I'm quite an enigma to most people; I don't really tend to meet many people at all like me, but that's probably a good thing. I've got the Southern laid-backness (not a word, but I'm using it) that you often hear about, and am pretty much impossible to offend. Bring on your dead baby jokes.

I like to think of myself as extremely resourceful. I get myself in any kind of situation, and I can almost always think of some way out. It comes in handy quite a bit.

And yes, I do like the outdoors. I don't think they'll let you into Seattle or the Pacific Northwest if you don't to some degree. I prefer to hike solo or with one or two other people.

Climbing the corporate ladder, I guess. I am an engineer at large local aerospace company. Shouldn't be too hard to guess that one.

Other than work, I play a lot of pub trivia with several friends of mine. We're pretty good, but somewhat one-sided. Maybe you can help us with literature and art, because we don't know shit about that.

Making people laugh. Figuring logical things out. Predicting what people will do in given situations. Figuring out what the hell people are trying to say when they confuse everybody. Arm wrestling (for my size). Mario Kart. Finding new and interesting ways to open bottle caps.

I'm not sure if I'm actually good at it, but I enjoy poker in all of its forms and play pretty regularly. Mostly Texas Hold'Em.

Overall, I'm pretty quiet with groups of strangers. Unless something perks my interest, then I can suddenly be loud and outspoken. If they know I'm from the South, I usually get some kind of shit about my lack of a Southern accent. That really gets old, but it's understandable. I've considered wearing a t-shirt to raise awareness.

Seahawks fans don't seem to care for the New Orleans Saints cap that I usually wear during football season. I might have moved away from the South, but I still support my home teams. I do have a soft sport for the Hawks though; as a Saints fan, it is not uncommon for me to root for the underdog.

Books: Richard Feynman, Mark Z Danielewski, Raymond E Feist, George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Orson Scott Card, Robert McCammon, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, George Stewart, others. Although King was already one of my favorites, I recently started reading The Dark Tower and I love it. The ending was somewhat disappointing, but I guess I'm one of the few that really enjoyed the series all the way through.

Movies:
My favorite movie is Die Hard. Yep, that's right. But aside from that:
The Dark Knight, McCabe and Mrs Miller, True Grit, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Grosse Pointe Blank, Amelie, Robin Hood (Disney), Iron Man, Shane, High Noon, Gladiator, Unforgiven, Stranger Than Fiction, Donnie Darko, Zoolander, Dumb and Dumber, tons of others.

Music: Mostly metal or progressive rock, although I'm kinda all over the place: Right now I am in a mellow mood. I'm digging [Pain of Salvation] who are traditionally my favorite band. My metal fix comes from Between the Buried and Me right now. The rest, randomly off the top of my head: King Crimson, Katatonia, Hendrix, Muse, Thrice, Blue Oyster Cult, Metallica, The Haunted, Tech N9ne, Camel, Agalloch, Opeth, Orphaned Land, Porcupine Tree, Nile, Rachmaninov, Holst, Coheed and Cambria, Rapture, Therion, Wolverine. Tons more, obviously.

Food: CATFISH, thai red curry, sushi, bread, chicken. All cajun food.

TV: Currently not watching any shows. South Park, Entourage. I also like Flight of the Conchords a whole lot. How I Met Your Mother (cliche' and corny at times, but entertaining enough), The Wire, Arrested Development, Metalocalypse, Seinfeld. The Office is great, but I'm pretty far behind. I often play drinking Jeopardy with my roommates.

Music, time alone, love, challenge, friendship, individuality.

This question used to be about who I'd exchange brains with, if I remember correctly. I think that's a better question, so: Richard Feynman. Preferably while he was still among the living, and in his prime. Or maybe his older, wiser days. Either way, the man's my hero. I mean seriously, the man played bongos and wrote theories in a titty bar, in addition to being brilliant.

To answer the actual question: I always like to be learning something or to have some goal. Right now, I'm trying to learn how to jump rope beyond the elementary school level. It's harder than you'd think. Considering graduate school. Politics. I have a fairly random pattern of thoughts, but doesn't everybody?

In the next year or so, I'm going to make the decision whether or not to stay up here in Seattle or move somewhere else. I'm saving money to buy a place if I do stay here.

Lately I've been staying in a lot more. Part of it is the weather, and part of it is just enjoying some piece and quiet. I go out every other weekend or so; it's usually to a bar to just hang out with friends and knock back a few. The only way I will go to a club is if I am dragged (this happens on some rare occasions, like birthdays).