I’ve been in Austin a little over a year now and have met some great people – most have become friends – but so far no major romantic connection. Could it be you?

I find it difficult to describe myself in only a few words, so this might end up being more like a book than a profile! I'm not big on labels – I think they tend to pigeon-hole people and often seem more limiting than they are descriptive – and I have many interests that take more than a few words to adequately describe. But, to help you decide whether the rest of this is worth reading, perhaps something along the lines of "Intelligent-Fun-Professional-Closet Artist-Computer Geek-Right Brain-Left Brain-New Ag(ing)-Spiritual Hippie" comes somewhat close. Or, if you're familiar with the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, I'm an INFP which is a more scientific (and shorter!) "label." I think it’s interesting how some of the labels OKCupid attaches to our profiles don’t always agree with what the profiles say. I know there are a couple of mine that I don’t particularly agree with!

I strive to maintain balance in most things: work/play, seriousness/fun, activity/contemplation, knowledge/experience, left brain/right brain, masculine/feminine, yin/yang, Pepsi/Coke, etc. I'm not very political at all, but my ideals and values are clearly more on the liberal side and I do get involved with social causes that I resonate with from time to time. I really like to travel and have been to England and Bermuda, as well as 47 states. Humor is a must! I especially enjoy word play and double entendres. Sarcasm is not my strong suit, though, and I’m not typically fond of it in others.

I greatly enjoy learning new things, often simply for the sake of learning. I like taking classes, attending a meetup, or reading about new areas of interest. I enjoy many artistic and creative endeavors: Sculpture, Figure Drawing, making candles, going to the theatre or theater, symphonies, concerts and live music of any kind, art museums and art shows, and lots of other stuff that helps keep Austin weird. I like card games, board games and bedroom games, but not head games. I'm a big music fan, especially the Beatles, and I enjoy collecting their records and memorabilia. I'm also somewhat of a 60's throwback in my approach to life and value set. Something along the lines of "peace, love and understanding," but I only do two of the "sex, drugs and rock-n-roll" bit. I don't live in the past, nor in the future. Instead I try very hard to remain as much in the moment as possible. "The Power of Now" has been a big inspiration in that regard.

Sex is very important to me, but I'm not looking for one night stands. Rather, I'm more interested in deep, passionate, connected intimacy that I believe stems from being genuine and real with each other. It's a connection that can develop over time or be there from the start. It's not just sexual chemistry, though that's an important part, it's the whole connection: physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional. Charles and Caroline Muir label it "conscious loving" in their book "Tantra, the Art of Conscious Loving." I'm generally a gentle and passionate lover and prefer long love making sessions that combine passion, play, humor, excitement, adventure, nurturing and intimacy. I am attracted to women who are in touch with their Goddess nature, confidently, passionately and actively participating in love making, and do not see sex as a "duty" or a tool for getting what they want.

There are a lot of things that I haven't done in a long time, or at all, that I would like to do. Such as white water rafting, skiing (both kinds), renaissance faires, a bed and breakfast tour, tai-chi, Qi-Gong, re-learning to dance (an on-going process!), gardening, landscaping, and probably whatever you're interested in that I haven't done.

I have a 17 year old son who lives in Houston, but I do get to see him fairly often. He’s a senior this year and we are quite involved with searching for colleges. Family activities with him are very important to me. I’m fine if you have older kids (or none), but I’m not looking to raise any more.

Given all of that, and I'm sure I've missed some things, I consider myself somewhat of a renaissance man or jack of many trades, master of none.

I am loving, inquisitive, and intelligent

I've been employed in the computer field (enterprise architect) for over 25 years, am well-paid, and still, for the most part, enjoy my job. Continual learning has always been important to me. It took 7 years and 4 majors in college to finally settle on information technology as a career choice that I thought (hoped!) would provide the opportunity for the intellectual growth I desired. I am grateful that that has turned out to be true.

In addition to my day job, I have and have had a number of other extra-curricular activities that help keep me active and mentally engaged. I have been a professional bowler and volunteer coach of the men's and women's West Texas A&M bowling teams (including 2 national championships), but left the bowling world in the early 90's to help raise my son as well as pursue other interests. Some of my other interests include radio disk jockey, starting my own business selling Beatles and other pop culture collectibles, eBay, several artistic creative pursuits (sculpting, polymer clay, origami, candle making, scrapbooking, etc.), as well as occasional volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and other non-profits.

In spite of these enriching and intellectually stimulating jobs, hobbies and activities, I continue to search for deeper meaning to my life. In the past 10-15 years, I've become interested in many new-age/metaphysical interests such as yoga, meditation, tantra, law of attraction, aromatherapy, and massage therapy (I'm a trained massage therapist, but haven't yet been able to to take the tests to become registered). Spirituality is very important to me, but I don't resonate well with most of the popular religious disciplines. Religious dogma in general, and areas such as evangelism, fundamentalism, a judging God, going to hell, and other "morality" based aspects do not appeal to me at all. The spirituality discussed in the "Conversations with God" book series probably comes closest, though there are things in there that don't fit well either. Buddhism has a definite appeal, and I am trying to learn more about it, but I mostly prefer to just believe what I believe without having it fit into any particular label. Most importantly, though, I believe we each have our own spiritual journey that is for each of us to determine and pursue on our own terms and in our own way. I do enjoy learning about and talking about spirituality and "life's big questions" with open-minded people, whether we agree or not.

Re-reading the above makes it sound very serious, which I suppose on one level it is, but I really try to enjoy every moment and see humor and lightness in everything I do, including spirituality. If you resonate with the works of any of the following authors, I'm sure we'll have a lot in common: Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, Margot Anand, Neale Donald Walsh, Jean-Claude Koven.

Loving. In all it's flavors. As a verb and a noun. Loving deeply, loving unconditionally, feeling love, making love, giving love, receiving love, living love, being love. When I can take away all the crap of the day-to-day world, only love remains.

I have no clue....probably my hair or my eyes. Some people think I look a little like Bill Murray or Jack Nicholson.

Favorite movies: Big, E.T., A Hard Day's Night, Sideways, A Beautiful Mind, Dodge Ball, The Piano, Gandhi, Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet's Society, Rain Man, The Gods Must Be Crazy, just about any Marx Brothers movie, and I just saw Avatar and liked it, too. I’m not sure it will stay on my “top 10” list, but it was one of the better recent movies I’ve seen.

Music: I love music (though I can't play anything!) and enjoy almost all genres. Way too many to list all my favorites but some of the ones that come to mind are: Beatles, solo Beatles, "Pet Sounds", Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Dido, Liz Phair, The Corrs, most all 60's British Invasion, Tears for Fears, John Mayer, Coltrane, Boney James, smooth jazz, Sixpence None the Richer, Shawn Colvin, Indigo Girls, The Go-Go's, KGSR, pandora.com, melodic female vocals a la the Lilith Fair concerts, Simon and/or Garfunkel, Harry Nilsson, James Taylor, Late 60's-early 70's Rick Nelson, and the quiet singer-songwriter playing in the small, dimly-lit, romantic club where you and I sit and gaze into each other's eyes discussing the meaning of life.

Books: I read a lot and usually have several books partially read at the same time (many of which I never actually "finish"). Nothing fiction, I mostly enjoy books on love, spirituality, new-age topics, sexuality, self-help, the Beatles, Rock 'n Roll. Some favorite authors include Neale Donald Walsh, Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, Margot Anand, David Deida, Wayne Dyer, Bruce Spizer, Mark Lewisohn

Food: I lean to vegetarian, but am not 100% veggie. I still eat occasional fish and chicken, as well as dairy. I do try to keep it fairly healthy, but I'm not a fanatic about it.

Probably on the computer listening to music or perhaps out at one of Austin's many clubs listening to live music. When I'm dating someone, dinner and a movie or out to a club is nice. Even better is to stay home, get some take-out, relax, light some candles, snuggle on the couch, watch a DVD, enjoy each other's company and see where the night goes.

That I have private things that I enjoy sharing with an individual, but not necessarily with everyone. I’m pretty much an open book in person and generally prefer deep discussions around sex, spirituality or social issues to “small talk.”