An Italian; a husband; a father, too, of two (and uncle of one); quite overweight; math teacher. That's, more or less, the deal. There's more, of course: I'm a quite intelligent and nice guy, or so I'm told, and a bit of a geek; basically a happy fellow, young-minded enough to accept almost anything, old minded enough not to need to do it myself. I'm reasonably well-traveled, with a handful of good friends from a number of continents. OkC politics test says I'm a Socialist, which is probably true, even if I deeply dislike political, sexual and (god forbid) "lifestyle" labels.

Se volete comunicare in Italiano, fate pure. Ma in Inglese ho più DVD carini da consigliarvi. Tra l'altro, ho scoperto che sto diventando decisamente bilingue, quindi se NON parlate Inglese le cose di cui possiamo parlare si riducono di parecchio.

The Main Event are my baby kids*. Other than that, things are pretty much ok: Theaching is the job I always wanted to do. I have a cosy place to live (go Ikea!) with tons of books and DVDs; a family of my own: my wife doublematch, the mentioned babies and a Schrodinger number** of awesome cats.

Side thought: having some babies around makes me feel a) incredibly happy and b) officially old generation.

Money comes and goes: our bank account still needs some nurturing, but it's showing feeble signs of life, thanks to a steady job (mine) a non-steady but well payed job (hers) plus some small-time extras.

We are currently spending in diapers a lot of money that we used to spend in travelling; currently we limit ourselves to small-time trips or hosting e-friends from around the world. So far, we hit Holland, England and Egypt; next in line, US West Coast (but that will need some saving), Bahrain and the Philippines (favors to cash in), and then who knows: projects include Iceland, Malta, New Zealand and northeast US.

Time ago I was considering a second degree in Cognitive Sciences, then we considered giving my wife her first one in IT Engineering, but it we will probably end up in waiting for the kids to get theirs. Who knows.

*Born in 2010 and 2011, currently seriously occupied in breaking our sleep, gurgling and misplacing pacifiers.
**Meaning, their number varies randomly from zero to three, and I don't know until I look. You know, cats.

Writing and reading in English (but a heavy Italian accent). Locating quotes within Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Math, teaching, teaching math. Humdrum day-to-day life. Reading, fast and a lot. Humoring and pampering and cuddling people. Catching blunders and silly stuff that people says*. Meeting celebrities for complicated reasons. Forgiving (but much less good in forgetting). Handling kids and pets. Googling. Logical and verbal skills. Gift-making on any budget. Patience. Sexual imagination, be it cuddly, vanilla, kinky or outright BDSM. Trivia, about pretty much anything**. Bridge, Boardgames and RPGs. Explaining stuff, at any level of understanding.

I can just hope I'll be good at parenting.

Someone said, long ago, that I'm not that bad for someone my age. That kept me going for a long time.

*I collected 15 years of silly one-liners from my students, and soon a book will come out. Yes, really.
**I have proof of that: in 2003 I won 35.000 € on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Seriously. And yes, I spent them all already. Manifold.

That would be my shape, looks and scruffy exterior, I guess. Oh, well.

The *second* thing they will notice is: know what, I really am one of the smartest and nicest guys around. I have been told so a lot, at least.

The third (if they get to it) is the 4-yr-old kid inside, in good and bad. Very few rose to the challenge, and only one is still managing.

A.1) BOOKS. Truth be told, I don't read much these days, mostly re-re-read; just a phase, I guess. Anyway I have read lots, let's see...
- As a kid, Gianni Rodari, Jules Verne, Sid Fleischmann and books about ants.
- As a teen, Isaac Asimov, Richard Bach, JRR Tolkien and books about logic puzzles.
- In my university years Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Hermann Hesse and books about zen philosophy.
- After university Terry Pratchett, Daniel Pennac and books about pedagogy and education.
- Nowadays Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett (again, yes), Neil Gaiman* and books about, well, anything.

Special mentions go to: Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide series, Asimov's Foundation trilogy, Bach's Seagull Jonathan Livingston, Gaiman's Neverhwere (and Good Omens, but that counts as Pratchett), Hofstadter's Godel Escher Bach*, Pennac's Malaussene series, Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pratchett's anything, Rowling's Harry Potter series, Saint-Exupery's Petit Prince, Scott Card Ender/Bean series. Lots, I said, plus all the Italian stuff you can't probably know.

*Of these, 1) I had dinner once with Douglas Hofstadter and 2) I met Neil Gaiman, and drove him around for one day. For real. Details on request.

A.2) COMICS. Asterix, Calvin & Hobbes, Mafalda, most Disney, most Marvel/DC, absolutely NOT Japanese stuff, sorry. Wrong generation for that.

A.3) WEBCOMICS. I regularly read Darths and Droids, Order of the Stick, Girls with Slingshots, Questionable Content, Sheldon, Sinfest, The Joys of Tech, Wullf & Morgenthaler, Xkcd, plus the now-over DM of the Rings and Cancer Vixen.

B) MOVIES. Too many to tell. I tried a list, but it was too big so I moved it to my journal. A very-shortlist: All That Jazz, most of Tim Burton, Back to the Future series, most of Mel Brooks' oldies, most of Woody Allen's oldies, Disney's oldies, musicals with a plot (as opposed to movies with some singing), all of Pixar (add Shrek to that), Lion King (both the movie and musical play), Lord of the Rings (that still only counts as one!), The Producers (both movies, AND the musical play), most Marvel-related movies, Star Wars (original trilogy only). If you notice a trend, yes, I go for reality-escaping genres, a lot. I'm aware enough of what's bad in the world, thank you. I don't need to spend money and time in watching it.

B bis) TV SHOWS.I usually hate Italian TV. Thanks to friends and cable I watch, buy or download a lot of stuff from the UK and US: Blackadder's seasons, Crank Yankers, Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy, I Love the '70s/'80s, Living Planet, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mythbusters and most of Discovery Channel, Ninja Warriors, QI, Roots, Saturday Night Live, Takeshi's Castle, The Big Bang Theory (I basically am Leonard), Top Gear, Whose Line is it Anyway* (both UK and US versions). I'm currently testing Eureka and Jonathan Creek, but for parental reasons I'm quite stuck on Disney Junior Channel (and Handy Manny is not actually bad)

* I used to consider Colin Mochrie the funniest man alive. I would want to have had his babies. Conversely, I adore Russell Peters but I'd never marry him.

C) MUSIC. Weak spot, I'm really not that deep into music per se. In spite of the efforts of good friends to keep me up-to-date, my excitement for music has somewhat expired in my late twenties. Recently I took my 6000ish iTunes list and reduced it to a 2000ish playlist to play as a random background, or "driving soundtrack" as I call it. I tend to go for classic rock, oldies, hummable pop stuff, or maybe "deep chicks with hot voices" (Tori, Sinead O'Connor, Alanis, Regina Spektor, you get the idea). Half of my list is Italian songwriters from the 70s and 80s: if you are Italian you know what I mean, if you aren't you don't and likely won't get it.

D) FOOD. Yes, please.
Cooking, picking, buying, eating and sharing food is a true sociable and private joy. Any situation or person or country where food is just fuel, is just not me. Please, if I'll visit you, DON'T bring me to Italian places: I want to eat YOUR stuff. Side note: I tend not to drink much alcohol, and I'm insanely fond of water (gas, please).

Note to Italians only:
A proposito della musica italiana anni 70 che nomino sopra, credo che uno dei migliori dischi di sempre sia il concerto-tributo Faber: ci sono tutti i miei favoriti di sempre (tranne forse Dalla e Guccini) e il concerto è proprio molto bello. Inoltre:
TEATRO: a parte i musical citati sopra, mi piace molto il teatro satirico/cabaret. Ho in particolare una venerazione assoluta per Lella Costa, il teatro di Giorgio Gaber, e soprattutto Marco Paolini (con o senza i Mercanti di Liquore).

On my own. Entertaining and/or informative media (reading, movies etc). Trading knowledge, intelligence and small bits of cuteness. Some boredom-filler pastime (e-chat, games, hang-outs). Young girls aged 2 to 96. Activities related to good food. Humo(u)r of all sorts.

In a relationship. Fairness, trust, a small separate space, "anything goes" sex, mutual parenting if needed; number six is, sharing most of the "on my own" items above.

Things of this world (OR) things I could do without, but I feel A LOT better for having. A bottle of gas water in the fridge. My yearly participation to Festivaletteratura (google it). My best friend discworldian. Internet chat. Occasional selected porn (who doesn't). Air conditioners.

Note: I didn't put "a relationship" in the need-be. That's because my current sentimental life is awesomely happy, both sideways and downwards, and I just can't figure out how I managed to survive for years without it. I'll reconsider that should the need arise.

I'm cursed with an hyperintelligent and hyperactive brain, so I think a lot. When you grow up, this is not always a good thing: most of the time you feel alone as shit.

I used to hold some grudges about how people pick each other, and how nice guys always have a losing edge against handsome morons. But, lo and behold, the princess claimed the frog-prince.

My curiosity about sex (from cuddling to BDSM) is currently severely hampered by lack of sleep, a seriously crowded bed and a lingering aroma of milk and baby pee in the air. But I'm happy this way, for now. We would like to consider ourselves poly, but, seriously, who has the time? You may keep trying, tho.

Currently, sleeping and tending the baby occupies the best part of ALL our nights. Before that, we used to sleep any old how, so we tend not to have a special schedule for weekends. Activities have, in time, included: a bridge playing night; snuggling while watching stuff; spending too much time on the computer with faraway friends; having dinner/movie out, on our own or with people. Or, well, sex. But see above. Finally, I am a selective procrastinator, so I could be up until (or starting from!) 4am grading school papers.

For a currently exhaustive list of my well-settled flaws, you better check my journal. I thought it was somewhat too long to keep it here.

The outstanding bits are:
- I tend to be a bit sloppy about self-grooming
- I have an EXTREME intolerance to frustration. It's a feeling I seriously can't handle, be it against lack of will to communicate, tardiness, being promised stuff I don't get, consistent lying, you name it. I literally explode.
- I have a serious open nerve against inconsistency and incoherence. If it's a rule, respect it yourself FIRST. If you don't, don't claim it is a rule.
- The bad stuff: my sugars got out of control. Time to take it seriously, there are two funny round faces here asking "What about me?"

I really, really like to meet people, on and off line; so, go ahead. I like to have someone entertaining to chat with, female, for preference, but not strictly. A possible common interest could be trading vacations (we love that). For other options, we'll see.

Avoid messaging me if:
- you are seriously into religion and can't stand that I'm not. Sorry to be blunt, I respect the need for an imaginary friend, but I consider it precisely that;
- you are a beautiful East-european, East-asian, Caribbean or African girl and want to marry me. Apart from the fact that I'm seriously taken, you will have to apply for your visa like everyone else;
- no, I don't want your hidden bank account treasury either.