Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

I'm Nozzer, among other things. Until recently, I studied maths at University. Now I'm not sure what I do. I've written a number of articles for a few websites, sometimes regarding religion and philosophy, but more often far more frivolous. I'm a devout atheist. I also write fiction, though much less often than I should. Words is hard. I'm interested in people. Among numerous unofficial titles bestowed upon me by friends is that of "cinema whore", because I do spend a lot of time at the cinema. To watch films. Nothing else. It's just a metaphor. I also listen to a wide range of music, and read a whole lot of books, mostly fantasy and comedy stuff. I like chocolate, in most forms. I learnt piano for about a decade, but I've forgotten most of it now. I don't drink. Another title I seem to have earned is "grammar nazi". Apostrophes aren't that hard to understand, dammit. I can do some card tricks, but not well enough to be particularly impressive. My MENSA membership recently expired. I will fight you if you refuse to accept that zero point nine recurring equals one. I drink tea. I overuse square brackets, given the opportunity.

My username, if you're on quickmatch, is bouncy_penguin. As it is on LiveJournal. I've no idea whether penguins bounce. Just something I came up with. I also have a new, up-and-comin' weblogamajig at http://cubiksrube.wordpress.com/

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

Very little. Back in the summer of aught-six, I acquired a Masters degree in Mathematics. Yes, everybody makes the same "eurgh" face as you just did when they hear that, but I enjoy it. This is what I do, I just *get* numbers. Apparently when I was two years old I'd read books of times tables just for fun. I don't any more - they tend to be books about fractals and Godel's Incompleteness Theorem now - but numbers have always fascinated me.

However, apparently I don't want to actually work with them. I spent a couple of months in insurance analysis before getting the hell out of there, and am now temping at a mental hospital. (It's just admin work. Slightly less exciting than it sounds.) I've also taken an online correspondence course in proofreading, and may eventually return to using nepotism to my advantage to find some kind of paid work in publishing, or thereabouts, despite chickening out of that internship in record time. I'm also still working on that novel, but it r hard being srs riter.

While working on the degree, I've spent the last three years of my Uni life in a student house with three lesbians. Well, I say three, it's probably more like a normal distribution around a mean of about 2.5. Same three girls, their interests just varied. During that time, they've made me read about literary theory and slashy fanfiction, and I've made them watch DVDs of The West Wing. I've also played a fair bit of poker and eaten a lot of ready meals. There was also a cat named after a deity from Middle Earth, who I miss greatly now that I've moved out. I plan to acquire a cute cuddly kitty kompanion of my own in the near future, who I may name after a chemical element, possibly Antimony.

I'm really good at Propose an edit

Maths and most things number, as you might have guessed. Similarly intellectual pursuits in general, crosswords and so on. On a less dull note, I'm a good listener. I'm interested in people, and seem to empathise well, so I like to consider that I'm a good ear to bend when anyone's having problems. I play chess, but that's getting back into nerd territory. Ah, who am I kidding, that's exactly where any description of me is going to be based.

I also write, generally brief and inconsequential fictional pieces which I'm told are sometimes quite entertaining. And I bake a mean chocolate fudge cake. Well, I'm not sure about "mean"; I think my chocolate fudge cakes are generally quite fluffy and friendly as it happens.

The first thing(s) people usually notice about me Propose an edit

I generally come across as quiet, withdrawn, introverted, all that. Sometimes not an ideal first impression, but around people I know well and have had a chance to grow comfortable with, I become a considerably better conversationalist.

One of my current housemates recently told me that she'd been a bit worried about meeting me for the first time, because in the text messages we'd exchanged I'd sounded like a football player. I've no idea quite what a football player's text messages would be like, or how I managed to emulate them so effectively, but when we did meet, I was carrying an umbrella with me, so she knew I couldn't be all that bad. Not quite sure what that says about either of us; just thought I'd throw it in there.

Another thing often commented upon is the uproarious hilarity of the slogans often to be found on my t-shirts. Homsar and toothpastefordinner are among the favourites.

My favorite books, movies, music, and food Propose an edit

These are a few of my favourite things...

Books: Pretty much anything Pratchett, Gaiman, Tolkien... That's everyone I can think of right now who can be identified with just a surname. Robert Rankin, David Mitchell, Richard Dawkins, Douglas Adams, Douglas Hofstadter, Ian Stewart, Boris Johnson, Robin Hobb, Mil Millington, William Goldman, and many more who I'll remember when I have my bookshelves with me, or I can be bothered to think. I read loads of stuff though. I'm an interlekchewal, me.

Movies & TV: Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Princess Bride, Serenity, Firefly (Joss Whedon is a god), most things by Tarantino, The West Wing, Dead Like Me, Deadwood, House, Boy Meets World, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, 30 Rock, Heroes, Drive, South Park, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, Supernatural, Boston Legal, Spaced, Black Books, romcoms, romzomcoms, many British sitcoms (though not the sucky ones), Family Guy, Pride and Prejudice (though not the sucky one), and many other things which aren't on helpful shelves nearby for memory-jogging purposes.

Music: 4 Non Blondes, Aimee Mann, Alisha's Attic, Ben Folds, Cathy Davey, Dar Williams, The Darkness, The Divine Comedy, Electric Six, Fischerspooner, Frou Frou, Guns N' Roses, Hepburn, Imogen Heap, Katie Melua, KT Tunstall, Laura Veirs, Lemon Jelly, Limozeen, Linda Perry, Loreena McKennitt, Ludovico Einaudi, Madness, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Neil Hannon, Nerina Pallot, Nightwish, Norah Jones, Oasis, PJ Harvey, Queen, Rimsky-Korsakov, Simian, System Of A Down, Taranchula, Tegan And Sara, Tenacious D, Tool, Venus Hum, Veruca Salt, The White Stripes, The Zutons. Damn, don't quite have every letter covered. I'll come back to it.

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

As well as ignoring the totally arbitrary number limit, I'm going to rephrase this question a little.

I would probably have to consider some serious adjustments to my current living conditions if I didn't possess or have regular easy access to: a cinema within walking distance, chocolate, broadband internet access, a deck of cards, a lot of bookshelves, more books than will fit on said bookshelves, tea.

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

Stories I really ought to get round to writing. Jobs I really ought to get round to hunting. How I might consider approaching a problem like the Collatz Conjecture. How cool it'd be if I could find a proof of such a theory. How unlikely that is, given the minds that have gone before without success. Interesting applications of basic probability. That mathematical puzzle with the democratic pirate ship. Whether I want to get any fractals tattooed on my body, and if so, which ones, and where.

Why the fuck Firefly was cancelled. Whether I can justify buying even more Pratchett books and Eddie Izzard DVDs from Amazon while still living off my savings. How damn cool the first two Monkey Island games were. If I should watch some more Family Guy or Monkey Dust rather than working. What sort of person I could end up spending my life with. What, if anything, is likely to happen when I die. Whether I need another cup of tea yet.

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here Propose an edit

I've recently been in regular counselling sessions with regard to a form of social anxiety, and am looking into finding something else similar to go to now. Certain social situations just have these associations of fear and nervousness for me, for whatever reason, which often serve to restrict me from being my regular crazy, fun-loving, hilarious, unpredictable, swingin' self. The kind of self that gets dressed up in drag and taken to gay bars by his housemates. Yeah, that's probably the second most private thing.

You should message me if Propose an edit

You're also interested in any of the things mentioned above. We can chat about them and be mates. It'll be lyk soo awesome.

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