I've decided that I want to start a new profile. You can now find me at MonkeyEsq. To avoid conflicting profiles, I've set my location to a random zipcode, but don't worry, I still live in Astoria.

People who hang out with me pretty much always see me in a good mood. I rarely get upset or angry over things and being around people, especially happy or energetic people tends to make me happy and energetic. This constant, optimistic outlook on life has resulted in some of my friends threatening to try to make me cry, just once, to see if it is possible. So far, they have not succeeded.

I am a bit of a dork. If you hang out with me for any extended period of time, the chances are that I will at some point start rambling about whatever aspect of politics, philosophy or just some random thought that popped into my head. I have some friends that will actually get involved with these discussions with me, but I have just as many friends who have no interest in these subjects and just change the topic when I start rambling, which doesn't really bother me. So long as someone is a good conversationalist, I'm usually willing to talk about any topic for as long as the other person is interested.

In general, when I am hanging out, it will be either at Slave to the Grind, a coffee shop in Bronxville, or in a park somewhere. I will pretty much never turn down a game of Scrabble. I also am almost always open for a trip to the city, usually either to go to a museum or to wander around in the village. For the past few months I have been really into learning how to cook, so I also tend to invite people over to try my latest recipe. So far I've gotten pretty good reviews, but its always possible people are just humoring me.

For me though, the company is more important than the activity. If I am hanging out with people whose company I enjoy, I am willing to do pretty much anything. I think this has its pluses and its minuses. On one hand, it means that it is easy to convince me to do a particular activity. On the other, it means that when faced with options, I tend to answer "I don't care," which seems to occasionally frustrate whomever I am talking to. Once people realize that I actually am happy either way, I think this gets less frustrating.

And for the record, I don't actually smoke crack.

I graduated from law school a little over a year ago. After a year working up in Westchester doing Admiralty Law, I have recently moved to Astoria and am working at a small litigation firm out in Great Neck and wishing that I could take the subway to work.

Cooking, Scrabble, finding things on Google, making bad jokes.

Favorite Books: Anything by Vonnegut, Catch-22, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Good Omens, Bonfire of the Vanities, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, Influence, The Stranger

Favorite Movies: True Romance, Boondock Saints, Clockwork Orange, Reservoir Dogs, Rules of Attraction, Dr. Strange Love, High Fidelity, Jesus Christ Superstar

Favorite Music: Bad Religion, Cake, Against Me, The Decemberists, Dresden Dolls, The Ditty Bops, Catch-22, TMBG, Reel Big Fish, Common Rider, The Clash, Flogging Molly, Drop Kick Murphys, Ani DiFranco, Phil Ochs, The Butt Trumpets, Phil Ochs, Eddie From Ohio, Goldfinger

Favorite Foods: Mediterranean food, steak, pasta

my friends, AIM, a car, LiveJournal, oxygen, pasta

It really varies. Some recent topics have been: -What could the Democrats do to win next time? -What should I cook for dinner? -What might cause plants to lean towards the sun? -Why did Adult Swim add such lousy shows to its line up recently? -How might Nietzsche critique Ayn Rand's philosophy?

Sitting around a coffee shop or a bar with friends

When I have to wear a suit and tie, sometimes I wear a blue shirt with a red tie because it makes me feel like superman. Don't worry, I only wear the costume to costume parties.

In theory, I would love to find someone I could sit around and discuss politics and philosophy with, but in reality, some of my best relationships (both romantic and platonic) have been with people who had no interest in either.