I'm a native Philadelphian (ok, grew up in Delco), but I'm not provincial. I've lived elsewhere in the country -- and outside the U.S. -- but I feel I thrive here. I'm adventurous enough to bounce around the world, but desirous enough of being rooted that I still wound up close to home.

A refugee from the academy, I opted not to complete my Ph.D. dissertation. Instead, I jumped from one dying industry (academia) to another one (journalism), but ultimately landed on my feet. I cover legal issues across Pennsylvania, but occasionally land a plum freelance assignment to write about food and travel.

When not working or procrastinating on pitching freelance articles, I'm trying to perfect my bread baking techniques.

I'm not done with traveling (either roughing it on a canoe or backpacking trip) or classing it up somewhere with good food and good wine.

I'm wildly opinionated about everything here, but it seems like a chore to knock it all out. That said, I like reading what others put down, so I might as well have a go.

Reading: Anna Karenina, Orwell, Jonathan Franzen, David Mitchell, Geoff Dyer. Good travel writing. Back issues of Granta and n+1. Karl Marx. Glossy food magazines with stuff I'll likely never cook go in this category too.

Music: In the last two days, I've listened to albums by Frank Ocean, Spiritualized, Al Green, Pentangle, the Dixie Hummingbirds, Neil Young, Calexico, Sharon Van Etten, and Bill Evans. That's a representative sampling.

It would be a gross omission if I didn't admit that I've got an encyclopedic knowledge of the Simpsons (in particular, the golden years from Seasons 2-7), and if you wind up spending time with me, you will end up hearing plenty of references.

This also seems like a good place to note that I'm a sports fan, and from April to October -- ideally -- my favorite program is the Phillies.

My record player, good wine, Phillies baseball, my passport, a library card, and a good kitchen knife. On further consideration, my bike should really be here -- probably ahead of the wine.

either at home listening to records, perhaps catching up on reading, or out at the bar with friends.