i love to cook. and i love to eat. i have serious opinions about food. ok, i have serious opinions about many things, but i know enough to not take myself seriously. except when it comes to food. food is serious business.

i loved to read as a child, and then forgot about it. i fell in love with reading again 10 years ago when i was assigned junot diaz' drown for my one and only english class in college. i recently read two of his newer short stories in the new yorker, and i am shocked by the emotional response that man can elicit from me with some words on a piece of paper (or computer screen, i guess).

my favorite moments these days include cooking, eating, laughing until it hurts, drinking iced coffee at pavement (near berklee) or jaho (in salem), walking around, reading on the banks of the river charles, having insightful, creative conversations, staring at my computer screen in awe of jon stewart's supreme wit, and having meaningful conversations with my students.

i'm a high school science teacher at the most amazing school on the face of the planet.

i spend my evenings and weekends doing one of the following:

staring down hulu
cooking/eating awesome food
reading on my couch or by the river in my hammock
yoga or running (this one's new)
partner dancing (salsa and argentine tango)
having lovely conversations with my friends
working on improving education in boston
dreaming about passing the DREAM act
painting (also new)

listening
salsa dancing
loving unconditionally
cooking
eating
laughing

i'm small
i'm cute
i'm smiley
(one more thing i'm not willing to admit here)

junot diaz - drown
edwidge danticat - i can't believe i've just now discovered her!
dave eggers - a heartbreaking work of staggering genius
the freakonomics / malcolm gladwell genre
the locavore / sustainable food genre
jon stewart - he's my hero!
young adult novels (amazing. why are adults even reading other genres?!?)

movies that make me cry. or laugh. or think.

music that makes me cry. or dance. or sing along.

food that makes me close my eyes and take a deep breath before continuing. the following have been on the menu recently:

*spinach, spinach and more spinach (other greens too).
*a zucchini and eggplant lasagna that is perhaps the best thing i have ever eaten.
*roasted potato salad. ok, maybe this is the best thing i've ever eaten...
*home-made butter (cream + shaking + salt at the end). it's amazing.
*cold-brewed coffee
**there's also been plenty of (locally sourced) meat in my diet lately... but i guess i'm still 'mostly vegetarian'

tomatoes
cheese
the people in my life
my iphone
love
smiling
(let's say that these are not in order of importance...)

i try not to spend a lot of time thinking. i prefer to have conversations. about politics. and food. and institutionalized racism. and education. and the latest hilarious thing one of my students said.

recovering from a full week of teaching. hopefully, on my couch, staring at Hulu.

there is nothing more important to me than being in love.

you're a really, really great guy. and you're really, really liberal.