A little about me:

I'm 26, and I'm a student who recently moved to Fort Collins, CO. I am a dedicated vegan, but don't let that scare you. I'm not crazy, and I'm not going to throw fake blood on your fur coat or proselytize on some street corner. It's simply the best way that I know how to live in alignment with my core values of compassion and non-violence.

I feel my best when I can spend plenty of time out in nature. Being physically active is vitally important to me, and I exercise about 90 minutes per day at least 6 days per week (usually 7). I love running, biking, and hiking. I also lift weights several times per week and enjoy playing tennis (though I'm not all that great at it). I'm also very interested in yoga, but I have no experience with it at all.

I just started college a few years ago, so I'm a bit older than a lot of students. I got a late start because when I was younger, I thought that I was going to be a professional musician. I spent several years playing music in a little garage band, but I eventually decided that an education is extremely important. Right now, I'm taking a semester off until I have my residency established and will be finishing up my Bachelor's degree at CSU in Environmental Health in the spring.

I love music, especially mellow indie music. I know that everyone says they love it, but it really is my greatest passion. I have a HUGE music collection that I'm always trying to expand. I also write a lot of mellow, finger-picked instrumental music. I even have a CD that I made myself if you ever want to hear me play. I still play guitar whenever I'm not too busy with work and school. I love talking to people about music and their other artistic passions.

I have a quirky sense of humor that people don't always understand. I can be very serious or very silly within a matter of minutes. Because of this, some people are caught off-guard and aren't sure if I'm joking or not.

I love all animals, but I'm definitely a cat person. My cat Raja is pretty much my best friend. I admit that's kind of weird, but it's true.

I tend to be a little introverted sometimes. I don't like going to bars most of the time, but I do love to go out with friends and meet new people. While it's pretty rare that I drink at all, I do love red wine. Instead of going to an overcrowded bar, I'd much rather stay home and watch a movie or read a good book. I don't spend much time watching TV. I stay very busy with school, work, playing guitar, and exercising, but it's my goal to find more time to volunteer at local animal shelters.

I love to travel, but I can't really afford it at this point in my life. Life is short, and I want to see as much of the world as I possibly can.

I looooove Indian food. I'm also a big fan of most Asian cuisine, especially Thai and Indonesian. Ethiopian is a recent favorite of mine, too. I love to cook at home and try new recipes. I just love food : )

I'm interested in meditation and certain aspects of Buddhism, but I usually lose interest in any religion once it gets too specific in its ideologies. I do believe in something larger than ourselves, but my religious beliefs are hard to explain and are always evolving. If you want me to explain, I'd be happy to do so : )

I go to school full-time and I work at a natural foods grocery store 25-30 hours per week. Needless to say, it keeps me pretty busy.

I spent the last 6 years in the Kansas City area working for the Department of Labor as a government contractor. I just moved to Colorado at the end of December to finish my undergrad at CSU. I take school very seriously, and I'm really looking forward to finishing my degree and getting out there into the professional world again.

I'm pretty good at guitar and writing really long instrumental music on my acoustic.

I'm a good cook. My specialties are my homemade hummus and coconut curries.

I'm a good athlete. I run A LOT. I can run a mile in about 5 1/2 minutes.

Hmmm... that's a tough one. I've been told by several girls that I have nice eyes.

Books:

Into the Wild, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter books, the Dark Tower series, The God Delusion, books by Mary Roach and David Sedaris, Fast Food Nation (even though the movie was horrendous), The Culture of Fear (and other books about sociology), and a bunch books about veganism/animal rights (such as The China Study, Dominion, Diet For a New America, No More Bull, Mad Cowboy, Making A Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights, Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No-Kill Revolution in America, etc.).

Movies:

My favorite genres are definitely independent/foreign films and documentaries. Some of my favorites are:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sunshine, The Fountain, Once, Into The Wild, The Darjeeling Limited (and all of Wes Anderson's other movies), The Big Lebowski, Baraka, Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, Being John Malkovich, Secretary, Memento, The City of Lost Children, Wet Hot American Summer, Little Miss Sunshine, Wristcutters: A Love Story, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, and a long list of silly comedies.

Music:

I readily admit that this list is ridiculously long, but I sincerely love every single one of these bands. I'm sure I'm forgetting some...

Andrew Bird, Gomez, Turin Brakes, Augie March, Britta Persson, The Be Good Tanyas, Iron and Wine, Ra Ra Riot, The Decemberists, Damien Rice, Ray LaMontagne, The Black Keys, Sam Roberts Band, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Neutral Milk Hotel, Silverchair (their last two albums are incredible), St. Vincent, Bon Iver, The Shins, Jason Collett, Emiliana Torrini, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova/The Swell Season/The Frames, South, Stars, The Dissociatives, Jeremy Larson, New Buffalo, Amy Millan, Anna Ternheim, Hanne Hukkelberg, Dungen, I'm From Barcelona, Loney Dear, Kristofer Åström, Nick Drake, Travis, David Ford, Juana Molina, Keren Ann, Muse, Portishead, Bjork, Elysian Fields, Busdriver, The Roots, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Kent, Sufjan Stevens, Wilco, Jimi Hendrix, Fantomas, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, General Patton vs. The Executioners, Lovage, Kaada Patton, The Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton, Meshuggah, Frederik Thordendal's Special Defects, Ozomatli, Led Zeppelin, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Ambulance Ltd., Deftones, Incubus, Ween, Stone Temple Pilots, Laundry, Tool, The Mars Volta, Clutch, Primus, Hum, Do Make Say Think, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, A Silver Mt. Zion, Sigur Ros, Dysrhythmia, Death Cab For Cutie, Chris Cornell, Miles Davis, The Vital Techtones, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ravi Shankar, Samuel Barber, Hector Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven

Music

My cat Raja

Time to relax/be in nature

Sunshine and warm weather (I can barely make it through the winter)

Tea

My guitars (or some other form of creative outlet)

How overpopulated the world is.

I'm not a very exciting person. I work until 8:30 or 9:00 on Fridays, then I go home, eat a late dinner, and then I either read, play guitar, or watch a movie with my cat curled up at my feet. I prefer to live a simple, quiet life for the most part.

I don't like this question.

You are an intelligent, down-to-earth free thinker who isn't scared to be yourself. I want to meet like-minded people who care about things larger than themselves. People who aren't too distracted by the superficial side of life to appreciate the small things.

I would love to meet someone genuine, honest, affectionate, and loyal. If you're a vegan or vegetarian, you get instant bonus points.