The sexiest thing in the world is the ability to find beauty in it. Show me what you find beautiful -- well-crafted words, aesthetic harmony, the ruthlessness of nature -- and I'll be forever grateful. I'm epicurean in both the ancient and the modern senses.

Things you should probably know about me:

* I'm happily married to galens. I'm open to new relationships, and I'll tell him about them. This basically makes me poly.

* I'm politically progressive, philosophically analytical, and religiously Christian. Intelligent debate is awesome; closed-mindedness is not. Regardless of your beliefs, as long as you respect me as your equal, I'll do the same to you.

* Some things that interest me: cycling. Cooking. Sci-fi. Parks. Ancient history. Public transit. Food trivia. Technology. Degus. Storytelling. Shiny dice. Anthropomorphization. Regional fiction. Empathy.

* I respond best to well-written e-mails that either ask me an interesting question or suggest a fun activity. I'm hypothetically open to pretty much anything, from platonic activity partners to pen-pals to kinky scenes, but giving me a reason to find you interesting is a crucial first step.

I recently rewrote this profile, but these paragraphs from the old profile still encapsulate me pretty well:

I like playing geeky board games, and visiting museums, and curling up under a blanket to listen to the rain. If I'm in a park, I'd rather swing in the playground and feed the ducks than jog around the lake. I enjoy intelligent conversation, especially when I'm learning something new or explaining something I love, and I'll admit that I have a weakness for shamelessly nerdy in-jokes.

I have a habit of acquiring a soft spot for odd genres: for example, Bollywood, Europop, dating sims, and British chick lit. I think it stems from a combination of my tendency to look for the best in something, and my need to unpack and decipher anything inexplicable. Please do not be alarmed by any apparent lack of good taste.

Generally, I seem to like dead languages, nonprofit work, idealism, and low-income career paths.

Right now, I'm working as a baker at an awesome local bakery and taking a break from my PhD studies of the ancient world. It's shockingly satisfying to work with my hands and produce something of substance. And deliciousness.

Cooking foods you thought you didn't like, and unfolding their true potential. Repairing my bicycle by myself. Getting excited about dead languages. Telling fairy tales and other stories. Remembering obscure sci-fi trivia.

(Incidentally, this box hasn't changed -- other than this parenthetical -- since I started on OKC seven years ago. While this means that haven't gotten good at much else, at least I've probably gotten better at all of those things!)

I'm tall, especially if I'm wearing my boots. When I want it to, my hair curls into a profusion of tight little ringlets. I wear glasses whenever I'm not at the computer or reading, because I don't have the patience for contacts, and I'm told I have a mellifluous speaking voice. Finally -- just so I've got the lowest common denominator covered -- I've definitely got curves.

a) Fear and Trembling. The Chronicles of Narnia. The Dispossessed, and anything else by Le Guin. Anything by Tolkien (but particularly "Smith of Wootton Major"). Daniel Deronda. The Brothers Karamazov. Anything by Vonnegut. Anything by Faulkner (particularly The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom!). The Gormenghast Trilogy. The Golden Bough. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Anything by Kate Elliott. I'm trying to get more non-fiction into my diet of books, aside from all the philosophy and theology that I read for classes; Guns, Germs, and Steel is great. Also, I finally discovered George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series a month ago, and it's seriously fantastic.

b) Stardust. Waking Life. Dark City. My Fair Lady. Peter Pan (the new one). Naked. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Pirates of the Caribbean. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. American Beauty. Run Lola Run. Good Bye Lenin!. Pi and Requiem for a Dream. Anything by Miyazaki.

c) Magnetic Fields. Fleming and John. Siouxie and the Banshees. VNV Nation. All Star United. Aphex Twin. Philip Glass. Simon and Garfunkel. Outkast. The Chordettes. Coldplay. Alabina. Iona. The Cranberries. Depeche Mode. King's Singers. Rice Philharmonics. Bebo Norman. MC Frontalot. Sarah McLachlan. Pedro the Lion. TATU. The Cure. Arvo Pärt. The Mountain Goats. Sufjan Stevens.

d) Gnocchi. Leeks. Pine nuts. Roasted garlic. Really intense extra-virgin olive oil. Whole Foods' Green Olives with Fennel. St. Andre triple-cream cheese. Real Swiss fondue. Cherry clafoutis. Real falafel. Pickled beets. Villars Kirsch-filled chocolate. Almond bubble tea. Coconut-milk green Thai curry. Vietnamese salt-toasted tofu. Deep-fried mushrooms with ranch dressing. Tender slow-roasted barbeque ribs. Smoky, thick baked beans.

A writing instrument. Fuzzy things and people to hug. Stars. Language. Cooking. Hope.

Ways to optimize OKCupid. (By "optimize" I mean "find or attract the most people who are most compatible with me while spending the least amount of time, and determine reasonable expectations for those three variables.") Other people's motivations. The division of time between pleasurable activities, activities that enhance my personal goals, and altruistic activities -- how the three interconnect, and whether I should be striking a different balance. What it might be like to be synesthetic.

. . . engaged in some variant of reading, writing, time with friends, games of the roleplaying or board varieties, movie or theater-viewing, or good old homework.

Despite my significant geekiness, I have relatively little experience with video games. I do have a deep (and perhaps anachronistic) fondness for interactive fiction/text-based adventures, though. "Anchorhead," anyone?

Oh, and I tend to put an awful lot of faith in OKC's matching mechanisms, since they've served me well over time. I've been known to talk to people whom it says aren't extremely high matches, but it takes a damn compelling profile or e-mail to do it.

. . . you want to tell me something interesting that you know and I wouldn't.

Or, you're in the area, and want to get together for board games, geeky movie-watching, or culinary adventuring.

Or, you know something about at least one of the following words: mirepoix, deontological, syndicalist, IDIC, eleemosynary.

Or if you feel like it. What's the worst that could happen?

P.S. I will try to answer all IMs and messages, unless a) I'm away from the computer, b) you're sending an obvious form letter, or c) you're making a poorly-spelled request for anonymous sex/cyber-sex. In the latter case, the answer is no.