I haven't had much luck with the whole internet dating thing. Someone has mentioned that my profiles tend to be gimmicky, almost like an actor portraying me, or more accurately, how I'd like an actor to portray me, instead of being me. This profile is hopefully gimmick free, and as honest as I can manage. When I'm alone, I tend to be self contemplative, so I hope I know myself pretty well, and I'll try to share.

I feel like either these boxes should be filled by someone other than the person, or there should at least be a box specifically for that. Sometimes what true friends honestly see in us is better than what we see in ourselves, because it's a lot less affected by ego. But since I'm alone right now, I'll take a shot.

I tend to pick up the energy of the people and situation around me. So if I'm in a group of excited happy people, I'll be excited and happy. If I'm in a group of quiet depressed people, I'll be quiet and happy. I tend to be a happy person. This gets interesting when I occasionally play the designated driver with a group of friends, because when I'm around drunk people, I act drunk, even if I haven't had a single drink. When it's time to actually drive home though, I go back to being sober, which has confused many a host. Right now, since I consider dating to be a serious thing, I'm in a serious mood. It's all very well to point at someone and say "be funny" but I need a bit more to work with than my laptop. I love puns and plays on words, probably a result of too much Shakespeare in school. I laugh at the Simpsons, the Daily Show, and strangely enough, just about anything with Will Ferrell, post SNL. I can talk to anyone about anything, and I have a great time learning new things. This comes from years doing emergency medical response, where a good conversation is much more effective at calming a patient than morphine. I love to argue, not for the sake of arguing, but to examine different points of view. I tend to be honest and blunt but try not to be hurtful, and I appreciate the same in return. When dating, I don't drop hints or play games, I say what I mean. This has actually ended up confusing many men in the past, who try to read deeper meanings into what I say and do. I can enjoy doing just about anything with the right companion, the wrong companion can ruin just about anything. Given the choice, I like to do physical things such as hiking, dancing or sports, because during the day, I'm an engineer, and spend an awful lot of time in front of a computer. When I'm at home, I enjoy watching movies, Red Sox games, reading books in any number of genres, and cooking.

In my experience everyone has a passion for something in life. This can be their family, their job, a hobby, any number of things. My passion is for the martial arts. I've been training off and on most of my life, and I'd like to think that I'd be able to defend myself in a fight, but for me it's more about the philosophy, discipline and way of life than about learning how to pound the crap out of people. Though I will say sparring and heavy bags are great ways to relieve stress.

I'm a software engineer specializing in robotics, and I love my job. I guess that puts me pretty high on the geek scale, but I can also interact with regular people. Really.

Outside of work, I spend a good bit of my time doing martial arts. I love cooking and exploring new cuisines. I like going dancing, generally swing or lindy. I'm a water baby and recently on vacation I became an open water scuba diver and took sailing lessons and windsurfing lessons. I'm a big movie buff, just about anything other than horror works. There aren't many activities that I don't enjoy with the right person. There aren't many activities that I enjoy with the wrong person.

Talking about just about any topic. I'm interested in a whole lot of different subjects, so I'll discuss just about anything with anyone.

Red red hair.

I tend to read fantasy, just about anything will do. Lord of the Rings is an all time favorite.

I watch a variety of movies. Recent loves have been Milk, Dark Knight.

For food, I prefer quality to quantity. Ever since my parents got me a book on Italian cooking, I've been searching for a good, traditional Italian restaurant. I'm also a huge fan of Indian food. I enjoy experimenting with different kinds of cooking, I'm hoping to take a class in the fall.

Usually chilling out, or doing a quiet activity with friends. My weekends are pretty busy, and my weekdays are pretty hectic, Friday nights I like to relax.

I'm looking for a relationship, not a one night stand. Intelligence and sense of humor are key. You don't need to agree with me all the time, that sounds awfully boring. I like dependability, so please don't contact me if you're one of those folks that say you're going to do something and then don't. Other than that it's hard to say what attracts me. I've dated men of all shapes and sizes, level of education, hobbies, political and religious views. I'm very social, so if you're very shy and don't like meeting new people, this isn't a good match. If anything here interests you, feel free to message me.