*****NOTE: I am moving to Ottawa on Feb. 10th. See you then, people! *****

A recent returnee to Ottawa, enjoying being able to cheer for his hockey team without getting dirty looks. A tech-savvy former engineer pursuing a dream. And a lover of pasta, board games, and fine books.

I make the games you're playing on your phone right now!

I'm a pretty good sailor (see picture), runs in my family. I'm good at communicating and wordplay. I'm also known as a pretty solid photographer, and seem to have a built-in ability to make anything electronic behave itself.

Of course, if you were to ask my cat, she'd say I was QUITE skilled at belly rubs.

I'd have to say either my face in general, which I'm told is very friendly and inviting (4 out of 5 babies agree), or my tendency to make eye contact...seems most people get nervous and look away too easily, whereas I'll always meet the gaze of people I am doing stuff with.

Books: Anything by Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, Diamond Age, etc.), Timothy Zahn, Christie Golden, or Drew Karpyshyn. In general, science fiction, fantasy, or for mind expansion: theoretical physics.

Movies: The Matrix, Serenity, Avengers, Transformers (yes, really...), Scott Pilgrim (oh god yes), Inception, The Incredibles, How to Train Your Dragon

Shows: Firefly, Dead Like Me, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Fringe, The Walking Dead, Big Bang Theory

Music: Some rock (Nickelback, Sick Puppies), some metal (In Flames, Nightwish), and some classics (Boston, Creedence Clearwater Revival). Oh, and Lady Gaga. KIDDING! Or am I?? Yes, I am. Or IS he???

Food: Pizza, pasta, Italian cuisine in general (something Toronto seems to lack really excellent examples of...), the classic Canadian poutine, a good caesar salad

BONUS CATEGORY - Games: Portal has to be listed here. Zelda games in general. Smash Brothers. Chrono Trigger. Ever hear of Xenosaga? (No, you probably haven't, and that is a TRAGEDY, let me tell you) Many more; you name it, I probably have an opinion on it, heh heh.

1) Friends and family. You could probably strip the rest of this list away, and as long as I had them I would be a happy guy. :)

2) My ability to stand on my own two feet. This includes my education, my job, my apartment, my self-sufficiency, and so forth.

3) My phone. Keeps me in touch with #1 on this list, and does tons of other nifty stuff to boot. Plus it's an Android, so it's automatically pretty sweet.

4) A bus pass. I actually kinda enjoy buses...they give me a chance to collect myself and ponder the day without having to fight to get into the left lane or whatever.

5) Timmy's Icecaps. I could probably drink these instead of water. You know, until I died of sugar poisoning, anyways.

6) Mah kitteh. She's a chubby little furball who always wants to be held and never shuts up. In other words, the best cat. Ever.

How to be happy in life. If there's one meaning of life we KNOW, it's to live it happily. I always want to examine how I'm feeling about things like my job (I've switched career paths once already) or my activities to make any positive moves that I can.

How to wring as much fun out of this city as I can. I was away from this town for a long time, and I clearly need to make up for lost time!

If I can grab a friend or two I might see a movie or grab dinner. Or in other situations, maybe visiting a new pub, or strolling down by the water on a clear night. Fridays can also be nights in, with a good game or book to challenge me.

...if you make me laugh too hard, the occasional snort will be heard.

For a laugh big enough to cause that, though? Totally worth the embarrassment.

Maybe something I wrote intrigued you. Maybe you want to have a long conversation about physics or nerd-life in general. Perhaps you are the reigning champion of something and would like to add my pride to your trophy case. Or maybe you just want to tip me off to a crazy place in Ottawa you think I'd like.

In any case, hit me up.