God, I'm sick of editing my profile. It never reflects me accurately. Here's my latest attempt:

I love to travel; I've been traveling quite a bit for work and am beginning to realize traveling for work and traveling for pleasure are NOT equally as pleasurable for me.

I set a personal goal about 5 years ago to visit all 7 continents. As of now I've only been to 3, but I'm feeling like my goal is a little short sighted. I want to see much more than just a little bit of each continent.

I recently signed up for an 8 month stint in the desert (now 'till Feb 2011) with my employer of 12 years. I've been practically living out of a suitcase for the past 2+ years going from office to office; job site to job site. 8 months is a long time, but I have to admit I'm looking forward to a little stability and knowing where I'll be for a while.

I am working toward realizing a long term fantasy. As with most fantasies, I know reality wont live up to the idea in my head, but I've got to try it. I want to buy and live aboard a sailboat. The idea of being able to travel the world for just the cost of the wind excites me to no end.

PS - I'm totally excited to be going to Thailand for two weeks in a couple days (04Dec2010 - 17Dec2010) :-D

PPS - Thailand was *AWESOME*

PPPS - Looks like I'll be in the desert for another year. Just brining my dream closer to reality 12 month of paradise at a time.

Cooking I love to cook. I don't use recipes though I do read them for ideas sometimes. Mostly I just rely on basic techniques and get inventive with ingredients. it's hard to screw up too bad when you know the basic principles, but it does still happen occasionally :-X

Driving I love to drive. I'm a warrior on a road trip. I did 9000 miles in 10 days. Two of the ten days were days of rest with zero miles of progress.

I also drive very spiritedly. I keep it all legal or on the track these days though.

PhotographyOK, so maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but I really enjoy it and my ideal job would be combining photography and travel as an Assignment Photographer for National Geographic or something similar.

I once took a photograph when I was in Paris. It was a picture of a street performing mime taking a break on a bridge over the Seine smoking a cigarette and reading a book. I posted this photo to Flickr.com.

The mime found my photo of him.
My mind was blown; we was flattered.

My dashing good looks and charming personality?

I'm renaming this section.

Things I Like

Drinks:
Water
Tea. Hot or Iced, but usually not sweetened thank you.
Gin & Tonic (Tanqueray in; Rail out)
A drink I invented called Tangueray (Tang and Tanqueray) (I know it sounds White Trash, and maybe it is, but damn is it good)
Beer. Particularly ales. IPAs recently
Homemade Margaritas with Fresh Squeezed Limes

Food: I always wonder if the fact that I was vegetarian for 5 years would give me more or less cred w/vegetarians.
Pho
Cajun/Creole
Sushi
Mediterranean
Persian/Arabic
RARE Steak
Everything else (except olives...bleh!) Oh! I don't like capers either *blech*

Movies:
Gran Torino
Fight Club
Boondock Saints
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I Heart Huckabees
Snatch
The Italian Job
Pursuit of Hapyness
The Big Lebowski
Me and You and Everybody We know
Little Miss Sunshine
The Orphanage

Television:
Modern Family
Justified
House
The Big Bang Theory
Top Gear

Music:

Most current pop music is crap. I'm not sure if its getting worse, or if its just because I'm getting older, so now I listen to Public Radio 80% of the time. I have recently been struggling to turn this around and get back into music again. I know there is good music out there. I't just quite a bit of work to find the good. Here is some stuff I do like:
Herbie Hancock
Medeski Martin & Wood
Blood Brothers
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
Tool
Against Me!
Screaming Females
Eels
Gogol Bordello
Jets to Brazil
This list could go on for ever, but you would get bored.

Oh! Embarrassing fact: I own a William Shatner CD; And I like it.

Books:
I'm currently reading The Life of Pi
I love Vonnegut
and Hermann Hesse
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace
I love to read, I just don't have a lot of favorites.

I love my passport. I love the way it feels, I love the way it looks, I love what it symbolizes. I've been spending a lot of time in southwest Asia; mostly for work, but even working 90+ hours a week, I've still been managing to find a lot of time to go out and explore the culture here. I actually like it and find it fairly comforting and peaceful.

I discovered without other people to speak English with I start going a little nuts. It's not so much that I can't do without English, it's just that English is the only language I'm conversational with.

I've never been disappointed because I didn't bring my camera with me, but the opposite is certainly not true. Once a moment and opportunity to capture it has passed it's gone forever.

I've been doing a lot of traveling recently and one of the things you have to sacrifice is being near your friends and family. That aspect was one of the hardest decisions in me deciding to work over seas. If I could bring them with me I'd be as happy as a clam.

I once spent the better part of a week in Paris in the summer without access to a shower. Who would have thought even a cheap hotel wouldn't at least have community showers like a hostel. My room did have a sink in it thankfully, but for my next stop in Barcelona I splurged on a 4 star hotel.

I love Ice Cream. I don't know what more there is to say. Occasionally I'll make my own from the strange (Avocado) to the mainstream (Maple Pecan) but usually B&J do a good enough job that I don't have to get involved.

Who to vote for
What to cook for dinner
Baby Boomers ruining the country
Where in the world to go next
Cunnilingus
Confirmation Bias

Stranded in a strange city in a strange hotel or watching snowboardzombie's band play or just hanging out with friends in general. Staying at home and chilling on the sofa, watching a movie; maybe with a beer (something dark and flavorful) or perhaps a glass of wine (something full of tannins).

I already admitted to liking a William Shatner CD. What more do you want from me?

...you actually want to meet me in person. I'm a firmly believe that there is only so much you can about someone online. (Update:) The actual meeting may be delayed as mentioned above^

...you think Sushi is more than just a punchline to a joke.

...you also own a William Shatner CD.

...you think I sound interesting.

...you are any of the following people:

• Henry Rollins
• The Dalai Lama
• Fidel Castro

...you would like to teach me, or learn with me, any of the following: Sailing
Swing Dancing
French or Spanish

...you know an amazing travel destination that I have to see before I die, or you just want a travel partner