Good question. Who am I, and for that matter, who are you? And I mean that in the existentialist sense, because some days I wonder.

I'm a grad student and I'm a musician. How cliche is that?

Academically I look at ways for indigenous/poor societies to leverage cultural property and antiquities in a way that's conducive to conservation. I also really, really need to travel but that's not happening for a while.

I also play bass in way too many bands, usually electric but also upright, which is a lot of fun but really physical.

Being the nerd that makes everyone around me suddenly look a lot cooler.

He's tall. He's also wearing a hat.

It's safe to say I'll read anything that's decent, and some things that totally suck. Some of my favorite authors if you are keeping score are Emile Zola, Douglas Adams, Neal Stephenson, Hunter S. Thompson, Neil Gaiman, and George R.R. Martin. Plus Chuck Palahniuk if he'd stop writing formulaic books that every wannabe indie aesthete champions as canon. I basically enjoy good literature and anything speculative (cough science fiction cough) although the dividing line between good and terrible SF is sometimes as thin as a hair. I also enjoy reading a lot in my academic specialty, which is mainly religious studies, history and anthropology with a sprinkling of sociology and biology.

Movies are great, I like anything from the experimental stuff to weepy costume dramas. The last truly great movie I saw was "Old Boy." Also, I love Kung Fu and Jane Austen movies.

Music is complicated. If you'd like a list: I'm a huge Ska fan and I play in a grand total of three different Ska bands. I also love classical music, especially the Baroque variety. I play the pipe organ and am currently restoring a harpsichord.

Roots music is also fun (Bluegrass/Rockabilly/Old School Country). I enjoy pre-'45 jazz/vaudeville/hokum stuff as well as various varieties of obscure technical metal and old school hardcore. Go figure.

Thunderously loud bass amplification. Books. Metalocalypse--the best TV show, ever. Music. See above. Humor. Life is funny, sometimes morbidly so, and I like being there to laugh at its corpse.

Philosophy and Religion. Science and politics. What makes us tick. The eternal questions, or at least the illusion that there are eternal questions. Also lately I've been trying to write a book, so I spend a lot of time thinking about modes of cultural transmission and cognition. Or something like that.

Lately it's been playing shows or practicing. When I have a night off it's usually spent holed up in my room reading something or watching a movie. If I'm lucky I'm watching a saucy puppet show.

I'm painfully shy at times. Also, I'm horribly addicted to makeover shows.

You do something utterly strange. Like wear brown shoes with gray pants. Or if you can do some stupid human tricks, like eat corn with your feet or something. Maybe you have a prime number of digits. But really, perhaps you find me interesting and I might find you interesting, so message me.