I'm new to Nashville by way of Louisville, KY, where I lived the last 10 years. Before that, I grew up in Indianapolis.

I am an avid outdoorsman, and I love backpacking. The mountains are my home away from home (for anyone who knows what it is, I was a Philmont Ranger for 3 years, and got to be a Rayado Ranger. Best 3 summers ever.) I'm pretty eclectic with my hobbies, and I'll try almost anything at least once, which leads to me having a lot of things I like without enough time to do all of them. Staying physically active is very important to me; I bike to work whenever it's not raining, and my two favorite hobbies are backpacking and Ultimate, though I also enjoy SCUBA and kayaking, but I don't really live in an ideal location to take advantage of diving. I would really like to log more dives, and get advanced certifications so I can do more stuff with it.

I enjoy doing new things, which is probably why I have more hobbies than I have free time...I think it's important to at least experience something, even if it's only one time and you never want to do it again. I'm a big time Cubs and Steelers fan, and have been since I was old enough to know who they were. I also love Louisville Cardinal football, and my favorite soccer teams are AC Milan and Italy.

I really enjoy cooking. I have a stack of books about four feet high with recipes, theory, chemistry, etc. and I'm always looking for new stuff to try, and most nights, I'm cooking something for friends, family, or myself. I usually don't go out to eat except when I get home really late and don't have time to cook. If you like something, chances are I can make it as long as it doesn't require a lot of special tools that I don't have (like a pacojet, for example). If it's something you'd find in the average home kitchen, though, I'm probably good for it.

I love studying science, biology in particular. I can happily say that I do what I love for a living in a field that is genuinely interesting to me (Evolution). When I was growing up, I always wanted to work either in medical research or as a Ghostbuster. So I'm living a childhood dream right now.

I'm usually the person in my group of friends that makes everyone laugh, but then again, I'm also often the person who tells the one joke that someone gets upset about. I find that anything, in the proper context, can be funny, but some people disagree, and I'm cool with that. You don't have to laugh, but don't tell me I can't because you're easily offended. You also will notice that I don't beat around the bush a lot. If you ask me something, I'll usually speak my mind; I generally don't change the subject intentionally to avoid answering. Sometimes that kind of honesty can be refreshing, other times hearing the truth can feel a little like blunt trauma, but I think it's a lot better than the alternative.

As far as religion goes, I do not believe in anything supernatural. I don't believe in any god, and I think that there is no inherent meaning to life; the only meaning that can be derived is that which we make for ourselves. I might be wrong, but if it turns out there is an afterlife, I'll find out after I'm dead, and then you can make fun of me for being wrong.

However, I do believe that religion has redeeming value and has a clear and important purpose in many peoples' lives. When utilized in the right way, it has a great transforming power and can be a force of tremendous good. However, organized religion has no part in my life at all, and I've no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with anyone who wiykd identify as religious. I'm not looking to convert anyone, nor am I inviting others to try and convert me. I don't think you can change what you believe anymore than you can change the color of your skin.

Friends, on the other hand, I don't care what they believe. I don't think the world needs more atheists, it only needs more good people. Some of the friends I have the greatest respect for are devout Christians, and I admire their commitment to their faith and how it has made them the people that they are, but it's not what I'm looking for in a significant other.

I am a Research Assistant at Vanderbilt and work in a Developmental Biology lab. My current project involves production and alteration of a specific human protein that induces the formation of mesodermal tissue. The goal is to produce lots of the stuff for other labs to use in their own research, as well. I plan on doing that for a while, until I've fulfilled my obligations to the lab, then go on to earn my PhD somewhere.

I finished my master's degree in Biology with thesis at the University of Louisville. I studied comparative insect and mammalian immunology, as well as pathogen evolution.

Frisbee, cooking, backpacking, explaining things, animal cap assays, being the team medic in TF2, ghostbusting

On first introduction, people always ask me if I play football.

And for some reason, a lot of people confuse me as being gay when they first meet me. I have yet to figure out why I manage to throw off so many peoples' gaydar. It is a complete mystery to me.

A. Books I read a LOT of cookbooks, religious philosophy, and science texts. I don't really read much fiction; I'm more interested in learning practical information and new ideas of thought, philosophy, invention, and making things than I am about reading a good story. Though I did recently rediscover the enjoyment of fictional literature after finishing "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.

B. Movies Ghostbusters is, hands down, my favorite movie of all time. Other movies I like: What Dreams May Come, Inherit the Wind, The Green Mile, The Dark Knight, Breach, Stranger Than Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Animal House, Big Fish, Lost in Translation, Boondock Saints, Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix, Kung Fu Hustle, Liar Liar, Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, Man on Fire, Fight Club, Deer Hunter, Cool Hand Luke, Gladiator, Donnie Darko, Full Metal Jacket, 300, Platoon, Shaun of the Dead, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Hot Fuzz, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Cat Returns, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea...well, most stuff from Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki.

C. Music On the whole, I have pretty eclectic tastes and I will listen to MOST music. However, I cannot tolerate country music, emo/college rock, or pop. Just so we're clear I do make a distinction between bluegrass and country, and I like bluegrass a lot. Favorites from various genres include: Sevendust, Rob Zombie, Dry Kill Logic, Queens of the Stone Age, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Megadeth, Celldweller, AC/DC, Matthew Good Band, Eight Dollars to Eminence, Lifehouse, John Mayer, Blind Melon, Great Big Sea, Nick Drake, Ben Harper, Don McLean, Nakagawa Shouko, Ayumi Hamasaki, Yoko Kanno, Origa, Marc Et Claude, BT, Scatman John, Tobasco Donkeys, Old Crow Medicine Show, Dang Ol' Tennessee Boys, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, The Rippingtons, Wynton Marsalis, Soul Coughing, Gorillaz, Seal, Boyz II Men, Sarah McLachlan, Saul Williams

D. Food I'm not very picky. Aside from anything with sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc. in it. Generally, if it's soft, white, and dairy-based, I'm hesitant to put it in my mouth, but otherwise, I'll eat pretty much anything that isn't too exotic, you know, like insects.

1.) Science

2.) Ultimate Frisbee

3.) Backpacking

4.) Humor

5.) Football

6.) Intelligent Conversation

too many things to list. So let's just leave it at, "I spend a lot of time thinking."

I imagine I would be an incredibly boring man if my Friday nights could be described as typical.

I have two holes in the backs of my ears that have been there from birth.

- Religion does not play a major part in your life, because it is pretty much absent in mine, and that is not something that is likely to change. It is of little consequence to me what you believe, but I know there are those out there who are deeply bothered by my absence of faith in a higher power, so this isn't so much of a prerequisite of mine as it is a disclaimer for you.

- You can take a joke (as I joke around A LOT. If you've ever watched Louis CK, George Carlin, Stephen Lynch, or Richard Pryor and were ever offended or upset by one of their jokes, we will not enjoy each others' company. You will get easily offended by me, and I will not enjoy being around someone if I perceive them to have a very limited sense of humor)

- If you DON'T smoke I'm very allergic; if you smoke around me, I will get pretty sick. And I just think it's a gross habit to begin with.

- If you have a love of nature and the great outdoors and being physically active. As I said earlier, being physically active is very important to me. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for the time I spent diving, backpacking, biking, camping, climbing, etc. I would like to be able to share that experience with a significant other. If I lived in Colorado, you bet your ass I'd be bagging peaks with my friends at least once a month. If I lived in Florida, I'd spend my weekends underwater with a tank on my back. If your idea of getting outside isn't much more adventurous than a weekend camping trip, or the most you get for exercise is the walk you take to work, we could be friends, but that'd be it.

But if I interest you, go for it. We will discuss things so long as you're able to write something a little more substantive than a wink, "hi", "let's chat", or a 2-3 word critique of my physical appearance. Those just get deleted. I wrote a lot of stuff on here to make breaking the ice a little easier; you don't have to read it all, but at least read a paragraph or two so you know whether there's a mutual interest beyond physical appearance that would warrant you making the effort to contact me.