I'm a first generation American of Russian-Jewish descent. I'm ethnically Jewish, but do not consider it my religion. I'm a doctoral student in psychology. I love it to death and cannot imagine doing anything else with my life, even though it stresses me out. As part of my training, I do therapy, some of it in Spanish. By the way, I'm not analyzing you. I consider myself a cynical optimist because I believe that there are more things wrong with the world than any one of us can count, but that we are all perfectly capable of (and really ought to be) taking steps to make it into something wonderful, even if it doesn't happen in our lifetime. Just because the world won't be fixed by the time we die doesn't mean we can't die in one that is better than the one into which we were born. By making it better, we'll still die happy. Just my point of view. Dramatically stated, but so be it.

Alright, I'll step off the soapbox. Those who know me know that I occasionally enjoy a good rant or two. One of my philosophies is work hard and play harder. For fun I like checking out rock shows, festivals, theatre, movies, and art galleries/museums. I also love to travel. I love to stay active with snowboarding, martial arts and skateboarding. I also draw and write. I can chill out as well. I'm really into meditation. I don't mind a night in just renting some movies or talking. I don't drink alcohol, smoke anything, or do any drugs except for caffiene. I don't care what you do, as long as you respect my choices and are able to act responsibly. That being stated, I would like to highlight that sobriety has yet to prevent me from being crazy in a good way; I have at least as much fun as the intoxicated people who surround me. Just a heads up, I may sometimes act guarded and quiet when I first meet people, but I do open-up. I'm quite silly when I do open-up. I love silliness

I'm presently earning my psychology doctorate (Psy.D.). I take classes and also do some clinical work as part of my training. That means I see therapy clients. I do therapy in English as well as in Spanish. I rock. I love my work and could not imagine doing anything else with my life. It stresses me out at times, but it's quite awesome. After graduating I want to open up my own clinics. I also want to write a book or a few.

my work thus far, listening, being funny, having fun, being a host, being a guest (I guess those last two are a child-of-immigrants thing), being a friend, setting goals, being focused, returning friend's phone calls and being accountable to them, taking care of people, drawing (at least for someone who has not taken art classes), planning world domination. Oops, you weren't supposed to know about that one, oh well.

is that I seem to be "pretty chill".

Music: I love punk rock. I rediscovered it about a year and a half ago and became enamored with it. My favorites are Bad Religion, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, No Use for a Name, Pennywise, NOFX, Rancid, Street Dogs, and Pour Habit. I like other types of rock as well. I also enjoy conscious hip hop every so often. Really though, I like most types of music except for most pop/rap.

Movies: I love most comedies, fine art films, and foreign films. Some favorites include Amelie, American Beauty, You Do Not Mess with the Zohan, Little Miss Sunshine, The Squid and the Whale, Waking Life, Darjeeling Limited, The Big Lebowski and the original Star Wars.

Food: I love all kinds of food. I really do. I eat everything, burgers, sushi, steak, buffalo wings, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Middle Eastern. Most recently I have been addicted to Ethiopian food. It's so good.

Books: I have read all of Tom Robbins books, he's great. I like Jack Kerouac as well. Brave New World and 1984 are some other favorites. I appreciate Hemingway as well. I like to read books about Zen Buddhism. Of course, I read a lot of psychology books. Politics and physics is interesting to me on occasion too.

the work I have to do and the people I work with, my future after grad school, finding a girlfriend, my family, my friends, the human condition, the sensations of the present moment, the things that are wrong with the world and ways to improve it, whether or not there's a God, the nature of reality if there even is one, my hobbies and how to get better at them, things I'd like to draw, places I want to go... I think a lot.

either hanging out with friends, at a rock concert, seeing a play, or just chillin' at home

you have a good, especially irreverent, and silly sense of humor. If you share any interests or commonalities with me, I would love to hear from you as well. I went crazy with the bracket thing, so you can skim through those if you want. If you might want to meet me someday. If you're curious about me. If you think I should meet you sometime. I look forward to hearing from you!