Deep down I'm a very analytical person, but I also love the creative and experiential side of life. I like to get to the bottom of things-- to take them apart and understand them -- but I also sometimes like to take my shoes off and walk barefoot on the grass just because.

I grew up in Vancouver, B.C. and really love mountains, the Pacific ocean, hiking, cycling (on and off road), and wilderness-related activities. I can also speak French with a Canadian accent, much to the bemusement of many Europeans..

In a nutshell, I like: wild spaces and being outdoors; learning new things; talking to strangers on long bus journeys; sleeping under the stars; vegan food. Mountain biking; hiking; wilderness camping; and Ultimate Frisbee. People who look beneath the surface; dancing; aimless wandering in urban locations; good poetry; and going to the opera. Challenges, and dark chocolate.

I don't like: American politics under the Bush administration; global warming; soy cheese; Windows Vista; people who take themselves too seriously. Biking in the rain; being stranded in airports; leaving home and forgetting my keys. Most country music; romantic comedies; and a lot of what gets passed off as news. Blurting out something embarrassing in a room full of people at the precise moment when everyone else has gone quiet.

What's hot: if you're not afraid to be yourself; if you think about where something came from before you buy it; if you ever worry about where your life fits into the bigger picture. If you have ever installed Linux, owned a pair of crampons, or accidentally spent an entire evening listening to TED talks. If you have a sense of humour, adventure, and spontaneity.

What's not: if you're looking for one-nighters/ three-somes/ etc.; if you smoke.

Most recently moving, it feels like! As of about a month ago I've just started at a new job in Oxford. I enjoy my work, but am also at the awkward stage between being a student and having a permanent job, which leaves much of the long-term picture a bit up in the air. I've spent most of the past 6 years as a student in the north-eastern US, with a brief 8 month contract in southern California before coming here.

Arriving at the train or bus station precisely 1-2 minutes before it leaves. Which is rather odd, as I am almost never on time for anything else.

Whatever these things may be, said people do not in general divulge them to me. I suspect it is sometimes the sense that I am trying to go in 5 different directions at once and consequently going nowhere (albeit at very high speed!). Though if you catch me on the right day, it may well be my awesome stripey knee-high socks.

Non-ficiton books: Everything by Jared Diamond; Pinker's "How the mind works"; Hofstadter's GEB; Fast Food Nation. Also quite liked Blink and Freakonomics.

Fiction books: I love Michael Oendaadje and Douglas Coupland. In my younger days had a thing for Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Also loved "A Primate's memoir" and "the Poisonwood Bible".

Movies: the two that I have seen recently that stand out most are "Milk" and "Waltz with Basir". Though I must say that Zoolander was still funny the third time I watched it.

Food: Things that are spicy or involve chocolate, or both.

The unexpected; overly complicated explanations of most things; words. A pen and paper, comfortable shoes, and sunscreen.

abstractions.

ready to do something fun.

I secretly enjoy filling in these profile thingies. Hopefully that does not make me a narcissist.

Kind of a silly question, as by this point hopefully you know the answer to that!