I used to call this little self-summary thing a work in progress, that in theory you're supposed to put a lot of careful thought into one of these things so everybody gets the impression you're a lot suaver, wittier, and more intelligent than you actually are; but you know, I've actually kind of grown to like it.

So here goes: I often find myself having to disclaim 'believe it or not, I'm actually cooler than I look'. You're right -- this isn't something I really feel I should have to do; but hey, that's the sort of people I tend to meet.

I have a geeky job, this is true; but it's also a spectacularly cool one. (Guesses on a postcard.) Yes, I have the odd geeky hobby, but we're talking 'collects license plates' geeky here, not 'obsessive-at-the-expense-of-personal-hygiene RPG fiend' geeky.

I'm a voracious reader. I'll read pretty much anything I can get my hands on really, save pop-psych crap (unless it's really good or really bad). Scanning my bookshelves, like my CD rack, can be an adventure.

Speaking of music, there's almost always some music going on somewhere around me, whether I'm listening or singing. Now that I'm back in civilisation, I've been seeing more live music. I'm always on the prowl for something new and different to introduce my friends to -- suggestions?

I'm complete and total crap with names, but the oddest movie/music/book/TV references and weirdest bits of trivia seem to lodge in my brain somehow, ready for instant access. Not real sure how that works, but since I'm also apparently genetically predisposed to puns and wordplay, conversations with me can be interesting at times. Especially if I've had a few.

Again, this is a work in progress (Edit: that actually isn't anymore). Better yet, if there's something you're absolutely aching to know, drop me a note -- it'll be more interesting for everybody involved.

After several fits, starts, and detours, making the slow upward slog of my career arc whilst trying to do as many interesting things and meet as many interesting people as possible on the way.

Beer snobbery. Dry wit. Pedantry (but not in a bad way). Wordplay. Taking naps. Random useless knowledge. Obscure pop-culture references. Half-arsed music snobbery. Making sophisticated bachelor food. Tying a flawless half-Windsor. I'm handy with Photoshop. I can carry a decent tune.

My Lego watch.

Books: A Confederacy of Dunces, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Fast Food Nation, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, High Fidelity, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Infinite Jest, The Tao of Elvis, Word Freak, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Movies: (I'll get round to this eventually.) (Edit several months later: Well, maybe I won't.)

Music: Including, but by no means limited to: ABBA (and I'm straight, go figure), The Beta Band, Black Grape, Blur, Buzzcocks, Cornershop, Cowboy Mouth, The Decemberists, Del, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, Fischerspooner, Fountains of Wayne, Half Man Half Biscuit, Happy Mondays, Kasabian, Kenna, Kraftwerk, Man or Astro-Man?, Mull Historical Society, The New Pornographers, Nine Inch Nails, The Pixies, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Promise Ring, Radiohead, Sex Pistols, Smoking Popes, Stereolab, The Stone Roses, The Streets, They Might Be Giants, Travis, The Weakerthans, Hawksley Workman

Food: Asian food, mostly Thai. Sonny's sliced pork Big Deal, fries for beans. Rendezvous ribs. Abuela's ropa vieja. Chicken and biscuits to counteract a banging hangover.

Naps. Good beer. Good music. Cheap plane tickets. String cheese. The Food Network. Realising that if these people were really smart that they would have found a way to just limit it to six.

The words to songs I only half-remember.

Since I'm a generally a homebody during the week, I'm usually out socialising. Somewhere.

I have an irrational fear of things falling in the toilet, so I keep the lid closed at all times. (Except when I'm using it, of course; that would get messy.)

You're not particularly put off by unpretentiously large vocabularies or toilet humour, usually at the same time. Airplane! references as attempts to add levity to otherwise serious conversations okay? Super.