Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

My toilet paper goes over the roll, not under. What does this say about me? Very little, I hope. Someone once told me that I reminded her of Diggory Venn from Thomas Hardy's "Return of the Native." I'm not sure it was exactly a compliment, but I can see where she was coming from. The movie character that is most like me is CC "Buddy Boy" Baxter, the Jack Lemmon character from the Billy Wilder classic "The Apartment."

I'm pretty laid back, and easy to please. While I'll try anything at least once, I have never been hip, stylish, or trendy, and I'm not going to start now...I think that 30 is too old to not be comfortable in one's own skin. I can dress appropriately for the occasion, but for the most part, I am an untucked-black-shirt-and-dark-blue-jeans kind of guy.

I'm looking for a lighthearted, sarcastic, independent, liberal, loyal, smart, generous, well-read, creative, passionate, pragmatic babe of a woman who speaks her mind, has eyes that burn like cigarettes, fingernails that shine like justice, and uses a machete to cut through red tape. Someone who laughs at my jokes, and actually means it. Someone to have comfortable silences with. Someone whose laughter and kiss are questions I want to spend the rest of my life answering.

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

I'm a biochemist-turned-neurobiologist. I love being a scientist; like art, doing science requires being passionate, creative, and just a bit obsessive. Science lets me be creative and try new things out. Occasionally, when I find something that no one has seen before, well, that's pretty damn cool too. What I don't like....the competitiveness, and wondering whether any of this will actually be useful someday,

I'm also passionate about politics....without getting too long-winded, let's just say that, like my fellow Texans The Dixie Chicks, I too am ashamed that Dubya and I are from the same state. I have travelled to other states to canvass for candidates I support.

I read a lot....I have four overflowing bookcases. I enjoy doing city things like walking around, getting lost, browsing bookstores, viewing great and not-so-great art, seeing plays (primarily off-off Broadway), walking around more, getting lost again, and eating terrific food accompanied by good wine.

I'm really good at Propose an edit

Science. Listening. Cooking. Writing long detailed emails. Staying calm except when I drop something, in which case I often give an involuntary yelp.

The first thing(s) people usually notice about me Propose an edit

You tell me.

My favorite books, movies, music, and food Propose an edit

I read a lot. I respect "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro. Ishiguro has an understated style that demands annual re-reading to fully appreciate its subtlety and complexity. The narrator, the way he deceives himself, and the way he tries to rationalize his suppressed feelings, reminds me of things none of us like about ourselves, but things that we have to deal with nonetheless. Isn't that what great books are about?? I think "I Claudius" by Robert Graves is amusing and wise. The clever "English" of Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything is illuminated" cracks me up every time. I also enjoy short-story collections of all types, especially surreal or twisted ones (Judy Budnitz, Aimee Bender). I also read a lot of history and political science.

I love NPR. I think "On The Media" is delightfully droll. "This American Life" of course is terrific. I once made Sarah Vowell smile on the corner of 59th St and Lexington...yes, my only celebrity sighting in my two-and-a-half years in NYC is a radio commentator...I am weird.

Movies .... gawd, this is hard .... "The Apartment" (see above), "Before Sunrise" (if you've seen it, and have at least one romantic bone in your body, you know why this is an extraordinarily special movie); "Wayne's World" (it's a bit disturbing how many of my quirks can be traced to this flick); "Fog of War", "The Godfather", "O Brother Where art Thou?", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

TV ... I don't have cable, but I watch "Battlestar Galactica", "Weeds", "Northern Exposure", and the "Simpsons" on Netflix. And Colbert/Stewart on-line.

Music, the WFUV radio station plays a lot of stuff I like... everything from Arcade Fire to Zepplin, with Johnny Cash, REM, Combustible Edison, Thievery Corporation, Massive Attack, Kimya Dawson, Morphine, Mazzy Star, and of course, They Might by Giants, tossed in. I also like instrumental jazz.

I like all sorts of food. I like to cook bold food ... I'm not quite good enough a cook to make subtle tasting dishes, alas. My folks are Indian, and I grew up in Texas, so spicier the better (up to a point!). I especially love Thai food, and enjoy Mexican and Ethiopian cuisines. I like sharing small plates at tapas and wine bars.

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

soap air toilet paper water food my laptop (in no particular order!!)

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

Well, right now, the election has become an obsession of mine. I usually think a lot about my work too. If I'm seeing someone, I think a lot about her.

On a typical Friday night I am Propose an edit

Eating some good food, drinking some fine wine.

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here Propose an edit

I'm a pensively lighthearted melancholy optimist.

You should message me if Propose an edit

you think this little blurb is at all interesting, and might want to meet in person someday (don't have to decide now!)....

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