“She is always and never the same.”

Yeah, I know it’s from a Calvin Klein ad. A friend of mine used this in a collage she made about me in high school. The more I think about it the more I like it. I *am* always and never the same. I wouldn’t call myself flighty but I am prone to little flights of fancy. It’s embarrassing to admit but I love imagining something new and random that I might want to do.

On what I am looking for: I'm looking to meet like minded people for friendships and possibly more. I don't like going in with expectations. I want to let relationships be what they want to be. I want honest communication and respect in all relationships, whether strictly platonic or romantic in nature. I want to blur the lines. But above all I want everyone involved to be happy.

My husband is here too! Check him out: elahrairah13

I graduated with an MSW from Rutgers when my daughter was a week old. I planned it that way. I usually like doing too much at once. I’m particularly interested in working in the area of domestic violence. As far as social work goes I’ve worked in home counseling for foster children and their families. I’ve also worked in the mental health field in a partial hospitalization program doing some individual counseling but mostly group work. Both were great experiences. I cooked in a vegan restaurant for a number of years. I’ve also worked as a CNA, bartender and papergirl. Right now I am doing the stay at home parent thing. I'd really like to get into some sort of activism in the near future. The problem is that I feel pulled in so many directions. There are so many worthwhile pursuits. Natural birth education is in the top tier for me right now. I'd never realized how poorly women are treated or how hard one has to fight to receive decent and respectful maternity care until I myself was navigating the system. It's outrageous and it makes me fiercely angry. Perhaps I might also like to get involved with Food Not Bombs. I am often overwhelmed by the world's problems and am currently trying not to let the gravity of it all immobilize me. And whatever I get into I need to be able to bring my two year old along with me...

cooking, baking, laughing for no particular reason, getting excited about everything and nothing, doing too much at once, and generally giving a damn

I guess I don’t really know. Maybe my hair if I’m wearing it down… Or that I smile a lot…

Ugh. I hate the part where I am supposed to supply a list of favorites and you are supposed to glean some kind of relevant knowledge about me as a person… Besides, I’m not really an all-time-favorite type. I’m a ‘this is what I am really into right now’ type.

Books that have inspired me to change my life and/or way of thinking: The Ethical Slut, Opening Up, all of Ina May Gaskin's work, The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth, Diet for a New America.
Other random things I like reading: Sad books about Asian women. Vegan cookbooks. All things gender studies and feminism. I am currently loving Jessica Valenti. I have a major soft spot for Stephen King. There are so many things that I keep meaning to read and so much I want to read again… There is never enough time.

I love going to the movie theater. I particularly like going to see random independent and foreign films. Nothing makes me miss NJ more than thinking about the Red Bank International Film Festival. I’ll spare you a long list of random movies that I like and just tell you that I like a wide variety of movies across the board. And then when I get to know you better I will admit the silly movies that have a special place in my heart.

I tend to go through phases in which I listen to the same thing over and over again. Right now that is Jenny Lewis.
A random sampling of bands I enjoy: Mates of State, Rilo Kiley, Gogol Bordello, The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, PJ Harvey...

I'm vegan and I like food very much. I like going out to eat. I like cooking and baking. I like daydreaming about what I want to cook/bake next. I like wandering through health food stores seeing what they carry, checking out new products and thinking about what I might do with random ingredients that I never/rarely use.

I could surely do without a lot of things and the things I really could not do without would be boring to read so this list is going to be about random things that bring me great joy right now:

strong coffee
thrift shopping
kisses from my daughter
silliness
my library card
unexpected affectionate gestures

My daughter and how I am going to raise her
Social norms
The nature of relationships
What book I should read next
Whatever my current random interest is
Polyamory
What I am going to cook next
How I can best make a difference or how to focus my energy into doing something(s) I am proud of... I think this is the key to my fulfillment right now
How so many things have so much more meaning and significance than it seems on the surface

I don’t really know what a typical Friday night would be. It’s always different. I could be messing around online, watching a movie, taking a walk, driving to NJ, being silly with my cousins, at some sort of social function, baking muffins... Whatever I am doing I’ll probably be staying up really, really late.

I often proofread my texts before I send them.

You are vegan.
You are polyamorous.
You want to show me coffee houses, thrift shops, a cute little independent movie theater or other neato places in and around Philadelphia.
You are a late night person.
You want someone to bake a cake for you.
You like kids.
You like super long conversations about everything and nothing.
You identify as eccentric, weird, strange or generally feel like an oddball.
You are all or none of these things…