Currently I'm just trying to enjoy life. I don't feel rushed to make something happen and I'm mostly just enjoying what comes along. I figure that I've got time and I might as well enjoy all of the little things (and the big ones) in my life right now. I've gone through many incarnations in my life and am always looking for the next thing to catch my interest.

I'm a pretty eclectic person and that makes a lot of the labels that people could apply to me rather contradictory...and I find that very amusing. My profile says that I'm jazzed about being Catholic...but I'm not a fundamentalist and you're just as likely to find me meditating on the life of Buddha as saying a Hail Mary.

I love wit and absurdity and am very much in love with ideas and concepts. People are an absolute mystery to me, which is probably why I find them so fascinating.

I am finishing a PhD in Public History and am doing the job search thing while I put the final touches on my dissertation. Think of Public History as sort of forensic historical fieldwork...reading landscapes and townscapes and examining material culture, contextualizing the folklore and weighing all evidence to put it all into a cohesive picture. I always want to know more and love being with people who ask a lot of questions and want to talk it all out. Honestly, I come away from classes, just talking with my colleagues, or meeting with community groups with an intellectual high that makes me positively giddy.

In the fable of the garden of eden, I wouldn't have needed a serpent to encourage me to take a bite of the fruit of knowledge. I would have been pushing the snake out of the way and saying, "Yeah, whatever. Let me have at that tree!" I love discovering new things and learning to see old things in a different light. I'm always on the lookout for a new perspective.

In an effort to be a well-rounded person and to get back into shape (mentally and physically), I like to stretch myself in different ways and challenge myself. Sometimes that's fun, sometimes I do something because it scares me. My latest hobby is hiking and I tend to do 8-10 miles on a day during the weekend (my pictures are great!).

So, I guess, to sum up, I really like to explore...and sometimes trespass. Mostly I try to find something creative and new. Oh! The banjo! I forgot that I recently got a banjo that Dan Knowles designed and made for me, and now I'm learning how to play it. I am the woman with the green banjo.

Doing things on the fly, adjusting to changing situations, giving the appearance of having it all together, voicing strong opinions at the drop of a hat when the situation needs it, saying the hard things that everyone else shies away from, finding the best in any situation, finding harmonious creative solutions, keeping myself entertained. And also just being silly.

And god help me, but I'm good at research. And I like it. I totally dig it...see what I said earlier about being a big dork. :). I love a good mystery and I treat it as a puzzle that I have just got to dig into and find out about. I love fieldwork (both the planned and the accidental).

That I have a strong personality, albeit carefree, and that I smile and laugh a lot. I have been described as being a real character. Generally, I take that as a compliment. :)

This is hard. All of this in one question? Okay...I sum up.

Books: ASSASSINATION VACATION, ENDER'S GAME, TIGANA, HYMN OF THE UNIVERSE, BEING PEACE, A PATH WITH HEART, PROMISE OF THE NEW SOUTH, DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, DRESDEN FILES

Movies: MOULIN ROUGE, BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, DEATH AT A FUNERAL, KUNDUN, AMERICAN BEAUTY, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, LA STORY, X-MEN 1&2 (3 is an abomination), STARSHIP TROOPERS, SECRET OF NIMH, I <3 HUCKABEES, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, GANDHI, DUNE, most documentaries

TV: Mad Men, Doctor Who, Coupling, Eureka, Deadwood, Burn Notice

Music: Bluegrass & Folk (Nickle Creek, Alison Krauss, Dan Knowles, Kate Campbell), 80s alternative (Talking Heads, The Clash, INXS, They Might Be Giants), movie soundtracks (Fifth Element, The Power of One, American Beauty, Last Temptation of Christ), indy rock and other unclassifiable things (Fleming & John, The White Stripes, Jet, Fiona Apple, Black Eyed Peas, Fat Boy Slim, Indigo Girls, R.L. Burnside), Classical (Vaughan Williams, Edvard Grieg, Mozart, Beethoven, Camille Saint Saens), Jazz (Dave Brubeck, Etta James), classic crooners (Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee), Classic Rock (Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Doors, Moody Blues), Techno/Dance/Electronica/Trance, Latin (Ibrahim Ferrer, Buena Vista Social Club, Gypsy Kings, Bajofondo Tango Club), World Music. New music I'm listening to is Elbow and the Rouge Traders.

Food: Indian, Sushi, Turkish, Mexican, Fondue, decadent desserts, and really anything new...I'm game

Freedom, Beauty, Truth, and Love. Wait, that's only four. Okay, so add friends and good eats. And the occasional bubble bath...and a good glass of Shiraz. I'm all about the little decadences. And peanut butter -- how did people manage to get by before peanut butter?

That's just it, I spend a lot of time thinking...about every crazy thing possible. It doesn't help that I read several books at once about widely different topics and read a whole range of news sources on a daily basis. Thinking, thinking, thinking.

I swear that I try meditating and being focused, but my brain just won't turn off. But I'm getting better at it...I think. ;)

There's such a thing as a typical Friday night? Who are these people that have typical Friday nights?

I love conspiracy theories. Probably grows out of my love of the absurd. When lacking conspiracy theories, I enjoy making them up on the fly (it's what I consider a good joke).

If you feel like it and think that we have something in common and might enjoy one another's company. Or if you just want to send me something absurd. :). But if you're looking for a free sex chat, you know they make services for that. :P

Actually, you might enjoy reading the following:
http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/2009/09/14/online-dating-advice-exactly-what-to-say-in-a-first-message/

Their stats...yeah, they pretty much describe what I'm looking for in terms of communication (except the odd zombie thing...I liked Shaun of the Dead, but it's not a passion of mine).

Also, if you want a commitment for marriage after one or two dates...I'm probably not your woman. I like to take time to get to know someone, that's one of the great excitements of dating, isn't it?