Many myths have grown up around Matthew Walker, "the only man ever to have a knot named for him." Dr. Frederic Lucas, of the American Museum of Natural History, once told me the following story of the Origin of the knot, which he had heard off the Chincha Islands while loading guano in 1869. A sailor, having been sentenced to death by a judge who in earlier life had been a sailor himself, was reprieved by the judge because of their common fellowship of the sea. The judge offered the sailor a full pardon if he could show him a knot that he, the judge, could neither tie nor untie. The sailor called for ten fathoms of rope and, having retired to the privacy of his cell, unlaid the rope halfway, put in a MATTHEW WALKER KNOT, and then laid up the rope again to the end. So Matthew Walker secured his pardon, and the world gained an excellent knot.

Copying Wikipedia entries into my OkCupid profile.

Walking around looking at things and people. Poetry. Photography. Taking pictures of stylish New Yorkers and putting them on a blog.

Not sure there are any; people tend only to notice the last things about me.

I've decided to make this my official mating call: "NYRB Classics...NYRB Classics..." Currently enjoying The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford. Also essays by Wallace Shawn and Siri Hustvedt. Just finished Hustvedt's The Enchantment of Lily Dahl. Highly recommended.

Four of the fingers on my right hand and two on my left, let's say.

UDPATE: Just to clarify, I don't mean to imply I only have six fingers. Stump-seekers, seek elsewhere.

How to strike the ideal balance in this profile between informative and entertaining, knowing that my ultimate success in life depends on it.

Saying to myself things like, "The only thing I'm keeping from my old OkCupid profile is the 'kitten caboodle' line. (See below.)"

-I used to think the phrase "kit and caboodle" was "kitten caboodle."

-Whenever I get a "chocolate chunk" muffin at Au Bon Pain and the cashier asks me what I have, I say "chocolate chip muffin" because I'm too embarrassed to say the word "chunk".

you want to make my day.

And especially if you're a person who prefers face-to-face conversation over the online variety.