I'm a grad student studying English Lit, and yes, I am that rarest of rare specimens: a straight dude that studies liberal arts. But don't worry, I don't let it go to my head, especially not since I can be glib about it. I am somewhat shy when it comes to dating, but I tend to hide my discomfort with humor. So, if you laugh at a joke in my profile, it's not my fault, I'm just shy. (Really, I am a bit introverted).

Following my dream to be a cynical college professor. Last year I was essentially getting paid to study. Now, I'm getting paid to lord over clueless college freshmen. A little pretension goes a long way.

I attempt to play guitar (but not very well) and create music on my computer (though not very often). I’m constantly adding to my music collection when I’m not reading or writing my second "just-for-fun-though-I-secretly-hope-gets-published" novel.

In January, I started working out and dieting regularly. I believe I'm on my way to becoming a full-fledged health nut who argues passionately about the "right" way to work out. Hey, we all have dreams.

I'm also a national shark rodeo champion, though I am currently suspended for refusing to wear a cowardly chain mail suit. (Interesting if it were true.)

Not getting things done, analyzing immaterial things, fooling people into thinking I know what I'm talking about, using big words at inopportune times, and listening (I used to study psychobiology and worked as a peer counselor on a hotline until I realized that people can be pretty messed up).

Also, drunken philosophy, cracking wise, spelling out "laugh out loud" out of spite, inappropriate "that's what she said," making fun of your grammar, making fun of my grammar, total spaceship guy, non-sequiturs, dramatic irony, racism.

My thin, athletic frame, rugged good looks, and air of sophistication. Also, my penchant for exaggeration. The Guinness in my hand sometimes draws attention, particularly when I'm in the grocery store or just walking around on campus (just kidding, I usually drink Sam Adams at the grocery store).

I love books, from a few modern day experimental titles to classical literature. Some favorite books: House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, Candid, novels by Laurence Sterne, Watchmen, a lot of the GOOD sentimental literature of the 18th C, anything by Aeschylus or Sophocles, Plato, Camus or Sartre, Hemmingway, almost anything written by the later great Romantic poets, and pretty much any tragic drama or great epic poetry.

Movies in which the main character dies usually get an extra star from me. Just a few of my favs: Watchment, Fight Club, Interview with the Vampire, Donnie Darko, Waking Life, Sin City, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Fountain, Slumdog Millionaire, The Royal Tenenbaums, Hero (but The House of Flying Daggers sucked), Spirited Away (yeah, I know, but it's just so imaginative and touching...), and Jesus Christ Superstar (1974) (I'm totally serious, check it out; Judas, as portrayed in this movie, is my hero... and he's a great singer too!). Shawshank Redemption, Dogma, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Incredibles, Oceans 11, Star Wars (the original trilogy), Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, The Animatrix, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, American Beauty, Anything by Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles especially), Macross Plus, Apocalypse Now, Wayne's World, Braveheart, Supertroopers, Shrek, The 13th Warrior, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, What Dreams May Come, Unbreakable, I Heart Huckabee's, Big Fish, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, The Sixth Sense, Pulp Fiction, Snatch, Punch Drunk Love, Memento, Desperado, Office Space, Girl, Interrupted, Edward Scissorhands, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Usual Suspects, Good Will Hunting, The Devil's Advocate, Seven, Boondock Saints, Enemy at the Gates, Garden State, The Way of the Gun, Leon- The Professional, Pi.

I like lots of trip hop and electronica among other genres, and am getting into alt folk fusions more and more. Favorite artists (at the moment): Radiohead, Portishead, Vienna Teng, Dead Can Dance (love the medieval feel or it), Queens of the Stone Age, Halou, Bjork, Stina Nordenstam, Mia Doi Todd, Yoko Kanno, Charlotte Martin, Lunascape, Tan Dun, Loreena McKennitt, Sarah McLachlin, D'Angelo, India Arie, Sade, A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development, MF Doom, Common, Mos Def/Black Star, Beck, Broken Social Scene, Bush, The Doors, Doves, Eisley, Gorillaz, Jefferson Airplane, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Queens of the Stone Age, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, Weezer, Aim, Airlock, Anjali, Archive, Beth Gibbons, Blockhead, Bows, Broadcast, Death in Vegas, Esthero (only the first album), Frou Frou, Hooverphonic, Laika, Lamb, Lovage, Mandalay, Martina Topley-Bird, Massive Attack, Sigur Ros, Sneaker Pimps, Telepopmusik, Thievery Corporation, Zero 7. I love to go concerts when a good artist comes around to LA.

All food tastes the same, except for certain breeds of chicken wing. My daily cuisine consists of whatever takes less time and effort to prepare than it does to eat. I'm currently alternating periods of muscle gain and fat loss so that I won't look like Ghandi at the beach this Summer. I eat really friggin' healthy.

Besides The Daily Show, the only TV I watch is on DVD. Battlestar Galactica Seasons 1 and 2 and 30 Rock, House, Upright Citizens Brigade, Cowboy Bebop, The Animatrix, Family Guy, American Dad, Seinfeld, Reign, Simpsons, Robot Chicken, Venture Bros.

I'm certainly not your typical Neanderthal man. I don't really follow sports (but they can be fun to watch every now and then), and I don't care about nice cars (if it gets me around, fine by me). To me, there's nothing more manly than sitting down with a good Hemingway novel.

There is nothing I couldn't live without. Things are temporary and meaningless; only knowledge of self matters. If that alone doesn't suffice, then maybe pretended knowledge of everyone else will. Other than that, the only real necessity is a means of provoking thought (art, philosophy, friends and family, beauty, and those quiet moments in which we can really appreciate these).

18th Century Literature. Also artistry in video games, the social and philosophical implications of the phrase “that’s what she said,” the existential meanings of the lives of certain single-celled organisms, and smartly stupid things like that.

Either studying but wishing I were at a bar having a drink with friends, or drinking at a bar with friends but wishing I were at home studying.

I don't go to clubbing or dancing or binging anymore. It's not that I object to it, it's just that I've moved on. My idea of a good time is having dinner and drinks with some good friends in a place where we can talk with one another without having to yell over the music.

Private things fit better in private conversations. If you want to know my secrets, you're just going to have to ask.

You're interested in seeing how well you can handle intelligent and profound conversation, especially regarding art, philosophy, and history, when in the mood. Of course, I like educated and thoughtful women.

I’m looking for something real and I want to have a little fun finding it. Not marriage, at least not for awhile, but hopefully something meaningful.

I don't care much about race (any race is fine by me). I'm of Indian descent, but I’m thoroughly American, so don't expect me to answer your tech questions, fix the slurpee machine, or spontaneously break into choreographed song and dance.

I don’t buy into the antiquated notion that men must be the aggressors and that women must passively wait for male attention. It's degrading to us both. So go ahead and send me a message to validate our existences as empowered individuals.