In general, I operate under the principle that context is important, but intent isn't.

I like strong personalities to balance mine out, and people who can discuss things stridently without getting personal or getting upset when I'm not being nice enough for them, taking care of them, or putting their wants and needs first. Enneagram type 6 (or possibly 1) better describe my personality type compared to INTJ, if that sort of thing is important to you. I am interested in getting to know committed anti-racist and feminist/womanist socialists. Or leftists, at the very least. Please, don't defend capitalism to me, it's boring to listen to the same speech 100x over again, ya know?

The world is complicated, and I prefer spectrums (just not spectrophotometry) to (false) dichotomies. This over-dependence on dichotomies especially bugs me about (poorly written) species keys.

While all of this taking myself too seriously with the earnestness stuff is good, it leaves out the fact that I love to play - with my dog (and really, any other willing animal), board and card games like Settlers of Catan, poker, and many others, the (violon)cello, and so on.

Honourable Mention in Mid Libs 2008

Editors

• MidDayCrisis

Doting on my darling husky/german shepard(/unknown?) mix.

Trying to get my life together and figure out what I want to do with it. And how to cope with a stressful work environment after a low-stress job.

Eventually I'd like to go back to school for a DVM or a masters-then-PhD in epidemiology, zoology, genetics, biochemistry or herpetology -- but not for a few more years at least. I like school, but I don't like ultra-specialization, which makes a DVM more likely than the M.S. & PhD.

being accident-prone, using an acetylene torch on copper and silver, reading a road map and navigating, knitting, baking, holding my liquor, following directions, moving, pipetting, pouring liquids, maintaining good lab technique, taking my time transitioning in and out of strong emotions (love, hate, anger, happiness, contempt, frustration, calm, etc.), and not balancing my check book.

I'm also not bad at being the kind of person who doesn't stop criticizing or disagreeing with someone's behavior or attitudes on occasion just because I like him/her in general.

noticing details. A knack for remembering details also comes in handy, I find. Just because I haven't mentioned how you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle doesn't mean it doesn't bug me just a teensy bit.

Oh yeah, abusing parentheses and meeting parents.

I'm tall, fat, and opinionated. Women comment on my hair, which is flattering. The people at work comment on my smile, no matter where I work.

Eventually people start commenting about how I'm prepared for almost anything, very direct, and intimidating. That intimidating thing is not on purpose.

In general, people take for granted that I'm white (usually some sort of "ethnic" white like Italian or Jewish, neither of which is quite accurate) because they notice my pale skin, dark, fuzzy hair, and decidedly un-WASP-ish nose. If it's important to you that I be white, I'm not white. If it's important to you that I not be white, that's not true either. Frankly, I don't care what your ethnic background is as long as you're not a traditionalist.

books: Pride and Prejudice; Cry, the Beloved Country; The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant; Alas, Babylon; The Painted Man, Dandelion Wine and a few others by Ray Bradbury; A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood; Emerson; the collected works of Emily Dickinson; the Harry Potter books are a good summer read; Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to all Creation by Olivia Judson; the Lysistrata; Prodigal Summer & others by Barbara Kingsolver.

movies: Bringing Up Baby, other Hepburn movies, Batman Begins & Dark Knight, Much Ado About Nothing, The Bourne Identity, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Munich, A Roman Holiday, Stranger than Fiction, 9 to 5, the new Star Trek, The Big Chill, Pride & Prejudice (the 1995 BBC production), Run, Lola, Run, X-men 1 and 2, Fantasia, Cool Hand Luke, Bull Durham, a bunch of independent films that you've probably never heard of - e.g. Satin Rouge, Songcatcher.

I have an inordinate fondness for some old black and whites and musicals. Not that I want to recreate the era, just that I really love the movies.

music: Zoe Keating, Imogen Heap, Nickel Creek, Etta James, Billie Holiday sings my low moments, Susan Tedeschi, Madeleine Peyroux, the cuban and brazilian programs on WEMU for introducing me to Maria Rita, Sarah Vaughan, Gershwin, Carole King, Bill Withers, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Beatles, Norah Jones, Lauryn Hill, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, motown and other oldies, Beethoven, Vivaldi's Winter, Shostakovich, Hindemith, Aaron Copeland, Jenny Owen Youngs, Verdi's Aida, Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, Lauryn Hill, and anything with a good beat, strong (hopefully non-misogynistic) vocals, and some danceability if that's what I'm trying to do at the moment.

As a very rusty cellist who used to be passably decent, I tend to prefer instrumental music where the bass line has something interesting going on. Which is why you'll never see names like Mozart, Tchaikovsky, or John Williams listed as a favorite.

foods/drinks: Fresh fruits including but not limited to blueberries, prickly pears, michigan apples, nectarines, strawberries, bing cherries, raspberries, bananas, plantains, grapes, plums, and pineapple; puerto rican food (though I'm not Puerto Rican), corn on the cob, green and wax beans, artichoke, spinach, mushrooms, chicken, turkey, crab, lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, pasta, sushi sans wasabi/horseradish, whole grain breads, dark chocolate, Icescapes, Zingerman's, 1% milk, hot chocolate, coffee, green tea, iced tea, limeade, white grape juice, various mixed drinks such as martinis, cosmos, white russians, etc.

I tend not to like ethnic-american food with too many onions, tomatoes, and peppers. Blame it on being a super-taster with special sensitivity to heat. I also can't stand scallions, water chestnuts, anything with too much cinnamon flavor, celery, curry, relish, pickles, yellow mustard, iceberg lettuce, mechanically rendered meat products, reptile/amphibian/dog/horse/shark meat, most fish, gerum, and insects.

tv shows: Venture Brothers, West Wing, M*A*S*H*, What Not to Wear, ER, Star Trek (TNG, DS9, and Voyager), The Sunday Night Sex Show, Profiler, Antiques Roadshow, any 'historical reality series' collaboration between BBC and PBS, e.g. Regency House, 1900 House, Colonial House, Manor House, and Frontier House, Dirty Jobs.

quotes: "The media is the new church; the television its altar; the image its sacrament; the First Amendment its bible; and any critique its blasphemy. Libertarians are the new evangelists." Nikki Craft

Odi et amo; quare fortasse requiris, nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. -Catullus, #85 (thanks to podagricus for pointing out the original misnumbering)

(my translation: I hate and I love, you ask why I do this, I do not know, but I feel and I am tormented)

Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself. -Robert Ingersoll

It is important to recognize the power of our emotions--and to take responsibility for them by creating a light and positive atmosphere around ourselves. This attitude of joy that we create helps alleviate states of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair. Our relationships with others thus naturally improve, and little by little the whole of society becomes more positive and balanced. - Tarthang Tulku

So if we could not have love, my husband and I, then at least I could have alchemy. -Alessandra Cecchi, The Birth of Venus (Sarah Dunant, author)

Feminism is the radical notion that women are people. -Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. -Adlai E. Stevenson

The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance - the idea that anything is possible. -Ray Bradbury

Hilarity ensues when {Atropa} is pissed. -joliecamee

I love how you ruminate on it... -joliecamee

I often wonder whether men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. -Katherine Hepburn

Truth is so rare, it is delightful to tell it. - Emily Dickinson

The OkCupid snark brigade. Making OKCupid a better place. One fuckwit at a time. -MidDayCrisis

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = If I put Hunter S. Thompson / Full Metal Jacket / The Rolling Stones / LOTR / Star Wars / Dave Matthews / Tenacious D / Coldplay / CSI / Lost / Desperate Housewives / Friends / The Chappelle Show / Vice Magazine here, will you like me more? I hope not, because I can't stand any of them.

If you gathered from this section that I'm picky, you're right, I do know what I want and like.

There are lots of things I could do without but would prefer not to. If you put air/water/food/vital organs/shelter here, you make me sad :( Let's avoid clichés, shall we?

Things I would definitely prefer to do with: someone/thing to talk to, science, a good pair of shoes, sanity, personal space, a comfortable bed with lots of pillows, singing off-pitch while driving, and access to the outdoors.

Why do I act the way I do? Are my behavior patterns maladaptive? How do I fix the ones that are? Now replace "I" and "my" with "you" and "your" respectively.

Why men who self-identify as feminists don't have many (not even 25% of the total) female artists and writers listed in their favorites? And why self-identified anti-racists list 80%+ white favorites?

Where I am going to end up in 6 months, a year, five years.

Also, lots of science-y nerdery.

Not doing a single thing worth writing home about. Lately, however, it's preparing to be worked over, or being worked over.

I once stopped traffic in Canada with a vibrating phone and a redhead. That night was also the last night I picked up a woman in a club.

I think that ethno-nationalism/nativism is a destructive force in world history, but am both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine when they are fighting for just causes. That's not at all private, though.

You are mentally stable and any of the following:

• centrist or leftist,
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• interested in one of my favorite subjects,
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• of legal drinking age, local, and not looking for a one night stand,
• 
  
• seeking clarification on something I wrote,
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• green-eyed,
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• left-handed,
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• non-gender-conforming, female, male,
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• or a voracious reader.
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• you are the recipient of a less cocky or less arrogant personality award when combined with a less Republican or less spiritual badge

Intercontinental contacts (especially those not searching for someone to cash a money order for them) are always welcomed, but preference is given to those I may actually, ya know, meet someday in the next 10 years.

You don't just wait for your turn to talk; you can actually listen--to me. Random testing for this trait does occur.

You agree that no means no.

You can speak fluently in English. Random testing will also be held for this trait.

You should NOT message me if you

• 
  
• have an enemy percentage higher than 20% with me (w/ 50+ questions mandatory and very important, you may need to answer at least 500 match questions for the enemy percentage to be valid),
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• use the phrase "politically correct" in a derogatory manner,
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• feel the need to convince me that my preferences are wrong and I should make an exception for you,
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• are a rabid libertarian or capitalist
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• hate everyone equally (that is, you're a misanthrope),
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• are a fairly recent convert to leftist thinking from a conservative &/or religious background,
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• believe that evolutionary psych is a valid field of study,
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• or believe that any pop psych (e.g. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus; Ladder Theory; etc.) bullshit is true.

Thanks :)