Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

Mae govannen. I'm Petter, which is not a misspelling; an omnigeek in computer programming, martial arts, evolutionary biology, and whatever else captures my obsession at the moment. I'm probably most notable for my wit (for better or worse), my accent (whose origin has been guessed to about a dozen countries), and my ironclad insistence on always being me. I realise this last part sounds rather clichéd ("I'm, like, so real!"), but let me put it this way: I'm me to the point of occasional social impediment. Honest, usually frank, and occasionally downright blunt, you will know the real me within a conversation or two, and probably like me rather a lot or very little indeed (and vice versa). Isn't that better, really, than enduring the company of people you merely tolerate?

Perhaps I should mention this, it being a dating site and all: I'm polyamorous and perhaps a little bit kinky of late. I'm looking for people to be a part of my life who can embrace, appreciate, and be a part of that.

My hobbies, besides computer programming (also my profession), reading, and practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, include microbrews (that is, good beer, particularly ales), single malts, debating rationally and incisively but often on futile subjects, playing the occasional video game (I won't have time to sleep when Starcraft 2 is released), going for walks, and -- well, there are only so many hours in a day (usually exactly 24, the exception being on days with leap seconds -- sadly, these leave little room for additional activities).

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

I'm a software developer; I develop software. It's what I do and what I want to do for the foreseeable future. It's problem-solving, design, a bit of empirical science, and a touch of math all rolled up in one lovely package; as a bonus, it's a passion I can actually make a living from. I also...wait, didn't I cover these things in the other box, above? Coding, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, and so on and so forth.

I'm really good at Propose an edit

Corrected for professional inexperience, I'm really good at programming. I don't mean to say that I'm a genius, but I'm fairly talented and have a passion for it. I'm also very good at explaining things to people (after some initial empirical probing to find the right level of discourse). I consider this a part of the family curse (if you meet someone who claims to be related to me, it's a fairly safe bet that he or she is a teacher -- or possibly lying). Me, I can do, so I don't want to teach... Well, in all honesty I do have great respect for good teachers (and very little for bad ones), but I don't think teaching at less than a university level would interest me and right now, I'm too tired of school to go back for a Ph.D.

I am also good at reading, a decent writer, and fairly adept at wiggling my ears, even individually.

The first thing(s) people usually notice about me Propose an edit

In online messaging: That I'm not fond of stock greeting phrases. I'm prone to skipping right across the his, hellos, and how-are-yous, directly to something that I (and hopefully the recipient) actually want to talk about. How interesting are the words "hi" and "hello", honestly?

In real life: Definitely the accent. Apart from gaining some attention and, I'm told, sounding reasonably pleasant, my accent is also an investigative device that helps me identify people who are from, or have spent time in, the U.K. People who lack experience with real British accents tend to assume that mine is. People who do have experience with real British accents generally know better, though actually placing it can be a bit harder. I so far have been supposed to be from (at least) England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, and Australia.

StrikesTwice tells that my accent is much more pronounced after a couple of drinks.

Also noticeable is my sense of humour, at least with and around people I'm comfortable with. A certain dry, sarcastic wit is always present. I've had people mistake one of my best friends for a mortal enemy based on the way we talked.

True to the stereotype of the tall, muscular, blond, blue-eyed, and handsome Swedish man, I'm blond.

My favorite books, movies, music, and food Propose an edit

(a) Books? They have to ask about books? This could be a long list. Everything by J.R.R. Tolkien, anything by C.S. Friedman, most anything by Stephen R. Donaldson (I wasn't too fond of Mordant's Need, but the Gap series has received far too little attention and acclaim), and A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. On top of that, a whole slew of fantasy novels, some additional science fiction, and assorted works from other genres, but there's really too much to list. Some scientific stuff, too; a number of books by Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene and The Ancestor's Tale are fantastic), a bit of layman's level quantum physics (John Gribbin; In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, etc.)...

I'm on a slow and ardous quest to educate myself a little bit and read some of the classics. Notable books I've read reasonably recently include the Canterbury Tales, Nineteen Eighty-four, Darwin's The Origin of Species, Great Expectations, To Kill A Mockingbird, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Brave New World...lots more. I enjoyed all of the above.

More? Douglas Adams, Shakespeare (Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet)...

(b) Movies -- almost anything by Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, The Silence of the Lambs, American History X, Jackie Chan's older movies (before they got too Americanised), the first two movies in the Godfather trilogy, and some (lamentably untranslated) Swedish comedies I'm sure you've never heard about (not because they're pretentiously artsy-fartsy, but because most of you probably haven't seen any Swedish comedies). Oh, and being a geek, of course -- anything with Monty Python.

(c) Music -- I tend to listen to a lot of movie soundtracks (Danny Elfman, James Horner, Hans Zimmer) and some classical music, but I also listen to a certain amount of rock and miscellaneous music (including some oddities -- ever hear about symphonic metal?). I suppose "eclectic" may be a useful word. I don't like rap, hip hop, country, or anything related to techno, nor do I like the black/death metal genres, but other than that? Therion, Owain Phyfe, The Tolkien Ensemble, Guns n Roses, Jump, Little Children, Gary Jules, Mozart, Metallica ... if there's a pattern here, I can't find it. Your music? I may not have heard it but I'll give it a shot.

(d-1) Foods -- sushi, Japanese food in general, French food, red meat, venison, and anything with salmon. You can't really go wrong with salmon. I'm generally willing to try new things, but carefully (I've got a few allergies to watch out for).

(d-2) Drinks -- a good nut brown ale, a nice single malt Scotch (though I cannot yet deal with Laphroaig!), plain Coke, and above all, mochas. I'm a big fan of mochas (and grieve the passing of the UBC campus Second Cup).

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

Using the word things in a wide sense (not [necessarily] objects): Friends, martial arts, a computer, books (The Lord of the Rings if I can only have one -- o torment!), coffee (whether plain, black, with sugar, or mochas), and meat. I am a big fan of red meat (and can't eat the common protein source substitutes).

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

Whatever I'm reading about at the moment. How frequently misunderstood the gene-centric view of evolution (disseminated in a brilliant book called The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins) is. Martial arts. People: People I like, people I love, and how to meet more good ones. What to put in these boxes.

EDITORS

• hot_tub_molly

On a typical Friday night I am Propose an edit

Not at the gym. Monday through Thursday are gym nights. Friday through Sunday are (hopefully) fun nights.

...Well, gym nights are fun, too, but you know what I mean.

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here Propose an edit

I'm always extremely curious to find out what the most private thing other people would ask is. Please let me know!

You should message me if Propose an edit

You feel like it. I'm usually at least good for a few emails. I'm not good for a few instant messages because instant messages tend not to work for me.

Alternatively, if you want to find out what the most private thing I'm willing to admit is.

You should NOT message me if you are not in the Vancouver area, unless you have a particularly compelling reason to do so (and have a particularly compelling reason why I should respond; if I get a message or -- this happened -- a "woo" from someone, say, 1500 miles away, odds are that I won't even reply to it). I don't need online friends/penpals/whatever. I already have lots of friends who are far away; it's here that I want to meet more people...

You also shouldn't message me if you cannot spell or have a particularly tenuous grasp on English grammar. "If U rite like this and U R OK with that", there's no way in hell I can communicate with you in writing and retain my sanity.

Finally, you ABSOLUTELY shouldn't message me if you can't accept polyamory and kink. Whether you want to date me, have a beer with me, or just chat, those are things you'll need to be OK with.

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