If you dislike people who are cocky and self-assured, you should stop reading here.

Oh look, you're still here. Well I'm not surprised--I like me too.

My profile used to be boring and inoffensive, but you know what? Screw that.

Let's start with why I'm here. I have a profile because all the people I like hanging out with are in San Francisco, but I don't live in SF. I have this silly delusion that I can find interesting people to pal around with in Silicon Valley. So far I haven't totally struck-out, I have actually met some cool people around here, but more would be better.

OK, so what do I define as interesting? For starters, people who are good at things and not afraid to tell me about it, make things happen instead of waiting for things to happen to them, like learning about the world they're in and the people who exist in it. Are you passionate about something? Can you communicate it? Great, let's get coffee!

So what about me? Well I quit university to take a job in the tech industry and I've been building that career ever since. I don't have a typical engineering position though. I work in sales*, helping to build solutions for potential customers. This marries my passion for creative problem-solving with my fascination of people. I love figuring out what makes people tick.

I like doing anything competitive, running, and skiing (I finally bought a new pair of skis after 12 years, my how the sport has changed!). Last year I coached and played softball (far too zealously for a work league I'm told).

I have 5 piercings. One of them is in my tongue--can you figure out where the other 4 are?

Once everything else falls into place (house, solid retirement investments, etc), I would love to travel all over the world--Europe, the Mediterranean, Japan, and China.

Personality: ISTJ - The Inspector (I took the test before I joined; perhaps I'll retake it to see if it's changed at all in a year).

*Don't be fooled by the title; I know things.

Editors

• icanhelp

Reevaluating a lot of my views on life to see which are still useful and which are not. I'm not afraid to admit mistakes, and I'm willing to make new ones. As long as I become better in the process, it's worth it.

OK, so I'm not totally fearless. Sometimes I get dragged into things kicking and screaming, but I (almost) always end up thankful. Being around people who push me is great.

Solving problems, and getting people to like me. Conveniently, both of these are a big part of my daily work.

I've also been told I'm good at: Being pliant, accommodating, and making outrageous facial expressions.

My eyes, or the smirk. You'll definitely notice when I'm smirking.

Books: Anything from No Starch Press (geeky stuff). I used to enjoy reading about philosophy and ethics, but I haven't made much time for that since launching my career.

Recently I started reading books on palmistry, handwriting analysis, magic illusions, and NLP. I did this because they can all be vectors for meeting new people. So far it's very interesting.

Movies: Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, The Matrix, Hackers, Serenity, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, The Usual Suspects, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Princess Bride, Search for the Holy Grail...

Music: VNV Nation, Iris, Above & Beyond, AFI, Angels and Agony, Apoptygma Berzerk, Armin van Buuren, Assemblage 23, ATB, Blaqk Audio, Boys Noize, BT, Chevelle, Covenant, Cut Copy, De / Vision, Digitalism, Edge of Dawn, Flesh Field, Flyleaf, Gabriel and Dresden, Grendel, Hum, Hungry Lucy, Imperative Reaction, Justice, Lacuna Coil, Ladytron, Massive Attack, MGMT, Mind In A Box, Mstrkrft, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Paramore, Portishead, Pride and Fall, Prodigy, Rotersand, Seabound, SFX, Smashing Pumpkins, The Azoic, The Crystal Method, The Presets, Wolfsheim, and many, many more...

Food: Anything spicy.

Challenges, people who motivate me, music, The Internet, a mobile phone, non sequiturs.

Things I still need to accomplish.

Having something yummy for dinner after wine-tasting at work.

After that it varies, maybe going out and introducing myself to people just for the sake of talking to people, maybe going to a local dive bar and playing pool with the village elders, or maybe staying in and watching movies while hacking on my home network... possibly while working (salary means you're never off the clock, right?).

Lately I've been going to the Starbucks on Lawrence & El Camino to read. I've never been to another Starbucks that's open to 1AM. I'm happy something besides Denny's is open that late.

Once upon a time several of my friends played a prank by humorously redecorating a friend's apartment. My bright idea was to fill their only restroom with balloons. Several hours later, when we surprised the intended victim, I needed to micturate and of course I couldn't clear a path quickly enough. That was a really wet and uncomfortable ride home. Now it's an anecdote :)

- You'd like to tell me about something.

- You'd like to get a drink some time (preferably not alcohol; I like meeting people for coffee/bubble tea/smoothie/whatever).

- Please do NOT message me if you are just like everyone else, you think top40 and/or hip-hop is the best music ever, you dress in whatever everyone else is wearing, you have no opinions of your own, and/or your perfect Friday evening is watching He's Just Not That Into You while you text your friends about the latest MySpace drama.

PS Guys, I rarely date other guys so don't be offended if I ignore your messages. That's not a challenge, it's a "don't call us, we'll call you" kind of a thing.