My childhood involved climbing the Icy Road of Death in sub-freezing temperatures because gosh darn it that's how we did things back East. It totally sucked, but suffer any abuse long enough and you either learn to love it or die. So now I'm stuck in a life-long dysfunctional love affair with Snow.

My high-school graduating class numbered under 10.

I moved out West because not much changes culturally where I'm from, at least not per generation. The Bay Area sounded like a good venue.

I'm verbose, but only in print. In person I'm quite the laconic chap.

I hate text messaging, and the ensuing flaky behavior it causes, but no one else does it seems. Oh for the days when people made plans 3 months in advance and had to stick to it since that was the quickest possible correspondence.

Anachronistic? Hardly, people just looked better with pocket watches.

And lastly, since it comes up often, I'm Minbari agnostic (for those of you who live in Dorkdom).

This is the deep breathe before the plunge, back to Architecture school, not war thankfully.

I've been working the wine-bar scene for a few years now, some I've built, others I helped get off the ground and most recently my main job is at a little veggie/vegan cafe very dear to my omnivorous heart. Now that the war chest is at capacity its onward to the land of tiny desks and midnight paper deadlines, and I'll spend much less time working no doubt.

When not there I try to do one of 3 things, whichever comes to mind first. (A) Play a game. If friends are near-by or online, with them, otherwise just something myself. (B) Grow some food. Tomatoes are never better than from your backyard, and having a row of fresh spices beats most pleasures I know of. Or (C) Make something with power tools! There is some testosterone in me, and I watched too much This Old House growing up.

An occasional (D) crops up, which involves wearing a less than legal amount of clothing, water falling from the sky and the distinct risk of pneumonia. (D) Trumps all other options.

Being presented with a problem in a medium I'm unfamiliar with, and somehow solving it with all my limbs intact.

I'm also really good at not eating brussels sprouts.

Lack of shaving in the mutton chop region.

Things I like to read: Epic multi-volume fantasy tales. Sardonic narratives of elder times are also good. Tobacco Road and The Virginian are good examples. Some sci-fi mixes in there too, like Neal Stephenson's stuff. Comic Books, Powers is a great contemporary story.

Things I like to watch: The Horse's Mouth, Red Dwarf, Shichinin no samurai, any and all things with space lasers, Dark Star... many things. I wasted school funds on an HD projector due to my movie addiction... but an 8' screen was worth it.

Things my ears hear: ... honestly, long as it ain't Country Western we're cool. To point, a short list of the more listened to items currently on my iPod: Clara Hill, Dryft, capsule, Rohff, LTJ Bukem and Pete Rock.

Things I put in my tummy: Food. I eat it, and with one notable exception it is always delicious.

1. Trees
1.1 More f'ing trees!
2. Very aurally aggressive & angry music (for bad moods)
3. A modicum of sunshine
4. Getting to be the small spoon sometimes
5. The ability to make things with my hands
6. Something new on the horizon to give my brain a twist

When the heck I'll get a chance to go backpacking up in Tahoe again. Seriously, it's been gnawing at me for months now...

I work nights usually and as such Friday night belongs to the customers. Thankfully I'm friends with many of them, so it's a good laugh usually.

Those nights I do get off are spent playing boardgames, going to trivia events (if the bar in question serves Irish coffee), finding a new band to listen to or playing with my modest Lego collection.

I'm nonchalant, right? I'm also amazingly flippant. People get out-right offended sometimes in how I answer questions, or casual drop certain life stories without breaking into tears.

You feel the need to play a board game that may just beat its human competitors. Baring that, please do get in touch those of you with surplus Creme Brulee...