I just moved to Austin recently, after I graduated from grad school in Tennessee, where I lived for 3 years. I lived in Ohio all my life before that. I love love love me some Austin so far, and I'm really looking for new people to meet and new things to do!

I'm a complex soul, and I'm pretty sure that will never change. I'm right-brained, so "reason" frequently takes a back seat, although I can certainly be ultra-rational when the situation calls for it. I am more of a feeling person - I'm usually either tending to someone else's emotions or my own. Some people think I'm spacy, and I won't deny that, but it's just the plane on which I exist, and I very much like this particular plane =)

Music is regularly playing in my environment, and I sometimes get lost in it. But if there is good conversation, I usually prefer to interact. I LOVE to laugh and I do, a lot. I make sarcastic and witty jokes pretty regularly and the thing I love about working at a restaurant is that there is usually a casual, fun ambiance at work. Yes, it becomes obscene on a regular basis, but it's great to keep things light.

Right now, I work as a server and just started a job as a "counselor" (i.e. a monkey can do it, but they call it counseling), which is temporary while I work on building a private practice for myself. This is a slow process, but I always do what I have my mind set to do, so it's just a matter of time. I want to do counseling indefinitely, but I think my career philosophies and focus will shift over the course of the rest of my life, as the world around me will undoubtedly be shifting. =) No matter what, however, I always want to be doing things that benefit people, society and the world.

My hobbies help keep me healthy and balanced, and I try to do some kind of activity every day, be it yoga, running, reading, karaoke, learning Spanish, making mix CD's, cooking, in-depth existential conversation, etc.

One of the most important things to me is learning and expanding my life experience. I always have about a dozen things that I'm interested in learning more about, and I really like the idea of having a partner who shares this interest. For example, I want to get deeper into photography, foreign languages, travel, wine, the Austin music scene, and pottery, just to name a few.

Memorizing song lyrics, expressing my feelings, subtlety, driving, yoga, deflecting drama, giving, writing...I feel like listing any more would be bragging.

The awesome thing about people is they're all different. They all have different sets of eyes and minds, so everyone notices something different. The first thing I notice when I look in the mirror is usually my hair. That's the only experience I can speak of.

Books:
I have completely schizophrenic taste in books. Right now, I'm reading Who Would you be Without your Story by Byron Katie and I just finished my first Bukowski book, Ham on Rye (very fucked up, but somehow irresistable). On Deck is Be Here Now by Ram Dass. In general, I like Kurt Vonnegut, Drew Pinsky, Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein, and anything Byron Katie.

Movies:
I love character driven movies like the Big Lebowski, 28 Days, and Juno. Also, I like movies that present a whole new version of reality, like the Matrix or Children of Men. I haven't been big into movies lately - the theater is WAY overpriced and when I'm at home, I usually can't sit there and watch a movie - I have to do other stuff too =)

Music:
There's waaaayyyy too much to try to sum up in a paragraph. Lately, I've been into Adult Contemporary, Indie and Alternative/Modern Rock stuff. I also LOVE a lot of Classic Rock type music from the early 70's. My parents were Dead Heads so they educated me well!

Food:
I eat a vegetarian diet and try to eat all organic, which my life circumstances and bank account will allow only half of the time. Besides that, I am not picky about food. I love every ethnic food I've tried (with the exception of Ethiopian), especially Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Italian.

Friends
Music
My cat
Learning
Sex
Coffee

The way people's minds and emotions work - especially mine. Analyzing the anatomy of my thinking. Figuring out how to stop believing the static that comes about in there that makes me feel bad. Figuring out how to help other people do the same thing. How things that seem bad could potentially be great in the long run. People I care about. Lately, the kind of counseling job I'd love.

There really isn't a typical Friday night. Perhaps I'm working, at the bar, at a house party, at home doing nothing, shit, I could be grocery shopping - there's not a routine to my life right now.

The second and third toes on my right foot are webbed. Somewhat freakish, but I'm not embarassed about it.

the song 21 Things I Want in a Lover describes you =) Or if you just want to!