I'm not really too sure what to say on here, but I guess I'll make it a little biography. I grew up in the Midwest,* and I moved out to California in 2009. I've been told I'm more polite and sweet than most guys. Whether or not that has to do with growing up in a small town, I don't know. I really enjoy doing outdoorsy stuff like hiking and rock climbing, but sometimes I also like just sitting around and watching movies.

I'm on here to meet people who I otherwise might not get to know. Offline, you'll meet lots of different people, but learn very little about them. On here, ideally we can find people who have something in common with us who we might actually like to talk to. The way I see it, (almost) everyone on here exists in real life. So there's a theoretical chance we could meet in real life on accident. Sites like this are sort of like seeing the world with a special filter that eliminates people we wouldn't be interested in talking to anyway. So if you found your way to my profile, there's already a better than average chance we'd get along. Read on and if you like what there is, send me a message!

*Here, "Midwest" means South Dakota, and since I've been asked (not even kidding), no, we didn't ride horses to school.**

**Okay, fine. I actually have a friend who did ride a horse to school one time....

I'm working in a lab at Loma Linda University these days. My group works on a specific sub-type of B cell leukemia; we're looking at the genes that malfunction and are trying to figure out which ones are the most important for doctors (so they know what type of treatment to use) and hopefully how we can counteract those effects in patients. (Romantic inclinations aside, I hope you take the time to say hi if you want to talk science/are interested in this stuff. A lot of my friends find sciencey stuff boring, so I'm always ready to chat about it when I find someone who likes science!)

Problem-solving (which comes in handy both in science and in life), cooking, and mixing/inventing new drinks. I'm also fairly musically inclined. I've been playing music of some kind since I was 5, and I've been playing the flute since 5th grade. I also started teaching myself guitar about 8 years ago, but that's mostly just for my own fun.

Books: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Harry Potter, The Little Prince, A Song of Ice and Fire (the series A Game of Thrones is based on), The Ancestor's Tale, Jurassic Park, The Blank Slate, Dracula, The Selfish Gene, The Hunger Games, Dinosaur Heresies, This Is Your Brain on Music

Currently working on The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I know I'm a bit late to that party, but I've recently been getting more interested in politics and I wanted to read about his background and ideals.

Movies: Serenity, The Avengers, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Iron Man, In Bruges, The Dark Knight, Inglourious Basterds, Die Hard, Blazing Saddles, Skyfall, Jurassic Park, The Boondock Saints, Fight Club, Aliens, Office Space, The Lion King

TV Shows: Firefly, Buffy, Suburgatory, Game of Thrones, How I Met Your Mother, Burn Notice, Leverage, Castle, The Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse, Red vs. Blue

Music [Like most people, I like a variety, but here's a sample]: Audioslave, Bad Company, Dixie Chicks, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Vienna Teng, The Band Perry, Shakira, Evanescence, AC/DC, Rammstein, Apocalyptica, Florence + The Machine, The Who, Norah Jones, The Rolling Stones, Jack Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, The Wreckers

I tend not to be a fan of a lot of the modern hip-hop/pop music in general. That said, my sister sometimes introduces me to some catchy stuff like Katy Perry. (I'll even admit to liking "Call Me Maybe.")

Food: Well, I'm vegetarian, but within those bounds I like all kinds of food (and it doesn't bother me if you eat meat if you don't mind that I choose not to eat meat). If I had to pick, I would choose Italian, Thai, Indian, Red Robin, or anything new or unusual.

(While I know these aren't things without which my existence would end, I figure I'll take the question in the spirit it's intended. :P )

~ My family and friends
~ Humor, especially nerdy humor
~ Music
~ Books
~ The Internet
~ Everything on this list twice (including this)

Life, the future, science, whatever work of fiction I'm currently enthralled with, whatever just happened ten minutes ago...I actually spend a lot of time thinking in general.

Depends on my school/research schedule, but mostly I might be going out for dinner, a movie, and/or drinks. Or on the weekends as and when my friends and I have the time and inclination, going out to Joshua Tree and scaling random large rock formations. (It's a lot of fun, we just drive until we see something cool, park, and climb to the top, lol. A little tougher in the middle of summer because the rocks burn your hands, but most of the rest of the time, it's great.)

Yeah, I think since I've already talked playing flute and listening to "Call Me Maybe" (occasionally on purpose), that's private enough for now.

You meet at least two of the following:
-- You want to go out for coffee/drinks/dinner/etc.
-- Smart = good
-- You want a tennis/other sport/workout buddy
-- You want to climb stuff in Joshua Tree (or go on other random adventures)
-- You want to go to Mars with me
-- You feel like it. Seriously, don't be shy. :)
-- You enjoy these comics (double points if you've read them before!):
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2086
http://xkcd.com/242/

P.S. I've talked to more than a couple girls on here who have said that sometimes they don't reply to some messages because they feel it's been too long and it would be awkward. If this is you, try not to worry about awkward..."better-late-than-never" definitely applies.