I'm a slight insomniac, I love the quiet of night time so don't be overly freaked out if you get a message apparently written at 3am lol. It's one of those random times when I've had a sudden surge of inspiration and enthusiasm that I just have to take advantage of before it buggers off and leaves me an exhausted heap once more :P

Life wise, I'm a music and comedy nut - most of my heroes are musicians or stand up comedians or variations on that theme. I love reading fantasy literature, playing and writing fantasy RPG's (hooray for further profile suicide, but hey as I said at the top I'm honest lol)

I've been playing World of Warcraft since it's release in the UK and have been a member of the same guild for almost that entire time. I love the game, though my enjoyment of it sometimes wavers, I always come back :) damn that game and the gravity of its many layers of enjoyment.

I have been in the past a pretty keen blogger (though I haven't blogged on a regular basis in some time - I am trying to find a theme I can follow to get back into it as I enjoy writing a lot), I blogged regularly for a couple of years, it always struck me as being a nice way of being able to write stuff and see what people think - thankfully most of my stuff tends to be quite well received :) if you want to take a look it's here http://barefoot-wanderer.blogspot.com (yes I use the alias barefootwanderer everywhere I can) you'll find everything from stuff about me and my life, to rantings and musings on various subjects, I also use it to share cool music and other stuff that I've found, I get great joy from introducing people to music and stuff they would not normally have found (and tbh nor would I were it not for the joys of Stumbleupon).

I love to cook and eat, I have always considered eating as a hobby, and it's one I pursue with great enthusiasm (hence the not quite slimness of my physique :P something I'm not overly concerned about, but have recently been encouraged by friends and family to make efforts to improve my health, which I must say I've found unexpectedly rewarding). Cooking wise, I'm no gourmet chef but I can rustle up a few tasty dishes and often do for myself and friends, I love cooking for my friends and family, gives me a chance to cook like my Nan (not that I'm as good - but I like cooking on a larger scale).

I also play the guitar, I'm self taught and have been playing for about 12 years now, and it's something that gives me alot of pleasure - even though I'm nowhere near as good as I'd like to be - but you've gotta have something to aim for right :)

overall I'm pretty relaxed and easy going, but with a (I think) pleasantly curmudgeonly streak, with a lifestyle to match, it'd be nice to meet some more folks with similar interests :) so give me a shout.

I work for the web team at a University, a great job which I enjoy immensely.

Outside of that, I've been working on my own fantasy RPG and the world related to it for about the last 8 years, I hope to be able to write novels based on this, as well as the game itself, the scale of the project is beyond what I had imagined at the outset, but the whole writing experience has been amazingly rewarding. Writing is an aspiration.

Getting people to open up and talk about stuff they wouldn't normally do (no I don't do it by torture, or blackmail or coercion of any sort - I'm just a good listener, apparently)

Keeping a positive attitude to life, for some reason I find it easy to deal with stress, and very rarely flap about things. This comes in handy, as some of my friends are not so good at it and sometimes need a little help/reminder.

laughing at myself, and making others laugh - through my own material or comments or stuff shamelessly stolen from my favourite comedians and shows :)

I look like an ex student who refuses to give up on the scruffy student look lol. and I like to talk and laugh.

I'd go grab a drink - this could go on for a while

Books: anything by the following authors Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Robert Jordan, David Gemmell, James Barclay. My absolute favourites are

THUD - by Terry Pratchett - easily the best Ankh Morpork City Watch Discworld book imo. Not the funniest, but the best written (and that's saying something) the characterisation and plot are just fantastic, and there's a tension running throughout the book that keeps you on the edge of your seat constantly.

Ravenheart / Stormrider - by David Gemmel - A wonderful pairing of books, the conclusion of the four book Rigante series and in my opinion some of David Gemmels best work.

Legend - by David Gemmel - his first published novel, a fantastic novel full of examples of true heroism, bits of dark humour, some wonderfully described battle scenes, and a love story that will bring tears to your eyes. I read this book about twice a Year.

Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - wonderful from start to finish, these books have made me fall out of my chair laughing on so many occasions I cannot count them. Pure genius.

Demonstorm - James Barclay - the conclusion of the Six book (two trilogies) Raven series. James Barclay is in my opinion now the best living writer of heroic fantasy with David Gemmels very unfortunate passing. Demonstorm is an absolute triumph, for those who read the whole series there were parts where it feels like your heart is being ripped out. No other author can make you empathise and associate with a character so much, everything about the raven books was pretty special but demonstorm stands out above them all.

Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen - Garth Nix - brilliant stuff, a great setting, great characters, and a fantastic story that still has surprises in the final stages.

Northern Lights / Subtle Knife / Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman - again, wonderful stuff, i devoured these three books in a little under a week, I just could not put them down.

Love All The People - Bill Hicks - this book changed my life. Bill Hicks was a stand up comedian, an excellent stand up comedian. What set him apart was that as much as wanting to make people laugh, he wanted to open people's minds and make them think in a slightly different way, towards the end his act became quite philosophical - but still funny. He was possessed of a fearsome intellect, and solid steel balls when it came to saying what he beleived to be truth, a truly inspiring comedian. Sadly I only discovered Bill a couple of years ago - more than ten years after his untimely death in 1994. I recommend this book for the sheer experience of seeing his act develop as the years go on. There is some really shocking material in there, but he was a genius of the highest order as far as comedy goes.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven - this has to be one of the most beautiful and inspiring books I've ever read. I won't spoil it for you - but you really should read it - it's utterly beautiful.

Comedians Bill Hicks, Ed Byrne, Eddie Izzard, Billy Connolly, Phill Jupitus, Bill Bailey, Ross Noble, Dave Allen, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Dave Gorman, George Carlin, Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Frankie Boyle, Russel Howard.

Movies (this section will be shorter i promise) Lord of The Rings, Trainspotting, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Hudson Hawk, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey, Donnie Darko, American Beauty, Serenity, Braveheart, The Matric, Equilibrium, Kill Bill, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch.

Music: Counting Crows, Lifehouse, Del Amitri, Gin Blossoms, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica, Queen, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Enya, Moya Brennan, Seth Lakeman, Cara Dillon, Erik Mongrain, Jessi Robertson, ELO, Nick Warren, John Digweed, Faithless, Eminem, Goo Goo Dolls, BB King, The Wailing Jennys, Show of Hands (the folk duo, not the rock band), Bellowhead Michael Orlando, Nickel Creek and many more - but if I don't stop now, I never will - I like a bit of everything)

Foods Pizza, Steak and Blue cheese sauce, Steak and Ale pie, Lasagne, Pasta Bakes, Vegetable soup, Tomato and Basil soup, French onion and Gruyere cheese soup, Celery and Stilton soup. oh and Bread, all kinds of Bread :)

Guitar, PC & Internet access, Friends & Family, Food, Music, Laughter

all kinds of stuff philosophy, religion, science, when the next Terry Pratchett book will be out. Basically I tend to let my mind wander - just so I can follow it and see where it takes me.

recently I've also been wondering why cats are just funny - I have recently been spending a frankly unhealthy amount of time trawling through http://icanhascheezburger.com/ and laughing my arse off.

I've also been pondering my increasing tendency towards curmudgeonliness (either that word exists or the spell checker just exploded)- nothing I like more than to rant about things that get on my nerves (lol an ever increasing and absurd list that has included (and likely still includes) at one time or another - people who don't walk on escalators, people who listen to music on those shitty little speakers on their mobile phone, and the seemingly endless array of adverts for bingo websites that seem to be all over TV at the moment.

more than likely at home, with a friend or two around, watching dvd's, messing around on the net, playing WoW and having a laugh (Ha! who says men can't multi-task)

Hell I don't know, ask me something and I'll see lol - i try to be open, but sometimes you might have to prod a little. But such enquiries often lead to interesting conversations so it's all good.

you like what you read here or even if you didn't - I love a good debate :)