Who Am I?

That's a complex question, as I'm sure everyone here who's even pretended to answer it has discovered. What do I say? I'm me. I don't hide behind a social mask normally, the person you meet when you meet me is who I am. I personally find a much better connection talking in person or over the phone than in text, but hey, this is where we are and a few text exchanges are good! I've recently discovered the joy of growing things in my tiny backyard garden.

If you were to stereotype me I would fit well as the intellectual/coffee shop guy. Hopefully the cute one. Or less well as the hippie. At least along the joy/nature/love/life part of the hippie ideals. Is there a hippie coffee shop guy category? I'm a very social person while simultaneously preferring a few good friends to a large number of people I don't really know. I like to get to KNOW people.

By the way, I don't *actually* smoke. You may notice in my pictures that some of them seem to look like I do. I'm not actively against smoking, and I certainly am smoking that hookah you see in my pictures, but what I mostly do is hold a pen or other likely object in my hand as if I were smoking.

Turns out I'm extremely oral, but not nicotine fixated at all. ^_^

Mycology - Sociology - Fiction - Gardening - Cactus - Human beings - Animals - living on the earth - the human condition - stories - herbology - herbalism - psychedelia - life - beauty - inner space

Who am I? I am someone you would like to know. And someone who'd like to know you. Really know you. That's why I'm on here, after all. If you think you'd be worth knowing, send me a message, let's talk sometime.

Note for those who care: My screenname isn't meant to have any actual religious or spiritual connotation at all. Still, I suppose it does a good job of filtering out those fanatic enough to be bothered by it and those without enough sense of humor and fun.

I've got a job that pays pretty well, in environmental protection. My hobbies at current are my gardening projects and thinking/reading about biology and human essence, psychology, physiology.

Or just reading fiction novels, I do that too. I'm rarely seen without a book.

I gain life value from helping people. Even helping people that I don't know or who I'll never see again. Oh, not "lots" of help, I don't go over and randomly give a hand to people moving, I don't offer lots of "physical help", with volunteering and such, I don't really go out of my way to help much ... and I practically never give out "change" or give to charity.

Giving money isn't the same, not at all. Money doesn't really help people, it just gives them money. And giving money doesn't give the same "helping people" reward. Money is a social game, and giving money makes no changes...

But all that said, I do gain life-value from helping, from being nice.

Interpersonal communication. Understanding. Caring. Helping people to understand each other and themselves. Empathy. Viewing life with a fresh perspective. Telling funny stories and making people laugh. Smiling, loving, being.

Meyers Brigg says I'm INFP.

Long, golden brown, honey colored hair.

Sometimes it's more brown, sometimes more golden. Sometimes it's longer than others. It depends on the time of year, and life.

One favorite? Too difficult to choose and too simple. List many of them? Still how can I choose, and then this section becomes too long!

Book: Steel Beach by John Varley. (Many many others!) Movie: Harold and Maude. Groundhog Day. The Trueman Show. Grosse Point Blank. The Grifters. The Color of Night. (Others)

Music: The Billy's (an indie band), Flight of the Conchords, DDT (the Russian one), Beatles, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Jethro Tull, Spirit, Dr. Horrible('s blog), many others. If it's good music, I'll enjoy it.

Foods: Homecookin' (Not mine, unfortunately...)

Food, water, shelter... Him, her, and you.

I spend a lot of time thinking. I find few things as enjoyable as crafting a complex, fully explored and polished thought. It's a passion of mine. And I love to share this activity with other interested people.

Plants. It's fun to watch them grow, to feel the soil under your hands. (And I enjoy random facts*) Thoughts... does sunlight "Feel" good to plants? Do they enjoy the earth under their "toes" (roots)? Drinking in the power of the earth and bathing in the sun and growing. What's that like, do you think?

I have several different herbs, a few vegetables and fruits, and random other useful plants growing in my backyard. I enjoy feeling connected to the soil and to nature as I encourage growth and propagation. I prefer to grow plants with some human usefulness, but I do have a few just lovely flowers as well. It's nice to grow something that I can use, and that people have cultivated throughout time in order to make the world a better place. If a plant has a lot of history, I find that fascinating as well.

(Random Fact: Studies have shown that soil/dirt under your fingers increases the amount of serotonin in the brain.)

Humans. I like people, they're my species. I'm interested in how they work, possibly because I am one. In theory.

The world. Where life is headed, where I'm headed.

If you enjoy talking about philosophical, metaphysical, sociological, or medical-physical things, I'm the man to message!

Or if you just enjoy joking around, laughing, feeling joy and sharing.

Jai Guru Deva.

devasya dhīmahi

I tend to say at home or go out with a few close friends to eat, and then back to their house or mine to hang out a bit. Sitting around the fire, walking under the stars (if we can find any in Houston!).
Living.
Loving.
Being.

I do not belong to the culture I'm surrounded by. People are occasionally surprised to discover some basic core differences in our cultures. And I'm still sometimes surprised to discover or rediscover that people in the culture surrounding me actually do or think in some ways that seem so completely foreign. For all that I was born and raised here.
This is because I really look at life, at my surroundings, my culture. I cultivate the ability to see things from different perspectives, without connotations or expectations, pre judging or classifications.
This means that if I get to know you I'll really look at you. Be frightened, or be intrigued.

I feel that an unexamined life is not worth living. Plus it's enjoyable to examine life. Have fun!

People have told me that in text I can tend to come across as more "serious" and less laid back than I actually am. FYI.

If you'd enjoy making a new friend. I'd like to meet people who are willing to be genuine, and who are genuinely desiring to know and to be known.

If you'd like to meet someone interesting and different to talk to. I guarantee that I can give you a new thought that you've never thought before. If I don't have one already, I'm sure that together we can come up with one. And I'll love you if you can give me a new thought I've never thought before. I listen.

If you ever look around you and wonder just who all those other people are.

You should write me if... If you're reading this. You should write now. For you'll never live this day, this hour, this second again.