Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

Here are a collection of statements about me. They're not well organized and they probably make me sound more unpleasant than I am, but they're things about me that it's important that you know:

I no longer have a beard.

I am a strong agnostic, but I strongly suspect that there's nothing out there. I'm not opposed to spirituality, but organized religion and the things done in the name of various deities worry me. Also, absolutism of the "I'm right, you're wrong, and I know it 'cause God told me so" variety really, really irks me.

I do not want 2.5 kids, a white picket fence, and an SUV. I'm really more of a "one kid, tops, and probably not until I'm in my 40s" kind of guy.

I self-identify as liberal, but I vote on issues rather than party lines.

Asking questions and understanding the 'why' of things matters to me.

I'm not happy unless I'm making something, or helping someone else make something.

I love making movies of people dancing in the desert.

As of July 13, 2008, I'm a glider pilot.

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

Grad school. Complaining about grad school. Learning to cook. Not blogging nearly often enough. Trying to figure out what one actually does with a BA in Film Theory aside from, apparently, IT consulting. Integrating "making things" into a theory/publication-centric academic program when nobody's looking.

I'm really good at Propose an edit

If I believe in you, I will go to great lengths to support you. If I think you're being an idiot, I will tell you. I do not believe these two positions are contradictory.

I love working with my hands. Metalworking, woodworking, theater/film tech, electronics, programming (hey, typing involves hands too).

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

I'm tall. In small groups of people, particularly if I know most of the people I'm around, I tend to contribute a fair bit of humor and general zaniness. I'm quieter in large groups. That doesn't mean I don't want to talk to you, it just means I'm shy.

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

(a) I love reading. Most recent things I really enjoyed: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and The World According to Garp by John Irving. Chuck Palahniuk, Joseph Heller, William Gibson and Neal Stephenson also rock. That's just off the top of my head -- I could probably go on for a while.

(b) Waking Life. Notre Musique. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Amelie. The Princess and the Warrior. Castro Street. Donnie Darko. Bridget Jones's Diary. When Harry Met Sally. Minority Report. Chungking Express. Ingmar Bergman films in general, despite their rather depressing tone.

(c) Matthew Good, Vienna Teng, Counting Crows, The Shins, Rise Against, Bad Religion. I don't necessarily know music that well -- I couldn't give you the artist and title for most random songs outside my immediate interests -- but I enjoy most of it anyway. Oh, and I'll admit that John Mayer's jazzier stuff is a guilty pleasure.

(d) I'm a big fan of seafood, and a lot of foreign cuisine, particularly Japanese, Thai, and Korean. As a former Marylander, I'm contractually obligated to love crab cakes. They're one of the few east-coast things I really miss out here. Cheesecake is also for the win, but a friend of mine recently introduced me to tres leches cake, which is in danger of becoming my new favorite guilty pleasure.

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

A good book; my friends to talk with; open, natural spaces; the occasional moment of silence; My camera.

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

The world we live in; our future; whether the children of my generation are going to grow up in a time far better, or far worse, than I have; whether or not I have any hope of tilting the playing-field towards the former. Also, art and cuddling.

Also: the "Oxford comma." To punctuate or to overpunctuate, that is the question.

On a typical Friday night I am Propose an edit

Being introverted and wishing I had people to hang out with who'd sit and talk (or, you know, walk and talk). I'm not really into the bar/club scene; then again, I'm not opposed to participating in it with cool people.

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

I've both performed in a modern dance piece and participated in competitive marksmanship.

I have a tendency to try to offer solutions when I should be listening.

I end up feeling responsible for people, rather than responsible to them. I'd like to say I'm done with that.

Sometimes I say what I think people want to hear. I'd like to say I'm done with that, too.

You should message me if Propose an edit

You're going to make me see things in a way I haven't before. I don't mean that in a grandiose "you will change my understanding of the world at large" kind of way (although if you do, I'm not opposed) but rather that you're interesting and thought-provoking and want more from a relationship than just occupying the same general area of space at the same time.

If you think we could cuddle up on a couch and just talk for hours about anything and everything, please message me now. I'd like that.

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