I am a curious person*. I enjoy solving complex problems, often in the form of misbehaving computers, the New York Times crossword, or the what-happens-next puzzling out of long-form storytelling media.

I am an aspiring systems admin by day, a devourer of books by night. Walking through downtown Minneapolis to and from work, I frequently feel as though I am enjoying life more than the average corporate commuter and try to resist the urge to dance down Nicollet Mall (occasionally failing).

I get a love of cooking from my father, and a love of music from my mother. For purely practical purposes, I practice the prior pursuit primarily, though preparing a particularly prestigious repast will combine the two, as I sing along with whatever's handy.

* and also amused by lexical ambiguity

Economically, working for a small business doing systems admin and tech support work, while helping develop new products I shouldn't talk about.

Artistically, I'm trying to sing more, and channel seven school-years of orchestral double bass into learning the bass guitar.

Physically, I'm also trying to exercise more to get into good enough shape to pull off Spider Jerusalem at Convergence next year. Doing healthy things for nerdy reasons since 2003!

Socially, enjoying being a semi-regular with a team for Merlin's Rest Wednesday pub quiz while trying to meet new people (hence the OKC profile), but on quiet nights, I've been slowly working my way through the new Doctor Who, after prolonged urging from my friends.

Remembering odd facts. I've made it to the interview stage of auditioning for Jeopardy three times, though I've yet to be called to appear on the show.

Learning languages, or at least I used to be. It's been awhile since I've taken a new one on. Having studied German, Spanish and Japanese, I'm tempted to try for Mandarin Chinese next as it's a widely-spoken language and I'm curious as to how it's developed since the large-scale borrowing of both its writing system and a large amount of vocabulary into Japanese.

Assembling furniture from IKEA. Flat-pack furniture: Lego for grown-ups.

Wow, that guy's tall. I look taller than I actually am, probably due to being thin, and having long hair* and a long face. Why the long face, you might ask? I don't know, I just grew up that way.

* Long hair has been replaced by a buzz cut in anticipation of a shaved head for aforementioned Spider Jerusalem. Pictures not yet updated.

I enjoy modern media that make you think. There's a long list of things I enjoy (bookshelves take up a not insignificant fraction of my apartment), but here's a smattering of absolute favorites:

TV: Babylon 5, LOST, Battlestar Galactica. Serial television that expects the viewer to be smart and keep up with it

Films: Duck Soup, Mystery Men, The Princess Bride, Across the Universe, and the films of Christopher Nolan, the brothers Coen, Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, though anything can be made funny and worth watching with the addition of MST3k or RiffTrax.

Books: The Sparrow, Catch-22, His Dark Materials, War for the Oaks, Cat's Cradle, American Gods, and anything by Terry Pratchett. Books with a mix of the philosophical, a touch of the fantastic, and a sense of humor.

Music: I love music. It's hard for me to get more specific than that. So, a long but by no means exhaustive list, in roughly chronological order of my discovery of them: They Might Be Giants, John Prine, classical Broadway, The Beatles, Queen, Paul Simon, Moxy Früvous, Tom Lehrer, Die Prinzen, Flanders & Swann, Great Big Sea, Orchid Spangiafora, Mike Oldfield, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, Amanda Palmer

Food: Sushi and other Japanese cuisine, spicy Thai, Caribbean and southwestern food.

Games: Mass Effect, Starcraft 2, Scrabble, anything featured on Tabletop

- Eyeglasses, unless I want to live a miserable headache-ful life.
- Good friends and good wine, preferably shared
- An intellectual challenge
- Quiet walks on crisp autumn evenings
- A well-written novel
- Coffee, preferably dark-roasted and sweetened with honey (also, see option above for miserable headache-ful life)

What to cook for dinner

If I were sent back in time, how I would convince someone I'm trustworthy and/or how I'd make a living

How to own my own place by 30 and be done renting

Why parts of geek culture seem to have a problem with misogyny and how to encourage it not to.

Treating myself to a fancy dinner as a reward for making it through a busy work week, or when the cash flow is tighter, relaxing at home from same. Saturday nights tend to be busier, when I might have a dinner/board game party with family or friends.

I'm not one for blurting out private things in a public forum, so something I'm vaguely embarrassed about.

I never learned to drive. At first, this was because of being busy/lazy. Nowadays, it's more out of economic responsibility--I can get to just about anywhere I need by using public transit, why would I want to bother spending the money on a car, insurance and especially gas, plus the health benefits of walking and biking lots of places add up.

Also, I talk to my cats. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that this is true of all cat owners.

- You're a left-leaning socially-conscious woman with a thing for long-haired lanky geeky guys with glasses
- You wear glasses yourself (I reject the wit of Dorothy Parker)
- You like pub trivia
- You like to chat about books, movies, games, or other media
- You've heard of QI and/or I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue