I believe that life is ridiculous and endlessly entertaining...everything is interesting if you follow it down the road for a bit.

I grew up in the country of Mississippi, and no matter how far away I go my heart is always in my parents' land. I know every tree, every gully, every hiding place.

I believe that it's not an adventure without a measure of discomfort.

I grew up with 8 dogs, 4 cats, 4 horses and a fish. All but 2 of the horses were strays.

I love to cook for people and to serve up something that I loved creating.

Nature is paramount in my life and my greatest source of recharging.

I love telling stories...and like any good southerner exaggeration does seem to sneak into the older ones.

I'm utterly incapable of taking myself seriously...a ridiculous person so why hide it?

Like my grandpa before me, I've never been ashamed of my tears.

Okay, so that was more of a laundry-list than a summary I suppose, but it's hard not to be self-depricating in these things and that didn't seem like the best way forward.

I currently have a kick-ass job in a plant lab that lets me tap into my sciency nerddom and get my hands in the dirt and mud frequently. However my job funding is up in a year, so I have grand plans of blowing my savings on travel and then heading back into my real passion, the oceans.

I love doing most anything with my hands. I've been a carpenter, a plumber and electrician in earlier work permutations.

Probably my crazy-person laugh. Rarely is there not a smile on my face and a chuckle just around the corner.

Oh boy...this is a big one.

Books: All things David Quammen and Tom Robbins, Heart of Darkness, Cloud Atlas, Galilee, Howard's End, The Aeneid, Naked Lunch, Prodigal Summer

Movies: Best in Show, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Severence, Amelie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Mel Brooks, Clue, Goonies, Behind the Mask, Trick r' Treat, Big Fish (reminds me endlessly of my grandpa), the original Star Wars trilogy (obviously Empire is my favorite)

Shows: South Park, Weeds, Dexter, True Blood, Absolutely Fabulous, Arrested Development, SportsNight

Music: All over the map on this bad boy, but the last thing I was listening to today was The Wailin' Jennys and some Ani with a dash of Tori on the side.

Food: Let's be honest, I just love me some eatin'. My only really hold-up is liver and anything that smells overly fishy.

My family
Travel
Solitude in the woods
Sex
Fires
Mud

How I wish to be in this world. That may sound overly nebulous, but I am always trying to sort the ways I want to be in this world.

Oh, and my cat. That little monster geeks me out to a ridiculous degree.

Are there typical nights in San Francisco? It's the land of opportunity, and since I rarely plan things, it's usually a how-the-wind-blows sort of situation.

While living in Thailand several years ago, I was run over by a dump truck. In the hospital I had the pleasure of two of the Thai nurses, who didn't look a day over 14, shave my balls and groin for a procedure. They kept bantering together in Thai while covering their mouths and giggling. My mom was waiting just behind the curtain. Needless to say I have lost all need for a sense of modesty.

instinct suggests it might be fun.