I'm new to New York and moved here from Milwaukee in October. I've lived in Milwaukee most of my life and just wanted to try being in a different place.

I plan to be more of an explorer than I have been in the past. I've done only a bit of traveling. Once, I visited friends who taught English in China for two weeks, and I've visited friends in other parts of the country a couple of times, but I don't think I get out of town very often. I tend to spend a decent amount of time on Google maps instead.

There are all sorts of things I want to be more knowledgeable about, but perhaps I'm inconsistent on how much I value knowledge. I like reading history and current events and would like to have more intricate knowledge of religions and philosophies that I don't necessarily subscribe to. It would be good to be able to meet someone and have a better understanding of where they are coming from. But of course that takes time so I make progress on this rather slowly.

I like bike riding, reading, studying Mandarin. There are a couple of things that I like to do to get out of the house. I go swing dancing regularly, and go to ceilis. I mean to do more disc golfing, but that'll be harder in NYC than back in Wisconsin.

I'm a computer programmer, trying to increase my life experiences by meeting some people from some different places.

I've found some work in Jersey City, but I'm still working to build up my social circles here.

I like to read history books and current events information. I'm in the middle of "History of Modern China" and "A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day" (written in 1893), "A Tale of Two Cities". Stuff I've enjoyed in the past includes Azimov's Foundation series, "The Fall of Rome" (historical fiction), a couple of books on Germania, "Star Trek: Federation", "Island at the Center of the World" (about Dutch Manhattan), "Making of Milwaukee", "Great American City: What Works and Doesn't"and some other history books.
I listen to Big Band music, jazz, alternative, and a little bit of classical. I listen to music from The Cardigans, New Phornographers, (actually pretty clean if you don't know the band), Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Jay Chou, and Sun Yan Zi.
I watch a lot of Science Fiction on TV including Stargate and Star Trek. Sometimes I'll watch Nova, Downton Abbey, Full Metal Alchemest, or Monarchy. I watch comedies like Arrested Development, 30 rock, Red Dwarf, IT Crowd, and Black Adder.
I'm not as big a fan of old time radio as I used to be, but I still enjoy Jack Benny and CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Take this with a grain of salt but I'll list:
+ friends and family
+ church
+ dancing (swing and ceili)
+ nice walks around the neighborhood, feeling either the hmm of the motion around me or the calm of relative silence
+ my bicycle
+ a library

...where I'm going to go exploring next.
...why I'm not spending my time doing and learning certain things if I really value them.
...how to phrase things in an expected conversation.
...parallels I can draw between things in my own life, the Bible, history, and the news.

Lately I've been doing Blues dancing on most Fridays. Otherwise, I'm probably relaxing at home.

you want to recommend a place to go swing, ceili, or salsa dancing. (I don't know the last of those too well yet).