I'm not looking for anyone to date--in May I married a woman I met here. She's indistinguishable from perfection.

But before you get your hopes up about finding someone of your own here, I met her back when okCupid's match system used to work. In January 2009 they destroyed their algorithm to inflate match percentages, apparently to make it seem that even someone who answered a measly dozen questions could instantly find a soulmate.

On May 1, I'll be here: http://www.kineticbaltimore.com

I work as an independent high tech consultant, but recently completed a historic cabin rebuilding project. In the past I've been a director of software engineering, newspaper editor, a lifeguard, an intern for the New Mexico Governor, leader of an amateur covert squad, an author of two books, a kayak-camper in the San Juan islands, a Czar, enough of a photography hack that my work has been in The Washington Post and Radar, and the sort of fool who once lit a small part of my kitchen on fire. I don't watch much TV, and would rather play Ultimate Frisbee than watch other people play most any sport. I have a physics degree with four minors & an MBA. I once walked down an infinitely dark hallway and became the subject of unanticipated attention in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I'm also vaguely introverted, and do not believe that alcohol by itself constitutes entertainment.

Living in Old Greenbelt, where everybody knows your name and the town cafe's "World Year of Physics Open Mic Night" is standing room only. I have the same name as a singer, a movie, and a novel, but when you google our name, I'm in the top 20.

Figuring things out, fixing things, being honest (with myself and others) and baking bread.

But I don't generally follow a written bread recipe. When you follow someone else's recipe you have to cross your fingers, because details like the oven, humidity, pan, and flour weren't exactly the same in their kitchen as yours. Even with the most neurotic precision measuring and preparation, it all might still go wrong because of some impossible-to-identify problem.

The alternative is to set off on your own and learn from experience what works--the texture and scent and heft in the dough that result in great bread. Sometimes it doesn't come out perfectly, but those loaves teach how to make the next loaf better. Learning this way, you need no written recipe, because you can add whatever seems right for the moment and know that it will almost always come out wonderful.

It seems baking bread is a lot like life.

I'm 6'2", and folks often think they went to school with me, or that I dated their sister's friend a decade ago, or have some other vague way of saying I look familiar. Sometimes I'm wearing a ridiculous costume.

Books: Something good for thinking (like A Short History of Nearly Everything, Csikszentmihalyi's Flow, or Six Frigates), or for laughing (P.G. Wodehouse, etc.).

Movies: Hmm... more thinking and laughing. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Run Lola Run, Amelie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the Hudsucker Proxy. Garden State was good, too.

Music: The most-worn tracks on my mp3 player are the likes of Paris Combo, REM, Kirsty MacColl, Space, Ella Fitzgerald, Morcheeba, Army of Lovers, Magnetic Fields, Pink Martini, and Pepe and the Bottle Blondes. I crave the clean sound of an acoustic double bass.

Food: When someone else is cooking, most any cuisine--Italian, sushi, Thai, Burmese, Indian, and so forth. When I do the cooking, my homemade bread (this week's experiment was laced with a pesto I made from artichoke hearts, fresh parmesan, pine nuts, and lemon juice), German recipes from my grandmother, and my top-secret recipe dark chocolate cake.

TV: I used to like House especially back when it was good. But then I ended up playing the role of patient in my own personal episode, so I now find it less escapist.

NPR & the Economist, trips to great remote places, weekly dinner with a close group of friends, my remote mountain cabin, and toothpaste.

(If I could switch brains with anyone, I would choose) Richard Feynman. A nobel prize AND great on the bongo drums.

Any old thing. Out with friends, relaxing in a mountain cabin, or (on rare occasion) helping navigate a 9-foot-tall 2-wheeled contraption through sand dunes, water, and along California Highway 101. (Helping the mad genius who designed it--my friend for 20 years Dave--roll over the finish line upside down while a crowd roared with cheers and applause was beyond amazing.)

My Junior High School wasn't just a Catholic school--it was an Abbey. It was a part Hogwarts' and part Lord of the Flies. Sex ed was taught by an exorcist.