This self-summary business isn't much fun but here it goes. I'm originally from Northern Illinois, but I've been in Carbondale since August 2005. Right now I'm a semester away from having my master's degree from SIU. I study accounting (I know it sounds so interesting). Outside of school, I have quite a few things that I enjoy doing, including pretty much any sport, reading, video games, and hanging out with my friends.

As far as sports go, I'm willing to play pretty much anything. My favorites to play are golf and racquetball, mostly because I get a chance to play those more than any others. The teams I follow are the Steelers, the White Sox, and Notre Dame. I'm thrilled when I get a chance to watch the Steelers and actually got to go their game in Kansas City this season.

Other than playing and watching sports, I really enjoy cooking. That may be surprising, but I watch the Food Network a lot and taught myself how to cook when I moved into my apartment. I also like going to a casino and playing blackjack. As long as the cards are going the right way for me, I could play for hours. Besides those couple of things, I can't really think of too many other specific things I like to do, but I'm always up for pretty much anything that has some promise to be fun.

There are a lot of little things about me, as there are about everybody, that would take up entirely too much space in here, and would take way too much time to even begin to go through. I think that I can, in essence, boil myself down to these basics:

Above all else, I try to be a nice guy in everything I do. I open doors for people, I say please and thank you 99% of the time, and I'm the friend that's always there if you ask me to be.

I love sports. This may sound stereotypically guy-ish, but it's true. Half the time my TV is on, it'll probably be on ESPN. During free time, I like to play sports, or sports-like activities (golf, racquetball, playing catch, shooting hoops, lifting weights).

I am open-minded. I love trying new things whether it's trying new food or doing something I've never done before. I would love to go sky diving or bungee-jumping sometime. I am also open-minded when it comes to people. I have a wide variety of friends that would fit into many different groups such as jocks or geeks or any other label you would like to use.

There's probably more that I could add here, but for now I will leave it at those. I also won't foolishly consider this a full summary of myself. Hopefully none of this summary makes me sound narcissistic. I'm down to earth and pretty easy going. I like having fun and try to have fun in everything that I do.

Going to school. I'm close to being done with that, for now anyways. If I'm not at school, I'm most likely at the rec center, the gym, or with friends.

sports, cooking, and reading. I can get good at pretty much anything I put my mind to, I just need some practice.

probably my smile (thank you braces), and the fact that I'm pretty much always smiling. Either that or my height.

1) All the Harry Potter books, the Golden Compass series, anything by Dean Koontz

2) My favorite movie is Tommy Boy. Some that are close to being my favorite: The Big Lebowski, Boondock Saints, Pulp Fiction, Full Metal Jacket, and The Hangover. There are a ton more though, I love watching movies.

3) Seether, Shinedown, The Fray, Blue October, Papa Roach, Matt Nathanson, Ernie Halter, Bascom Hill, All American Rejects, Dierks Bentley, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Frank Sinatra. Again, there's tons more. My 60 gb iPod is full of music. I give a lot of different kinds of music a chance too. I'm pretty open to new music. You never know if you're going to like it or not until you give it that chance.

4) Italian, BBQ, Sushi. I'm willing to try pretty much any food. I'm a huge fan of good food, fancy or not. The Food Network is on my TV a lot.

1) Computer/Internet - pretty much endless amounts of time-wasting fun
2) Blackberry - lets me stay connected to pretty much everything
3) Good Friends - always there for me
4) Laughter - without laughter, life wouldn't be the same
5) Sports - I have a slightly competitive side and I love watching them
6) My Car - I love my car

Future endeavors. Where I'll end up, at the very least for the beginning of my career. If I feel especially day-dreamy, I'll wonder about where I'll end up later on. I also think about how everything works out in life, where I've been, and how the past has shaped my life.

And the perfect ratio of PB to J in a PB&J sandwich...it never seems quite right.

Typical Friday nights recently have become "chill night". My buddy and I start the evening at my place by having a few drinks and playing some Wii. Then we head over to our favorite bar, eat popcorn, and try to relax.

My name is Brad.

you share any of the same interests as me, or if you've enjoyed any part of my profile.

I'm honestly not looking for anything to happen by being on this site. I originally joined in high school because a friend had told me about the quizzes. If you're looking for some kind of romance, then good luck to you, but I don't think I'll ever fall for someone online, there's way too much opportunity to create a false self on here. I'll stick to the old-fashioned way of meeting people. But who knows, right? Maybe you'll be the one to prove my thinking wrong.