♫ I'm the boy who looks excited ♫

"Picking apples for the kings and queens of things I've never seen."

Kidding. I have a real-world job, promise. (But, full disclosure, I didn't actually graduate from (nor even attend) Space Camp. I would enroll tomorrow if given the chance, however.)

Laughing...making my friends laugh...dog-owning/dog-sitting...caring too much about the Packers, Huskies, Mariners and Badgers...reading out loud (story time is awesome, especially epics like Harry Potter--I do a wicked Hagrid)...pretending to be good at soccer and skiing and new-school video games... actually being good at running and hiking and old-school video games (NES ftw, noob!)

My smile, or maybe my laugh? Both are outsized, frequent and slightly off.

Books:
I just like good writing, period. Especially good funny writing. Ever read Confederacy of Dunces? And, if so, ever gone back and re-read it using Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons as the main character's voice? That's my kind of book. Also love me some guilty-pleasure reading (see, e.g., current Game of Thrones obsession). Ender's Game changed my life. Granted, I was 10. But still. I already mentioned Harry Potter. "Serious" stuff = Chabon, Sedaris, Ferris, Eggers. And I love rediscovering/re-reading American masters like Twain, Salinger, Hemmingway, et. al. (And, of course, I owe Lewis and Tolkien a h/t for the profile name.)

Music, movies and television:
I am ten times more passionate about movies and music than I am about books and I just spent 500 words *not* picking a favorite book. So, in the interest of preserving my sanity/your time I'll just throw out a list of titles and names here...

Movies= The Holy Trilogy (Star Wars), The Second Holy Trilogy (LOTR), The Almost-Third Holy Trilogy (Batman minus the new one), Royal Tenenbaums (and anything else Wes Anderson), Oh Brother Where Out Thou (and anything else Coen Brothers), Django (and anything else Tarantino), Knocked Up (and almost anything Apatow), Anchorman (and most things Ferrell), Tropic Thunder, Dr. Horrible, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Scott Pilgrim, any Disney from Lion King or earlier, any non-Cars Pixar, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Major League Princess Bride, Roman Holiday, It Was A Wonderful Life...and, inexplicably and slightly guiltily, Les Mis. Hopefully you stopped reading at Django.

Music = Let's just say ABC...anything but country. And really it's only the new country that I dislike. And only most of that. I'm a music-slut. There, I said it. But chances are whatever lyric I stuck in the self-summary above came from one of the five W's--Weezer, Wilco, Wainright (Rufus), Weekend (Vampire) or West (Kanye).

Television = Other than sports I don't do much "real-time" TV. But I really enjoy blitzing thru entire series on Netflix/Hulu . Some all-time faves: The Wire, Scrubs, Buffy, The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, BSG, Arrested Development...Some recent finds: House of Cards, Game of Thrones (best adaptation ever?), Veep, Girls, Modern Family, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec, New Girl, Portlandia, Todd Margaret, Downton Abbey, HIMYM, Big Bang Theory ...Looking forward to: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Community, Freaks & Geeks (I know I'm late on that one), Curb Your Enthusiasm (ditto)

Recently discovered Musical Theater ... Obi Wan was wise to hide this from me. Love the comedies. Recent faves = Book of Mormon (have you met the Prophet Arnold Cunningham?), Avenue Q, anything Gilbert and Sullivan.

Food:
See "Music", above. I will eat (almost) anything once. But I try to stay away from shellfish due to the blinding headaches eating them induces.

1) My friends and family, including my dog. (Yep, that's more than one thing. But then again, it's also everything. So, let's just move along now before all sense of logic breaks down.)
2) My sense of humor. (The older I get the more important this one becomes.)
3) My dreams. (I mean my actual dreams. At night. Or as Simple Jack would call them my sleep movies.)
4) My other dreams. (The ones we all have. Hopefully.)
5) My imagination. (Kind of the key to both 3) and 4) above.)
6) My ability to communicate with/about all of the above.

Batman. (http://xkcd.com/616/)

Hopefully I'm out with friends grabbing dinner, or doing a game night at someone's house. Or taking it easy in order to get out and about on Saturday.

I have three tattoos, none of which you are likely to spot on a first date.

You don't need a reason. (Bonus points if you already know how to play Settlers of Catan or have funny Cards Against Humanity stories to share.)