My passions tend to involve beauty and adventure. I seek out beauty in all forms, whether in nature, people, art, etc... The activities I am most passionate about are photography and dancing. I have been a serious amateur photographer for several years, and I am always exploring new ideas and looking for interesting scenes and people to photograph. I was drawn into ballroom dancing over a year ago, and have learned how to lead many Latin, standard ballroom, and nightclub dances (and I can teach the follower's part for many of them). I also love all forms of art, but especially certain types of visual arts, literature, and opera.

I am from the East coast (mid-Atlantic and New England), but came to southern California to be a graduate student. As much as I appreciate the climate, I am drawn even more to the varied landscapes, and make time for hikes, staring out at the ocean, and exploring the mountains and desert.

I am on a quest for knowledge... also known as grad school. My research focuses on computer networks and distributed systems, and I spend my time thinking about how to make large scale distributed systems (such as most popular Internet services) more reliable.

I spend the rest of my time in the pursuit of beauty.

photography
listening
analysis
cooking
philosophy
ballroom dancing
motorcycling
software engineering and programming
reading
sailing
hiking
adventure
travel
massage
distance running
satisfying you in bed
making lists

That I am simultaneously both rather serious and rather funny, in an exceedingly dry, witty way. Paradoxical... perhaps?

Novels: Gravity's Rainbow, Ulysses, The Good Soldier, Blood Meridian, Lord Jim, Rabbit Angstrom Tetralogy, Absolam Absolam, Arcadia, The Border Trilogy, Invention of Love, East Of Eden

Films: Memento, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Food: Mexican, Indian, Thai, Italian, although I enjoy most other cuisines as well.

freedom (and knowledge, etc, especially open source software)
art (pictures, literature, dance, music...)
love (and intimacy)
light (especially early morning/evening twilight)
serenity (time for introspection and pondering)
cameras and lenses (tools to capture and create beauty)

Art and beauty, philosophy, various computer systems research topics.

Social dancing (ballroom and nightclub dances). My favorite social dance is west coast swing, and I love the Viennese Waltz of standard ballroom (especially the music).

You want to view, discuss, and create art. Ride through the mountains out to the desert. Take a moonlit walk on the beach. Just meet for coffee or a hike and intellectual discussion.