I am alert, vaguely ethnic, and wry-bred.
My Self-Summary
My work consists of trying to help people think about mathematics
in light, graceful ways. Personally I am introverted and use
teaching and writing as surrogate social activities, along with
reading and yoga. I would enjoy meeting people for activities
around town, or talking, or dinner. The last person who I dated
told me after we switched over to friendship that I am funny and
kind.
What I’m doing with my life
It's all pretty stable, but there's room in it for more people.
I’m really good at
I have written two books. I attempt the Saturday NY Times
crossword. My house has some of the Galleria's old floor, and my
garden has gray roses. I can count to two. I donate money to losing
political causes that I keep hoping won't lose this next time
around, and I have belonged to a CSA for ten years. Sometimes I can
perceive people and situations well enough to figure out how to
help a little bit.
The first things people usually notice about me
When I was younger, different people would tell me that I looked
like every conceivable dark-haired male actor. My view was then and
remains now that looking like Christopher Reeves and Dustin Hoffman
simultaneously is impossible, but people see what people see.
My favorite books, movies, music, and food
I listen to classical music. Schubert is a favorite. It has been
some time since I've read recreationally, but I have been through
Jane Austen, P. G. Wodehouse, Tove Jansson, Penelope Fitzgerald,
and Patrick O'Brian phases, also Charles Rosen and Alfred Brendel.
Some movies that I liked at one time or another: Say Anything, Repo
Man, the 1995 Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds Persuasion, The Sweet
Hereafter.
I spend a lot of time thinking about
How to perceive freshly, reason incisively, behave esthetically,
and speak nonplatitudinally.
Also, the Teletubbies.
On a typical Friday night I am
Doing yoga and then home listening to music and improving my
teaching materials. But it's not as exciting as it sounds.
Less typically, at Pedalpalooza's "Sexy Bike Ride" last summer,
since I was the only person in the group who felt any compunction
to obey the traffic laws, I wound up riding around downtown
Portland by myself on a brightly lit Friday evening wearing fishnet
stockings. A group of construction workers seemed eager to befriend
me.
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here
I once got kicked out of Disneyland for being cynical.