"And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea."

T.S. Eliot, from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

If you can figure this out, you can figure me out.

Just got back to OKCupid after a year off or so...love what they've done with the place. New drapes, fresh carpets...they even got rid of that nasty-ass couch. Excellent.

A few thoughts on dating:

The idea that validation from others is somehow superior to self-validation is ridiculous. If you're looking for someone simply to love you, keep on moving. If you're looking for someone to add value to your experience as a self-contained human being as well as give you lots of kisses, I'm your man.

In my dating hiatus, I did a great deal of emotional housekeeping. Now that I'm back, I'm feeling very different; much better, actually. Considerably so. I can't really explain it too much beyond that, except to say that my ego is not wrapped up in dating bullshit anymore, and I find that fact highly liberating.

It seems as if there's an incredible amount of self-delusion inherent in the concept of 'love'; people will rationalize all kinds of shit in the name of it. I tend to believe when people claim that 'love' is what they're after, they're half right. After all, 'love' and 'commitment without compromise' are two very different things, and it seems to me that many people mistake the latter for the former. Of course we all want 'love': affection, snuggles, longing gazes, emotional support, blah, blah, blah. But human beings are breeders by nature, and our social consciousness has evolved this misguided ideal that, despite our biological imperatives, we must mate for life, and to do any less might as well be illegal. While compromise can be met in this with someone that you've truly come to understand and value(which takes time AND patience, for Chrissake; stop rushing, people! What's your fucking hurry?), monogamy as we tend to perceive it has become little more than an ultimatum, and a setup for failure.

http://youtu.be/w8SOQEitsJI

I imagine you've probably been able to figure out by the last couple of paragraphs that, for all intents and purposes, I'm not too keen on jumping head-first into anything serious right now. Take it simple, take it slow, and let's see where things go. Yeah, that rhymes. I'm a regular Wordsworth and shit.

And for the record, if you just wanna fuck, I'm totally down. Just be nice about it.

Several things:

Bringing you the noise, courtesy of Town Crier.
www.wearetowncrier.com

Bringing you the news, courtesy of The Daily Echo.
www.facebook.com/TheDailyEcho

Working in e-commerce. I can haz best job EVAR? :D

Riding my bicycle all over town, and beyond.

Drinking way too much coffee and not sleeping enough. It's hard out there for a pimp.

I'm generally a pretty busy guy, but given my persistent and occasionally annoying tendency towards extroversion(not to mention my exceeding propensity for slackertude), I manage to make a fair amount of time to spend with friends, family, and the occasional lovely fill-in-the-blank.

That's where you come in, of course. ;)

Writing, reading, music, explaining complex concepts in simple terms, explaining simple concepts in complex terms, challenging people's preconceptions about themselves, defying social norms, breaking your taboos, staying up too late and getting up too early, getting to work in a timely fashion despite whatever condition I fell asleep in, integrative complexity(look it up), polemics, thinking on my feet, memory retention, buttering you up with the utmost sincerity, shakin' my groove thang at the club, riding my bike, takin' the bus, ranting about the things that piss me off, clinging tenaciously to an unpopular opinion when I know I'm right, having my words taken out of context, being exceedingly unapologetic when I know I'm right, backpedaling(but ONLY when necessary), scandalizing my friends and family through my actions, words, or behavior, calling out bullshit whenever I see it, and contemplating infinity.

I'm very tall. Makes me hard to miss.

The chops, the soul patch, the face furniture, and the hat. Do I bear a striking resemblance to Elvis Costello? Yes I do, and thanks for noticing. ;)

I'm a first-class gesticulator.

I tend to be a very engaging person. I love the art of conversation in all of its forms, from small talk to screaming matches, and I thrive in a wide variety of social situations. I love to tell stories, sing songs(often at 'inappropriate' times, whatever the fuck that means), and speak for long hours on any number of topics. My thirst for knowledge is seemingly unquenchable, and there are few things I find sexier than heated exchanges of ideas. Smart is sexy, there's no denying it. What's between my ears is much more important to me than what's between my thighs these days, and tickling the former is the only way I'll let you tickle the latter.

That I'm really funny? Say yes, godammit.

I'm on a pretty steady diet of sociopolitical literature these days. Favorite authors include: Hitches, Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, Mooney, Lessig, and so on. I'm also a big lover of science fiction and fantasy, and my favorite fictional accounts are the ones that function as parables and/or thinly veiled social commentary: Ender's Game, Farnham's Freehold, Space Merchants, A Song Of Ice And Fire, 1984, Brave New World, His Dark Materials, and The Hunger Games, all rank high upon my list.

I don't really watch a lot of TV these days, but I do love a good serial drama, like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones, and others. But I mostly watch debates and lectures on YouTube, as I generally find truth to be much stranger(not to mention considerably more entertaining) than fiction these days.

My musical tastes vary widely, and would easily take far more time than I wish to spend to list them here. Instead, here's a sample of some of the bands I've seen in the past year or so, which should serve as a good indicator for some of the genres which I enjoy: Queens Of The Stone Age, The Detroit Cobras, Dillinger Escape Plan, Fitz And The Tantrums, Mastodon, Ximena Saranyana, The English Beat, Mos Def, Big Freedia, Elvis Costello, and The Airborne Toxic Event.

Since I spend a lot of time on the move, I tend to enjoy foods that lend themselves that lifestyle: burritos, sandwiches, pork buns, and anything that can fit in those adorable little Chinese takeout boxes. I have a total weak spot for soups and stews, and if you can out-Ramen me in the kitchen, I'll be your best friend. Oh, and my chopstick-fu is incredibly strong. They're my favorite utensil. :)

-A place to sleep
-Food to eat
-Clothes on my back
-Writing materials
-A guitar
-A soapbox

...how to more effectively defend my beloved country against the rising tide of extremism in America, and how to have a good time doing it.

...how we can make it stop raining cash all over Capitol Hill.

...whatever song or article I'm currently working on. It usually has to do with one of the above topics, or something related to them.

...what I'm going to wear, even if it's something mundane like pajamas.

...how quickly I can GTFO of San Jose and into Oakland.

...usually hanging out at home with my roommate and/or a few friends, heading out to a club or a show, or spending the evening alone, either working on music, catching up on my writing, or engaging in online punditry.

I eat peanut butter straight from the jar <3

Oh, and my glasses are super-glued together, so if you do decide pull them off my face while we're making out, please be careful. ;)

...you've made it all the way to this point and are not either bored to tears or thoroughly disgusted by my rampant narcissism.

I suppose now would be a good opportunity to rattle off what I'm looking for. Here's a list of keywords: kinky, queer, radical, witty, brash, opinionated, contrarian, driven, zealous, mischievous, and fearless. Basically, I'm looking for people of a similar temperament to my own, because touching myself gets boring after a while.

Let the games begin.

P.S. I have a soft spot for chubby girls with acute fashion sense, and for the men(notice I didn't say boys), if you bear any resemblance to Anderson Cooper or John Hamm WHATSOEVER, feel free to disregard all of the above and message me IMMEDIATELY.