I'm a transplant and have made the city my home. I crave inspiration and reflection through travel, so living in the city allows a miniature trip to another cuisine, culture, or sight with a short subway ride minus the jet lag and homebrew hangover.

Well, I have been a teacher in the public school system for the past few years, was a ceramic sculptor, and am constantly thinking of work/travel opportunities.

This past winter I was lucky enough to get out skiing with friends and family on the weekends pretty often. Now I'm waxing up my surfboard and gearing up for a great summer outdoors! I also love hiking, camping, distance running, sprinting for buses/trains, beach vball, and hot yoga. My life is an attempt to balance a passion between extremes (urban/rural, party/work, fitness/sloth, travel/homebody).

-mornings
-potlucks
-awkward dance moves
-giving piggy-back rides
-in a past life: mixing clay, sculpting, and building kilns...
-hmm, I'm also very good at losing my train of thought and giving entirely unnecessary impromptu lessons about NYC history

I have been told that my more earnest laughs make me sound like a drunken 70 year old Santa Claus and I'm damn proud of it.

Writers: Sherman Alexie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Junot Diaz, Khaled Hosseini, Herman Hesse, Marjane Satrapi, Wally Lamb and anyone else who has a critical, observant, celebratory, and humorous take on the world they live in.

Books: The Perfume, Phantoms in the Brain, The Devil in the White City, Ana Karenina, Lolita, Norwegian Wood, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, American Gulag, The Professor and the Madman, and generally whatever is recommended by friends or The Strand... I'll get to it eventually... two years later or so...
Ever since I was 10 years old, I have wanted to enjoy fantasy fiction like all the cool kids, but I don't. I'm convinced that this is the reason why I never possess superpowers while dreaming.

TV isn't really my thing. Again, I kind of wish I enjoyed it more than I do so I could have an easy entry into popular conversations. Generally, WNYC (and occasionally WFUV) are on in the background. I always start the work week with recent podcasts of This American Life, RadioLab, The Moth, All Songs Considered, and Alt Latino. Morning commuters beware! I may startle you; I'm prone to spontaneously burst into laughter or choke back tears while listening.

Music: Too much to label myself with. On rotation lately: Graceland (pretty much always, and especially as the weather thaws), Caveman, Alt-J, The Knife, My Brightest Diamond, and Ana Tijoux

This is silly. We are so adaptable as long as we embrace it. As long as I have at least a couple of my five senses, human rights, and thoughtful companions, I can do without a lot and you probably could too.

Examining why I am infatuated with places where Nature reclaims our human attempts to build on top of it. The Dungeness ruins of Cumberland Island. Scent and how it is most powerful trigger of memory.

You like adventures, rambling, you stare at the sky as much as the ground, don't know which network is which channel on your television (or better yet, don't even bother with the tele), are honest with yourself and others, or have a self-deprecating sense of humor.

You're a do-gooder.

You make things or appreciate the integrity of a handmade object.

You know when and how to accelerate and slow down the pace of your day.

You think this is amazing http://vimeo.com/23238876

You don't rely on arrogance or hurtful sarcasm to mask the insecurities you (and all of us) have. I work with teenagers all day. Believe me, I have had my fill.